So I feel like I have some advice to offer here. I work at a farmers market and the booth next to mine sells candles. I would say they make about $200-300 a day. I personally don't buy candles, but I'm obsessed with wax melts and know many other people who are as well. There's honestly a whole weird subculture around it and I've been known to spend $50-100 on them at a time when ordering online. I have three drawers full of wax melts and some of them are so sought after that there are selling and trading groups on Facebook.

The booth next to me at the farmers market sells their candles for $15 each or 3 for $35. Lots of people will really fall in love with two scents and then they can't help but spend another $5 to get a third. They do a great job of marketing. All the candles are just in clear, cylinder jars. They're not colorful, just white soy wax. They use cedar wicks. Their scents are really fun and unique and have cute names like Netflix and Chill, Gummy Bears etc. I feel like they have a variety of scents that appeal to people of all ages, but their branding is clean and basic enough to also appeal to anyone.

Looking at your page I don't even see what kind of wax you use. I don't know what your wicks are made of. I don't know if you're using essential oils, which you've blended into these fragrances or what your methods are for making these candles. I have to be honest, people care about these things A LOT. Hell, I've even heard people ask how soy wax is made. These people have all the answers to these questions and people really do want to know.

I'm not going to lie, I'm in my 30s and if I saw your candles I might not even stop to look because they look old fashion to me. They look craft mall/Americana/shabby chic at best. That's my cold hard truth to you. Also the scents seem to be mostly dupes of mainstream fragrances or just really basic stock fragrances. So they just don't seem special. Nothing on the website tells me why they're special. You don't even have like "your story" or anything on your page that I can find. Also your photos are grainy and dark and just not very appealing.

As for the wax melts, I know they're not the most exciting thing in the world, but some companies make them into that. My favorite wax melt company is The Bathing Garden. (www.thebathinggarden.com)
This is my last order from them. When I get these packages, it's like Christmas morning. They charge $3.75 for each clamshell. Everything is beautiful. The fragrances are limited edition and all beautifully crafted and blended. There are new themes and some fragrances are rereleased annually. Here's the kicker- they're so busy that the turn around time is SIX WEEKS. When I first heard this I thought what a horrific business model. I can't imagine waiting a month and a half to get an order from them. When I got that first order I about died. Everything was amazing. I've never smelled such smells. Since that first order I've almost always had an open order with them. I just got that order and I'm now waiting on another order I places maybe three weeks ago.

They do a fragrance of the month and it's hard for me to resist because its just there for the month and then it's gone. They describe their fragrances in great detail and give them fun names and create every clamshell into a work of art. It feels valuable when I get it. It feels and smells worth every penny.

I will honestly say their website kinda sucks and it's worse on mobile, but their stuff is so fabulous that word of mouth creates all the buzz they need.

Also my best friend makes perfume which she sells online. She custom blends her fragrances and they are released seasonally in themes. She offers sample packs and full size products. She is very successful even though people can't smell her items before spending money on them. Her descriptions are very through.

Start with better photos. That's super important. Get this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005CX9S8A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_MjtgzbWTZ49MH

The weird backgrounds aren't doing your stuff any favors. Maybe include some props depending on the fragrances. I sell nail polish online, which I make. Sometimes props can be fun. You can see that this photo was taken in the lightbox and it's fun and bright.

I hope this wasn't too harsh and is at least some what helpful. I've been selling nail polish online for four years and did over 11k sales on etsy last year. I woke a full time job and most weeks I only have one solid day to work on my polish business. I would say that branding and unique offerings/names are at least 80% of why my business is successful. I make it all really personal and informational and entertaining to buy products from my shop. Which is what I want when I buy something online.

Congratulations on the grant!

Great list, but with a £5000 budget, you might want to think about graduating from compromise still/video cameras to a Super 35, interchangeable lens camcorder.

And you don't have to blow your budget on an URSA Mini 4.6K to do it.

For [£2940.52, you can get a JVC GY-LS300 4K/UHD/2K/1080p Super 35 camcorder] (http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?icep_ff3=2&pub=5575034783&toolid=10001&campid=5337235943&customid=&icep_item=301510090765&ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=229508&kwid=902099&mtid=824&kw=lg) with built-in XLRs, a built-in ND filter, dual card slots, a top handle, power zoom capability, built-in wi-fi and live streaming to the web.

With the new v2.0 firmware update, it records to 4096x2160 Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI) 4K, as well as 3840x2160 Ultra High Definition, 2048x1080 DCI 2K and 1920x1080p HD.

It also has a flat LOG profile, which increases its dynamic range

This is an 8-bit camera (like the 5D Mark III), but it has 4:2:2 color subsampling and will stand up to grading pretty well.

Here's a UHD file shot with cine gamma (before the J LOG release):

• [“Honmonji Temple” in GY-LS300 by moribun] (https://vimeo.com/139214323) (downloadable if you're a Vimeo Plus or Pro member [if you're not, you can sign up [here] (http://vimeo.com/pro/new?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=prosubscribe-cj-vimeo-bizlander-300x250-20130424&utm_campaign=7696)])
  
  Here's a nice J-LOG piece from Dan Chung at newssshooter.com:
  
  
• [JVC GY-LS300 4K J-Log Vision] (https://vimeo.com/138523082) (not downloadable)
  
  And here's a very quick J-LOG camera shelf test at 4096x2160 Cinema 4K resolution from Gert Tetzner at avmediafactory:
  
  
• [JVC GY-LS300 Firmware 2.0 J-log ungraded] (https://vimeo.com/140984524) (downloadable for Vimeo Plus and Pro)
  
  A few more examples of what this camera can do:
  
  
• [GY-LS300 UHD 4K w/ Canon 70-200 and 85mm lenses] (https://youtu.be/QYCdxMrvAoA)
  
  
• [EVS’s test footage for the JVC GY-LS300 4K super 35 Cinema camera] (https://youtu.be/S47dceBcuJI)
  
  ...and 1080p on Vimeo:
  
  
• [JVC GY-LS300 Camera Test] (http://vimeo.com/122736335)
  
  
• [Breathing in New Life] (http://vimeo.com/120445118)
  
  A very nice overview from Zacuto:
  
  
• [First Look at JVC's GY-LS300] (http://vimeo.com/121192570)
  
  A review from Videomaker:
  
  
• [JVC GY-LS300 - Hands On Review] (https://youtu.be/imHg6sVKztE)
  
  And a couple of useful reviews from Rick Young's Movie Machine:
  
  
• [One of a kind - shooting with the JVC GY-LS300] (http://vimeo.com/133929950)
  
  
• [Shooting with the JVC GY-LS300 & Micro Four Thirds Lenses] (http://vimeo.com/136918105)
  
  I have shot with this camera - it is an easy-to-use, very high quality Super 35mm camcorder and a very good value for your money.
  
  You might also want to consider saving a couple of hundred quid with a 27 lb. capacity [£102.03 Ravelli AVTP Professional 75mm bowl tripod] (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00139W0XM/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00139W0XM&linkCode=as2&tag=hybrcamerevo-21) instead of an 11 lb. capacity Manfrotto head.
  
  I have had the Ravelli for over 3 years - the head has two handles and a fluid level - and is very smooth. Plus, the sticks are solid and very tough. Another good value for your money.
  
  [Here] (https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMFTZRKGROL4NFLSKfeZG8hkokRfgYUjO0StXVpgTIJ-1CUn7PAu1q1jdrrW7mhnQ/photo/AF1QipPGEx_mZeT1z2M9Y_lauMR-ofLh0NzPm-oKP0Rq?key=dmplaWhzaFd2TnpvalBGdHFMamZYN3FmUTAweExR) is a picture of the LS300 on my Ravelli. A very nice combination and highly recommended.
  
  With a pro camcorder, you won't need the external recorder or the shoe shock mount.
  
  Hope this is helpful, good luck with your freelance videography business and best of the holidays!

I recently went on a once in a lifetime trip to France for two weeks, so hopefully I can provide some helpful advice/insight.

First, and I cannot stress this enough, have enough memory! I'd recommend bringing at least 16GB, if not more.
I brought two 8GB cards to France and transfered them to my computer each night. I never used the second card, however, if I wouldn't have had the luxury of transferring to a laptop each night, I would have quickly exceeded this.
If you are able to bring a computer or other means by which to back up your photos, I'd STRONGLY recommend it. It's great peace of mind to not have to worry about losing pictures or running out of room.

Second, DO NOT use the Auto mode, that just makes your DSLR a big point and shoot. A lot of people recommend using M(anual), but it can be a little overwhelming if you're not used to your camera. The Av (Aperture Priority) mode is great because it allows you to select the aperture value you want (which will effect what's in focus and Depth of Field) while automatically determining the rest. Constipated_Help gave you some very sound advice on exposure, so follow that if you're able.

Third, make sure you have the right accessories. A tripod would be great for landscape shots. The Dolica Proline is a great value at 40$. At least one extra battery would be good to have, especially if you will not be able to recharge during the trip. An Opteka t2i battery can be had for 12$, and works with your Canon charger.

If you can swing it, a new lens would be good to have since the lens is the determining factor of image quality. If you like to "zoom" and isolate subjects, you'll want a telephoto. The Canon 55-250 IS is a great deal at 240$. If you like wide angle, you'll need an ultra wide. These will typically run above 400$. I have a Tokina 11-16 and I am very pleased. As others have recommended, the Canon 50 1.8 is an incredible deal at 100$ and provides creative options with it's wide aperture.
A nice bag is also a good thing to have. You can buy either a messenger style, a holster or a backpack. Filters would also be nice, but they're not a necessity.

I hope this can help. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'd be glad to (try to) help! :)

Leagues better than my first video, nice job! I like the detail and decent camera work, especially for a first video.

I like the way you write down the locations of the parts of the phone on that paper, odd little nice thing.

Also, I really like your intro animation (especially for a first video). Where did it come from? Did you make it?

Few suggestions from an amateur who's done it for 4 ish years. This also depends on how serious you want to be as some of these tips require buying stuff. Just things I wish I could have had people tell me when I was getting started.

1. Audio needs work. You and I use identical Mics, even the color! (Blue Yeti FTW!) But, the echo in this is pretty bad for you, audio makes a HUGE impact on how your viewers see your quality. Get a mic stand, like these. The Blue Yeti pro can get some fantastic audio, set it to Cardiod, find which side is recording, and have it in front of you when you speak. For amateurs, viewers don't generally mind seeing it in front of you.
   
2. There are times when you sound rehearsed. This comes with time and practice, but relax and have fun! If making these is for you like it is to me, it really is fun.
   
3. Maybe consider some light background music if that's your style. It's not for everyone, but just a recommendation, always try to use royalty free music and give credit in your description so you don't get hit with a bullshit copyright claim (even though the music is royalty free, sometimes they're weird). What editing software do you use?
   
4. Get a fluid head tripod (this could depend on the type of camera you use). I personally use [this one]
   (https://www.amazon.com/Ravelli-AVTP-Professional-Camera-Tripod/dp/B00139W0XM/ref=sr_1_6?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1493901832&sr=1-6&keywords=fluid+head+tripod). These make the difference between panning camera shots that jump and smooth panning shots. This really steps up your production value and is a small change that makes a big difference.
   
5. Try to get more consistent lighting, sort of camera dependent just depending on how good the camera your using is (what is it?) but not entirely. I've used this set for two years, I wouldn't recommend it for video though. I learned the hard way. This is better for photography. Something like this (this style, not necessarily this particualr one as I've never used it).There are some shots where the lighting looks red, looks dull, looks dark, looks bright, etc. This will come with time, learning, and experience and as you develop a more skilled eye for a "good shot". I won't pretend I'm a pro, but I've learned a thing or two. Some cameras offer a video mode for different lighting (think a filter for a picture, similar concept) that could make a world of a difference here!
   
6. Careful with where you place your lights. Unless you deal with higher end cameras and know what you're doing, they tend to mess up your contrast, color profile and brightness pretty hard. Unless having a light source (like a lightbulb or something, RGB or accent lights and stuff are fine) gives you the effect you want in the scene, either cover it with your body or an object, or keep it out of frame.
   
   Overall, really a good video for your first try. I'm not trying to criticize with my above comments, just trying to help you with stuff I wish I knew a few years back! A lot will come with experience. You'll also learn it's a labor of love with a lot of work and very little reward (Read : little/no pay) for a LONG time, unless you get crazy lucky and go viral.
   
   Feel free to shoot me any questions you have! I'm happy to help a brother out. Maybe we could even collab sometime, who knows :).

I usually don't use those items to clean my machine. But I am sort of strict when it comes to using the laptop. Like I never use it while eating etc. ThinkPads are fingerprint magnets. It doesn't take much effort to get it all greasy. I usually clean my machine once a week with a micro fibre cloth and some lens cleaning liquid, like the ones you use to wipe off TVs and such. And it seems to have worked well for me. I've seen people use those materials that you mentioned to clean their ThinkPads but I don't know much about them since I never used them. One thing I suppose you need to be careful about the X1E is the Carbon Fibre weave on the top panel. Refrain from using anything like a "magic eraser" unless you are 100% sure that it will not do any harm. But having a good personal hygiene helps to not go to extreme to clean your laptop. My slight OCD regarding having clean hands does help in that regard. :-)


For the calibration you need a Display Calibration hardware product like X-Rite or Spyder X. In combination with those hardware and the supporting software, you can colour correct your panels. I bought mine in Australia and they provide the option to have it calibrated directly from the factory. Although, not sure why that is even an "option". For a laptop this expensive it should come calibrated by default for everyone who picks the 4K screen. Also, what is the point of supplying one of the best panel on the market with your laptop where it is not properly colour corrected. Doesn't do justice to this beautiful screen. Anyway, that is just my thought. If you want I can give you the profile file on mine and you can try it out on yours to see if it makes any difference or not. But usually panel profiles differ for every panel, so better to have it calibrated individually. Also, professionals recommend that you calibrate your display every few months. I am thinking about buying one on eBay during Christmas sales, it is a one time investment and just might be worth it over a long period of time. Now all that remains is convincing my other half why I need a toy that I'll only use 3 or 4 times a year. For me, that is the toughest part in this whole "calibration" issue. ;-) .


Hope you enjoy your X1E for years to come. Cheers.

I like Canon and they have a nice line of DSLRs. The EOS Rebel T2i has an 18 megapixel sensor with low light sensitivity, etc. Amazon has the body for $700 and you could add a telephoto lens for.. well, depends what you want to shoot.

I see this one for $250. It's a 650-2600mm telephoto lens. It's heavy and would require a tripod to use, but it would be interesting to see what you could see on things far away. Big Canon lenses can cost thousands of $$, so this is way cheap by comparison.

This 50-250mm zoom for $210 would be something you could leave attached and carry around.

Good luck in your camera and ufo hunting. I hope I have a good camera with me if I ever see something interesting in the sky. I have a Canon Vixia HD video camera that is more multi-purpose for my needs, but it has some nice image stabilization.

I might have a good example. I was at the rally last weekend and saw this balloon/parachute thing that seemed to be dangling a camera to get a crowd shot. Here's a clip where I zoomed in. Sometimes a handheld shot with that much telephoto can get unstable, but I was sitting and had an elbow braced on my knee as I recall, that plus the image stabilization helped me get a decent hi-res closeup to identify the object was from airphotoslive.com.

The nice thing about the Canon DSLRs is that they can shoot 18 megapixel stills or HD video. The 2Ti is a replacement for the 1Ti. The new Canon that I am coveting is the 60D which goes for $1100 (body only) but they come out with something new and improved every couple of years.

EDIT: here's some marketspeak on the optical image stabilization used in the Vixia, I agree and thought it was pretty smooth compared to the previous generation of digital image stabilization I have used, and the small form factor makes for a camcorder that is easy to carry or even stick in your pocket. Here's a YouTube video of Vixia image stabilization.

A little further digging and I see in this review that the Canon 2Ti has optical image stabilization too. I haven't had my hands on one of these DSLR cameras but they seem to be getting better and better with each new release.

Hope that helps. And here's to having a camera in hand when you really need it! :)

So here is my wishlist for Camera things I sent my husband:

Think Tank Bag

I actually just got this for our anniversary on Halloween and it's freaking amazing. I love Think Tank everything because a) they're so incredibly thoughtful in their design and b) they're made incredibly well. This bag is replacing the current bag I carry JUST lenses and accessories in on the wedding day. On that note their rollerbag is what I use to carry everything and it's also amazing.

Helios Lens

This is basically a trash russian lens that provides really interesting bokeh and intense, awesome sun flare.

Holdfast

I have one of these already, there's a lot of reviews about camera straps, but as a woman it's been the most comfortable strap I've had. I have the American Bison one, it's very soft and incredibly well made. I get compliments on it at weddings all the time, it looks super professional!

Apple Watch

So nice for checking time, texting, and keeping track of timelines on the day of. I love it.

Mouse

If she needs any computer upgrades that would be a great option too. I need a new mouse because mine is a piece of shit, but monitors, monitor calibration, wacom tablet, etc could be nice too.

All the Microfiber cloths, batteries and SD cards

I buy all these things like candy every season. You can really never have enough of any of them.

As far as her home studio, the first thing I would look at is her chair. Art is nice and everything, but loving her chair and workspace makes such a huge difference. It's hard sitting ALL DAY, my back and neck hurt after a full day. I re-did most of my office and bought a bunch of plants and a new desk and it's made my days much better. Next purchase is a chair.

Hope this helps! I'm sure she'll love whatever you get her :).

Absolutely! I'm gonna leave it here so anyone scrolling by can see it, but I'll also DM you and the other person who asked for it so you don't have to check back in the thread.

NEEWER 2-Pack 160 LED CN-160 Dimmable Ultra High Power Panel Digital Camera / Camcorder Video Light, LED Light for Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Panasonic,SONY, Samsung and Olympus Digital SLR Cameras https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07438JXM7/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_cIS2Ab7JHAYCT

(Despite some reviews claiming the battery life is poor or the output is low, I've had nothing but great experiences with these panels. With the batteries I use, I can do a surprising amount of shooting before the batteries die out. Not only that, I only have two batteries. So the fact that it is often enough for what I do is astonishing. Also, the output is just fine. In fact, bright enough at max output that it hurts your eyes without a softbox. With the softbox it is perfectly bright for most occasions. If you need brighter, look into the Neewer CN-216 or CN-304. Just be ready to warn people about their brightness.)

Neewer 5.9x6.7 inches/15x17 centimeters Camera Collapsible Diffuser Mini Softbox for CN-160, CN-126 and CN-216 LED Light https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OXCGA28/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_CQS2AbBYSF5KE

(It has gone up a bit in price since I bought the two that I own, but it still offers excellent performance for the price. These are specifically made for the CN-160 panels. They diffuse light excellently, but at a minor cost. They are a bit of a pain in the ass to place onto the panel. At that price, though, you can't complain too much. You should be careful with them, as some have said that they don't take kindly to being handled roughly. My advise: take your time and do it carefully.)

Neewer 2 Pieces 2600mAh Li-ion Replacement Battery with Charger for Sony NPF550/570/530, Fit for Sony HandyCams, Neewer CN-160 CN-216 LED Light, Neewer 759 74K 760 Feelworld 759 74K 760 Field Monitor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XDC47YM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_gVS2Ab3RDJ319

(Outside of another tiny price increase, there's not much to say about these. They do the job incredibly well for what I put them through. However, NP F550 type batteries aren't meant to last incredibly long shoots. If you do long shoots, invest in a few more batteries and consoder using the larger capacity NP F750 type batteries.)

