OT- cameras

[moshpitrockchick]

look for a used or refurbished s2 IS from canon, they sell around $300 and have great macros

[Colin Hamilton]

Its all your fault shadowfax,talking about these smartypants SLR digital cameras and stuff,with my little droopy digital i feel so inadequate.My crappy digital has a slight time lag and the reptiles moved by the time the pics take,the SLR has instant attention

[Leigh]

Colin, don't feel alone, my Samsung D53, has 5mpixels 3x optical zoom and a leather case , thing is you wont get bashed on the head for it and I wouldn't cry too much if it broke,see there's always an up side , macro what's that all about

[Tigergenesis]

I've never tried taking any pictures outside at night, but I remember some of the beautiful night time shots some of you other Rebel owners have posted. Any tips/tricks I need to know on taking equally stunning night shots?

[moshpitrockchick]

Ooh! I love night shots!

Rule #1 ALWAYS use a tripod or something equally as stable.

It's a good idea to get a remote too, or to use the time to eliminate camera shake.

What kind of night shot are we talking? Do you want to do just a 30 second exposure or are you thinking you want to do bulb exposures (where you can leave the shutter open for up to a half hour)



EXIF:
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT
Exposure: 3.2 sec (16/5)
Aperture: f/20
Focal Length: 21 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 0/2 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire


Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT
Exposure: 2 sec (2)
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0/2 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire


Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT
Exposure: 637 sec (637)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0/2 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

[Tigergenesis]

Ooh! I love night shots!

Rule #1 ALWAYS use a tripod or something equally as stable.

It's a good idea to get a remote too, or to use the time to eliminate camera shake.

What kind of night shot are we talking? Do you want to do just a 30 second exposure or are you thinking you want to do bulb exposures (where you can leave the shutter open for up to a half hour)

Uhhhhh......ummmm.....i have no idea what that means.

[bluetonguemad]

i have a really old digital camera and that does me just fine...very very pointless in me getting a new magical camera like the others cause i have uni next year and i wont have anything to take photos of....i think

but the year after...2009 i will get one and my bluey and turtles and other animals of matthews mangerae or however you spell it will go on display for all to see lol

[Shadowfax]

Its all your fault shadowfax,talking about these smartypants SLR digital cameras and stuff,with my little droopy digital i feel so inadequate.My crappy digital has a slight time lag and the reptiles moved by the time the pics take,the SLR has instant attention

Awww, poor colin....sounds like you maybe need to see a therapist if you are feeling inadequate because you are droopy. According to Kyle, Zach can help you out on that one.


Oooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh, so sorry, couldn't resist that one sitting right out there........

[Shadowfax]

Ooh! I love night shots!

Rule #1 ALWAYS use a tripod or something equally as stable.

It's a good idea to get a remote too, or to use the time to eliminate camera shake.

What kind of night shot are we talking? Do you want to do just a 30 second exposure or are you thinking you want to do bulb exposures (where you can leave the shutter open for up to a half hour)

Uhhhhh......ummmm.....i have no idea what that means.

Shutter opens to let light in, right? And the longer the shutter is open, the more light you let in (not trying to talk down, just wasn't sure how much you knew about cameras). So when you press your button 1/2 way down, the shutter speed shows on the display inside your viewfinder. Usually it's in fractions of a second (1/60, 1/250, 1/1600), but the display only shows the bottom number (i.e. for 1/60 of a second, you would see a 60 displayed). Usually, without a tripod, you can shoot from about 1/30 of a second up to however high your camera will let you, maybe 1/1600th or so. Once you get below 1/30th, you will experience "camera shake" that gives you blurry images because the shutter is open so long. So if you leave the shutter open for 30 seconds, that's a realllllllllllllllllllllly long exposure to make a picture and lets a TON of light in. "Bulb" exposures just refer to any exposure, or shot, that is taken where the shutter is open longer than a couple of seconds. Some star pictures are taken leaving the shutter open ALL NIGHT!

Hope that helps....

[Dragontears]

as moshpitrockchick said...tripods are really useful as are remotes. You can get remotes that are sensed from the front of the camera or you can get remotes attached to the camera via cord, depending on what type of photo you use. We have both, but mostly use the one attached via cord. There is also the option of setting your camera to mirror lock to minimize vibrations when you take your photo.

[Tigergenesis]

There is no such thing as 'talking down to me' when it comes to my camera. I will openly admit I'm clueless. Thank you all I think I get it now.

[Shadowfax]

No worries! The only reason I know that stuff is because I took two photography courses in college, so that was all part of the testable material!

[Zach]

Its all your fault shadowfax,talking about these smartypants SLR digital cameras and stuff,with my little droopy digital i feel so inadequate.My crappy digital has a slight time lag and the reptiles moved by the time the pics take,the SLR has instant attention

Awww, poor colin....sounds like you maybe need to see a therapist if you are feeling inadequate because you are droopy. According to Kyle, Zach can help you out on that one.


Oooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh, so sorry, couldn't resist that one sitting right out there........

I don't know if I should even ask....

[Tigergenesis]

Okay...new camera question. I love my Rebel XT very much. I initially used it mostly just to take animal/wildlife pictures, but now that I'm getting into scrapbooking I find myself taking more and more pictures. Sometimes, however, I don't feel like carrying my XT with me - usually when I'm going somewhere that I don't think I will really take any pics, etc. But there are those moments that I find myself saying "That would have been a nice picture. I wish I had brought my camera". So I've decided that I want to buy a 2nd, smaller, inexpensive camera for those 'just in case moments'. I've narrowed it down to a few (mostly based on price), but I'm having problems finding a lot of reviews on them. Plus the fact that I don't know much technical stuff and don't know how to pick the best one based on features. So....I was wondering if anyone has experience/opinions on any of the following cameras (or does anyone have an opinion on which one they would choose if it were you - or could 'rate' them in the order they would choose)?

