First off, let me paste this... I keep this in a text file on my desktop for this question, when it pops up:

• Order Scott Kelby's Digital Photography Box Set. His books are incredible resources.
  
  
• If you're going to use Photoshop and/or Lightroom for your post-processing, also pick up Scott Kelby's Adobe Photoshop CS5 Book for Digital Photographers and Scott Kelby's Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book for Digital Photographers.
  
  
• Order Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. This, along with the Scott Kelby boxset, should be required reading for any aspiring photographer.
  
  You're on the right track, starting with the /r/photoclass subreddit. Now for your other questions...
  
  As far as what is and isn't relevant, given most of your work would be shown on the web, don't get all hard over megapixels. Get what you can afford, but don't let yourself be swayed into getting a camera with a huge MP count. The higher numbers of megapixels come into play when you're doing close cropping, or printing large prints.
  
  For example, take a look at this picture. I shot this several weeks ago with my Canon 40D, which has 10 megapixels. Are there cameras with higher megapixel counts? Sure. For the type of photography I do, though, this camera suits me perfectly.
  
  As far as why you should get a DSLR versus a point-and-shoot, the biggest reason is lens interchangeability. A DSLR will let you change your lens based on the kind of shots you're taking, which gives you much MUCH more freedom in the kind of pictures you take. Also, DSLR's generally can offer you more freedom as you grow in your photography due to more advanced features (full manual mode, the ability to shoot Raw, etc), which ultimately give you far greater control over the finished product.
  
  So to blanket answer your question, it's not the camera that produces great photos, but the photographer. Hand Ansel Adams a point-and-shoot camera and I guarantee he'll outshoot me with my 40D. You want to get a camera that you feel comfortable with, you can afford and gives you the greatest freedom to grow as your interest grows.
  
  Does that help? :)
  
  
  
  
  

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.

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?

m43 shooter here.

Fuji makes great stills cameras. They have notoriously bad video. It's ok for personal use, but not usable in a professional context. Here is a short sample.

Even old fuji models get feature upgrades via firmware updates - the X-E2 is nearly identical to the X-E2S due to a firmware update. Fuji glass is all good. "Fuji’s 18-55mm is regularly viewed as the non-kit lens kit lens. People rave about it’s sharpness, the quality of its bokeh."

Sony makes computers that can take pictures and video. They probably take the best pictures for a given intro price, but I personally dislike their usability. I prefer physical controls to ones on a screen.

----------------------------------

I know you didn't ask, but if you want the most compact option, m43 is the way to go. Yes, the sensor is smaller, but that means the lenses require less glass.

Olympus makes stills-oriented cameras that have ok video. Their newest camera is a rangefinder style as well, but it's $1200 without a lens.

Panasonic and Sony are competitors for the best video. The GX85 might be of interest. It is the first camera with in-body stabilized 4k video, which you might like.

----------------------------------

• X-E2S - $1000 with lens
  
• A6000 - $700 with lens
  
• GX85 - $800 with lens
  
  Size comparison
  
  With both the Panasonic and the Sony, you will need another lens to get the best iq. The Fuji's kit lens doesn't have that problem.
  
  If you want stills, go with the Fuji. If you want a smaller camera, Panasonic. Between these options I wouldn't get the Sony.
  
  Good luck :)

Around $400 brand new you can probably get like a T5 with a kit lens, 18-55mm. Pretty good camera, not the best, but for a starter camera its good, way better than any point and shoot.

I know its a gift so keeping it new is probably best, but you could get like a refurbished one from cannon site.

http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/eos-rebel-t5-ef-s-18-55mm-is-ii-lens-kit-refurbished


http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/rebel-sl1-ef-s-18-55mm-is-stm-ef-75-300mm-stm-kit-refurbished

http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/eos-rebel-t5-ef-s-18-55mm-is-ii-ef-50mm-1-8-ii-kit-refurbished

http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/eos-rebel-t3i-ef-s-18-55mm-is-ii-lens-kit-refurbished

Those all would be pretty sweet for a beginner. She can buy some better lenses later on.