Fovitec StudioPRO - 2x 7'6" Classic Light Stand Kit - [Classic][For Photo and Video][Includes Carrying Bag] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HNZJLG4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_j0S2AbBBPVA2J

(These light stands have served me well. But, as with all cheaper gear, they won't withstand care that is too rough. They've handled plenty with me, but I recommend you try to take care of them. Other than that, they're just light stands.)

Bonus:

Neewer 12 x 12-Inches Pack of 8 Transparent Color Correction Lighting Gel Filter in 8 Different Colors https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CCIKB5Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_f3S2Ab6ZCYTAD

(Some cheap color gels. Get the job done.)

Of course I must include: This is all cheaper starter gear. It is not meant to replace the more expensive light kits that are much more durable, do much more and produce much better results. But restriction breeds creativity. And a passionate, new content creator with a creative eye will make the best of what they have. If you are a starting filmmaker, videographer or photographer, by all means, use this setup. Once you're ready to move onto better, more costly equipment, though, don't hesitate.

As the other commenters mentioned, it should really depend on the situation and you should be making these kinds of decisions on a case-by-case basis. 4 speedlights in the corners could potentially work, but it would depend on the room. Additionally, you want to think about the type of light you are creating - do you want to point everything at the ceiling and have light everywhere, or do you want to have a kicker or two to shoot into to create some depth to the images?

If you only have one speedlight, on-camera bounce can provide decent results. However, if you're going to add additional off-camera units, my advice would be to invest in flashes with triggers/tranceivers built into them, such as the Yongnuo YN-560 IV line. They're incredibly cheap, reliable, and work perfectly for this sort of application. By doing this, you'll be able to trigger the flashes remotely (and reliably), with the additional benefit of being able to balance your output with the ambient light in the room, so as not to completely overwhelm it. Your batteries might have to be replaced once every 2-3 hours, depending on how bright your flash is set to. Buy some rechargeable batteries. You'll save hundreds.

My personal preference is to use a master flash on the top of my camera to light my subjects, and use it to control other off-camera radio slave units for additional fill or edge lighting (kickers) as the need arises. You get the flexibility of on-camera bounce with the look of multiple off-camera lights. It's the best of both worlds, I think.

Also, to your question about the light temperature, bare flash will show up as blue light in an image where the white balance is set to match most ambient indoor lighting, which is far warmer (usually tungsten). This will definitely create some weird-looking shots. You can easily get around this by gelling the flashes to the ambient light in the room, and I would definitely recommend it, no matter what lighting setup you go with. Just pick up a couple of gel kits off Amazon that include some CTO (orange) gels, and you'll be golden. In terms of bang for your buck, this will be the most effective way to improve the look of indoor images shot with speedlights.

Good luck with your shoot!

Ok. All the recent Canon cameras can take a cheap interval timer, which allows you to do star trails, nightscapes and wide field pictures. It will also be necessary for deep sky images, but that that you'll also want some way to track the movement of the earth. Pentax's K-r and K-5 can take a GPS unit that does this, which is nifty. But you're limited in the focal length and time you can expose for. A more robust solution is a German equatorial mount, like for a telescope, but you wouldn't need a telescope. If you get a sturdy one, that can track for a long time. But it's heavy and requires some setup. The K-5 can also take the cheap inteval timer, but for the K-r, you'll need one of those, and this http://www.gentles.ltd.uk/gentled/trigger.htm, which someone on here just recently told me about. It uses the IR port of the K-r for shooting. It looks cool but I haven't heard about any first hand experience with it.

As far as lenses go, as I said elsewhere, the Canon 18-55 IS is decent. Their 10-22mm is also good for really really wide angles, but expensive. The 50 f/1.8 is cheap and great optically, but at 50mm, you can only image about 12 seconds without trails, unless you point towards the north star(or south celestial pole). Since the stars move less there, you can image longer. You can use many old prime lenses to save money like M42 screw mount, Pentax, Nikon, or Olympus with just a metal adapter. But you can't use old manual focus FD mount Canon lenses, they wont focus to infinity. If you get a Pentax, you can use all old k-mount lenses, and m42 mount lenses with a cheap adapter as well. Old prime lenses are usually much better than the old zoom lenses.

To save money you could also get a used Canon XS better yet an XSi. They are both decent for astro. You definitely want Live view to help in focusing, which they both have it.

Some good concrete advice here: http://www.backyardastronomy.com/Backyard_Astronomy/BAG_Blog/Entries/2009/12/10_I_Want_to_Shoot_Deep-Space_Objects!.html
here http://astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/TOC_AP.HTM . For more stuff. Also have a look at the cloudynights.com forums' astrohphotography section.

Let me know what further questions you have.

Purely speaking on brands:

• Canon - Best of the best for Canon cameras. L series means it's more rugged. Also very pricey!
  
  
• Sigma - Great brand - my second choice. Save money here.
  
  
• Tamron - Interesting brand - I own a 70-200 F/2.8 lens and it works fantastic - there are some issues with slower focusing but you don't notice it unless you're trying to capture sports or moving objects (I tried it on motorcycles on a track and I couldn't track my focus as well!)
  
  I recently did a lot of research into starting lenses and here are my suggestions :)
  
  
• 50MM 1.4 Canon (Save money - get a used 1.8 - this is a must buy, it's cheap)
  
  
• Canon EF S 17-55MM - This lens is a bit pricey, see below to save money. Totally worth it. Remember your crop ratio on lenses, I'll assume you have 1.6 like I do on my 550D which would bring this lens to a '20-70' (not stopping to do math lol)
  
  This lens is used for 'walking around' you can get some wide angle and some good portraits with it. It's very flexible.
  
  
  
• Cheaper Tamron alternative to the Canon above
  
  
• The baddest mo-fo, the Canon 70-200 F/2.8 IS L II
  
  This lens is very pricey. Look at Tamron to save the most money (I vouch for it) or Sigma for a little more, but less than the Canon.
  
  Remember with crop ratio that changes the FL of a lens! Figure out if yo have one or not.
  
  Simple rules of thumb? Save money. Wherever possible. But, always get the best glass you can afford. Glass is greater than body.
  
  Hope this helps - if it does please pay this comment forward, it took a lot of typing so feel free to share with other people in similar questions :D

I wrote an article on intro DSLR kits on Amazon. I wouldn't bother unless you bundled them with your camera.

They're definitely crappy extra toys, but they may help you learn more about photography (by showing you how things make your image quality worse); but they also were kind of fun at the beginning and encouraged me to get out and shake the bugs off and dig into learning how to shoot good photos (and how extra toys don't really help). Everyone takes shitty photos at the start anyway, so you're not missing much; and it's not a ton of extra money over grabbing a body/kit lens/good SD card; but if you already have your camera kit, you can skip it for sure.

DO NOT USE THOSE TRIPODS!

Those are strong enough for point and shoot cameras at most. Especially with a telephoto lens, the tilt arm is likely to fail and it'll fall on sensitive optical mechanics. Those are in the $10 price range. Spend at the very least closer to $30 on a tripod, and a $100-ish tripod will be a safe, and useful tool to use with your precision imaging equipment.

tl;dr - Sure, it's a waste of a little money, but they can be kind of fun toys. Burn the tripod.

Stuff I'd suggest getting:

• 2-3 nice SD cards: Class 10, 32-64 GB each
  
  
• Another few cheaper (but still fast) SD cards: 4-8 GB
  
  
• Solid tripod. $30 or $100 is well worth the money
  
  
• Rocket blower. Avoid touching the lens, whenever possible and never touch the sensor. A lens cloth should be plenty. Avoid being tempted to use a wet cleaning kit on the lens or the sensor if possible
  
  
• I love my big, cheap camera bag. I have 3 lenses, and a speedlight and this is perfect for me. I wear it across my chest and carry it on my lower back where it's out of the way and easy to deal with 95% of the time.
  
  
• An Intervalometer that matches your camera
  
  
• Manual flash that can tilt & swivel
  
  
• Flash triggers are fun and work great with those cheap $10 tripods. Check Strobist.com for great tutorials and inspiration
  
  
• Flash gels can be fun creative tools too. Can you tell I'm getting into playing with off-camera speedlights?

Hello everybody. I know there's probably not much you can do to help me with my current dilemma, but I really appreciate your help.

So here's the deal: I have about $200 to spend on lenses, and I have two I'm deciding between. They have very different purposes, quality, and benefits. I can't decide which one I'll use more. Here they are.

• Canon 40mm f/2.8
  
  For this, the benefits are that it is very small, and very light. I'm going to Iceland soon, and I feel like having a small, very portable lens might be a really big benefit. Also, the image quality is supposed to be pretty good.
  
  On the other hand, that focal length is already covered by my 18-55mm kit lens. Is the image quality really good enough to justify spending $160?
  
  
• Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS II
  
  This has a great zoom range, and is perfect for taking pictures of cycling, my other hobby. However, it's really big.
  
  
  
  Which should I get?
  I know you can't solve my problems for me, but do you have any advice? In case it's important, I currently have a Canon t3i with 18-55mm kit lens.

• For containers I just use 1 pint cheap plastic containers that soups come in or deli give you. I guess you can find a nice piece of Tupperware that is about that size, and a taller one for taller prints. You could probly just ask the Deli guys at a food store for a few empty 1 pint containers + lids.
  
  
  • 2 containers - one with pure IPA and one with clean water. Good lids that won't leak.
    
    
• 91% or 99% IPA for cleaning your build plate / resin vat / scraping tools / desk / etc. and for using in the print wash container. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01ABPUGH0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  
• More gloves: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CF49NJS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 My palm width is about 3.6 inches / 9.2 cm and I bought the XL which fit ok.
  
  
• More paint strainers: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HQELZ7E/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  
• Better removal tools: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01A81FXMK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  
• Also get some Xacto knives + extra blades + sand paper sheets in varying grit 300-400 count for smoothing off support marks. https://www.amazon.com/X-Acto-XZ3601-X-ACTO-Knife-Safety/dp/B005KRSWM6/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1527015690&sr=8-6&keywords=xacto+blade
  
  Try to find the flexible sand paper sheets that are meant to be hand-used. I found them in Loews 3m brand, this is the exact type of sheets i use: https://www.amazon.com/3M-COMPANY-28320SB-UF4-320G-Sandpaper/dp/B00PPD1CYA/ref=sr_1_7?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1527015867&sr=8-7&keywords=sandpaper+320+grit+3m
  
  
• Find a source for cheap paper towels. I use the real cheap paper towels that you find in bathrooms, the stuff that's really stiff and crappy. I don't use name brands such as Bounty or whatever because the higher quality kitchen paper towels leave behind bits of cloth dust, which is unwanted for cleaning the resin vat / build plate / LCD screen. You'll also go through shitloads of paper towels and the higher quality towels are a waste of money. https://imgur.com/7XeelfV
  
  
• Get a couple sunglasses cleaning cloths. Not the microfiber cloths with the consistency of a bathroom towel: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009L77OXE/ref=sspa_dk_detail_4?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B009L77OXE&pd_rd_wg=OcvWJ&pd_rd_r=3AAAFBB1202BXG3K8QN0&pd_rd_w=cwumx That's just an example - you can probly finder cheaper and better sized/quality towels such as: https://www.amazon.com/MagicFiber-Microfiber-Cleaning-Cloths-PACK/dp/B0050R67U0/ref=pd_bxgy_421_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0050R67U0&pd_rd_r=PR868R09NE2DQCC8NBVQ&pd_rd_w=0uPs5&pd_rd_wg=eAMNx&psc=1&refRID=PR868R09NE2DQCC8NBVQ
  
  I use these cloths on the LCD screen and the resin vat FEP sheet. After cleaning the resin vat FEP sheet and the LCD with paper towels, I give them a nice polish with the cleaning cloth to remove any other smudges or dust. Make sure to have a cloth dedicated to ONLY the LCD screen, as you want the keep the LCD screen pristine and free of dust and smudges.
  
  You'll also want a print curing station to harden the prints once they have been cleaned. I bought:
  
  
• A plastic cookie jar; clear plastic, round: https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/oxo-good-grips-reg-3-piece-pop-canister-set/3262796?categoryId=12605
  
  
• UV LED Light Strip: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075ZQZDBR/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  
• Heavy duty tape, such as duct tape or gorilla tape. I used black gorilla tape.
  
  
• Aluminum Foil
  
  

1. Wrap the LED strip around the plastic container to this effect: https://imgur.com/oB98Qxl . Make sure you wrap so that the power cable connector will be at the bottom of the container. Make sure you secure the beginning and the end of the LED strip to container with a piece of tape.
   
   
2. Wrap the LED'd container with aluminum foil - shiny side facing inward. Lay out a long piece of foil on the floor, shiny side facing up, just enough to cover the container's length once. Secure the beginning of the foil piece with a piece of tape, and then secure the end of the foil. Try to wrap without causing creases in the foil, keeping the foil as shiny and smooth as possible. Make sure your power cable plug in point is popping out and able to be plugged in.
   
   
3. Secure a piece of foil to the base, shiny side facing inward.
   
   
4. Secure a piece of foil to the lid, shiny side inward. Take a piece of tape and make a 2-sticky-sided loop to secure the foil. Make sure the foil is not interfering with the lid's ability to securely close.
   
   
5. Wrap the whole thing with your gorilla or duct tape. Make sure your power cable plug-in point is popping out and able to be plugged in.
   
   

Hello all, Need equipment advice on what to purchase URGENTLY

Requirements: Photos for Website and Print for local magazine start up.
Budget: $500 - $800
Preferably from Amazon as we have an Amazon credit card which will enable us to finance. We will use this subreddits affiliate link!

Background/Why we need:
So while the magazine will have dedicated photographers on staff eventually or hired for certain events, to start up me and my business partner need a DSLR to get us started. Although we will eventually have more experienced photographers on board who will have lots of equipment, we still want something that will grow with us, not something too outdated. Video is not a huge concern for us as we have a 4k camcorder. However we will use the DSLR for some limited video shooting. To ensure there isn't glaring differences if we were doing a two camera shoot, SD video will probably not work.

Experience:
I have taken some college level photography classes, but it was a while ago and I have forgotten most of it. We are both quick learners though but "auto focus" and different "camera modes" will be a must.

Needs/what will be shooting:
Lots of "around town" photo shooting in a sunny beach town.
The ability to shoot sports/fast moving images (i know lenses play into this)
standard photography of people we feature in stories
low light environments (we will be shooting a lot of different things in night, so a built in flash/low light capability will be big)

We would like to find a bundle package that includes at least a two lenses. Please keep this in mind.

While most of it will be going online, we need quality good enough for print (non glossy newspaper)

So that's our needs. Please please offer us some help as we have interviews with some people we are featuring starting next week and we also have some stories that require us to compile some general photos of the area we are writing about.

Please let us know what would be best for us to get, remember we want something that will last and grow with us.
What we have looked at so far: although it's all Canon that we are linking, its purely what we have looked at on amazon so far, we are in no way saying we only want canon suggestions

Canon T5i 18-55mm IS STM Lens + Kit Includes, 58mm HD Wide Angle Lens + 2.2x Telephoto Lens + 2Pcs 32GB Commander Card + Battery Grip + Extra Battery + Backpack Case
link here


Canon EOS Rebel T6i DSLR CMOS Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM Lens Bundle (from canon so I imagine all bundle equipment is quality.
link here


Canon T6I EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM Lens + Slave Flash + 58mm Wide Angle and Telephoto Lenses + 32GB Deluxe Accessory Bundle (Are those extra lens' crap?)
link here


Canon EOS Rebel T6i DSLR Video Creator Kit with 18-55mm & 55-250mm Lens + 32GB Accessory Bundle - Another accesorry kit, but shockingly cheaper price for the t6i
link here


Canon EOS Rebel T6 DSLR Camera Bundle with Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II Lens + Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Lens*

• Now the second lens that this kit includes would be good for sports shots right?
  
  
  Another Rebel T6 This one with other bundles but what caught our eye is the wide angle lenses it includes, however are we right in thinking they are not official canon lenses?
  link here
  
  
  Please help us guys! We are needing to be able to start shooting photography for articles already being written and for interviews coming up next week!
  
  All help will be greatly appreciated!

(This was orignally a post, but got removed by a mod because of the sub's rules)

Hey,

First off I'd like to state that even though I've been shooting for 5 years on the regular and know how to operate a camera and frame a photo, photography wise, I still see myself as one hell of a beginner.

Post-processing (heavy composites) have always been more of my thing, and a decent camera has always been essential to having good material to work on for later in PS.

What I presently own :

• Canon EOS Rebel XSi - 18–55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS (What I've been shooting with for the past 5 years)
  
• 2 X Neewer TT560 Flash Speedlite
  
• Reflectors / Stands / Tripods
  
• Wireless remote
  
  What I'm looking for :
  
  I'm still looking to do some studio-type photography and get better at it (might be keeping my Canon for that), but as of now, I'm looking to get into street photography. I live in the heart of Toronto and there's a lot of nice things to shoot here!
  
  My budget :
  
  My budget is between $1000-$1200. I'm okay with buying used.
  
  My research so far :
  
  I've started going through this sub 3 weeks ago, doing lots of research. It got me a little intimidated (hence this post's 1st paragraph), until I started to feel the community's love for the Fujifilm X100S. Reading on it, I started to like a lot of things about the X100S, but as time went on, I began to feel pretty underwhelmed when I saw the photos it produced (and I saw a lot). It just felt like... the feel of the photos (35mm lens maybe) wasn't the right fit for me(?). Can't put my finger on it.
  
  Shortly after, I started to read up on the Fujifilm X-E2 and that's when I started to really love the vibe and feel of a Fuji camera, even with its 18-55mm lens. So as of now, this is what I'd like to go with.
  
  I'm reading a lot about full-frame cameras and a lot of people suggesting to invest in new glass, and as much as I agree, I'd really much like to go with a new camera completely.
  
  Question :
  
  So, with that said, I come to you and ask; what the hell should I be buying? Stick with Canon, get my hands on a Fuji/Nikon...? If it's of any help, my Instagram account might give you a better idea of what I like to do shoot for now: http://instagram.com/justinleduc
  
  Thanks!
  

> do you guys think the AW will go any lower than 849.99 (price on microcenter)?

Watch /r/buildapcsales. This monitor gets posted almost weekly. $849.99 is fairly common, but we've seen a few posts in the last month or so where it's gone a little lower. Here's a few recent but expired examples:

• [$799.99 2 weeks ago via Newegg] (https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/comments/9thwf2/monitor_dell_alienware_aw3418dw_34_curved_1440p/)
  
• [$799 3 weeks ago via Google Express] (https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/comments/9rq1uq/monitor_alienware_aw3418dw_799_20_off_with_coupon/)
  
• [$829 about a month ago via Amazon] (https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/comments/9jjqco/monitor_dell_alienware_aw3418dw_829_25_3440x1440p/)
  
• [$829 about a month ago via Best Buy] (https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/comments/9jb39z/monitor_aw3418dw_829_bestbuy/)
  
  I personally think that Black Friday through Cyber Monday will see this thing hit $799 again, possibly $779 for a new record low. Here's hoping!
  
  Dell online will also price match most national retailers and etailers. I got Dell to price match Microcenter since there is no MC near me (I think they sold it online too, but Dell's online returns are as easy as Amazon).
  
  > , but wondering if colorimeters usually go on sale— especially with Black friday coming up
  
  Prices fluctuate, but I haven't noticed any big sales recently. As per my other post, here's the 3 to watch out for and their current Amazon prices.
  