Kodak EasyShare C653 Silver 6.1 MP
Sony DSC-S650 Cyber-shot 7.2 MP
Kodak EasyShare C743 7.1MP
Fuji FinePix A610 6.3 MP

I don't care about the camera being able to record video, etc. My main concerns are size and picture quality.

Here is a side-by-side comparison (hopefully the link works) of these cameras. http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/prod ... ~A1131333~

Help me pick my next camera! LOL.

[Nature's Gift]

I'm making the forum total chaos again... sheesh. I'm sure people are frustrated. I should control myself.

KW

Surely not?????????????

[Nature's Gift]

Shadow,

I’m a keen wildlife photographer and use Canon equipment.
I own the 10D which is the predecessor to the 20D and Canon have also released the 30D which supersedes the 20D. This will now make the 20D a much cheaper purchase.

The 10D, 20D, 30D range is aimed at the Prosumer level. That is; these cameras do not have all the bells & whistles that a professional expects but they have more features than a standard consumer level digital SLR.

I don’t think you can go wrong purchasing either a Nikon or Canon, I’ve just used Canon equipment for years and have stuck with it as I can use all my lenses that I used with my film SLR on the digital SLR.

One thing you must be aware of is the cropping/magnification factor of these cameras.
The 10D and 20D have a magnification factor of 1.6 times. (I think Nikon’s D70 has a factor of 1.5 times.) If you want a 1:1 ratio in the Canon range you can get the 5D.

What this means is that the sensor is 1.6 times the size of the standard film SLR. So when you have a 100 mm lens attached it becomes a 160 mm lens. This has advantages and disadvantages depending on what type of photography you wish to do.

For me this is a huge advantage as my hobby is African wildlife where it gives me the extra reach sometimes required and at home in Australia with our magnificent birdlife where I can attach my 400 mm lens and it becomes a 640 mm lens. This enables me to get tiny birds filling the full frame.

As this is an OT thread I’ve attached some images from my last Botswana trip. let me know if you want to see some more.
Zach can get his Africa fix too

I've copied these to my hard disk the first time you posted them. I think they are just amazing and I love just looking at them and thinking "some-one I talk too" took these!!!!! It always amazes me. (I have not sent them or distributed them but I like to have a gaze every now and then). I can't believe a person just took them. They are just magnificent.

Have you thought about publishing them in a book??? I'm serious, they are that splendiforous.

[Nature's Gift]

If I could take one of the shots in this thread I think my life would be complete....... well, nearly. I'm waiting a while for my camera 'cause Taj is costing me $200 a fortnight (that two weeks to you yanky doodles) for his skin condition.

Maybe it'll be for the best, in the mean time my new phone works better than my little "point & shoot" sony thingi.

I did a photography course a couple of years ago - but as you have seen, its done heaps of good

[Lucifer_Spades]

Those African pics are just beautiful. I'm so jealous that you got to get to see those animals in the wild - I'm jealous of your fabulous camera and I'm jealous that you can use it so well. I'm just bloody insanely jealous - but wow, what memories to bring home!!!!!!!!

Look who's talkin I'm jealous of anyone who gets to live in australia If I could live anywhere it would be madagascar or australia. The closest thing to cool wildlife we get around here is if we take a trip up to the wolf conservatory

[Dragontears]

Okay...new camera question. I love my Rebel XT very much. I initially used it mostly just to take animal/wildlife pictures, but now that I'm getting into scrapbooking I find myself taking more and more pictures. Sometimes, however, I don't feel like carrying my XT with me - usually when I'm going somewhere that I don't think I will really take any pics, etc. But there are those moments that I find myself saying "That would have been a nice picture. I wish I had brought my camera". So I've decided that I want to buy a 2nd, smaller, inexpensive camera for those 'just in case moments'. I've narrowed it down to a few (mostly based on price), but I'm having problems finding a lot of reviews on them. Plus the fact that I don't know much technical stuff and don't know how to pick the best one based on features. So....I was wondering if anyone has experience/opinions on any of the following cameras (or does anyone have an opinion on which one they would choose if it were you - or could 'rate' them in the order they would choose)?

Kodak EasyShare C653 Silver 6.1 MP
Sony DSC-S650 Cyber-shot 7.2 MP
Kodak EasyShare C743 7.1MP
Fuji FinePix A610 6.3 MP

I don't care about the camera being able to record video, etc. My main concerns are size and picture quality.

Here is a side-by-side comparison (hopefully the link works) of these cameras. http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/prod ... ~A1131333~

Help me pick my next camera! LOL.

I'll get back to you on this after I do some research. I haven't had any personal experience with any of them. A side note though...have you tried just carrying around your SLR in a backpack? We have a backpack that has a camera compartment in the bottom that allows us to carry around one body, 2 lenses and a speedlite wherever we go. The top has a little room to carry whatever you usually have in your purse. I think the backpack cost around $50. Just something to add in to your choices.

[Tigergenesis]

Thanks Renee - I appreciate any input you can provide. I have 2 camera bags - a sling backpack for if I want to carry more than one lense and some personal items (sounds like the same one you are talking about) and a smaller over the shoulder bag that fits the camera with the standard lens as well as some other personal items. I love the backpack very much - it was a great purchase. Both bags are still a little more than I want to carry sometimes. I think my backpack is called Lowepro Slingshot - is that what you have?