Or you could go the Sony mirror less route with a a6000. I know she wanted a cannon, but the sony a6000 is a way better camera from the get go for the money. Better processor better sensor, the ability to use tons of cheap legacy lenses of all types, wi-fi capability to sync with her phone and download pictures, even control her camera with her phone.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I8BICB2/ref=s9_simh_gw_g421_i2_r?ie=UTF8&fpl=fresh&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=0GV0B9C4XN0ZPMEE6F0B&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=2079475242&pf_rd_i=desktop

You could probably snag a used one of these or refurbished for about $450-$500.

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!
  

SD Cards

According to Canon's website, the t3i can record about 22 minutes to an 8GB SD card. So a 32GB card should be about 88 minutes.

When shopping for an SD card I would always suggest a name brand for reliability. For your specific camera, any card labeled SD/SDHC/SDXC should be compatible. For shooting 1080P video you want at least Class 10 speeds (the little C with a 10 in it). Faster cards are still backwards compatible.

I would suggest something like this SanDisk 32GB Class 10. And I'd probably buy a couple, you never want to be without a spare card!

Lighting

I'm no expert when it comes to video lighting, I only do photography, and even then I'm not an expert. But as a techie, before buying expensive lights, I would just try to use some LED light bulbs in those stands you already have as they're a standard lamp socket, to get more light and less heat.

Perhaps something like these 20W bulbs? You can try any bulb as long as it has an E26/E27 base is no more than 45 watts.

Something like these LED flood lights might work since they're directional, but they're probably too wide to fit with the umbrellas on.

Lenses

Getting that bokeh may be difficult. There are five factors that affect background blur, one of which is sensor size, obviously you're not going to buy a new camera, so the sensor size is a fixed value.

To get more background blur you need one or more of the following, a lower fstop on your lens, a higher focal length, to get as close to your subject as possible, and to get the background as far away as possible. So your desire for a wider lens is conflicting with your desire for background blur, and it sounds like space is an issue.

Additionally, since you have a crop sensor camera, lenses are really more zoomed (by 1.6x) in than they would be on a full frame sensor. So your kit lens, I assume goes down to 18mm? So on your camera that is more like 29mm (about the same as a smartphone camera).

I don't necessarily know if I would recommend a wide lens for your application since it will lead to less background blur and will exaggerate facial features when up close, as shown in this example. Although background blur may be impossible if you're in a cramped space anyhow. So if you're going to attempt a wide angle lens, the Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 looks like the best, most affordable option (I use Nikon gear myself, so I don't have personal experience), which is equivalent to a 16mm-29mm on your camera. However, that fstop number is higher than both your kit lens and 50mm, which means it lets in less light, which could be an issue.

Conclusion

Hopefully that information was useful and not too confusing. Feel free to ask for clarification if needed. Good luck!

So I have a Canon T3i and a 50mm f/1.8 II. In the near future, I will be purchasing a new lens. I'm still a newbie, so I don't really have a specific style and I just shoot what's in front of me. I've been doing predominantly street photography and auto photography, but i'm also looking to branch out. It's come to my attention that I should have a wide angle lens in my arsenal as I was begging for a wider perspective when I went to my first auto show a couple weeks ago. It made framing weird, and I had to move back which was quite inconvenient in a packed show like that. I also love landscapes and views so I want something wide to capture those as well.
Here are some of the choices I'm considering.
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8

Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM

Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM Lens

Tamron AF 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 SP Di II LD Aspherical (IF) Lens

There are also a couple lenses that I have stumbled upon that are not as wide, but have a longer focal length which may double as more than just a wide-angle.

Tamron SP AF 17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical (IF) Lens (really have my eye on this one!)

Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Standard Zoom Lens

This is all a bit confusing for a noob like me, so any help is appreciated it. If you feel like there is a better option, please do recommend it to me! And also, i'm on a working-class student budget.

One last question, how do you feel about used lenses. Just curious towards your experiences as i feel like they can be bargains. Lenses are built to last a long time if they're taken care of right? Sorry for the long post but thanks in advanced!

Definitely talk to your fiance about what she wants to do. A lot of people want to get into photography cause they see the image quality and the pretty bokeh and/or blurry backgrounds but the reality of it is, not everyone wants to lug around a hefty piece of equipment everywhere.

Does she just want some better quality pictures to put on social media sites (FB, instagram, etc..)? Or does she really want to go around and look for nice angles and composition?