  
• [Datacolor Spyder5EXPRESS - $129.00] (https://smile.amazon.com/Datacolor-Spyder5EXPRESS-Designed-Hobbyist-Photographers/dp/B00UBSL2TO)
  
• [X-Rite ColorMunki Display - $151.92] (https://smile.amazon.com/X-Rite-ColorMunki-CMUNDIS-Accuracy-Calibration/dp/B0055MBQOM)
  
• [X-Rite i1Display Pro - $244.77] (https://smile.amazon.com/X-Rite-i1Display-Pro-Display-Calibration/dp/B0055MBQOW)
  
  Checking CCC for the price history on those, here's what I'm seeing.
  
  
• The Spyder hit $79.99 last black Friday, and again around Christmas. It typically goes for $120-$130. The current price is near the high. I'd wait.
  
• The ColorMunki hit $89.95 around the holidays last year, and typically goes for $150-$170. Aside from those big sales, the current price is fairly decent.
  
• The i1Display Pro hit $159 during the holidays last year. It typically goes for $205-$260, and the current price is near the high end.
  
  If you have to buy today, the ColorMunki is the best value when compared to the other options, and compared to historical prices. If you can wait until the holidays, they all should hit some fairly low prices. I'd still recommend the ColorMunki as I feel it's the best consumer home-use colorimeter, but some like to splurge for the i1DisplayPro as it's a better long term option for multi-device calibration due to the better build quality, durability, and faster sensor.

Hello :-)


1) Eyepieces

Are you wearing glasses, do you have astigmatism, what eyepieces do you have (from your other telescopes)?


2-3mm exit pupil can be nice for many deep-sky objects.

• Depends on your budget, this could be a 15mm Gold line, a Explore Scientific 82° or even one of the 100° eyepieces... Something wide-field is nice.
  
  And of course just something lower magnification to enjoy wide-field. But depending on the light pollution conditions, do not go over 6-7mm exit pupil. Estimate how dark your sky is.
  
  
• So, a 36mm-42mm 2" wide-angle eyepiece can be very nice to have as overview eyepiece. E.g. the cheaper Erfle (70°, Explore-Scientific, GSO, q70, SWAN...) can work fine, or the more expensive Explore-Scientific 82° if you are willing to spend a bit more. Depending on the wide-angle eyepiece, these will show around 5°, while a 32mm 1.25" Plössl shows a maximum of almost 3° (which is still nice, and at $22.50 for the eyepiece, a lot cheaper).
  
  Despite it being an ED refractor, don't do it magnification wise. Less 1mm exit pupil does not gain much detail anyway.
  
  
• 7.5mm eyepiece 1mm exit pupil, 80x magnification, but you could get a 6mm (gold line $24-$35), 7mm82° Luminos, or 6.7mm (Explore-Scientific 82° ~$150) for example.
  
  80mm is limited for visual regarding magnification and seeing faint deep-sky objects due to the small aperture. Personally, I would enjoy the wide-field the most! :-)
  
  .
  
  (Exit pupil = eyepiece focal length divided by aperture ratio of the telescope)
  
  
  .
  
  
  2) Night vision
  
  Night vision reaches ~30 minutes to reach it's peak and is destroyed within a second. Use a dim(able) red light when reading maps. Cellphones with back-lit displays can ruin night vision even in red/night mode, but there are deep transparency sheets to cover your display.
  
  Eye patches can help and are cheap, you can get them at drug stores, pharmacies.
  
  For planets, you do not need to adjust to the darkness. In fact, the planets and especially the moon can be so bright they will ruin your night vision for DSO observations as well.
  
  .
  
  3) Astrophotography with iphone
  
  Consider getting a (used) DSLR.
  
  For a cellphone, you will need a holder to attach it to the telescope or eyepiece (random link, untested). You will need to take images through the eyepiece. It's easier with low magnification eyepieces as the exit pupil makes it easier to align the phone. Do not use the phone's digital zoom.
  
  Get an App with more advanced camera settings (not owning an iphone, I don't know if that advice applies to Mac-o-phones and how good the camera settings are regarding exposure and such).
  
  Use manual focus (or set to infinity) so you don't have to worry about varying sharpness.
  Also see http://www.universetoday.com/118527/iphone-astrophotography-how-to-take-amazing-images-of-the-sky-with-your-smartphone-tonight/
  
  Bright objects (moon, planets) are possible, deep-sky is limited to the brighter objects (Andromeda, Orion nebula, but especially star clusters such as h&chi Persei, Plejads... Double stars such as Albireo).
  
  .
  
  4) GoTo
  
  Not having that mount, I'll leave that to someone else. A quick search revealed a lot of videos for that particular mount on Youtube though.
  
  .
  
  5)
  
  I would separate the telescope from the mount, put the telescope in a bag.
  
  
  .
  
  Good luck, clear skies! :-)

• I'm probably posting a cliche photography gift here but I absolutely love mine: Lens Mug
  
  
  
• Can't go wrong with a BlackRapid Strap
  
  
  
• If your brother takes a lot of landscapes and doesn't already have this must have tool in his gear which he should: Camera Remote Timer
  
  
  
• If he's always on the go and seems struggle w/ carrying his tripod everywhere, I recommend getting him a Gorilla Pod
  
  
• If he doesn't already have a great backpack for travelling while he is shooting his landscapes, I recommend Amazons Backpack for holding his gear. It's essentially a generic version of Canon's basic backpack.
  
  
  You can also find some fairly cheap "like new" film cameras on Craigslist along with some film.
  Film cameras are the best and it will probably be very nostalgic to the person you are gifting it to.
  
  
  I'm making the assumption that he has a Canon DSLR but you can find most of this gear if he has something like a Nikon, Sony, etc... One thing I love to receive to as a photography gift is more batteries! I use to shoot a lot of landscapes and I could never have enough of these.
  
  Anyways, hopefully you find something for your brother! Good luck!

I've done video on a few road trips so hopefully I can offer some direct advice, though my stuff was all self shot. I still do a lot of video so I'm up to date.

1. Don't buy the Sigma 24-70 lens. It doesn't appear to be stabilized and it's way too much of an investment for video. You need stabilization for a run and gun DSLR video lens, and the lens doesn't have to be nearly as top notch as it does for photos. I would recommend something like a kit lens for most shots. Use the 35 for night shots, but the lack of stabilization will make it jittery.
   
   
2. I'd personally recommend a GoPro over an MHD Action Camera, though I haven't really used the MHD. You don't save much and the GoPro has a better codec that can be more easily graded and brought into a DSLR film.
   
   
3. Grab a dead cat or similar for your Rode - makes a huge difference using it in windy conditions. Seems expensive but means much less work cleaning up sound in post.
   
   
4. The NEEWER 160 is a great panel, but consider grabbing two so you can mount one on camera and use a second as a fill/etc. Also these will come in super handy if you need to do any work outside under your car at night and whatnot. ;) Grab a big pack of AA lithiums or a couple sets of Eneloops and a big charger depending on what you can do. Worth it to have some thick white cloth you can put over the panel to soften it and use as a fill during the day as well.
   
   
5. If you need a heavy duty tripod, this has been fantastic for me. Very high quality for the price. If you want something smaller I've also had great luck with this little guy, it's a beast. It easily manages my 5D3 with a 70-200, so the D5200 will be fine, it's just a little less stable in wind/vibration.
   
   
6. I would recommend a small cage at the least. You can mount the light panel and microphone and still be able to get a decent grip on your camera. I don't shoot video without the cage, even if I just have a couple handles screwed into it. I don't like shoulder rigs personally, but a cage makes holding onto a rig much more stable and secure. I shot this using just a cage and a 24mm IS lens, with a 7" screen mounted on top and the only camera shake is when I'm sprinting and even that isn't bad compared to fully handheld.
   
   Don't forget to practice a lot and mess around, and during the trip make sure that if you think about it, you capture it. Every time I edit video from a trip I find myself remembering things that I wished I had filmed.

A macro tube lens is usually a series of adapters that will fit onto your lens that gives some extra space between the sensor/mirror and the inside glass of the lens (closest to your body.)

For example, shooting with my 18-135 IS II lens, I have a minimal focusing distance of 1.5 feet. So even when I have it zoomed out to 135 mm, I wont be close enough to get truly macro shots of my watches. You can see in my 500px profile some shots taken with a variety of lenses, but none of them would be considered macro shots.

I bought a Fotodiox macro tube off of Amazon that has three individual extenders and connectors for both lens and body sides of the extender. You can mix and match these tubes for a desired effect, but what it ultimately allowed me to do was focus very closely on my subject, and the far end of the lens was only about three inches from the face/backs of the watches.

Some tips/warnings:

• Make sure you stop down your aperture and slow down your shutter speeds. These tubes will give you an incredibly narrow DOF and will darken your image substantially. Go into full manual and adjust accordingly, and have abundant lighting
  
• Make sure to use a tripod or set the camera down and do a continuous shot burst to get a clear image. Due to the adjustments above, you will need to do some work to make the image come out clear enough for your liking
  
• You will lose AF functions on many tubes. There are some high-end adapters that will allow the AF function and aperture settings to pass through the adapter, but these cheap $12 options won't allow for this. Full manual focus, full manual settings, but a fully unique shot you setup entirely yourself.
  
• Support your lenses, especially if you're using a long lens. These connectors seems strong enough to me, but I wouldn't trust a $12 adapter to hang on to a $500+ piece of glass without my hands firmly underneath it or the camera/lens resting safely on a table. This goes for tripod shots as well, make sure you support it if at all possible, or know the risks if you don't.
  
  Anyway, I hope these tips provide another cheaper option for those of you who want to take closeup shots of movements and watch details, but don't want to spend the money on a dedicated macro lens.
  
  For further information, this youtube video demonstrates a lot of the same points I made above, and demonstrates the capabilities. NOTE: The tubes That Nikon Guy uses in this video are for Nikon, and are of a much higher quality, electronic pass through variety, at least I think so based on his comments.
  
  Enjoy!

Hi there. This is a genuine antique Japanese sword. Specifically, it's a [hira-zukuri](#t "flat cross section") [wakizashi](#t "short sword"). Please read my owner's guide for details on care, photography, appraisal and restoration. In particular, we will need more (and specific) photos of the blade. Mounts and blades are related but separate topics.

The fittings are typical middling-level Edo period (1603-1868) work; the [fuchi](#t "reinforcing metal collar on the hilt") and [kashira](#t "metal cap on the end of the hilt") done in [shakudo](#t "a black alloy of copper and gold") [nanako](#t "lit. fish roe, many small dots hand-punched") have suffered some white/green corrosion suggesting this piece has been stored in a wet environment (garage?). The [menuki](#t "palm ornaments") are interesting, a gold basket and something else in shakudo? I can't quite see (also you've shown them upside-down). Again a bit of corrosion in the shakudo. The [tsuba](#t "hand guard") looks to be an iron example — as is common — with a pictorial scene; I am not an expert in iron tsuba, so you may want to post in the tosogu forum of the Nihonto Message Board for an assessment of which school/tradition this piece would fall into. Finally, the [habaki](#t "metal reinforcing wedge that marries the blade to the scabbard") looks to be two-piece silver, usually these are silver jacket over copper but we can't see based on these photos. [Saya](#t "scabbard") is a typical black lacquered piece, totally standard.

As to the blade: please read the guide I linked above and get us the photos listed therein, especially of the tang. The patina on the tang, file marks, shape, peg holes, everything tells a story — and with any luck, there'll be a signature we can cross-reference against records. Oh, and please carefully wipe down the blade with a microfiber cloth, e.g. camera cloth to clean off any smudges and the like so we get the best results from the pics. But don't do anything to harm the existing polish! Simply wiping with a dry microfiber cloth is sufficient.

However, even without that, I can tell you a couple things. Unless I'm mistaking smudges or oil or something for hamon, the thing that immediately stands out is the wandering, randomized, patchy splashes of [hamon](#t "martensitic white edge steel from differential quenching") in the pattern known as hitatsura. That pattern is classically associated with the Soshu (Sagami province) school of classical smithing, one of the five major categorizations of Japanese smithing traditions. Also, a broad (profile) but thin (cross-section) hira-zukuri wakizashi is typical of this school. They tended to do a higher-temperature heat treatment resulting in the formation of nie, coarse visible martensitic particles which form various aggregate structures and effects in the steel. Done well, it's very prized and beautiful; done poorly, it's seen as a bit uncontrolled. The difference is subtle and I wouldn't venture a final guess on quality from just these photos, but it looks decent if not exactly masterful.

My gut feeling right now is that we are looking at a sue-Soshu (late Soshu) piece, 1500s or later, by one of the Tsunahiro 綱廣 line. They are decent swords but most of the later generations are not masterpieces or exceptionally valuable. You can see some representative examples, some in hitatsura, here / here / here and here. This is a significant guess on my part, I practice kantei (a "blind" appraisal game) but am not exactly a master at it. I'm more thinking out loud than making an actual appraisal right now. Let's get that hilt off and see the tang!

I don't have a whole lot of experience with the built in flash as when I used it I didn't have much luck with it. It isn't very powerful but I have seen youtube videos showing how you can use it some what effectively. If you are using the kit lens you can use it straight on but if you have a longer lens, such as a Sigma 16mm, the barrel of the lens is so long that it gets in the way of the flash make the built in flash unusable unless you point it upwards and bounce it off the ceiling or such (again i'll refer you to youtube for more research on that). If you are looking for a cheap alternative to the built in flash I highly recommend a cheap $30 flash off Amazon (maybe even cheaper with the Amazon Day deals going on right now) and a cheap LED light for photography for extra light. I personally have this flash (for $30.99) and this LED light (for $34.59).

​

There are a few scenarios in which I use these lights.

1. If I am indoors and there is some ambient light I will typically just use the flash on the a6000 which I then mount the a6000 on a tripod. It is great for group photos as I am still able to hit my focus, use a low ISO (typically 100), and not have to use f1.4 or f2. Typically your lens will be sharper around that F4-6 range in my experience.
   
   ​
   
   
2. If the room you are shooting in has no good natural light source or poor lighting and you want to use an ISO of 100 and etc I will use the LED light as my main light source. I find a constant light source gives my camera the ability to find the proper focus as the a6000 seems to have trouble finding focus when it is very dark. So if your camera can't hit the proper focus a flash won't really help all that much. Nobody wants a well lit photo that is out of focus.
   
   ​
   
   
3. Then you can also use them in combo. You can use the LED light as a constant light source and flash if you wish.
   
   ​
   
   I will say if I am taking photos of animals or people I never use the LED light as the constant light source can be overwhelmingly bright on the eyes where as the flash is just a quick, well, flash of light. So shooting stills might be best to use an LED light of sorts in your scenario. Again this is my experience of a hobbyist photographer AND if you want to do it on a small budget, by no means am I a professional and I always recommend people to do their own research on how to use their camera properly as there is great videos and guides out there from known professionals.

Hi /u/griel1o1 - it's taken me several years and a lot of trial and error - but I have put together a little studio that works. Using what I've learned, you can put together a complete production studio for less than $1000. Here is what I recommend [Referral Links]:

CAMERA:

• [Panasonic DMC-G6 camera with kit lens - $710] (http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?icep_ff3=2&pub=5575034783&toolid=10001&campid=5337235943&customid=&icep_item=201073493366&ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=229466&kwid=902099&mtid=824&kw=lg). This is the best value for money large sensor, interchangeable lens camera with a video-capable viewfinder, hours of continuous recording and a mic jack below $1000. Links below the equipment list show what this camera can do. DSLRs such as the Canon T2i/T3i/T4i/T5i have viewfinders that go blank when you switch to video mode (blocked by the mirror, which is useless for filmmaking). This forces you to use the LCD for composition and focus - which can be a chalenge outdoors, where the LCD can be washed out by bright sunlight. Many Canon shooters buy expensive LCD viewfinders or Electronic Viewfinders (EVFs) to shoot outdoors. The G6, on the other hand, has a built-in EVF - so outdoor shooting is not a problem.
  
  DSLRs are also limited to 12-30 minutes of continuous recording before they have to be restarted. The G6 can record for hours continuously, without interruption. This can be very helpful for long interviews and speeches.
  
  This camera is also compatible with power zoom lenses, when you can afford them. There are no affordable power zoom lenses for low-end Canon DSLRs.
  
  SUPPORT:
  
  
• [Ravelli AVTP Professional Tripod - $130] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00139W0XM/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00139W0XM&linkCode=as2&tag=battleforthew-20). I own this tripod, and it is professional quality, with a 75mm bowl - which allows you to level the camera without adjusting the legs. A huge time saver.
  
  AUDIO:
  
  
• [2 Rode Smart Lavs to plug into iPhones - $120] (http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?icep_ff3=2&pub=5575034783&toolid=10001&campid=5337235943&customid=&icep_item=181244511796&ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=229466&kwid=902099&mtid=824&kw=lg) With the [free Rode Rec LE App] (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/r-de-rec-le/id590021166?mt=8), you can plug these mics into iPhones, sync the audio tracks in the editing suite, and have a pro quality recording solution without buying an external recorder.
  
  
• [SmartLav to camera adapter - $17] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L6C8PNU/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00L6C8PNU&linkCode=as2&tag=battleforthew-20). For shots where you need to plug one of the lavs directly into the camera.
  
  LIGHTING:
  
  
• [LimoStudio 3 point Umbrella Lighting Kit - $50] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005FHZ2SI/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B005FHZ2SI&linkCode=as2&tag=battleforthew-20)
  
  TOTAL STUDIO COST:
  
  $1027
  
  Here is the image quality this camera can produce:
  
  Documentary:
  
  http://vimeo.com/97274302
  
  http://vimeo.com/73561266
  
  http://vimeo.com/87978429
  
  http://vimeo.com/78507820
  
  Narrative:
  
  http://vimeo.com/78037118
  
  http://vimeo.com/81339712
  
  Music Video:
  
  http://vimeo.com/88584840
  
  http://vimeo.com/84436275
  
  Slow Motion/Sport:
  
  http://vimeo.com/76503135
  
  Travel Video:
  
  http://vimeo.com/88543042
  
  http://vimeo.com/86145944 (shot with a power zoom lens)
  
  Compared to the $3000 Canon 5D Mark III: http://vimeo.com/82318903
  
  There are many more examples on the Panasonic G6 channel I moderate over on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/groups/dmcg6
  
  It's a pretty good still camera too:
  
  https://www.flickr.com/groups/lumix-g6/pool/
  
  https://www.flickr.com/groups/2217639@N20/
  
  Hope this is helpful and saves you some time and money!
  
  Bill
  

Hey, I've been shooting some of the cassettes with /u/killallmusic above. Heres some tips. First, as others have said, OFF CAMERA FLASH IS ESSENTIAL. That goes for any product photography. By far, the best bang for you buck is the Yongnuo IV and the wireless trigger to make it sync here. They are fully manual so no TTL (which is a feature of more expensive flashes that auto set the flash output to the available light) but I'm a big fan of learning strobe photography with manual flashes. You'll get way better way faster and there are a MILLION places online to read flash tutorials to get you started and plenty of video guides to get these flashes synced with the controller. On top of that, another absolutely essential part is some sort of diffuser. Softboxes are most often recommended. I use the following with my shots. These are both very nice pieces of gear and you can definitely find cheaper options that will do just fine on eBay and Amazon. You can get away with 1 for sure but I usually end up using two sources, one for a key light and one for a fill to add texture back to the shadows. As for actually shooting cassettes, your biggest problem will be glare. Any light hitting at a 45 degree angle to your lens will cause a flare so just adjust your angle of the tape or flash until you get rid of the glare. Last tip, when it comes to light, the closer a source is, the softer the light will be. That might sound backwards but its true. So get that flash all up in its business as close as you can to the product. Check out the Strobist blog for an amazing flash primer course. Trial and error is the name of the game. You can see some examples at http://killallmusic.storenvy.com. The Coutoux and Jay Pray tapes were shot with the exact gear and method I listed above. Happy shooting!

