Photography Topic thread...

Dup said:
Hmmmm, good point. Any suggestions? Would it be worth getting the 18-135 IS kit lens?
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Depends on your budget really.

You could get a standard zoom in the 17-55mm range. The Canon 18-55mm IS is ok considering how cheap it is. Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 (non VC) looks like a decent lens for the price or you could get the Canon EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS which is great but expensive.

Or you could get an ultra wide like a Sigma 10-20mm or Canon 10-22mm. Think there are some decent recent offerings from Tokina and Tamron too. Lots of options really.

For years I had a Sigma 10-20mm, Canon 50mm and Canon 70-200mm and that covered me for everything I liked, landscapes, cars, sports.
 
I wouldn't say 'you'll struggle with landscapes' if you don't have a wide-angle - in fact, landscapes are often harder to do well with a wide. Not saying it isn't a good thing to have, or that it shouldn't be on your list, but wide angle!=instant great landscapes.
 
James J said:
Potentially being employed by my university as a nightclub photographer and was wondering out of my AF-S 18-55 VR f3.5-5.6 and AF-S 35 f1.8 lens, which would you guys use?

I suppose the first of the two has the plus point of having VR and to go wider than the 35, but the prime lens has better quality glass. If I used the 18-55, would I miss the DOF for single person portraits in a nightclub using a low aperature setting of say f1.8-2.5 compared to a max of f3.5 at 18mm with the other lens?

This is with a Nikon D5100 btw, so 1.5x crop factor plays an important part of it also -.-
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For uni nightlife I'd stick with the 18-55, but I'd highly recommend getting an external flashgun even if it's just cheap with ettl support. That way you can drop the shutter speed right down to capture the atmosphere while the flashgun freezes the people in the shot. You'll need the wider end of the lens (18-30) to capture people as they can get very crowded.
 
James J said:
Potentially being employed by my university as a nightclub photographer and was wondering out of my AF-S 18-55 VR f3.5-5.6 and AF-S 35 f1.8 lens, which would you guys use?

I suppose the first of the two has the plus point of having VR and to go wider than the 35, but the prime lens has better quality glass. If I used the 18-55, would I miss the DOF for single person portraits in a nightclub using a low aperature setting of say f1.8-2.5 compared to a max of f3.5 at 18mm with the other lens?

This is with a Nikon D5100 btw, so 1.5x crop factor plays an important part of it also -.-
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The amount of times I have pointed people in the direction of this thread I have lost count but its very good and lots of handy tips in it! Stick with the 18-55 (I use a 17-50 and its fine), get an external flashgun and some sort of diffuser and you will be good to go!

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=268784
 
olv said:
Depends on your budget really.

You could get a standard zoom in the 17-55mm range. The Canon 18-55mm IS is ok considering how cheap it is. Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 (non VC) looks like a decent lens for the price or you could get the Canon EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS which is great but expensive.

Or you could get an ultra wide like a Sigma 10-20mm or Canon 10-22mm. Think there are some decent recent offerings from Tokina and Tamron too. Lots of options really.

For years I had a Sigma 10-20mm, Canon 50mm and Canon 70-200mm and that covered me for everything I liked, landscapes, cars, sports.
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Hmmm, lots to think about. Thanks :)

Well to get myself going I think I'm going to limit myself to ~£1500 for brand new kit. Body I've settled on a 60D, glass wise I'm not sure. I love the idea of the 50mm 1.8 so that's definitely on the list. Now I just need to find some middle ground on some length. What about the Canon 15-85mm? Would that and the prime be a good starting ground? I'm not bothered about going over a bit to get a 430EX II and tripod. The little bits aren't too much of a concern.

The main thing is I want a every dayish camera to get to grips with but I don't want cheap poor IQ starter lens. I feel I'm a little past that, I might as well use my ancient Olympus E-10 at that stage (which has a fixed F2.0-2.4 9-36mm (35–140mm in old 35mm money)).
 