If you can borrow someone's camera for a week that'll be a great way to start. If not, and she just wants better quality pictures, maybe start off with Canon S series or the G series. Very solid cameras and small form factor make them ideal to carry around.

For a beginner dslr, as others have stated, thats a good bundle to start. Or go up to the t5i.

Or for a little more, you can get her Sony a6000. Very solid camera with good image quality and small as well so its easier to carry around.

It is possible to make great photos with a T6, or any camera really, but like with any craft, that depends more on the experience of the person using the tool than the tool itself.

You should read up about the business of photography, something like John Harrington's book would be a good start. Another good resource is aphotoeditor.com. These are both geared toward more commercial photography than fine art selling, but have great information.

You're young, you should focus on making good work, and start reading about the business side of it now, so once your work and confidence is in the right place, you will be prepared to do a proper job. You can't expect professional results tomorrow, but if you start working hard now and have the willingness to hustle, you will see results over time.

On a side note, being a server would pay much better than being a dishwasher, so as long as you're working in the restaurant industry, you should try to do that instead.

If I were you I'd go out and try to shoot some landscape photography with your 18-55mm lens and take a look at the shots afterwards to determine if the wide-angle is necessary. 18mm is pretty wide and would work well for a lot of landscape shots but you go shooting with it and if you think you need a bit wider then go for it!

Getting a telephoto lens would, like you said, give you a wider range of shots and would be great for wildlife photography when you're out shooting landscapes and spot a deer, or other animal.

Another lens you might want to consider is the Canon 50mm f/1.8 which is great for portraits and it's only $110.

There's this bundle here for $350 it includes the 10-18mm lens you mentioned as well as the 50mm lens I mentioned.

Some other options:

Canon 24mm f/2.8 which is a lot of people on this sub recommend as a good general purpose lens. ($150)

Samyang 14mm f/2.8 is another highly recommend wide-angle lens mentioned on this sub, manual focus only but it's cheap! ($300)

Edit:

Also, check out this thread from yesterday! It was basically asking people from this sub what their favorite relatively cheap lens were and I found it extremely helpful.

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!

> I am a leather maker and take horrible pictures of my stuff (maybe it's my skill)

It may be your skill but you're also most likely not using a good lens for it. You need a macro lens that can do 1:1 or 1:2 magnification. Here's a nice video that gives a cool introduction to macro photography and the most common gotchas.

Product photography is not hard once you got a decent lens, you can do it at home and you mostly need a white sheet of paper as background and some natural light coming in through the window. You can of course add artificial lights and all kinds of tricks as well as post-processing, but those are the basics for getting some decent shots straight out of camera.

Now the Tamron SP 90mm mentioned in the above video is a very nice macro lens but a manual focus version is about $200 and an autofocus version is more so it's not a good fit for your budget. Perhaps something to keep in mind for later on. Manual focus is fine for your needs, the leather I presume is not going anywhere so no need for autofocus. The focal length (90mm) is also not a versatile length for travel.

So for now focus on your travel needs. The Sony A6000 with a 16-50mm zoom is about $400-425 used.

The A6000 is a mirrorless camera and can easily adapt macro lenses from most other camera mounts, so it would not be a problem later to get a macro lens plus a $20 adapter and it will work fine. I recommend looking for older manual focus macro lenses because like I said you don't need autofocus, and older lenses are cheaper but just as good as long as the glass is in good condition.

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?

> Hey guys, I am posting this on behalf of my sister who is too stubborn to make a reddit account.

tell your sister that in order to give proper advice, we really require her presence, because:

> As a new photographer, how much should she charge for prom pictures?

this is kind of a hard question to answer. as a new photographer, and with some questions like these, i'm inclined to answer that she shouldn't be doing it at all. every pro has to start somewhere, granted, but there should generally be something of a gap between "picking up a camera" and "starting a professional career in photography". that gap allows for practice, experience, skills, knowledge and personal style develop, and gives you exposure to what real paying jobs can be like, as you kind of progress up the ladder of job legitimacy.

frankly, i doubt i could do a similar job that cheap at cost. gas to the job costs money. prints and CDs cost money.

> She has a canon T2I with various lenses.

so... what lenses?

frankly, this is an amateur camera from three generations ago. it's not really a professional tool. you may not need it for what she's trying to do, but there are definite reasons that professionals use professional tools and not just the cheapest thing that gets the job done.