I'm far from an expert, but I have a 7D, and I can tell you a few things to consider.

• A 7D has a crop (APS-C) sensor, whereas the 5D has a Full Frame Sensor. The difference being that any lens you put on a 7D is going to be zoomed in by 1.6x compared to the 5D. See here. In other words, a 50mm lens on a 7D is going to act like an 80mm lens would on the 5D. Full frame sensors have a more shallow depth of field, too, which may or may no be desirable with video. Shallow DoF looks nice, but you really have to be precise when focusing.
  
  
• Both the 7D and 5D have fixed LCD view screens. The 60D, which is like a cheaper version of the 7D, has a flip out screen, so you can see what you are filming when you are in front of the camera. An alternative would be using a laptop or tablet to as an eternal monitor. Honestly, if video was my focus, I would go with the 60D. 7D is better for still photography, though. Just my opinion.
  
  
• The 7D, 5D and 60D do not have continuous focus for video, like what you are probably used to on a regular video camera. That means you have to manual focus with the focus rings on the lens, as you are filming. It gets easier with a lot of practice. The only Canon dSLR that I know of that has continuous focus on video is the Rebel T4i, which is quite a down grade from either of the previous. Also, the only lens that I know of that is compatible with continuous focus (so far) is the 40mm Pancake lens. That's a good, cheap lens to have in your arsenal, though.
  
  
  
• The 5D does not have a built in flash, but that probably doesn't matter to you, if you are only doing video. Either way, I would get a speedlight if you need a flash. I have used my pop up in a pinch, though. All the other models I mentioned do have a flash.
  
  
• Other people are likely to have different opinions, but some cheap starter lenses I would consider are; Canon 50mm ƒ/1.8 (Nifty Fifty), Canon 40mm ƒ/2.8 (Pancake Lens), and Tamron 17-50mm ƒ/2.8 (great, fast lens for video for the price IMO).
  
  Again, I cannot stress enough, that I am not as experienced as many of the photographers in this subReddit, so if they have differing opinions, you may want to consider theirs over mine. I hope I could help a little, at least.
  
  EDIT: Changed the order of my comments.

Your best bet if you want to shoot the night sky at a budget is look for refurbished or used units (on the net - Amazon, Cameta, or your local classifieds.) From a very quick browse, if you want a dedicated night sky shooter, then the Nikon D3300 (refurb $295 from Cameta) and the Rokinon f2.8 14mm = 21mm equivalent ($279 new from Amazon) will let you take amazing night photos. The Nikon D3300 is a great low light shooter - large sensor, paired with a solid image processor. The Rokinon gives a large field of view (equivalent to 80° horizontal) and is fairly fast at f2.8. With this setup, all that's needed is you going to a nice location with little light pollution, snapping away in raw, and then maybe doing some required post-processing.

Also note that I've seen way better deals for the D3300 - seen it at $250 with Kit Lens after discounts and cashback, new, you might be able to find something like that with the Black Friday sales. If you need a more general purpose lens then the Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 (~300 Amazon) is a great alternative to the Kit Lens - it's faster at f2.8 and slightly wider angle 25mm-75mm in 35mm equivalent. Also, you could look for an equivalent Canon DSLR (1200D from the top of my mind) with a similar lens. Good luck!

Edit: Also note that ultra wide angles <20mm are really expensive new. The 21mm will get you fantastic results, or if you want panoramas, then you might have to stitch pictures together - an entirely different topic!

Here is another picture of the sensor itself:

http://imgur.com/VJgtyLj

Here is the gear that I used:

Light Stands (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HNZJLG4/) - These things are great. Very easy to setup, very small base (can be expanded if you want, but the sensors are light and they seem very stable).

Mini Ball Heads (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M07M9D4) - Make for easier adjustment and greater tilting.

USB Cables (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C7SA21U/ - 10 ft, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C7S2FRE/ - 6 ft) - Passive were fine for the two sensors at that length.

Very happy to get these off my desk and higher up. I need to get my third sensor setup as well because the angle that they are pointing makes it tough to detect at the back of my play space (it's about 6 x 9).

Overall very happy with the setup and all the advice I received from this board. This is a really great community.

To add to what /u/bard108 said - the preview you seen on the back of the camera's LCD screen is a JPG that the camera processes on it's own according to whatever picture style you've got the camera set to.

jpg vs raw

If you are shooting in JPG mode only, then the files coming from the camera should look pretty close to that on screen preview when you pull them off of the memory card, however if you are working in RAW mode you need to actually use a raw converter (Lightroom, Adobe Camera RAW, Capture One, etc) to get the colors where you want them to be.

white balance
In a few of your images on your website, it appears that you are either using the wrong white balance setting, or you are shooting with auto-white balance and the camera is guessing wrong.

Here's an article about setting custom white balance with Nikon cameras: Setting White Balance

If you are shooting RAW, I recommend getting a pocket sized grey card and keeping it in your kit. Take one photo for each different lighting scenario, with the grey card near the center of the frame and then when you bring your photo in to your RAW processor you use the white balance dropper tool on the grey card to get a neutralized white balance.

Neutral white balance might not be where you want to live (some images feel better if they are warmer or cooler) but it's a starting point for your decision making.

color space

If you ARE shooting in JPG mode, pay attention to which color space your camera is using. Generally you'll have the option to use sRGB or Adobe1998.

Adobe1998 is better if you plan to do editing on the JPG once it leaves the camera, but if you want to just upload the images to flickr (or wherever) without doing any edits whatsoever then sRGB is a better choice.

Anything you want to upload to the web needs to be saved in the sRGB color space because most modern web browsers only really understand that colorspace. If you upload something in Adobe1998 or ProPhoto by accident you'll usually get a weird color cast. ie sometimes skin tones look greenish which is no bueno.

(I will say it doesn't look like this is your problem here though)

calibration

Now... lets talk about that iMac, and color calibration.

Most displays are not calibrated out of the box. The ones that are will cost upwards of $1500 (on the low end) just for the monitor... so what i'm saying is you are almost definitely working on a computer that doesn't have a calibrated display.

That means what you see on the screen will almost never be a close representation of what you will get if you make a print of the photos you're working on.

You actually need a device to calibrate your display, called a colorimeter. The process is pretty simple actually.

You need to set your display at the brightness you prefer working at, and make sure your mac is set to not automatically adjust display brightness because otherwise you'll never be able to realy know what the image's exposure looks like.

Once you've done that, you can run the calibration software process (which is 99% automated and not complex) about once every 2 weeks just to keep things in line.


TL;DR The images you posted to flickr just look as though you need to bump the saturation slider in photoshop/ACR just a bit honestly - but tread lightly. A little goes a long way.

You definitely have a lot of work to do in terms of learning post production and managing colors, but I definitely recommend that you do your best to start by having a calibrated display, and managing your camera's white balance setting - otherwise most of your time spent editing will be for naught.

Sorry, I didn't provide much background - Here is something I posted in an earlier thread
>
> My current equipment :
>
> 1. Camera : Canon T3i
> 2. Lenses : Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8, Canon 50mm f/1.8, Canon 55-250mm f/4.0-f/5.6
> 3. Tripod : Proline Dolica
> 4. Software : Photoshop CS3 and Lightroom 6
>
> Using these, I manage to get these : Album
>
> I want to further my astrophotography, but realize I would need better equipment to better these.
>
>
>
> Which of these would be best bang for my buck for a step forward with astrophotography?
>
> 1. A tracker : Ioptron SkyTracker OR Vixen Polarie
> 2. A good solid tripod and ball head
> 3. PixInsight software (Is there a cheap or free alternative to a $250 software? I tried DSS, but found it to be inconsistent with results)
>
> I know a good answer to this would be 'everything', but I can't get myself to spend a lot of $$ at this moment. I could spend a few hundred on one of these, and then at a later point re-evaluate.
>
> Thanks for hooking me into this awesome hobby!

Basically, I have already tried my hand at the milky way and the moon. Without a telescope or a longer zoom lens, I doubt I could do planetary photography. Once I convince myself to buy an Ioptron Skytracker, it could open me up to getting shots of the Pleiades cluster, Andromeda galaxy, Orion nebula. Hence my question.

So it just coincidence then, that all three of them are around the same part of the sky?

I think you are pretty good, I would pair down as others said rather then fill up. I would definitely leave the 50mm at home. Then if you think you would use it less the 20% of the time leave the Tokina behind since the coverage/aperture is pretty well covered by your 18-300. I love my Tokina but I really don't use it as much as I think so it's just weight in the bag.

You say you aren't concerned about weight but I always regret a lens by the end of a long day of walking around. I also often bring the lenses with me but then leave it in the hotel room, that way my fear of missing a lens is assuaged.

You didn't list it but I assume a charger in there, I got a small USB based one that is easier to manage then the bulky one you get with the camera for like 10 bucks that does the trick and it plugs into a big 4 port USB AC adapter with a Euro Plug that I got which let's me charge phones and ipads at the same time from one socket.

If $500 is burning a hole in your pocket. The one thing I sometimes carry with me is a a Point and Shoot or a little mirrorless. I have a OM-D EM 10 with a Panasonic 20mm 1.7 pancake that fits in my wife's purse for when we go out to dinner. Don't want to show up at a fancy restaurant looking like a tourist. Only to wish you could get a shot of the square outside. In fact one of my favorite shots I took in Croatia was like this and it's hanging on my wall right now. However nowadays I usually even leave that at the hotel because my phone can do almost the same thing.

Also you may want to look at the Sigma 17-50 2.8 walk around lens which can be had for 200-300 bucks and that could replace the 1.8's and the Tokina. Sure it's not as good as 1.8 but you get a fair amount of light and shave 3 lenses from your kit.

That $500 is better spent on a few great dinners for you and your wife, or a day trip to a different city IMHO.

Also, my wife and I have a new policy where at least one day of the trip I leave the camera gear in the hotel and just use my phone. It allows me to enjoy the day and spend time with her and my Daughter and not my gear. I really recommend it. The world doesn't NEED your personal take on Vienna : )

https://www.amazon.com/Sigma-17-50mm-Aperture-Standard-Digital/dp/B003A6NU3U/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1VNX8IBCB1S1K&keywords=sigma+17-50mm+f+2.8+nikon&qid=1558120352&s=gateway&sprefix=Sigma+17-%2Caps%2C194&sr=8-3

I am a beginning photographer and have a question regarding returning my first camera.

Around Christmas time I purchased this Canon T6 package as my first camera. I have never owned a DSLR before but I am quite interested in photography.


I have now found this Nikon D3400 package for the same price. It is sold on Ebay by what seems to be a very reputable seller. Doing some research shows the D3400 to be slightly better overall than the T6. Better ISO range, larger sensor, higher resolution, more focal points, battery life, and so on.

Would it be worth it to go through the hassle of returning my Canon T6 and instead purchasing the Nikon D3400. Although it is sold on Ebay it seems like a much much better deal overall and would be the best use of my money as an introductory camera.


Any advice would be appreciated! Considering lenses, use, purpose, or anything else that comes to mind. Thank you!

my suggestions:

1. For room-scale setup, a minimum play area of 2 m x 1.5 m (6 ft 6 in x 5 ft) is required. That's if you're up and walking around. If you have more space, great. If you are going to be seated, you don't require this. Definitely figure out how/where you're going to mount your lighthouses - I'd recommend camera mounts like this for a booth setup.
   
2. For your audience, I'd recommend Google Earth VR (it's free and awe-inducing - can be played seated), Tilt Brush (also awe-inducing but room scale), The Blu (solid short demo), Apollo 11 Experience (for history buffs), and Titans of Space 2.0 (can also be seated, and the sense of scale in this one is pretty incredible). As far as games go, I always go to Space Pirate Trainer and Lucky's Tale (via the Revive overlay, free still from the Oculus Store I think?) for people newer to VR. Careful if you don't have a lot of space with SPT, you don't want someone smacking innocent bystanders with a Vive wand.
   
3. I'm personally curious as to your ideas to incorporate VR into genealogy. I think the audience of VR enthusiasts here skew toward the gamer, but there's a lot of VR 'experiences' that I believe have only scratched the surface of the possibilities of VR.
   
4. Maybe /r/virtualreality/? I dunno, this is as good a place as any I think.

You can get these poles, which are 15$/pop, and just as good, but a little bit shorter.

I also recommend this style of camera mount instead of the solid mount you recommend. Affords you a little bit more flexibility in mounting, these cost quite a bit more, but are way more solid/flexible.

But yeah, these extendable poles are amazing. Super cheap, portable, real easy to use. Plus, chances are you have a local harbor freight, so you can get em faster if you really want to.

Hi ! My first camera was a canon 70D too ! A great all around camera especially if you are into videography. About what lenses you should get, you should definitely buy the nifty fifty, it is just a fantastic lens for its price !
If you are a video enthusiast, you should consider buying the Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 which has a great IQ, a nice optical stabilizer and a constant f2.8, video I made with the sigma+70d here.

Or if you can afford a canon lens, the equivalent that is this one.

Anyway, the 70D is probably one of the best camera out there to start. Make sure to read a lot of books about photography, exposure, etc.. And even consider joining /r/photoclass2017/ !

Have a great day !

I'm using a Orion Maksutov Cassegrain 90mm, https://www.telescope.com/Orion-Apex-90mm-Maksutov-Cassegrain-Telescope/p/9820.uts on a dobsonian mount, it's small enough to fit in my backback but has powerful magnification (has a 1250mm focal length).

I use a t-adapter to mount my camera right to the scope, no eye piece is used. it's called "prime focus" mode, it's simple and the light from the telescope falls directly on the film (or image sensor if youre using digital). Best way to go by far in re image quality.

HOWEVER, to get started, I think there is no better way than using ANY scope you can buy, and using your iphone/android with a camera mount: https://www.amazon.com/Gosky-Universal-Phone-Adapter-Mount/dp/B013D2ULO6/ref=zg_bs_3426051_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=YWC66GBKMH57CV86FY3W this approach is called "afocal imaging" which is fancy speak for "holding your phone against the eye piece"

Digital astrophotography is 10x easier than film astrophotography because you get instant feedback and can make adjustments on the fly. I do film because I love the "light falling on film" aspect of it. But I started out on digital and 99% of my astro-gear is digital.

re which telescope: really pick whatever you can find, and don't go to large. A 90mm reflector or reflector will be able to see the SAME exact things as a 135mm reflector...only REALLY large scopes can see very far into the universe, and large scopes require large 5 thousand dollar tripods to track the objects correctly for imaging...so it's all a moo point

any of these scopes + your phone would make a great set up: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=90mm+telescope&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

oh and check out craiglist, soooo many people get into telescopes for a month then sell them later dirt cheap.

love discussing this stuff, dm me if you have any q's

TL;DR: 220 for scope plus a t-adapter

What's the point of taking photographs that suck? Tricks and techniques that require a DSLR are mostly just tricks and they won't make a fundamentally bad photo any good. Shallow depth of field, or creative control of shutter speed won't fix a fundamentally poor composition. First get good.

You can get very good with just a phone. Lots of people spend big bucks on expensive cameras thinking it will let them take great pictures. It turns out you can take bad photos with any camera, and you can take great photos with just a phone. If I were in a photography club with only a phone camera, I would want to learn to take better pictures with it than my uncle/mom/friend/etc can take with their big expensive DSLRs. It's fun to win, especially when you're an underdog.

Anybody who is excels at anything, photography or otherwise, has mastered the fundamentals. There are no exceptions. Fortunately, you don't need fancy equipment to learn some of the more important fundamentals in photography: composition and lighting. It's a rare photo that is good, but lacking in one of those areas.

Composition is easy to learn and hard to master. Google around. Read about the rule of thirds, leading lines, and so on. Learn to do each one well. Take lots of different pictures using each techniques. Combine techniques. Then figure out when to break the rules, and thus learn why they are important. A phone will work just as well as a DSLR here. Your only real limitations are inability to control depth of field and inability to change your focal length, and those aren't so important. At least, it's easy to find situations where you don't need those particular tools.

Lighting is also important, but it seems to get less blog space than composition. You can learn all the important things about lighting with very little equipment. You also don't need to leave your boring classroom as long as you have people and stuff. Do portraits. Do well-lit product photography.

You can study lighting without flash. There's a lot you can do with just a window, or the sun and a wall, or a lamp you can move around. Dig up some scrap cardboard for a gobo. Cover it with white paper and you have a reflector. Cover it with tinfoil and you have a different kind of reflector. Rembrant didn't have a flash.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2nNxaBA6ss

On the other hand, if you have even a little money to spend, you could learn about off-camera flash, even with phone cameras. For $40-$60 on Amazon you can get a cheap but powerful hotshoe flash with an optical slave mode that you can probably trigger with a phone's LED flash. Hotshoe not required.

For example:

http://www.amazon.com/Yongnuo-YN-560-Speedlight-Flash-Nikon/dp/B0079M711S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416351709&sr=8-1&keywords=yn+560+ii

http://www.amazon.com/Neewer-Speedlite-Panasonic-Fujifilm-single-contact/dp/B004LEAYXY/ref=sr_1_federatedaps0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416351691&sr=8-1&keywords=flash

Add a mirror or your reflectors from above and your one light source becomes two or three. Clothespin a plain white T-shirt or tape a white plastic garbage bag to a bent wire clothes hanger and you've got a diffuser that works like a white umbrella. Attach a black plastic garbage bag to the back and now you've got a softbox with more control over the backscatter, so it doesn't bounce around the room and light up parts of your subject that you don't want lit. Just be sure not to enclose the whole flash body so you get enough light to trigger the optical slave sensor.

Now you can do this: http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html

One of the problems with phone cameras is that you don't have much control over depth of field. While you can't really blur out distracting backgrounds, you can use lighting to de-epmhasize them. See, for example, the first photo in the Lighting 101 link above. Can your Aunt who keeps her DSLR in Auto mode do that?

Unfortunately that's a bit of a tricky question for me because I've never used a fluid head tripod in that price range, so I couldn't tell you for sure what I recommend.

My good friend does have one of these Ravelli fluid head tripods though
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00139W0XM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_wYjGzbVN8V3T9

Its just out of your price range at around $150, but I've worked with it and can say that for the money it's a great tripod.

I've also worked with this manfrotto 700rc2 (actually got lucky, someone left a perfectly good one sitting by a dumpster up here in Chicago haha). But it's also served me well, especially with lighter cameras like the g7/t5i, and you can find the head for those for about $80, so may just be interested in buying a head and adapting it to a cheaper tripod.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JLO6V4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_b0jGzb1GJDEHJ

Thanks again, your responses, as consistently demonstrated, carry weight.

1. My PC only has one hdmi port. I'm guessing here, I'll need to purchase a hdmi splitter? - if that's the correct term Basically, the splitter will be a minibox itself with several input/output hdmi ports. This way I can get that other hdmi cable from the pc to my tv. Hoping amazon.com got my back here.
   
   
2. Smart regarding 3D printed enclosure, please report back when you manage to set it up. I am definitely intrigued. Those links are wonderful. Thanks. The second retractable you linked looks real good, the heavy duty in the title is what attracts me. Gives me sense of security for the cables. I might have to get a larger ring to add less friction as the cables pass through and from it.
   
