Photography

» Angela England - Good camera for professional quality?

So - I know that some of it is a matter of taste but I wondered what you thought would be the best camara for professional quality photos?

I'd love some ideas about what would be a good model. I've seen the commericials for the new nikon d40, I've played with the Canon at best buy....how can you tell what you need to have for professional quality?

Angela

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» Philip Northeast - Good camera for professional quality?

In response to Good camara for professional quality? posted by AngEngland:
Angela
any of the current Digital SLR cameras is capable of producuing stunning professional quality results.

The keys to quality images are the skill of the photographer and the optical performance of the lens.

I usualy respond by asking people if they have an old film SLR, and if so do they have quality lenses. If they do then I suggest that they start looking for DSLR that will use thise lenses.
Lens choice and availability will be governed by the main intended use.

Nikon and Canon are the main contenders for long focal length sports lenses.
For more general photgraphy Pentax, Sony and Olympus are among the other cameras offering a wide seelction of lenses.

My personal choice is Pentax, I bought my first one in 1975. I have upgraded to newer camera bodies over the years.

However, I still regularly use the lens that came with that first Pentax on my current Digtial SLR.
If you are new to SLR cameras do not spend all of your budget on the camera.

Put some aside for investing in quality lenses as you will probably still be using them long after the new camera body is outdated by the relentless march of technological change.

Phil

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» Angela England - Good camera for professional quality?

In response to Good camera for professional quality? posted by Philneast:

The only SLR I ever got a chance to really get some experience with is a used Minolta from 68 or 69 someone gave my mother as a wedding present in '76. :-)

Currently I just have "point and shoots" but my 35mm Olympus is the old 170 (160?) zoom they no longer make - it is a fantastically flexible camara for what it is. I'll have to upload some of my best photos for you to see someday.

What lenses do you find you tend to use the most? If I could only buy one lense right now which you say you find the most helpful? Two? Three?

Like Lay's chips right? Can't have just one!

Thanks for your input and time - I appreciate you.

Angela

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» Philip Northeast - Good camera for professional quality?

In response to Good camera for professional quality? posted by AngEngland:

Looking at a range of entry level digital SLRs most come with bundles with an 18-50mm zoom lens. The price is usually not much more than buying the camera body without a lens so they are a good starting point.

These are usually average lenses rather than examples of their premium professional range. However, they are good value for money as general-purpose lens. The range of focal lengths covers most average situations. With a good wide angle view for including broad sweeps of a garden while longest focal length produces a short telephoto effect for portraits.

At 50mm close up shots of flowers and insects have that shallow depth of field to highlight naturally the subject against an out of focus background. This will be more pronounced than your point and shoot.

One lens type you may consider as an additional lens is a specialist macro prime (not zoom ) lens. They are common around 70mm to 100mm focal length. Their design allows them to focus on subjects much closer to the lens than a normal lens. This allows you to fill the frame with small subjects such as flowers and insects to produce stunning images.

The lens can also be used for normal photography as well and they make excellent portrait lenses.

Have a look at the B&H site as they offer a comprehensive range of cameras and lenses and their sorting and filtering allows easy comparison of the offerings from teh various manufacturers.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/

I have assumed one of your main subject areas is flowers and gardens, hence the macro suggestion.

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