> What is the best mode for taking pictures in the outdoors(for prom pictures)? She believes it is portrait but is a bit unsure.

if you're using the scene modes, you're doing it wrong. who knows how those things work? why the make the choices they make. if you're taking pictures for pay, you'd better know why you camera is set the way it's set, and not leave those choices up to some program in its firmware that's trying to guess what you're taking a picture of.

you want to, at the very least, be in a priority mode (probably aperture), or even manual. you want to decide what exposure setting is more important and set that, even if you let the camera set everything else accordingly.

> What is the best website/store for purchasing prints? We are thinking costco will be the cheapest

costco definitely makes pretty good prints for a fast turnaround. for websites, i like adoramapix.

> Which lens would be better for an outdoor prom picture shoot? http://www.amazon.com/Canon-18-55mm-3-5-5-6-Select-Digital/dp/B0002Y5WXY or http://www.amazon.com/Canon-EF-70-300mm-4-5-6-USM/dp/B0007Y794O

this is one of those kind of things you should know before taking jobs professionally. the answer is "you should probably have a 17-55 (or 24-70 on full frame) and a 70-200, and not these junky kit zooms." truthfully, there isn't a right answer to this: i have and will continue to shoot groups with telephoto lenses. it's a mater of what you're shooting and how you want to shoot it.

> Can anyone provide a link for learning how to calibrate the Canon T2I ISO settings for outdoor pictures?

again, this is the kind of thing you should know before taking pay for jobs. and it depends on the light.

Sooo,
I have had a T3i for a few years now along side a this:
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-70-300mm-4-5-6-Lens-Cameras/dp/B0007Y794O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1398346452&sr=8-2&keywords=usm+300+canon

and also this:
http://www.amazon.com/Rokinon-FE14M-C-Ultra-Canon-Black/dp/B003VSGQPG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398346666&sr=8-1&keywords=wide+14+mm+canon

I don't know exactly why, but I can definitely take really superb pictures with with the 300mm lens... and also quite good ones with the Rokinon one...
The kit lens takes normal or average pictures...

My only assumptions are that the kit lens is made with lower quality stuff or is someone less powerful... The 300mm lens is "made in japan" so I guess it is higher quality...

Anyway, all this has been said only to ask suggestions on higher quality lenses to take closer up pictures. For example, with the 300mm lens I can get really cool blurring effects and sometimes bokeh... but the close up lense is just meh.....

I don't want to break the bank getting another lens either, so maybe you can help me finding a standard zoom lens or a prime lense that is for close ups that will be better than my current kit lens... If you think I can find a good deal on this used, you can let me know..

Thank you

Look at prime lenses my friend.

• You could pick up a couple fast (large aperture) prime lenses for $800. If you buy them used you can get three of them. Take a look at this page to see what Canon lenses are available. For example, I have used the EF 35mm f/2 (~$350) and EF 28mm f/1.8 USM (~$500) and they are both nice lenses.
  
  
• Even though the 50mm f/1.8 II is a great lens for the cost, the EF 50mm f1.4 USM (~$400) is a worthwhile upgrade. Faster, less CA, sharper, higher quality build, smoother focusing, etc. I love it for both photos and video.
  
  
• I do not own this lens, but the EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM (~$800) is a wonderful portrait and landscape photography lens. And because it's fast it can be used for action and event photography, however it is limiting because of its long reach.
  
  
• The EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM (~$600) is also a good lens. Great for both macro and portrait photography. There is also the EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM. L class glass with IS for $300-$400 more.
  
  Regarding your Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8: If you're shooting wider than 15mm make sure you take off the hood, otherwise you'll end up with some funky vignetting. :)

Hi everyone!


I'm looking to get back into photography after having a run with a dslr years ago. This time I'm looking in to trying mirrorless and wanted some help picking a camera.


What would I use it for? mainly portrait work but I would like to take urban landscape type shots and nature landscape shots when I travel.


Budget? max 700 (i know, one link is above that amount) but would prefer to keep it max 500

I have looked at the buying guide and some of the posts on here with recommended cameras and in all honesty I'm even more confused now.