   Regarding ceiling, I live in an apartment, don't want to drill holes up there. I'll look for alternate methods of setting it up and share my discovery here with you guys. Maybe what I find can facilitate mobile as well. Quick thought came to mind. If find a sturdy enough lightstand upto 9-10 feet with some kind of hangover pole think traffic light main pole protruding out the sidewalk, and the pole attached to it hovering over the street, holding up the lights Something like that. Attach one of those heavy duty retractable's onto it.
   
   I use these light stands for my vive motion trackers. I'm thinking something along these lines with the attached pole hovering from the top extending outwards: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HNZJLG4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So I don't know anything apart from what I just looked up, so take everything with a grain of salt

https://m.dpreview.com/articles/9076353662/canoneos450d

It was announced in 2008, somewhat old, 12MP is plenty of resolution so I'm sure you could take great images with it still.



Does it have a lens? Something like a 18-55 kit lens?

If you need a lens something like
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00894YP00/ref=psdcmw_173565_t3_B00NI3BZ5K
Or
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00NI3BZ5K/ref=pd_aw_sim_421_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=F3A4QFZXYJBJKCK19SXV&dpPl=1&dpID=61-egfIh2BL

Would be solid, inexpensive options that would produce great image quality, plus you could use them with newer Canon APS-C cameras if you upgraded to something like a 7D in the future.

You should be able to mount any EF/EF-S lenses on it, and in general the glass is more important than the camera. But I'd probably buy a more modern version before dropping big $$ on like an 70-200 2.8 L lens or something, if only just for the improvements in usability that come with 9 years of software changes.

But you can start making great images on basically anything.

Hope that helps

This is highly dependent on your price range, but if you're going to be in it for $500 prizes, I'm going to assume you'd like to spend less than $1000.

In that case, you can't really go wrong with a Canon dSLR, especially the t series, their entry level camera. I think the newest version is the Canon t5i, but the t4i and t3i also shoot high quality 1080p video and you'll be able to find them for cheaper.

The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera is increasingly popular in that price range, but I wouldn't recommend it to an amateur. It has a fantastic image but a high learning curve.

Nikon dSLR's are great too, but if you invest in Nikon lenses as a videographer, you're going to have a bad time. The majority of video camera bodies are manufactured for Canon mount lenses, so if you ever want to leave Nikon, you're kind of stuck or forced to use lens mount convertors.

With all of these cameras, lenses are arguably more important than the camera itself. With the Canon, the best bang for your buck is going to be a Canon 50mm 1.8. It's a cheap lens, but it has a great image for the price and is great in low light. If you can afford a good 2.8 zoom lens like the 17-55 2.8, go for it, but it's often near $1000.

hmmmm since she was looking for superzooms, I don't think she'll appreciate the 50mm as much because she already has that field of view, same goes for the 24mm. The only advantage they have for her would be the wider aperture, helping her with low light situations.

You could get her a fisheye lens like the Rokinon 8mm f3.5 but honestly you take fisheye lenses for maybe once or twice and you get bored with it. You could also get her a macro lens, but again, those are one trick ponies. Unless you see her trying low light photography and/or playing with depth of field, don't think primes would suit her at this moment. Primes generally are better performing, but I think she values versatility more than that little extra performance that you get out of primes.

Sounds like she could like the Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6 lens. There's three versions of this lens (but don't bother with the first one). second one is bit cheaper at 195 new. third one is more expensive at 300 bucks new, but it has quieter autofocus, instant manual focus (meaning you don't have to bother with the AF to MF switch to get manual focus, you just turn the focus ring) and it can focus a bit closer than the second one (second one focuses up to 3.6' or 1.1m, third one focuses up to 2.8', or .85m).
It's not a big difference, but you do get a slight bit more functionality for that extra dough.

Well I hope you look into my suggestion. And tell her the first photo with the trees is fantastic!

Unfortunately, there's not much that's cheap when it comes to photography.

"Macro" is a very specific form of photography. With the 50mm lens you linked I think the minimum focus distance would be at least 1.5 feet-2 feet. Meaning if an object is less than 2 feet away your lens will not be able to focus on it. That's the key to macro photography though, getting right up close and making small details bigger.

So while the depth of field of the 50mm you linked here will be much more shallow than the 18-55mm you own (at 55mm the widest you could go would be f/5.6) it won't do much better in the "marco" department.

With that said, you could get an extender tube. They super cheap but take a little practice to use well. Here's a shot of a penny I did using an extender tube: https://www.instagram.com/p/8jQi7XOwe2/?taken-by=sd_conrad

You can see the depth of field is so shallow, that because I wasn't shooting the penny head on the top of Lincoln's head is out of focus but the date is in focus. You'll need a tripod or a very very steady hand to be successful. It's hard to use but perfectly doable.

Here is the tube: https://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-Canon-Extension-Extreme-Close-Ups/dp/B003Y60DZO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484930083&sr=8-1&keywords=macro+extender+tube

Very cheap but not necessarily cheaply made. Although I'm paranoid and take great care there's no strain where the tube attaches to my camera body. I don't think you'd have to spend the money on a new lens to do macro stuff.

It sounds like what I was recommending is a reasonable starter and you can look at adding and improving the video kit as you gain experience.

Have a look at some beginner tutorials on youtube how to use room lighting, how to frame a shot and how to set your audio levels.

Without knowing budget, it's a bit hard to know what to look at recommending equipment wise. Order of priority for spend would be camera 1st, audio 2nd, tripod 3rd. You will need all of these, however value for money will change with different size budgets.

If you are willing to buy 2nd hand, you could make the budget go further, but some business might not want to do this.

Here's a quick budget as an starter example only, you can go cheaper and you can go more expensive and you can add more items (bags etc) as you need to.

Camera + storage card $1000-1500 Canon XA11 (Amazon link)

Mic $450-600 Sennheiser G3 wireless lav mic (Amazon link)

Tripod $100-200 Ravelli video tripod (Amazon link)

The linked items are for illustration purposes to give you a starting point, there may be better options - go read/watch reviews as this is a fast changing market. If you are in the US, B&H are a well known and respected video retail brand (I am not affiliated with them at all), give them a call and get their advice for your budget, then go and research their suggestions.

If you do go with a wireless mic solution make sure you buy a set which transmits on a frequency suitable for your country as this does change around the world and check if you need a licence (there are usually some frequencies which are free to use, but might be more prone to interference).

Why not use the screw? There's tons of clamps with 1/4"-20 thread that are meant to put lights and such onto various types of poles for film and such. I use them myself to mount my light houses onto vertical braces from harbor freight. (They have a smaller footprint than a light stand or tripod.)

Here's some examples of the ones I'm using.
Pedco 1.5 Ultra Clamp

This will grip even onto a very thin pole. For the record I mount them to these poles. Harbor Freight 2 in 1 Ratcheting Cargo Bar

Here's some other excellent multi purpose clamps but they need a ticker pole to mount.

Limostudios Super Clamp It's a clone of the more expensive manfrotto super clamp. They fit on the blue portion of the brace, not the thinner silver extended portion.

These clamps are pretty universal and you can get a number of different attachments for them. You could screw the lighthouse right on there but you couldn't really aim it without a ball mount or you could get an arm like this or this though that second one might wobble with the lighthouse motor. Arkon makes a good very sturdy clamp I've used to mount camcorders on for years though I've broken lots of the quick mounting plates over time. The arm is much stronger than the superclamp arm I showed earlier. There's also small clamps like this one

Also for the thread as someone else mentioned there are adapters. This is likely the adapter you need as that's the other common screw size you see. but I can't really know without seeing the tripod. Personally I prefer to use clamps and mount to poles anyhow, it gives you a lot of mounting options.

Agreed that it all depends on the specific lens you are looking at. Taken with a grain of salt, I would trust user reviews, image searches from somewhere like pbase.com and photography-on-the.net to give you an idea of the what lens is capable of and what caliber/type of photographers generally use it.

Here is a search on that Tamron 10-24 from pbase.com

Personally, I have the Tamron 17-50 and couldn't be happier, given the price and the quality for my Canon XTi. However, I probably would have bought the Canon 17-55 f/2.8 if I had the money. I have used the Sigma 30mm and thought it was very good. I also have the Sigma 10-22 and my wife has the Tamron 18-270. The 10-22 can be fairly sharp and the 18-270 is pretty good for what it is. One can't expect tack sharpness and perfection from a super zoom like that.
.

tl;dr - totally depends on the actual lens model.

Did some research, here's I think my bargain basement lighting kit, and good reviews too.

• $50 Neewer flash with wireless trigger. a nice manual flash that comes with a wireless trigger. You put one trigger on the flash, and the other in your camera's flash shoe, and bam, radio triggered flash.
  
• Neewer stand/shoe/umbrella kit for $33. It comes with three umbrellas.
  
• Rechargeable batteries for your flash. I've had good luck with my Energizers, and they are cheap at $13 for a charger + 4 AA's. I'd buy two of them because the cheapest price on a 4 pack is $11, so why not spend the extra $2 for the charger to have a backup charger.
  
  There, you're good to go for wireless flash for ~$100, manual flash power, works with any camera that has a flash shoe.
  
  If you can only spend $50, then just get the flash separately for $30 and the batteries. Then you can get the radio triggers, light stand, and umbrellas later when you have the money to spare.
  
  Also, eventually, you may want to get a larger umbrella - I use an Impact 60" convertible umbrella. Big, beautiful, soft light. I have two of these; they have 4.5 stars on amazon, great umbrella. They are a little unwieldy though; 60" is a big umbrella to deal with.

If I understand correctly, you will either be standing or sitting in the same general location in the room. If this is the case, you will be fine with the light house positions unless when you sit there is something blocking the line of sight to the lighthouse (high backed chair, furniture ,etc). I don't anticipate this being the case as you position them in opposite corners, diagonal from where you generally face so that you can position them to minimize any obstructions.

​

If you wanted to do a room scale play area somewhere in the room, you would need to move the lighthouses. To do this the best way, get light stands. I got these from Amazon Fovitec Light Stands for this purpose. I have a large room scale play area near my computer. When I want to play DCS or Elite Dangerous, I move the lighthouses around my desk where my HOTAS, rudder pedals and keyboard are. It's a bit of a pain but it's not that bad. DCS is incredible in VR. You will never be able to play it any other way.

​

General advice on setting up is to follow the directions as it's pretty simple. Main mistake I hear people making is plugging things incorrectly on the connector box (this has cables to the PC, power and the tether to the headset). Have a look for some videos if you are uncertain, that's what I did. Play the free game The Lab as it's a great introduction to the basics of VR and is a lot of fun with some cool things to discover in it.

> I screwed up the settings by accident, but it's not that bad.

Here's an honest critique, not to be mean, but you seem to have an interest in taking good photos. I started on a Canon 60D, which shares the same image sensor as the T4i. All of my images of Cleveland were shot with that camera.

This picture has two/three things technically wrong with it; focus, blur, and grain. You can solve all three of those issues by shooting on a tripod.

Shooting on a tripod will allow you to take longer exposure than if you were shooting handheld (because it doesn't move). Because you can shoot longer, you can also stop your aperture down a bit. Most lenses are sharper when the aperture is slightly closed a bit (around f/5.6 - f/8, but vary's depending on lens). You will also be able to lower your iso, which will help avoid noise/grain issues.

Also, when shooting longer exposures, its best to avoid any camera movement or interaction at all. You can buy a "remote shutter release" to avoid touching the shutter button. Also, use "mirror lockup", to avoid movement from the mirror swinging when a picture is taken.

I encourage you to read how to take clear nighttime image, find a solid tripod, and attempt to retake the picture. Part of the fun of photography is growing in your skill and this is a great opportunity to do so.

I am about to get into flash photography and, wanting to hit the ground running, I will buy three flashes and related equipment off the bat. I have decided to go with the cheap Yongnuo flashes.

The Yongnuo is up to version IV, but I can purchase some used version III's for a bit cheaper. The difference between them is that the IV has a transmitter built in that can communicate with the other flashes remotely. If I am understanding correctly, this would eliminate the need to buy a separate transmitter (called the TX for Yongnuo).

Is there any benefit to buying three IV's or is it fine to buy one IV and two III's? The latter seems fine to me, but as I am new to all this, I thought it best to ask the more experienced in case I am missing something. The savings are minimal, but as I am about to buy quite a lot of photography gear, it should contribute to substantial savings overall.

I may purchase from a similar cheap flash company if I can find a better deal. If anyone knows and even more cost-effective way to get into flash, please let me know.

Link to the IV

Link to the III

Plain background (doesn't need to be white, but that's super generic and easy), good lighting. Natural light is great, but it can also limit the amount of time daily that you can take good pictures during. And a couple of decent lights aren't really that expensive.

It can be as simple as a large sheet of white tagboard and a couple of lights. I personally just use my phone as a camera and a cheap/small lighting setup I found on Amazon. Here's a photo I've taken with my low-tech setup.

I personally would go for the 24-105. It is a good lens and gives you more overall flexibility than the 24-70. I own a 24-70 and while it is an amazing piece of glass I do find myself wishing for a bit more reach relatively often. The 24-70 you are looking into buying isn't the f2.8 version, so it doesn't give you any obvious benefits over the 24-105.

If you don't have any intention of going full frame you could also look at a lens like this.

It gives you a bit more of a wide angle that you might need on a crop sensor camera, as well as better low light abilities with a faster f2.8 aperture. However if you ever plan on getting a full frame camera it would be wise to invest in glass that works for it.

Hope this helps!

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1208931-REG/panasonic_lumix_dmc_g7_mirrorless_micro.html

I'd recommend a Lumix G7. This is $600 and comes with a stabilized, wide-ish zoom lens and a RODE mic. Better yet, get the one with the $100 gift card and use it towards a decent shotgun mic like an AT875 to run into your recorder. Blows canon dslr's out of the water in terms of video features. Great for run and gun because it's well laid out and intuitive to use.

Get a decent tripod like this: http://www.amazon.com/Ravelli-AVTP-Professional-Camera-Tripod/dp/B00139W0XM/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1458693144&sr=8-6&keywords=video+tripod

Maybe pick up a decently fast wide panasonic OIS lens.

Spend the rest on a solid rail-based shoulder support rig and any additional accessories.

If you think you'll be filming a lot of single subject interview typew things where theyre not moving around a ton, look into a lavalier kit. Make sure you have good headphones, like these: http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDRV6-Studio-Monitor-Headphones/dp/B00001WRSJ/ref=sr_1_2?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1458693500&sr=1-2&keywords=sony+mdr

I'd recommend a lens with a wide zoom range. For lifestyle-type shots where you are shooting yourself/your friends/the journey from a more intimate perspective (read -- up close) and the occasional landscape, I'd recommend a lens that gives you at least a 18-24mm focal length at the bottom end. It's hard to take pictures of the car or your friends with a 200mm telephoto lens, unless you want an up close and personal shot of the pores on your friends' noses.

My 18-135mm kit lens that came with my Canon works wonderfully for me when I'm on trips. It's very versatile. The lens that I'm referring to is this (this is a CANON lens, it won't fit your Nikon):
https://www.amazon.com/Canon-EF-S-18-135mm-3-5-5-6-Lens/dp/B008UGMLWQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500062853&sr=8-1&keywords=canon+18-135

.
Alternatively, for YOUR particular camera, I'd recommend something like this Sigma 17-50mm:
https://www.amazon.com/Sigma-17-50mm-Aperture-Standard-Digital/dp/B003A6NU3U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500062448&sr=8-1&keywords=sigma%2Bcanon&th=1

The latter lens has a shorter zoom range (17-50mm) than my Canon lens that I mentioned, but you get a nice, low aperture of f/2.8 throughout the entire zoom.

A cheaper option that is similar to the Sigma lens that I mentioned above is a Nikon lens that can be found here:
https://www.amazon.com/Nikon-18-55mm-3-5-5-6G-Vibration-Reduction/dp/B00HQ4W4PC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1500062981&sr=8-2&keywords=nikon+lens+18-55

The Nikon lens listed has a variable aperture, and the lowest that it will go is 3.5. I'd spend the extra ~$100 and get the Sigma lens. You'd probably get a TON of use out of that Sigma for a long time.

Please feel free to reach out if you have some more questions. :-) There are some great people here.

When you're just getting started, best buy is alright, but it's when you get more into it you start to need specific gear. For example, none of the ones I've been to lately sell neutral density filters, these pretty much just make it darker, which you would want if you do video, or especially for long exposure.

Also a lot of their off brand stuff is just rebranded gear that is sold for twice as much. Ex, this flash, compared to the same one online

• Insignia from Best Buy for $69
  
• Neewer from Amazon for $33
  (I wish they showed the backs of the flash so you could see, but you just have to trust me that they are the same :/ )
  
  They don't carry much accessories for video with for a DSLR, like a glidecam, gimbal, or fluid head. They carry the basics, just not any of the more specialized gear.

Hey there, this weekend I'm going to be taking pictures and my brother-in-law and his fiancee's wedding shower. They didn't ask me to do this but they are ok with me doing it. Really, I'm not interested in the shower but I have to go so I thought it would be a good time to use my new gear (its all new to me basically, just getting in to photography). And if I'm going to take pics, I want them to turn out at least decent. The last thing I want is to take pics and then not be able to share them because they came out terrible.

Anyways, I was wondering if somebody could give me some ideas on how I could utilize my equipment, especially my flashes (never used those before). The room is a "community" room in an apartment building. Its rectangle-shaped room with entrance doors on opposite corners. I think the lighting are chandelier type things with CFL bulbs, I don't remember right off hand.

Nikon D7200 (probably getting a Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 tomorrow, I already have a Nikon 50mm f/1.8)
These stands: https://www.amazon.com/Fovitec-Photography-Reflectors-Modifiers-Collapsible/dp/B00HNZJLG4/
Two of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075F3G6J3/
Two of these: https://www.amazon.com/YONGNUO-YN685-System-Wireless-Speedlite/dp/B01EFUHRPQ/
One of these: https://www.amazon.com/YN622N-TX-Wireless-Controller-Transmitter-Function/dp/B00NJGMICU/

Any help would be super appreciated!!!

Hi marcginla,

I must admit cloud recording is not my area of expertise, mainly because I try and stay away from it due to privacy concerns, and the fact that you generally have to pay a monthly fee for storing recorded clips beyond a certain number of days.

Yes, a local NVR will allow direct remote access and/or cloud recording of videos.

There are basically two ways of going about remote access:

• All cameras and an NVR connected via WiFi that you remotely access directly over the internet (port forwarding needs to be set up on your father's router, will need a dynamic DNS service to be set up as well) -
  
  Pros: No monthly charges. 24/7 recording possible. SD card slot allows motion detected captures (7 days easily possible).
  
  Cons: More difficult to set up. Also remote playback of recorded video is limited by the upload bandwidth of your father's broadband. If the NVR automatically reduces video quality to adjust, then this is not an issue.
  
  
• All cameras directly connected to the internet via WiFi and recording to the cloud.
  
  Pros: Easiest to set up and use.
  
  Cons: Can cost you a few dollars per camera per month for 7 day recording. Live streaming possible but generally only motion detected recordings will be available.
  
  In your case, it does make sense to consider the cloud recording option. Can't comment on the specific cloud services you mentioned. However do consider the Amcrest 1080p ProHD camera which can upload to the Amcrest cloud service. Its $99 at the moment.
  