Well... I've just spend a load of monies anyway:

60D Body
Canon EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS with Hoya UV filter & Hood
Canon 50mm 1.8
Canon Speedlite 430 EX II
2x 16GB Sandisk Extreme Pro SDHC UHS-1
Rednapper RS-324 with RSH-528 Head & RSH-61 Ball Head

Lot of monies, but really looking forward to playing :)
 
Dup said:
Well... I've just spend a load of monies anyway:

60D Body
Canon EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS with Hoya UV filter & Hood
Canon 50mm 1.8
Canon Speedlite 430 EX II
2x 16GB Sandisk Extreme Pro SDHC UHS-1
Rednapper RS-324 with RSH-528 Head & RSH-61 Ball Head

Lot of monies, but really looking forward to playing :)
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:o awesome choice, the 17-55 is supposed to be a beauty of a lens. That gear will keep you going for a very long time thats for sure! You may or may not want to look into getting a grip as I find with a big lens and a flash attached you need the extra balance and support of having the grip supporting the lower half of your hand (ok this makes no sense but hopefully it will when you get all your gear)
 
Dup said:
Well... I've just spend a load of monies anyway:

60D Body
Canon EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS with Hoya UV filter & Hood
Canon 50mm 1.8
Canon Speedlite 430 EX II
2x 16GB Sandisk Extreme Pro SDHC UHS-1
Rednapper RS-324 with RSH-528 Head & RSH-61 Ball Head

Lot of monies, but really looking forward to playing :)
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Can't fault that at all. Good choices. The 17-55 is a quality, well regarded lens so as well as being brilliant you get the added bonus of it holding it's value well too.
 
Steeps said:
For uni nightlife I'd stick with the 18-55, but I'd highly recommend getting an external flashgun even if it's just cheap with ettl support. That way you can drop the shutter speed right down to capture the atmosphere while the flashgun freezes the people in the shot. You'll need the wider end of the lens (18-30) to capture people as they can get very crowded.
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My dads mega old flashgun appears to work and give half decent results on my D5100 so I might trial that, otherwise I'll be looking at a second hand flashgun to gain iTTL instead and make my life easier lol.
 
Owen256 said:
:o awesome choice, the 17-55 is supposed to be a beauty of a lens. That gear will keep you going for a very long time thats for sure! You may or may not want to look into getting a grip as I find with a big lens and a flash attached you need the extra balance and support of having the grip supporting the lower half of your hand (ok this makes no sense but hopefully it will when you get all your gear)
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I get what you mean. Oddly I ended up sholding back on that despite the big spend. I don't see the immediate need just yet but I'll see how it feels. I put it in the things to get once I've got going list like a remote shutter release, flash trigger and filters etc. Just pick those up as and when I feel I need them. Grip first I expect :)


Phate said:
Nice one Dup! great load of kit to get started with! :)

Congratulations!
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Cheerse dude. Looking forward to the post man coming! Very lucky to get going with this lot :)


olv said:
Can't fault that at all. Good choices. The 17-55 is a quality, well regarded lens so as well as being brilliant you get the added bonus of it holding it's value well too.
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I couldn't resist after reading up on it, I was looking at the cheaper 18-55 but decided I could live without the reach for better light performance. A little extravagant maybe but you only live once. Will work out if I want wider or longer as I get to grips with the setup :)

Thanks for the help guys :)
 
Picked up a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 off eBay and it arrived today.

Had a quick test with it and looks like it's going to be perfect for low light. Looking forward to actually using it properly now.
 
Just got a job as a photographer for hull university (I'm a student there), plus the possibility of a few contracts with local nightclubs and events. Should be a nice little side earner, whilst being fun to boot!
 
Nexus said:
Picked up a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 off eBay and it arrived today.

Had a quick test with it and looks like it's going to be perfect for low light. Looking forward to actually using it properly now.
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its a great lens. It is fragile though, get a hood and leave it on, it protects the focus mech.
 
Sooooo, I've been contacted by some independent publisher who wants to create what they called a coffee-table style book of the London Riots. They have not confirmed how many images they would like to use but they did email me and asked if I wanted a flat rate or a percentage of the sales should some images be used.

I've never had any experience with selling photos so I'm not sure what would be the best option for me. They also mentioned that I would retain all rights to the images used. They look like a very small company so I'm not sure what option would make the most sense financially. Any ideas?
 
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