So far these are the options I am looking at:


http://www.futureshop.ca/en-ca/product/panasonic-panasonic-wi-fi-16mp-mirrorless-camera-with-14-42mm-lens-dmcgx7kk-black-dmcgx7kk/10346786.aspx?path=c88579247bc746b15e9e4930c7f4c47een02


http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMC-GF3KK-Compact-Touchscreen-14-42mm/dp/B0056ENTVC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418962995&sr=8-1&keywords=panasonic+lumix+g&pebp=1418962999409


http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-Interchangeable-Lens-14-42mm-Silver/dp/B002CGSYKS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418963114&sr=8-1&keywords=olympus+pen


http://www.amazon.com/Fujifilm-X-A1-16-50mm-Lens-Black/dp/B00EYTM3FS


http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Alpha-Interchangeable-Camera-16-50mm/dp/B00I8BICB2/?tag=bom_tomsguide-20


(Is this a worthwhile deal for the alpha 6000+lens? http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/-/b0004019.aspx?path=543f449878b99212fa12583307247c80en02&SearchPageIndex=1)



I am planning on buying more lenses farther down the line (and possibly flash if required... clearly I'm new at this) so any recommendations for that as well would be great.


Thanks in advance ☺



*edit: I'm in Canada if that matters in terms of pricing.

In all honesty there are many entry level DSLRs out there that are great and very afordable. Canon 60D, nikon 3200, sony 320; it really doesn't mater, just get a good body with a stock lense from a reputable dealer.

Now as a photojournalist you will do lots of staged shots, usually for interviews and such; you'll have time to sit down with the person in their field of work, setup an area to take a picture, and take it. More important then the camera itself would be the lighting. I would make sure to put some money aside to get a shoe flash and a remote wire for it. The remote will allow you to hold the flash off to the side or above your subject, pointing it in whatever direction you want, allowing you easy, afordable lighting solution.

Hot Shoe Diaries by Joe McNally has many great examples how to use a single, or several flashes to achieve professional results. Learn how to bouce light with a shoe flash, it will do wonders for your photography.

Good luck to you!

So, the old kit lens on my T1i has officially crapped out (it was 7 years old, rip little guy) I've mostly self-taught the absolute basics and just dabbled and had fun on road trips and vacations. However, now I'm starting to take an interest in getting back into basic photography. I've started visiting friends around the US and gone on hiking and backpacking trips and really want some memorable shots.

I just ordered myself a nifty 50mm lens for $125 off Amazon, as well as a tiny tripod and a lens hood and polarizer. However, now that I'm going hiking more often I'd also like to invest in a decent wide angle lens for some beautiful landscape shots.

For the kinds of shots I want to take (mountain shots, landscape, scenery) is it worth it for me to get the 10-18mm or just stick with the basic 24mm? Any advice is welcome :)

Edit: a couple words

All right, since you said you do photograph events and weddings:

The Luminous Portrait: Capture the Beauty of Natural Light for Glowing, Flattering Photographs
by Elizabeth Messina et al.
Link: http://amzn.com/0817400125

Picture Perfect Posing: Practicing the Art of Posing for Photographers and Models (Voices That Matter)
by Roberto Valenzuela
Link: http://amzn.com/0321966465

Picture Perfect Practice: A Self-Training Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Taking World-Class Photographs (Voices That Matter)
by Roberto Valenzuela
Link: http://amzn.com/0321803531

These three are from my wishlist. The Valenzuela one on posing comes highly recommended from some of my wedding photographer friends.

If Jose Villa is your thing, he also put out a book:

Fine Art Wedding Photography: How to Capture Images with Style for the Modern Bride
by Jose Villa et al.
Link: http://amzn.com/0817400028

If you might want to expand into boudoir:

The Art of Boudoir Photography: How to Create Stunning Photographs of Women
by Christa Meola
Link: http://amzn.com/0321862708

It depends on the pictures you're taking.

A 50mm f/1.8 is always a good choice. About $100. It's better for portraits or walking around than landscapes though.

A wide angle zoom like this 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 from Canon wouldn't be bad. It'll let you get wide angle landscape shots of basically anything. Would not be the best for low light situations though and if you ever go full frame you would have to sell it.