  Amcrest is a company started by the same people who started Foscam. It seems they have come up with better products than Foscam. I would recommend this over the Foscam 720p. You can read about the Amcrest cloud service and pricing plans here. By the way any cloud service that offers everything 100% free is a bit suspect in my opinion. What will be the reliability of a 100% free service is the question.
  
  Hope that helps. Maybe others who use cloud services will chime in.
  
  Daniel

https://www.amazon.com/Amcrest-IP2M-841-1920TVL-Security-Camera/dp/B0145OQTPG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1468434745&sr=8-3&keywords=wireless+camera

I don't have it saving pure video though. I have it taking a snapshot every 10 seconds.

I pull the data off the card once a month or so and keep it for a bit, then delete it.

When the incident happened, I pulled it right then and was able to burn the stills to a CD for the deputy that responded in about 5 minutes.

I have others on the house too but they are all static. This is the only one I have that pans around. I just have a setting on it that points it at the door. The others are static ones, made by Dlink, and they don't even make them anymore. I've had them for years.

I don't think its weatherproof, but I have it mounted well under an eve-it won't get wet there beyond more humidity.

Considering the light (then lack of it, the idiot decided about halfway through the break in to unscrew the porch light) the pictures came out pretty well.

I have since went to harbor freight and bought a solar security light. It stays dim till it detects motion, then goes bright. its way up high like the camera, and if you go to disable it, you're going to be facing the camera directly. But if someone decides to disable the porch light again, they will still be lit up.

I put up a much better security door, and have the other two doors in the backyard (behind a fence) getting changed out to the better one today. If someone decides to try again, its going to be a lot more difficult for them. The deputy thinks it was random, and I'm beginning to agree. I have everything well lit outside but the house is usually dark unless I'm up. I used to keep a vehicle outside when I had 3, but I since have sold it and the other two are in the garage. I'm guessing they cased it before I sold the vehicle. Seeing it gone, they figured I wasn't home.

Need some camera buying advice.

I've been shooting for 3 years, and I don't have my own setup. I normally use my sisters' Nikon L330, or my Dad's Canon SX30IS. Both are non-DSLR, and they look like DSLR's and perform mediocre, but not quite what I'm looking for. My Mom recently gave me a Nikon B500, which I really don't like- simply because it has NO manual settings. I always use manual settings on the SX30, and so now I'm looking in to a DSLR.

I am in to shooting surfing photos/videos, and I've been checking out the Nikon D3300 since you can upgrade to a 200mm lens for just $149. (This would be down the road) On the other hand, the Canon T5 looks almost as legitimate, however it has 18MP to the D3300's 24.2. The canon T5 has a 300mm lens option at just $98, which is extremely fair priced and another purchase for down the road.

As for preference, I don't know the difference between the performance of Canon vs. Nikon DSLR's, and I'd like to hear some feedback. Since I am shooting surfing, I'm looking for the best options for focus and zoom, and long-range quality. I also take a lot of Macro shots, but this doesn't matter as much.

Any feedback is appreciated, cheers!

Buy used and save some money. Skip the kit lens if it makes a big financial difference because they're generally trash. Pick up a nifty fifty and maybe a third party zoom. This can be applied to any of those cameras in your list.

Now, for my advice. Do you have any friends/family who do photography? It might be beneficial to buy into their manufacturer so that they can help explain how to use your camera and you can borrow lenses. At this level, they're all about the same, though I believe that Nikon has slightly better ISO performance.

I'm a Canon guy myself. I'd recommend a T6i, Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM, and if there's any money left in your budget, a 50mm f/1.8. All used. You'll be very happy with that setup, I think, and the lens will cover a good chunk of the normal focal range until you get a feel for what you want to shoot.

Is your moon criteria because you want to be able to zoom really far or that you feel only decent cameras can do that? I ask because if you don't need a long reach you could put more money toward a better camera/lens that's shorter.

If you don't need long reach and want a small camera a used RX100 will give you great quality for stills and video for under $400. You mention travel so I think for walking around it's great. It's a fixed lens though so you can't get more out of it down the line.

If you're thinking of it more like an investment and you'll grow into it over time you'll probably want to go with an ILC (interchangeable lens camera). Mirrorless will be smaller DSLR will be bigger. Just know that you're buying into a whole ecosystem because because lenses aren't swapable between brands. There are adapters but generally you lose things like auto focus unless you pay big bucks for an adapter.

For DSLR a used Nikon D3300 or Canon T6 is under $400. For mirrorless a used Sony a5000. There's also the micro 4/3's mirrorless systems but someone else would have to chime in for recommendations as I have no experience w/ them.

I should note that all my specific recommendations don't have a ton of reach (can't get far subjects). But what you save on that gets you incredible quality if you take the time to learn. Also w/ the ILC cameras you could get a telephoto lens in the future. You could get a cheaper body and get a kit that has 2 lenses one of which is a telephoto - used Nikon D3100 Kit or used Canon T5 kit for right at $400. You have to swap lens to go long. If you really want that zoom for cheaper or smaller overall size probably look at choices in this article.

That said if you're going to stay on auto mode all the time my recommendations are probably not worth the price premium since you won't get the most out of it. Save some bucks and get a point and shoot that's easier to travel with and you're more likely to take out and use. I will say the quality gap between camera phones and point and shoots is pretty minimal these days. You probably need to spend $300-$400 for the significant jump in quality.

You can, but you can't include anything after the actual item number including I think reference links.

So for example a link like

amazon.com/gp/product/B01D93Z89W/ref=s9_acsd_hps_bw_c_x_1_w
would not be okay.

A link like

amazon.com/gp/product/B01D93Z89W
should be fine.

You can pay a lot less on eBay for the same kit, but really, most of that lot of stuff is junk. The telephoto and wide angle lenses (converters) will sort of do what they claim, but at great cost to image quality. Everything other than the camera and 18-55mm lens is essentially bottom of the barrel.

The lens and camera together retail for $450 from reputable sources. Whether the listing you were looking at includes a manufacturer warranty is questionable. For the $30 less you'd pay for one of those kits, you could get a better SD card and a probably slightly better tripod, and a probably better warranty.

Haha, glad you're enjoying it. If you don't want a permanent mounting solution in the living room walls, you can consider picking up a few photography light stands like these: https://www.amazon.com/Fovitec-Lighthouse-Compatible-Adjustable-Carrying/dp/B01MFG14ZT/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1537591613&sr=8-3&keywords=vr+stand

(note, these have an adjustable top for the sensors to screw into, some stands don't which makes them hard to adjust for vr use)
They'll give you a portable solution with enough height, and you can take them down easy when you need your living room back.

Of course, you can always go the route of using wall mounts to attach them directly, depends how far you want to go with it.

Oh and don't forget to check out the free content it came with, robo recall, lucky's tale, marvel powers, dead & buried, echo arena, medium, and anything else as well. Superhot is another top pick, as well as lone echo- theres a lot to see!

Canon person, but a Nikon person should come and correct me if I'm wrong. :D It looks like a 18-55mm kit lens. What kind of nature shots does she like to take? More wildlife or landscape stuff? If it's animals, a telephoto would be great. Something like the 70-300mm or the 55-300mm. Those would be in the $300-500 range. Indoor events, it would be good to have either a faster lens (50mm 1.8 is a cheap start, ~$100-150) so that she can take non-blurry photos in dark conditions.

Alternatively, get her a tripod (good for landscapes that require long exposures) or a flash like the Yongnuo to play with for portraits/indoor stuff.

That's a great body, the only issue I have is I can't seem to find the same adapter I use on my nikon setup for canon. How I do mine in a nutshell is I have an adapter that mounts the lens backwards on my camera, with new lenses tho since they're digital you need a way to control the aperture, so you have this nice little handy adapter that lets you control it. Here is the kit I use, it comes with pretty much everything need to reverse mount a lens. Your next best and cheapest bet would be the 2.5 50mm Macro lens built by canon, it seems to be a great lens for the price of around 200 used. The next thing you need is a shoe flash, any cheap manual flash that fits canon cameras will do. The last thing you need is to build a good flash diffuser, I built one for about $15, here is how I built it. After you get everything up and runing you go out take pictures and learn to experiment with different aperture settings and flash values.

Artificial lighting is the best and easiest way to make great, professional-looking portraits.

Are you sure you can't afford a speedlite ? You don't need an expensive name-brand one. A basic speedlite is $35. Get two of those, a basic radio control, some flash brackets, one more basic umbrella and you have yourself a portrait lighting kit for $100.

The only limitations will be that this kit won't take heavy use, and the flash won't do TTL (you have to set the power manually, which you want to do for off-camera flash anyway).

Finally, read strobist tutorial and you are now good to go and make great portraits.

Late to the party today!
Ok, I have a pair of the Yongnuo wireless transmitters RF-603 II C3 and the YN-468 II E-TTL speedlight. I'm wanting to add 1-2 of the YN560 IV flashes. The YN560-TX transmitter looks like a great value, but I'm wondering what my options are to keep my older flash in the mix.
Set it to slave mode and hope for the best? Doesn't LOOK to me like the two setups can talk to each other.

I bought a house in March and had the intention of going all in on HA, but so far it hasn't exactly panned out. budgeting for a few good products as i go.

BUT, Here is what i started with so far. I've settled with silo'ed stuff so far. This is what i've done, others will probably have stronger recommendations though.

1. a good wifi router.
   http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Z0V2NQ8?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
   
2. Power meter
   http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XOZG0Y?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
   
3. thermostat
   http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FLZEQH2?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
   
4. 4x wifi cameras
   http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0145OQTPG?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
   
5. entertainment http://www.amazon.com/Sony-STR-DN1050-Channel-Receiver-Bluetooth/dp/B00JC31SEI/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1452667821&sr=1-1&keywords=str+dn1050
   
   Yes, that's 5 separate apps on my own Note 4
   
   Next on the list is a zwave hub and garage door controller.
   
   

If you want the camera to just see whatever product, and arms/hands, it will need to be as close to directly overhead as possible.

But since you only have one tripod at the moment, I might suggest trying to place the camera as directly over your daughters head as possible. Have her sit, and then position the tripod legs so that the camera can be just above and as much out in front of your daughters head as possible, so that she will basically be sitting under the tripod.

Please secure the tripod, because I was 15 once and the thing might probably get knocked over at one point.

A better solution for this particular angle you mention would be to get two stands and a crossbar, such as those made for holding photographic backgrounds.

Add to that a clamp with 1/4-20 mounting screw and you can safely attach the camera to the crossbar, have it overhead, and not worry so much about things being knocked over. This also get the camera out of the way should you want to setup a second camera for shooting a different angle.

Clamp: https://www.amazon.com/SmallRig-Ballhead-Multi-function-Adapter-Ronin-M/dp/B00DJ5XH4O/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1540209251&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=camera+mount+clamp&psc=1

There are better and worse options, and since I don't know which camera you have at the moment, here is a generic type of mount that could work for the situation.

The background stand:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072BCNRTY/ref=sxts_kp_bs_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=8778bc68-27e7-403f-8460-de48b6e788fb&pd_rd_wg=E8goB&pf_rd_r=JDNSYA2WH7VPFQXK5NWX&pf_rd_s=desktop-sx-top-slot&pf_rd_t=301&pd_rd_i=B072BCNRTY&pd_rd_w=ydei2&pf_rd_i=photo+background+stand&pd_rd_r=78d3d95b-dba0-4370-b6ec-4ba5c7cac38b&ie=UTF8&qid=1540209393&sr=1

This is something cheap that would get the job done, and with the clamp would allow you to position the camera over the table.

However, if the camera is larger than a basic mirrorless a6300, another solution might be in order.

Here is an overhead tripod that might support a bit more weight if you had a full size DSLR:
https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Magnesium-Aluminium-Overhead-Professional/dp/B073ZC46SL/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1540209508&sr=1-3&keywords=overhead+camera+tripod

The problem being it doesn't allow for great positioning, just like your current tripod.


Hope these ideas help.

I'd recommend one of these suckas, especially if you think she might combine cooking & taking photos. Photography is all about light, and one of these speedlites is an awesome and affordable way to get a better understanding of that. Read the reviews to get an idea of how kickass these things can be.

Alternatively, I learned photography by taking pics of the night sky. It was the most interesting thing to me and is what drove me to learn more about taking photos. I bought one of these, which allowed me to take pics with crazy long shutters on my T2i and also do cool stuff with star trails. I remember being so damn pumped when I took that photo with my T2i, the stock lens and a $10 shutter release.

Coupling the release with the tripod is a nice combo. The flash is great for indoor stuff.

If you're feeling SUPER crazy, consider the famous "nifty fifty." My biggest frustration with the kit lens when I had my T2i was that it was practically useless handheld in low light, and it was hard to achieve any shallow depth of field, which are two pretty big draws to DSLR photography. The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II changed that all.

It can be had for under $100 used on Amazon, but I'd check your local Craigslist. Everyone Canon shooter has owned this lens at one point, and I've seen them for as low as $50 on NYC CL.

I would go for the 50mm lens and a tripod, throw in the shutter release and flash if you're feeling super generous. It would set her up for a very long time if she is serious about photography. If all the stars align, you could probably get the lens + tripod + shutter release + flash for under $150 but it's not very likely.

Lenses are classed by what they're used for, and at what price. For example, very telephoto/zoomed-in lenses vs wide-angle/zoomed-out lenses. Decent (read: not shitty) quality lenses come in prices ranging from around $300ish to really good ones over $2000. (The exception is the $100 prime 50mm f/1.8).

I actually recommend you to get fairly decent lenses, even if your camera is quite old. Why? Because you can always upgrade your camera in a year or two, and use the same lenses. Canon's been making the same 50mm f/1.8 for 20 years, your lenses will not go out of date anywhere near as fast as the camera would, and can be resold for about the same value if you bought it used. There are some very nice $300 cameras nowadays, such as the T2i deal that's been going on; much better than 10 years ago, where a new dSLR camera might cost a good portion of $1000.

"Beginner lenses" are generally ones that are fairly cheap/budget oriented. Your camera might come with a kit lens, which is a cheap, shitty 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6. It's kind of (but not extremely) wide on the wide end, and kind of (but not very) zoomed in on the telephoto end. It's also not very fast glass, which means it's a lot harder to take pictures in dim light.

People augment the beginner lens in many ways.

• First off, getting some prime (non-zoom) lenses. Since because they don't zoom in and out, they tend to have better image quality and are cheaper than zoom lenses. The aforementioned 50mm f/1.8 lens is an excellent way to boost your low light capabilities. (Quick tip: the f/number is the called the "aperture" of the lens. The smaller the number, the more light the lens can capture, but becomes more expensive for the dim light capability. The more expensive lenses also generally give better image quality. Compare the price of the 50mm f/1.2 vs the 50mm f/1.8).
  
• Replacing the zoom lens with a better zoom. The Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 is a common choice. It has much better image quality compared to the kit zoom.
  
• Getting a telephoto lens. Common choices include the 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 zoom, or at the medium level, a 70-200mm f/4L. Compare this with a pro using a 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II, which costs over $2000 new.
  
• Wide angle lenses. The Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 is a common choice.
  
• Macro lenses. Beginners usually use Extension Tubes for cheap macros. Actual macro lenses cost a lot more.
  
  These are general gear tips for starting out. (I'm bored at work, my manager is missing today, and I have nothing assigned to code. Hope this helps)
  

if you're okay with having an absolute potato of a spotting scope because you're only shooting at 100~300 (like I am as well), I have a "Celestron Upclose 20-60x60mm". you can usually find them on ebay for sub $100, I got mine for like $35.

​

obviously to read wind and see hits nice and clearly you should get a much much better optic, but, if you just want to see hits on a shoot-n-c target without walking downrange this does the job. the ocular focus on mine is loose by now (its base came unglued and rotates if you don't restrain it), but for $35 I'm not arguing.

​

you can also pick up a cell phone mount for pretty cheap on amazon, which helps because you don't have to plant your face next to the optic and futz around getting the right eye relief.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013D2ULO6/

​

granted...I can arguably see the target just as well with my Tract FFP 4-20 mounted on my tikka. I'm kind of wondering whether it was worth it, but it's handy when I don't happen to have brought the Tract for the day.

Just FYI those spiked feat 90% of the time are retractable by rotating the rubber "foot" (don't know what else to call that) that surrounds the spike part.

I have two 70Ds and as my stationary's and an A7sii as my A cam as well and I use these for my 70ds: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NOGR0A?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

I would never use these tripods as my primary because of the head style but they work great for stationary. I also sometimes use them to hold my audio recorder or use both to stabilize my slider. I got them on sale as an Amazon daily deal for $95 though.. so..

If you want another relatively inexpensive video head that Raveli is great value: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00139W0XM?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

Being realistic with you're budget, I don't think you can get a camera that fits all your wants. What fits your bill would be a Canon 5DMkIII or a Sony a7II but those cost thousands for just the body. But to try to give you some suggestions, try looking at the D3300 (amazon link) $400 on sale. It takes good photos and the kit lens bundled has VR/OIS/IS. My next recommendation would be a Fuji X30 (amazon link). Its small and light plus the lens that comes with it is really good on paper. I'm not familiar with Canon, Sony, Olympus' line up so try to search for those brand cameras within the same price point.

Now things to keep in mind with my two suggestions.

• The Nikon's res is x2 of the Fuji's (~24 vs ~12). Now this might seem too lopsided for the Nikon but keep in mind that if you're not doing large prints or scrutinizing each pixel then high resolution is not necessary, you'll simply be able to crop more from the Nikon than the Fuji.
  
  
  
• Both have VR/IS/OIS and shoot at 1080,60p. However the Fuji has arguably the better lens 28-112mm f2.0-2.8 vs 27-83mm f3.5-5.6. The implication of this is that you have more light to work with the Fuji compared to the Nikon. Aside from that with the Fuji you get more reach since the long end of the lens reaches to 112mm vs 83mm. Note that the actual lens of the Nikon is a 18-55mm but keep in mind that its a crop sensor so I simply multiplied the figure with the crop factor (1.5).
  
  
  
• The Nikon can change lenses, the Fuji can't. Pretty straight forward, you can buy lenses in the future for the Nikon but your stuck with the Fuji's lens.
  
  Conclusion. Both are great for your level and needs (albeit no 4K video). Personally for a beginner I really recommend the Nikon one since it has an interchangeable lens system which you can build as you progress in your passion.

Hi and thanks for posting!

There’s actually some depth to this - but the basics are pretty easy.

First - you want a mount.

Gosky Universal Cell Phone Adapter Mount https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013D2ULO6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_DjXDCbK4SMB9N

That one works nicely for me! Nothing wrong with a blue tooth shutter control if you can find one either. Keeps you from vibrating your own shot by touching the phone to take the picture

Second - remember that you’re trying to get your camera to see what the eyepiece is projecting. Your life will be much better if you use an eyepiece with a large field of view - typically longer focal length (lower magnification) eyepieces have wider fields of view (unless you’re prepared to spend a decent amount).

Third - no filters during photography - not even a “moon” filter. Adjust the exposure levels on your phone if you can (I posted the nightcap camera app for iPhone earlier- it’s amazing), to brighten nebulae or dim the moon. There’s nothing wrong with a little post processing (that’s where things get interesting)

As far as post processing goes... that can range from a little photoshop magic to either taking video (or a lot of photos) and “stacking” the frames/photos on top of each other. This brings out an insane amount of detail that would otherwise be lost.

A few computer programs i want to try, once I have a working computer (I destroyed mine a bit ago, been modding this sub from an iPad lol) are PIPP, autostakkert, and registax.

