Live View Questions and Spec Me £200 DSLR

Gundog48

Gundog48

Gundog48

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I want to upgrade from my hybrid Fuji S602 to a proper DSLR for product photography. I have considered a few cameras, but a feature that is important to me is Live View. Before taking a picture I want to adjust white balance and contrast which means I would like to see the result before taking the picture. However, I have done some reading and found that apparently you get 'Live View' if you look through the viewfinder of any DSLR. Is this true, if so, what is the point of Live View?!

So if I just use my viewfinder, I can see things like contrast and white balance as they would be on the actual picture? In that case, could you recommend me some cameras between £100-£200 (second hand). Not looking for anything fancy, just a good LCD so I can check if things are in focus and a few basic features. I would like to be able to do long exposures too.

My current list:
  • Sony A100
  • Minolta D5
  • Canon 350D
  • Nikon D50

Help and advice appreciated!
 
Gundog48 said:
Before taking a picture I want to adjust white balance and contrast which means I would like to see the result before taking the picture. However, I have done some reading and found that apparently you get 'Live View' if you look through the viewfinder of any DSLR.
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Nope, what you see in the view finder of an SLR is what's coming in the lens. On a compact the view finder is usually a tiny screen (feed by the sensor), on an SLR it's an image reflected off a mirror behind the lens. When you take a picture (or switch on liveview) the mirror flips up. So it doesn't adjust for changes in exposure or whitebalance, in fact the viewfinder on an SLR will often work with the battery removed.
 
I never use live view, I use the viewfinder then use DoF preview to see what it will look like. White balance etc I change in post so its useless having it in camera unless you dont have time for post production.
 
Actually, great call on doing brightness and contrast in post, would be another thing not to worry about when taking the pictures.

30D looks good too. Although I am tempted by the 350D to use the 'EOS Utility' which would be very useful for the product photography I do.

Until yesterday afternoon I knew almost nothing about DSLRs so I appreciate the advice you are giving. I like to get a little more information about what kind of lens to get. I see there are a few things to look for but I am not sure what any of it means. Could you give me some advice on what various specifications of a lens mean for the finished photo?
 
1 month ago I bought a Sony A200 for £175. I have been very very happy with the camera and taken some lovely pictures with it. £175 is still expensive but not enough for me to really worry about damaging the camera. I have been taking it everywhere and its shown me that I enjoy photography.
 
hi Gundog.Regarding live view I have the cannon 40d & you can control the camera useing a pc with the supplied usb cable and the cannon software. This could be usefull for product photography as you can use your pc/laptop screen to gauge your focus etc. Also i tend to shoot useing raw instead of jpeg. With jpeg the camera takes the data from the sensor & processes it for white balance, picture style, sharpness etc & sets it. With raw the file is the data from the sensor so you can then adust the wb sharpness etc after taking the shot as much as you like whilst still keeping the original file. Hope this helps
 
Any reason for those three and not Canon or Nikon ?

If you buy either of those two you get much more access to quality 2nd hand glass.

Lens wise I would suggest a 50mm with a wide aparture (smaller F number) such as the 50mm 1.8D which is around £100 new in Nikon format. This will allow you to learn Depth of Field more dramatically than a closed aparture zoom which tend to be around F3.5 max on budget zooms.

The lower the Fnumber the wider the lens, at first it can be hard to think of it like that!

I suggest buying a book tbh!
 
I did a little reading on lenses shortly after posting this, seems i want a ~50mm with a low f number. Only reason I am not going for a Nikon or Canon is that everyone wants one so the prices are high- meaning I would only be able to afford a 350D or D30, which I have read that some of the Sonys I am looking at are better than. Got my eye on a nice A300 with a 50mm f.1.7 lens which would be ideal. I love shots with a nice depth of field and look forward to taking some!

I pick this stuff up pretty quick so leaning about it should be fun. I knew absolutely nothing about DSLRs before yesterday afternoon!
 
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I picked up a good deal a couple of months back. I pounced as soon as it popped up on the bay. Mine as an example of what's out there:

- Nikon D70 boxed with everything
- 18-70mm f3.5-4.5 with hood, pouch etc
- Hoya 67mm circular polariser
- Cokin P holder with 67mm adaptor
- Two Cokin ND grads plus one plain ND
- One each of 1gb and 2 gb CF cards

All for £190 in almost mint condition with low use, and worth at least £270 if I sold it on separately. My advice to you is to keep a load of saved ebay tabs, one each for the specific camera you're after on buy it now, newly listed. I personally avoid bidding on things like this when you can find serious buy it now bargains (which is how I buy almost all the stuff I buy on eBay - which is a lot!). It'll probably take a few days or longer, but you'll find a bargain will turn up. I was only looking for a D70 and it took me a week to find mine. As you're looking at several potentials, you should find one quicker. I prefer the way Nikon bodies handle to others, but kind of wish I'd gone for another Canon 20D as it's generally a far better camera, although the Nikon 18-70mm lens is a million times nicer to use and better built than the Canon 18-55mm.

You'll probably find yourself frustratingly limited with just a 50mm f1.8 lens. It's a cracking lens to have in all makes (Canon, Nikon, Minolta etc), but its not very versatile at all.
 
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if youre looking at the canon 30D you may as well look at the 20D, pretty much the only difference is a slightly smaller screen.

regarding lenses with a wide aperture, these arent strictly needed as most product shots are done with narrow apertures (i.e. F16+ etc) so the depth of field is greater hence getting all of the product in focus.
 
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