Finally, more expensive, but generally worth it, is the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8. You can get them used to save a bit of money and the best part is generally lenses hold their value very well, unlike camera bodies. This lens will be much more appropriate for low light shots or pictures of the stars.

If you're gonna splurge, splurge on lenses. Hope that helps a bit or gets some ideas flowing.

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

If you stick with the T5i an 11-24 would be a "waste" of glass - hear me out. Part of the reason that lens is so massive is the amount of glass and witchcraft it takes to design an 11-24mm lens to cover a full frame sensor with a flange distance of 44mm. The crop sensor will not be able to make use of all that glass

You'll save a huge amount of money and weight by going with the Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM - though it's variable aperture it's optimized for crop sensor cameras. It's definitely not as nice as the 11-24; however, it's 10% of the cost of the Canon 11-24! Check out some sample images, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with the performance.

Disclaimer, I'm a 5D4 shooter and I love it - so it's hard to advocate against going full-frame with a great piece of glass like the 24-70!

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.

I have a Yanguno YN-560II and a Canon 430EXII that I shoot with Yanguno C-603 wireless triggers. As others here have said, the 560II is manual only, but I find myself using manual modes exclusively on my 430EXII. I should mention that I usually don't use flash from the camera shoe, and the C-603 triggers don't transmit ETTL. The most rounded option imo, is the YN-565EX you linked. Since it has ETTL, it would likely come out to be more useful to you in general.

I'd look into the Yanguno wireless triggers that I linked as well. They become highly useful if you want to get a little more creative with your flash placement, or if you want to quickly adjust angle. I found that the marginal cost increase of the wireless triggers like the 603C's is worth every penny.

I invested in a T3i when my daughter was born, and I never regretted. I'm happy to see a fellow parent that enjoys photographing the details of their children.

One piece of advice, that may or may not help with this particular shot: Grab a 50mm lens with a low aperture rating. It takes beautiful fast shots in low light, with a tight depth of field that really focuses in one your subject. They are relatively cheap. I got a f1.4 from canon for just $300 or so (which is a great deal for a prime lens), but you can get a f1.8 for less than half of that, and it would probably work about the same. Because you will be on a cropped sensor so it's going to be a pretty heavy "zoom" so you will feel like you are having to stand pretty far away from the action to fit it all into the frame. But I highly recommend it to a new parent that wants to document their children.

It really depends on what kind of shots you're looking for.

For street photography, you don't need permission or a model release form as long as you don't use the image for any kind of commercial or financial gain. As mentioned before, as long as those you're photographing are in a public place and have no "reasonable right to privacy", you're fine. Personally, my street photography is done using a telephoto lenses at events like parades, carnivals and things like that. There's a pamphlet written by a lawyer here in the US called "The Photographer's Rights". Here is the link:

http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm

If you're interested in shooting model photography, look around online for some good beginner tutorials on posing and lighting, then get some friends to come model for you.

Here's a good site with some information on portrait photography (just search around, read related articles, etc...):

http://digital-photography-school.com/tips

This site has some good tips and stuff, too:

http://photo.tutsplus.com/

Sooner or later you'll get into lighting. Here are a few blogs that have a lot of good information:

Strobist: http://strobist.blogspot.com/

Zack Arias: http://www.zarias.com/

David Ziser's Digital Pro Talk: http://digitalprotalk.blogspot.com/

Dustin Diaz did a lighting 365. His Flickr Photostream is full of BTS information: http://www.flickr.com/photos/polvero/sets/72157611811908959/

I also read Joe McNally's Hot Shoe Diaries when it came out. It has a lot of information:

http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Shoe-Diaries-Light-Flashes/dp/0321580141

He also has a blog:

http://www.joemcnally.com/blog/

Very cool. If I can recommend a book or three - Scott Kelby Digital Photography 1-3. Really great books for learning because they are simple lessons - one page, one lesson. No need to read through, you can pick and choose what you want to learn. There are two others, books 4 and 5. I have 4 and found it less useful than 1-3 but some of that is because I moved past it in skills before I bought it. No idea about 5. His blog is great too - lots of free knowledge. Same with Joe McNally.

Good luck!

P.S. What camera did you get?