If I missed anything you had a question on, lemme know!

Edit: nightcap let’s you take long exposures like a DSLR camera... really worth $3 if you have an iPhone 👍🏻

Alright, I picked up a couple of the Neewer TT560 from Amazon ($37 each). Works AMAZING. I can't believe the quality of these for the price. They work perfect out of the box wirelessly with my SB-700 and D7000, and the photo quality is great!

Thanks for the recommendation!

Here's an Amazon link if anyone needs it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004LEAYXY/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwplasmaglow-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004LEAYXY

Hers my setup. Not too detailed; but explains itself: I bought the parts from Amazon. Love it!
https://imgur.com/a/JNDM1

Edit: more details...
FastCap 3rd Hand Support System 57-to-144-Inches, 2-pack #3HAND5 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000067S12/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_api_MUaqxbRQG7SBE

And

Smallrig® Cool Ballhead Arm V4 Multi-function Double Ball Adapter with Bottom Clamp & ... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DJ5XH4O/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_api_0Vaqxb4NED9MS

I always recommend holding some cameras, both inside and beyond your price range. Picture quality on entry level DSLRs is barely different to mid-range models, but the features, handling and external controls get more sophisticated. Something to keep in mind since your budget is enough to let you look beyond entry level cameras. You might want to look at mirrorless models too - similar performance in a more portable package.

Nonetheless, I think this is a good deal: http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-Digital-Focus-S-18-55mm-3-5-5-6G/dp/B00HQ4W1QE

It's an entry level model with kit lens, but very capable and sets you up to start shooting.

And for you winter landscapes, spend some extra cash on a tripod, then read up on landscape techniques and (depending on the aesthetic you prefer) look at better lenses and a filter system. The kit lens is quite capable of decent landscapes results for starters IMO.

I'm assuming she wants a scope for identification use, with the ability to take pictures when she wants. I was in the same position last year.

If she has a decent cell phone, I'd honestly skip the camera and spend more money on a nicer scope. You can get an adapter like this that'll help her get nice shots through the scope with her phone. Better optics almost always trumps the use of a camera, really. It sucks not being able to ID something because you simply can't see it clearly enough. I'd also really try to find something that doesn't use interchangeable objectives; entomology typically requires a lot of switching mag, so physically removing and replacing the objectives each time could get pretty tedoius.

All that said, I like my Amscope a lot.

Natural, diffused light (a cloudy day) is best.

Do you have a tripod (essential).

Are you using the default camera app or something like Camera Awesome?

Something like this is really good: LimoStudio 16" x 16" Table Top Photo Photography Studio Lighting Light Tent Kit in a Box, AGG349

Although the lights are probably too yellow. Instead just use your painting lamp(s).

I got this last christmas when it was on sale for 80$. Might be a bit pricey, but it is really nice.
Hook it up to Wifi or just ethernet it to your computer, and there's either a web address or a phone app you can use to look at and fully control a live view, or recent footage, if you stick an SD card in it to record to. Great night vision, two way mic/speaker, zoom, and motion detection, perfect for what you'd want it for.

Here you go

According to CCC, it's actually at a fairly low price point right now. I got mine for $100 on sale from b&h I think? But that was a particularly good price. Prime day is coming up so it's possible to see more of a sale but the current price is pretty good.

You don't need to get the more expensive X-Rite i1Display Pro. It's largely the same as the colormunki but has a few more "pro" features built in that you'll never use and it can calibrate faster. You'll do it only once every 6 months after the initial setup so the extra money isn't worth it unless you do color work and need to calibrate often. I would also avoid datacolor's spyder calibrators in favor of the x-rite's.

It really is just one of those amazing tools that you can buy and just have forever and it will earn its value back over and over.

I got my first camera, Canon Rebel T5i kit, used, on amazon for roughly $250 (US). It's served me super well for a couple years now. If it's your first one, you might as well get a used camera. That way you can see how you like it and still get some great shots, without breaking the bank.

Even something like this used Canon Rebel T6 would serve you well... for $245+shipping: https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B01D93Z89W/ref=dp_olp_all_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=all

Happy shooting!

Hi Nooby_Scooby, there is an ongoing Question thread is here for small questions like this :) You might find it interesting to read and there will always be people answering questions in there.
***
As for your question, Why do you plan to buy a full frame body? You're spending more money now and carrying extra weight for the years until you upgrade to full frame.

I'm going to go against pretty much everyone in this thread and offer you this alternative advice :)

A lens like the 17-55mm f2.8 is actually an option you should consider if you're not upgrading very soon (i.e. next purchase or within the year).

Lenses like this have very good resale value especially if you buy them used. You would lose at most $100 from buying a new one and selling it in 2-3 years when you upgrade to full frame. If you buy used, and resell it, you probably won't lose any money and might even make money if you're a good haggler.

The 17-55mm f2.8 is about half the price and half the weight of the 24-70mm f2.8, and actually has a more normal focal length when on your camera. (Although some photographers might prefer to have a the longer focal length that the 24-70mm would have on a x1.6 crop)

Here are some options:

$8 reversal ring

$10 extension tubes, $40 if you want aperture control (I forgot you guys don't have aperture control rings...)

$40 bellows


Summary: With your current lens I'd say the $40 extension tubes are your best bet as they allow aperture control. Getting true macro sizes will be best with the bellows and the reversal ring however you will want a lens with an aperture ring so that you can stop down to extend your depth of field. If you are using a reversal ring it doesn't even have to be a canon lens, just buy a lens that you can thread onto your reversal ring... in fact, here's a really good setup:

$40 bellows + $7 reversing ring + $3 46-52mm or 49-52mm step up ring + $30 55mm takumar = $80

With this setup you can go all the way to 3x life size and have full aperture control. Just be sure to use it on a tripod, (and you'll probably want to light it with a flash) extreme macro shots are tricky!

Etsy for stickers. Just search "Macbook decals" or if you have something specific in mind add that. I found some cool Adventure time decals there.

I also got my sleeve there...a nice handmade leather sleeve.

You might want to get a keyboard cover if you use your macbook a lot with dirty hands, or while eating something. Helps keep stuff out of the cracks and crevices and your keys shine free.

Also be sure to get yourself a nice micro-fiber cloth like this to wipe your screen; don't be afraid of wiping it down with considerable force; it's glass, so unless you're rubbing it with sand, it won't scratch. Use a little water if you need.

Other than that, maybe a ps4 or xbox controller for light gaming on the go? A Logitech UE Boom for better, wireless or wired, sound on the go (if you don't want to use headphones)

Great thread and thanks for sharing! I'm ordering some of what you listed.. :)

Here is what I have already purchased and am using:

Mini tripods for the base stations as I haven't set them up permanently yet:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006I1KQQI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Wireless headset so I don't have to deal with the audio cable:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZC3S72I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Active HDMI cable as I'm running off my PC from the bedroom in my livingroom:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0186DNFLI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Active USB 2.0 cable again as I'm running off my PC from the bedroom in my livingroom:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004PLLA9U/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I also just ordered a set of 7' tripods for mounting the base stations:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HNZJLG4/ref=od_aui_detailpages01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Your current camera is a crop sensor, how about the [EF-S 17-55 f2.8] (https://smile.amazon.com/Canon-EF-S-17-55mm-Lens-Cameras/dp/B000EW8074/)? It covers virtually the same range (27-88) as the 24-70, but for a crop sensor camera. It even has image stabilization. I hear you say something like "But if I get the EF 24-70, I can use it when I get a full frame" and you're totally right. But if you get the 17-55 used, you can re-sell it when you're done for about the same price you paid for it. Even better, it is half the price of the 24-70.

Don't get me wrong, I <3 my EF 24-70 f2.8L II and it is what I have on my camera virtually all the time. It is a fantastic lens. Nothing wrong with going that route! Just realize its like a 38-112 on crop. Not a big deal if you weren't looking for a zoom that goes wide.

Are you happy with the Sigma 18-35?

If so, I'd say it would make more sense to get this lens rather than the 24-70. The two will pair well together on multicam shoots.

For me the 24-70 always felt weird on a non full-frame body. It's perfect on the 5D but it always makes me wish I had something wider when I use it on super 35 cameras. The 17-55 always felt a lot better on Canon's cinema lineup (aside from it's weird focus ring), it hit all the buttons for me moreso than the 24-70. But it wouldn't make sense to get that lens if you already have the Sigma.

The 24-105 is a beast when paired with a lowlight camera. If you had a Sony A7sII (or equivalent) i'd say go for that if you don't own it already. It's a great 'run-n-gun' lens if you can survive with f4.

Edit: formatting

I can very much appreciate the sentiment of wanting to clean and re-use the cloths. However, one of the best ways to scratch a lens is to clean it with a cloth with particle contaminates. IMO, it's just not worth the risk. I picked up a 6 pack of cloths on Amazon for a few dollars. I'm on my second cloth, and just keep the old ones around for cleaning cheap (entirely replaceable) reading glasses, and save the fresh ones for my VR lenses.

This is what I use specifically: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0050R67U0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Get a fast enough lens, like a cheapie prime, and that light kit should be plenty sufficient.

Get the 50mm 1.8, its only like $100, or the 40mm pancake, $150, much better glass, IMO

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-50mm-1-8-Camera-Lens/dp/B00007E7JU/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1420400068&sr=1-1&keywords=50mm+1.8

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00894YP00/ref=s9_simh_gw_p421_d0_i4?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=0GY0Z2VXWCW76A378PTM&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=1970559082&pf_rd_i=desktop

Wow, the price jumped on that 40mm.. I got mine at Best Buy last year for $149..

Still good glass though.

r/letnotmeet has an official guide on the sidebar that has good tips as far as safety/physical security goes. one thing that's not on there are what's called "security bars" that you can buy from amazon. they block in doors/windows/sliding doors from being broken in while you're at home, like when you're sleeping.

i'd also consider posting on trollx for advice as well. there's some of us trolls who've gone through some shit and may be able to give good advice.

for restraining order, for one thing, he'll need the exact address of where he needs to stay away from. since he already knows her home address, i would just be careful putting on there specific locations that he doesn't know about, if that makes sense. restraining orders might only be half as helpful if there isn't some way to catch him violating it. i'd recommend some sort of night security camera. i put these on my tech wishlist after ppl recommended them on the recent r/aww post on the cat triggering the night camera:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0145OQTPG/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3PDI6G88Q8ITA&coliid=I32NXUP8ELY3US&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019MMRV1M/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3PDI6G88Q8ITA&coliid=IXT7HPA0HMC8D&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CW4BG4K/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3PDI6G88Q8ITA&coliid=I2NHMUTKAQWLNC&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QH0Q8J4/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3PDI6G88Q8ITA&coliid=IYEA8OCV4N4GA&psc=1

as for stopping cold turkey or de-escalating, that's up to her. but whatever she chooses, and hell, even now, she NEEDS to be prepared for his possible actions when she does do it, cuz he's gonna get pissed, which might lead to silent insidious revenge or straight out attack.

that means not going anywhere alone, securing her house and car when she's alone, setting up apps that can be immediately triggered quietly to call for help, carrying pepper sprays/defense stuff depending on local laws, etc etc, there's a lot you can do. and making sure her friends/family/coworkers/employer knows -the more eyes keeping a lookout for him the better (show them a picture of him). these fuckers relish on getting the upper hand and she needs to get in control of the situation. (and yes, i know a lot of this stuff from reading that sub)

also, breaking and entering IS a crime, wherever you are. if she catches that on tape she's golden as far as restraining order or even straight up charging him with it. she should start a journal log, writing down exact dates/times/details of any event, small or big. if it ever goes to the police or court, it'll help tremendously. she can also low-key record conversations with him on her phone, just turn the indicator light switch off.

best of luck and safety to you and your friend.

-trollx

I was thinking about getting my dad a "nice" camera for Christmas. Neither of us really knows anything about cameras or photography. Lately, my dad has been into taking nature photos using his phone camera. I really want to encourage it as a hobby because he has a lot of mental health issues and issues with alcoholism. Getting him outside and in the world and away from his demons will be better for him than sitting in his apartment by himself.

I have no idea what to get though. I came across [this] (https://www.amazon.com/Canon-T6-Digital-Telephoto-Accessory/dp/B01D93Z89W/ref=sr_1_7?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1511138171&sr=8-7&keywords=canon+60d) bundle, but I'm not sure if it's worth it or if there is something better I could get for the price.

He won't need anything top of the line, but I'd like it to be a 'photographers' camera, not just a nice one for taking pictures of the family. He is very cognizant of the 'image' of things, and I think having a camera that projects the 'image' of a photographer will cement the hobby a little bit more.

Any words of advice are welcome, I have no idea what I'm doing. Ideally, I'd like to stay in the $500 or below range.

CANON POWERSHOT S110 on amazon for $179 best camera under $350. I use this as a companion to my Canon 70D and in good light and even less than good light quality is pretty darn awesome. http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/reviewsamples/albums/canon-powershot-s110-preview-samples.

If you have more money NIKON D3300 http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-Digital-NIKKOR-18-55mm-3-5-5-6G/dp/B00HQ4W1QE

The biggest bang for the buck is a tracker. It makes your pics 50x better. Even an older camera like the 30D with a kit lens on a tracker is better than a sweet 6D with a fast prime lens on a tripod.

Allow me to refer to my comparison of exposure times. Again ;)

With a modest telephoto lens you are limited to a couple of seconds exposure. Compare that with what you see at 60 seconds in my example above.

Tracker's are pretty simple. Add an intervalometer, so you can get a lot of vibration free photos.

​

​

Hi all,


 

I am researching getting a new camera and I have never had a DSLR camera before. I want to buy something nice, but not something so entry level that I'd need to go out and buy a new one again in a couple of years. This is definitely something I will keep for a while.


 

Option 1: Nikon D3300
-https://www.amazon.com/Nikon-1532-18-55mm-3-5-5-6G-Focus-S/dp/B00HQ4W1QE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1485311699&sr=8-3&keywords=d3300
-$450 on amazon with a 18-55mm lens and accessories

 

Option 2: Nikon D5500
-https://www.amazon.com/Nikon-Camera-3-2-Inch-Certified-Refurbished/dp/B013RFPOEG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1485312117&sr=8-4&keywords=d5500
-$600 on Amazon (REFURBISHED) with a 18-55mm lens

 

I would also consider getting a 55-200mm lens for either option for an additional $150:https://www.amazon.com/Nikon-55-200MM-Vibration-Reduction-Cameras/dp/B00RUBK53Y/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1485312649&sr=8-10&keywords=nikon+lens


 

Current thoughts
--The 3300 seems to be very highly reviewed as an entry level DSLR
--The 5500 seems to be a couple of steps ahead and may be worth it to me to spend a little extra for something that will last longer and produce higher quality photos. Does anyone have experience between these two, is the upgrade worth it?
--I care more about the photo quality than touchscreens or wireless connectivity
--Any thoughts on the 55-200 lens?
--I will also search ebay for deals

So I only know a few of these.

1. I'm not sure. I only use hdmi to hdmi
   
   
2. If you don't want to cause too much damage, my best suggestion would be to get 2 tripods with heads that can angle downward. In my own room I had to re-position the lighthouses multiple times, which meant multiple holes in the walls.
   https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HNZJLG4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
   https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B012FTXOW4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
   Are just the tripods I use now.
   
   
3. 2m x 2m is enough for roomscale, however I don't know if I would consider it a decent roomscale experience, I myself run a 3.8m x 3m space and I even feel like that is pretty small. I also cleared out all the furniture possibly blocking lighthouses, so idk about that.
   
   
4. Your computer monitor/TV will always display the view that you see as well, even if a game does not open a separate window, steam VR has a setting to 'show mirror' so other people can see what you see.
   
   Other than that, hope you get the answers you want. Cheers! (The Vive is awesome though!)

I use the colormonki by xrite, love it and made a huge difference when I used to print to my decent canon color copier. Also if you send files out for printing (adorama for example) you should get their color profiles and adjust your images as necessary so it will be wysiwyg.

Black and white probably not that big a deal, but for color it's great.
Every monitor is different, I used to go crazy seeing perfect color rendition on my screen, then looking at the same image on someone else's monitor and eeeekkk! I'm over that now, I reckon 90% or more computer users don't have any clue or care about it.

> one thing I've learned from by cheap gear is, it breaks and it's not worth it

This is the truth. I've wasted more money on cheap gear than I would have spent buying quality gear in the first place.

• the least expensive tripod you can get that isn't junk is the [$250CDN Ravelli AVTP Professional] (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00139W0XM/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=15121&creative=390961&creativeASIN=B00139W0XM&linkCode=as2&tag=hybrcamerevo-20). It will give you smooth tilts and pans and is built like a tank and will last forever. I own this tripod and highly recommend it.
  
  
• get a [Rode Videomic for $200CDN] (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00CAE8PM4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=15121&creative=390961&creativeASIN=B00CAE8PM4&linkCode=as2&tag=hybrcamerevo-20) - great sound quality for the price - and the new Rycote Lyre shock mount has eliminated the flimsy (and noisy) shock mount on the original Videomic.
  
  
• after you shoot for a while with the kit lens and your 50mm, you will know what lenses to get. My guess is that you'll need something wider and faster (e.g., the [$680CDN Tokina 11-16 f2.8] (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00E5N765U/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=15121&creative=390961&creativeASIN=B00E5N765U&linkCode=as2&tag=hybrcamerevo-20))
  
  
• for lighting, I recommend you invest in a [$279CDN F&V ring light] (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00AY0J4OY/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=15121&creative=390961&creativeASIN=B00AY0J4OY&linkCode=as2&tag=hybrcamerevo-20), put it on a light stand and shoot through it. At some point in the future you can buy a rail mount and put it on your camera rig. Ring lights make your subject look good, are compact, run cool and they are enormously flexible. You can even turn them into soft boxes. I own this light and it has been a great investment.
  
  Yes, if you add it all up, it's a lot of money - but you will spend less in the long run.
  
  Good luck!
  
  

I use Nikon lenses whenever I need a long zoom or macro (2 of the Nikon mount lenses I have). Tamron 90mm macro for food photos, Sigma 70-300mm for city photos from far away. These are not top of the line lenses, but I already had them so why not utilize them. Those modern lenses do not have an aperture ring, so you should get an adapter with an aperture ring. There are tons of them on Amazon and on eBay. I got one with aperture ring AND a tripod mount so it's more secure and easier to handle when mounted on a tripod with a big lens. Fotodiox is one common brand, but there are many similar products under different brands. One I have says "NI G-NEX" on it with no brand.

For old manual lenses, you can pretty much get any adapter since the lens itself has the aperture ring. Just make sure it can focus on infinity (read the reviews if possible)

You will have to do manual focus with these adapter. As far as I know only some adapters for Sony Alpha and Canon mounts can have autofocus (slow). And they are at least $75 (cheapest one I found on amazon for Canon)

As for the flash, I got 2 of these. They are NOT TTL. You can either connect them to your camera, and let it fire whn you press shutter. Or, you can use them externally, and fire them with camera's internal flash (mode S2). Either way, it works fine. I am not a professional photographer, so I cannot compare these flashes with other brands, and tell you how good or bad they are. But they are #1 seller on Amazon, got very good reviews.

Sigma 17-50 2.8

Tamron 17-50 2.8

These are your standard options for that budget. Both have compromises. I went back and forth, umming and aahing over which to get. The Sigma is good but you can be unlucky on build quality. The Tamron is good but the AF is slow and noisy. The Sigma is sharp between A and B but sucks at C, the Tamron is sharp between X and Y but sucks at Z. And so on and so on. Neither of them will give you the sharpness of the 35mm 1.8 throughout their zoom range.

But the Sigma 18-35 1.8 ART will. It's out of your budget new, but I bought it mint-condition second hand for £400 - so you might find one closer to your budget that way. It is one of Sigma's new 'Global Vision' lenses, which is marketing speak for 'we've pulled our finger out in terms of build quality, sorry about that'. It is astonishingly sharp right across the zoom range, even wide open at 1.8: yes, as sharp if not sharper than the 35mm. The AF is fast, silent, and (in my experience anyway) accurate. It is built like a tank. It has FTMF. It looks the dog's.

The drawbacks are: it doesn't have the reach of a 17-50, obviously. In the end, I decided I didn't care: I used the Nikon 35mm 1.8 almost exclusively for 2 years and didn't really feel the need for a longer lens the entire time. Admittedly I don't take many portraits, but when I do I just shoot 3/4 length. As someone who leans towards landscape photography, I was more interested in the wide end. It's quite big as far as standard zooms go, and quite heavy, but I'm a grown up, I can handle it. The image quality more than makes up for it, and on my D7000 with a grip it actually balances perfectly.



^Yeah, ^I ^went ^there ^dasazz

Photography newbie looking for help! I was hoping to get a recommendation on which macro extension tubes to buy. I have a Canon EOS rebel T6 and any help would be appreciated.

I've decided between these two at the moment but would love to hear from anyone that has had experience with them before I make the purchase. And I'm open still to other products too!

Fotodiox Canon EOS Macro Extension Tube Set

Mcoplus EXT-CP Auto Focus AF Macro Extension Tube Set Lens Adapter Ring


My friend has a pair of red spitting cobras that laid 13 eggs which are starting to hatch and I can't think of better excuse to by myself some camera accessories!

I got this one on amazon for about $120 for a C100. Looks like it's not available anymore on amazon, but it can hold up to 27 lbs and is an amazing value for the quality. It's a great tripod.

Oh man!!! Something like this?! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003Q9RERY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_YsFxDb33SQZJT

I didn't even realize that was a thing!! Of course it is now that I think about it... I was trying to take pictures of lightning and I literally sat on my porch for an hour taking 15 second exposures manually hoping to get lightning in it. This is super exciting and not crazy expensive. I assume I can use this method also for taking astro shots? Ive been doing it manually for too long... Thanks for the detail!

Hey guys.

I'm a camera-newbie that's been shooting a bunch of pictures on my phone for the past year to learn the non technical aspects of photography. I think it's finally time I make the leap and get a DSLR.

My budget is around $500-$1000. I primarily want to use it for photos but somewhere down the line I would also want to shoot video with it. More specifically vlog-like stuff so having a microphone would be a huge plus. However I probably won't be buying anything until around black Friday for the good deals, just wanted to get a head start on research.

I was looking at this and it seems like a pretty good place to start.

Thoughts and recommendations?

Hi, I'm going to be building a new PC to use with the Vive, and wanted to get everyone's feedback on my build choices (I tried posting on /r/buildapc but hadn't gotten responses, and I'm interested specifically in Vive users too).

I'm salvaging the power supply, SSD, and CPU cooler from my existing build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor | $219.99 @ Newegg
CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler | Purchased For $19.99
Thermal Compound | Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste | $5.65
Motherboard | Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $119.99 @ Newegg
Memory | G.Skill TridentZ Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory | $89.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Toshiba Q Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | Purchased For $179.99
Video Card | Asus GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Dual Series Video Card | $364.99
Case | Rosewill BlackHawk ATX Mid Tower Case | $39.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply | Corsair Professional 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | Purchased For $139.99
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $1220.57
| Mail-in rebates | -$40.00
| Total | $1180.57
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-24 08:34 EST-0500 |

Please let me know if everything looks good!

Also, for the Vive, I'm planning on purchasing light stands to hold the trackers. I'm currently planning on:

- StudioPRO Set of Two 7'6" Photography Light Stands with Carrying Bag for Photo & Video Studio

-
MDW 2 PACK Tripod Mini Ball Head for HTC VIVE Holder,Camera Camcorder

Are those good choices?

I'm looking to buy a camera for my girlfriend, but know very little about what's good and what isn't. She's not a photographer so beginner gear is fine and I'd like to spend around $500 but could go higher if it makes a significant difference in quality. A second lense may be a cool addition but that would push the budget up so a nicer camera is higher priority.

These camera + accessory kits on Amazon look pretty appealling but again I'm uncertain about the camera quality.

Any recommendations?

Really not purpose built, but what I'm using in this setup is an HP Elitebook with a microsoft 720p webcam (is actually the roommate's) literally just duct taped onto an Emarth 20-60x60. Alternatively to a laptop and webcam is to use your phone with something like this.


Better results could be had with better equipment, but it worked well enough for my purpose. Two side notes: For outdoors, reducing the camera's exposure settings helps reduce washout. The other thing is shoot and see type targets work well.

I also have a 6000D and I actually loved the 55-250 before this issue I'm having. Everything was crisp and amazing value for the money. Check out these images that were apparently taken with this lens. With cheaper lenses like this, the some of the only things you'll be compromising are the amount of light you'll let in (or the widest available aperture), the focus speed (which was just fine on this one - you won't miss the speed if you haven't owned $1000+ lenses), and some clarity. But rust me, you won't regret buying this lens, you'll find yourself using it more often than the 18-55mm you own. Just so you know, the issue I'm having is likely due to dropping it, so don't worry about that.

I can't comment as a owner, but I've heard quite a lot of discussion regarding the Amcrest and Amcrest Pro, 720P and 1080P respectively. I have three pro's sitting in my wish list at the moment. Seem to be a great value.

You're not going to have a constant use for 85mm prime with that camera (which works out to 136mm), unless you intend to shot lots of talking heads. Additionally, the lack of image stabilization means you can't even breathe on the camera during takes. For on location shoots, it's not the best investment.

If you want a fast, practical prime, get Canon's 24mm f/2.8 IS USM. On your body, it's right between a wide angle and portrait lens, so it'll work in many more situations.

If you want a cheap, but excellent zoom, check out the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 VC, and compare it to Canon's 24-105 f/4. You won't see any difference with video footage at 5.6, and because the Tamron can drop to 2.8, you can be a bit more flexible with lighting.

EDIT: although I've never used it, this is considered the best crop-body zoom you can get, and, like the 24-105/24-70, it's flexible enough that you might not need much else.

I have 5 of these Amcrest 1080P cameras and they have never failed me. The setup was quick and the iOS/Android app works very well and is snappy to load HD streams over 4G. I don't yet use the motion alert features, but you could pop in a SD card to record on motion (which can also be viewed remotely). I highly recommend them and for the price, hard to beat.

One of the cams is our dedicated baby monitor that gets used like ~3 hours each day if not more. We also use them for nanny cam purposes and the 2-way audio and PTZ capabilities come in handy often.

P.S: Forgot to mention, unlike Foscam where support was non-existent, Amcrest was quick to respond and are "more US based" than Foscam/other Chinese OEM knock offs.

I'm looking to replace my Nikon 18-55 kit lens and I'm not sure on what to get. I've got a D5300 and mainly use my 35mm f/1.8, which I love, but I want something a little wider. I don't need anything extending into the telephoto range as I already have a 70-300 and a 150-500.

My 'dream' lens would be the Sigma 18-35 f/1.8, but it's beyond my budget. I'm currently looking at the Sigma 17-50 f/2.8 - is this a good choice? Is there a better option? Or should I wait & save up for something a little better?

This camera is fantastic at both photos and videos, and this refurbished model saves you more money for a great lens, which is by far the most important part of your investment.
http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-D5500-Wi-Fi-Digital-Camera/dp/B00TFYRG3G/ref=sr_1_1?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1464046609&sr=1-1&keywords=refurbished+d5500
This incredible lens has recently had a big price reduction. It has pro features such as a fast, constant aperture and stabilization that will make it possible to shoot sharp photos and videos even in low light, where most lenses fail. It shoots everything from landscapes to portraits perfectly. You will likely keep this lens forever, and it is an ideal lens to learn on. Much better than the cheap kit lenses bundled with most cameras that are very limiting.
http://www.amazon.com/Sigma-17-50mm-Aperture-Standard-Digital/dp/B003A6NU3U/ref=sr_1_2?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1464049539&sr=1-2&keywords=sigma+17-50mm+f+2.8
Throw this on the front of the lens to protect it.
http://www.amazon.com/Hoya-Digital-Frame-Multi-Coated-Filter/dp/B002L60TTI/ref=pd_sim_421_4?ie=UTF8&dpID=313Zr0POzWL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=12EBWXTVA2D5E3BNTGY2

You might want to start with a simple compound microscope and get a cell phone adapter to view with. A stereo microscope is great but it's difficult to view "together". Buying a microscope used will cut the price a lot, but beware the objectives could be dirty and need cleaning. also, high magnifications like 1000x can be difficult to use, because of low field of view, high light levels required and may be difficult for a kid to focus. A few hundred dollars isn't going to cut it for those magnifications. Stick to a scope that has 4x, 10x and maybe 20x objectives.

This type of basic microscope is great for learning, has LED lights for both reflection and transmission viewing, works on batteries, easy to use. https://www.amazon.com/TELMU-Microscope-Magnification-Illumination-Microscopes/dp/B07DQQKJNZ/

Cell phone adapter I've used with great success: https://www.amazon.com/Gosky-Universal-Phone-Adapter-Mount/dp/B013D2ULO6/

These are the ones I went with- looks like they are on sale now. Granted, I don't have anything to compare them with... But I've noticed the lighthouses vibrate, which can reverb down these stands and make some noise. Nothing too bad but I did want to point it out. Other then that, they're great- nice and tall, they come with ball heads which allow you to angle the lighthouse just how your want it, and they come with a carrying bag.

Fovitec - 2X 7'6" VR Gaming Lighthouse Mount Stand Kit - [HTC Vive and Oculus Rift Compatible][Adjustable Ball Heads][Includes Carrying Bag]
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MFG14ZT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_IIX7BbK43Z9NP

Please note that I do not have my Vive yet (still waiting) but I have been addicted to this reddit and my advice is just from what I've read on here.

The stands will help. Is it a tripod? Keep in mind you might also need to buy a ballhead adapter for the top so that you can angle them downward as much as you want. You'll just want them to be 1/4" like this one: http://www.amazon.com/EXMAX-Tripod-Camera-Camcorder-Bracket/dp/B012FTXOW4

Regarding sweat, I ordered one of these, but haven't received it yet. You'll be waiting for a month or so to have it shipped: https://vrcover.com/product/htc-vive-pre-vr-cover-waterproof-for-exhibitions-sport/

As for watching 360 videos, I believe you need a program that can handle it. Virtual Desktop (on Steam) has a way to do it. If you visit their Steam store page, their video is kinda long (but worth it to see all the features), but in the second half they demo being able to copy and paste a youtube URL of a 360 video directly into it.

Besides Steam directly, the Humble Bundle store is a good place to get some more games. Their Spring sale is going on now and literally ends in less than a day so check out this reddit post for some games you may be interested in before it's too late: https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/4jw21f/humble_spring_sale_vive_compatible_games/

So overall, connecting it and getting up and ready went pretty smooth? There seem to be so many posts for errors, need of help, etc. it makes me worry what kind of trouble to expect once it gets here.

My other question was, you said for Audioshield "no lag at all, even when streaming". What part was streaming? I don't have the game yet so I just wanted to clarify if it wasn't a locally downloaded game or what.

Also, my gf is also always the cold one. Especially her damn feet. She will put them up against me in the bed and damn those initial 10 seconds of helping warm her up suck. She's lucky I love her :P

The cheapest probe that starts pushing into pro territory is the X-Rite i1 Display Pro and they get much more expensive from there. Though without a 3D LUT box and the accompanying calibration software, your corrections won't be perfect.

Xrite makes a more budget model called the ColorMunki. There's also a line called Spyder but the xrites tend to be much better quality for about the same price.

dispcalGUI is actually a really solid open source piece of CMS software with very good color math behind it. It may be more fickle than Light Illusions, but it's a great option for those on a budget.

All this, however, is a moot point if your monitor isn't any good as you'll quickly hit the limits of most displays. Additionally, expect to calibrate frequently (once a month or so) as displays do drift - even those ones that come "factory calibrated" (looking at you Dell). Here is a decent introduction on what makes up a decent display.

I don't know of any tutorials off hand but you could just google "timelapse photography".

My setup was a tripod, Canon T1i DSLR, 8mm fisheye lens, and a cheap intervelometer.

A lot of newer cameras have timelapse functions built into the camera. GoPros, for instance. Otherwise you need an external intervelometer to trigger the camera shutter at whatever intervals you want to use.

My goal was to make a video about 1.5 minutes long so I made sure to use an interval that would equate to at least 30 frames per second in the final video, in order to have a smooth looking video. I shot for about 5 hours and came up with about 3500 individual photos.

To make a video out of those photos I used Adobe Premier and they make it pretty easy. I think(it's been a while) you just drag and drop them into the editor and it automatically creates a video clip which you then export.

To make the star trail photo I used a free program called Star Trails that stacks each photo on top of one another but only adds in differences between them. Photoshop can do this as well.

The sensor is the same for all of nikons cameras in the D3xxx range, even the d5xxx are the same.

When it comes to the final product your lense is going to be way way way way way more important than the camera body itself.

That being said If I were in your position I would find a used D3300 body or buy it cheap on black Friday. If you can do that, then get yourself a prime lense like the 35mm or 50mm f/1.8. The image quality will be like night and day. I found my 50mm for $100 on Craigslist.

If you really want zoom or primes sound too restrictive then get a Sigma 17-55 f/2.8. It's around $250 new but well worth it. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003A6NU3U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_9Sn7BbX57NZK7

If you want to spend a little more and get INSANE image quality get a Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 for around $600. It's like a zooming prime, the only one of its kind and its phenomenal when it works. Chances are you'll have to spend some time calibrating it. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DBL09FG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_1Qn7BbP45FKSJ

Good luck.

That one will work, but there are many less expensive options that are the exact same product, just branded differently.

I have this version, (as you can see, it's the same product) - only $18 - which works beautifully for any kind of intervalometry (time lapses) and also, the main button will trip the shutter remotely. If you have the camera in bulb mode, it's great for fireworks, since you can hold the shutter open as long as you like.

If you don't need any kind of intervalometry or programmability, but need to be able to hold the shutter open manually, this one is even cheaper yet. It's the one I use for fireworks.

You are right, lenses are definitely more important, especially because it seems like most of your shots will be landscapes, and you'll have plenty of time to set up the composition. You won't need expensive bodies.

Get a Canon Rebel; they're good cameras and will give you as much functionality as you'll be able to use - as this is your first DSLR.

As lenses go, I would recommend a Tamron 17-50 non-VC, which is on par with the Canon 17-40 L lens. Also, you might want to consider a telephoto; my suggestion for this would be the Canon 55-250 IS, which is also a great lens.

Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM Lens
I have one and although I hate prime lenses, I use it when I don't have my 24-70 2.8L available. It's not as fast as some of the other options listed here, but it's dirt cheap (Currently ~$140 on Amazon), small enough to fit in your pocket, and a great focal length for shooting the front members of the band. You'll need to switch lenses if you're gunning for the drummer or if the player you want to shoot moves away from the front of the stage, though. If you're using a camera with a good sensor which doesn't get too much noise when you pump up the ISO, I'd recommend this lens. It works well in low light on my 5D mkIII, but not so well on my T3i. Of course, using a flash would solve that problem. I use an old Speedlite 430-EZ and get incredible results. In the end, whether this lens is for you or not is based on the kit you currently have. If you have a camera with a good sensor, you're golden. If your camera has a lesser sensor but you pair it with a flash (even a pop up flash may suffice), then you should also be in the clear.

Neewer makes a Carbon Fiber tripod with a solid weigh tolerance, lightweight, strong, sturdy, and only about 110 bucks. Don't waste your money on a Manfrotto or any of that, you really don't need it unless you're doing video, and even then, a Ravelli video tripod is going to do you better.

http://www.amazon.com/Neewer-Lightweight-Portable-Monopod-Capacity/dp/B00NSEKEMO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454098226&sr=8-1&keywords=neewer+carbon+fiber+tripod

(Neewer's also doubles as a monopod, the head is replaceable, and they sell a multitude of different heads for different uses. And yes, that head is a ball head.)

http://www.amazon.com/Ravelli-AVTP-Professional-Camera-Tripod/dp/B00139W0XM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454098265&sr=8-1&keywords=ravelli+video+tripod

(Ravelli's uses the bottom-screw ballhead that video pods are known for, and should be compatible with Manfrotto plates, if you happen to have spent too much money in the past. Only really useful for video shooters.)

• this camera setup: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IO2XVSS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
   
  
  
• this light box and lights:
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005CX9S8A/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
   
  
  
• and this photo tutorial:
  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ94-fHMfAt1yQfGbeMQqOAS7c59mbiYt
  
   
  
  Knowing the above, these photos aren't really that great, I just used the settings that I already had on. These could be greatly improved if I had taken the time to do so, regardless, I appreciate the compliment! Also even if you don't have a fancy camera and light box I HIGHLY recommend watching that tutorial series on miniature photography, a lot of people around the sub could learn a ton and greatly improve the quality of the pictures they post even with just a simple camera on a smart phone.
  
  
  
  
  

I have been shooting on Nikon for a while now. The D7000 is a solid camera. Going from my old D80 to the D7000 it was like stepping into the future. The full RGB meter and the 6400 ISO range make for some amazing shots.

Now as for lens that largely depends on your budget.

• The standard starter 50mm f/1.8 $219.00
  
  The 50mm will give you razor sharp images work in low light and is a great lens to learn on. If you ever move to a FX (full frame) camera is will work on there as well. On your crop camera it will be 50mm x 1.5 (crop factor) = 75mm lens. This is a little long for some folks which leads to our next lens.
  
  
• Great starter just for DX Cameras 35mm f/1.8 $196.95
  
  The 35 is a DX lens (build just for your crop camera so it won't work well on a FX camera) but its a great place to start. This lens is a "normal" lens. Meaning it is close to what your eye sees. Its cheap and has many of the qualities of the 50mm.
  
  
• If you have some money to burn the Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 $594.00
  
  I just picked up this Sigma a few days ago from Amazon and I can confirm its sharp as a tack. I honestly like this lens better than the 17-55 Nikon which is 1500 ish dollars. It has optical stabilization and is lighter than the hulking Nikon lens.
  
  I have stayed away from lenses with, in my opinion, crappy f-stops. You can find cheaper lens out there but you will suffer from high f stops like 5.6 which will kill your ability to shoot in low light, and to isolate your subject and have real control over your depth of field. These lenses are great place to start and they will stay in your camera bag for years to come. There are more lenses out there from zooms to telephoto to macro if you give us some idea of what you want to shoot then we can help recommend a more specialized lens. Happy shooting.
  

Lighting is a huge part of it! Here's the lightbox kit I bought. It comes with two lights- they're not super strong, but again, they work just fine for my purposes and I've been perfectly happy with it. You may want to scale up to a larger size if you do bigger pieces on a regular basis... When I periodically have a larger thing (like the Mr. Coffee machine) I just say "screw it" and take lower quality pictures, or I set it up on a giant white piece of tagboard in natural lighting (during the middle of the day) so I can get a few shots.