I've just bought the Canon 50mm F1.4 from Amazon in the UK. In the picture, it has white detail (Pic here)

The one that has arrived has gold detail, which appears to be an older version. Is there any material difference or is this just trim? I could have got the older version from eBay for cheaper, but thought it best to get the most recent version, which is why I went with Amazon. I am tempted to return it, but would much rather get snapping with it! :)

Thoughts welcome! Thanks.

My favorite low cost photography gift idea is the Ultra Pod. I've only gotten mine somewhat recently but I was looking for a small/low table top tripod that would hold a relatively heavy lens, and this one can also be strapped to railings and such. It's got a really smart design so it can safely handle much more weight than any other small tripod like this I've seen. It also packs down to very small. AND it's super affordable.

https://www.amazon.com/Pedco-UltraPod-Lightweight-Camera-Tripod/dp/B000ANCPNM

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.

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.

You are probably the most helpful person I have ever encountered on the internet. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond with such eloquence and clarity! It is a graduation gift, and due to some hinting about a camera store sale this weekend I think I may be ending up with a t3i. I will check out the Canon loyalty program just in case.

I would love a 100-400mm, but it looks like that lens starts at about $1400, which will be out of my price range for likely a few years. What do you think of this 70-300 mm with f 4-5.6 and image stabilitation? That would be reasonable for me to save up to.

Thank you again for being so helpful!

Also, what is your opinion of tele-converters?

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.

I was in a rush to buy a tripod and needed one quickly for the lunar eclipse so I bought the targus tg-p60t for $50 from walmart. It seems reasonably steady and I shot some decent timelapses, but for $50, I was wondering if I could buy something better online.

I've got a couple questions


What do you guys think about the dolica gx600b200?

The dolica has a ball head mount. For general photography (and timelapses) is this better than the pan tilt on the targus? Researching online, I found many people tend to like ball heads better, but what do you think?

Are there any other used options or new stuff I should be looking at? Is there a specific used tripod that is a good deal? I am aware that the normal budget for a good tripod is $150 at minimum, but, as a college student, that is way out of the budget.

Links to both tripods

http://www.amazon.com/Dolica-GX600B200-Proline-60-Inch-Aluminum/dp/B004XC3GWU

http://www.amazon.com/Targus-Panhead-Bubble-60-Inch-TG-NI200/dp/B007REQU9W/

Buy a reflector and bring a friend! Hold it high and shine the sun back onto one side of there face =) Lighting is what makes a photo amazing, this is an easy way to create great lighting =) If you buy a reflector also try to shoot somewhere in the shade and not in direct sunlight.

http://www.amazon.com/Neewer-43-Inch-Collapsible-Multi-Disc-Reflector/dp/B002ZIMEMW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414167413&sr=8-1&keywords=reflector

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

Awesome, thanks for this. Wasn't quite aware of what focusing screens were, but that looks exactly like what I want.

As for the feel of the lens, I figured that they wouldn't really design the stock lenses for manual focus. I've been looking at getting a fixed 50mm for the T2i, and I'm debating between Canon's f1.8 and f1.4. I like the price of the f1.8, but it looks like it has a similar focusing system to the stock lens. I need to get to a store where I can handle them side by side so I can decide myself, but has anyone out there had experience with these two lenses who has anything to say about them? I've looked up comparisons online and the 1.4 seems to produce better images, but does anyone know if it has a smoother focus?

Hey guys! First time checking out this subreddit.

Current camera: Canon T5i

Current lenses:

• Kit (Canon 18-55mm)
  
• 50mm f/1.8
  
• Canon 55 - 250mm
  
  
  Two questions:
  
  1: I wanted to get a wide angle lense for doing some star photography / landscapes / cityscapes. I was torn between these two lenses:
  
  
• Canon EF-S 10 - 18mm IS STM
  
• Canon EF-S 10 - 22mm USM
  
  I don't really care that the 10-18 is mostly plastic, given the lenses I already have. But, I didn't know if the 10 - 22mm would be worth it. It also seems to be lacking IS but would it be more versatile having the extra 4mm and toting it around for the day?
  
  2: While I love the prime 50mm I have, I find that it's incredible zoomed in for obvious reasons. I see a lot of amazing pictures taken (suggestive/tainted opinion, photos of which I aim to take) with prime lenses around the 20mm's range. These two lenses I was interested in and didn't know if they are more "wide angle" than they are actually for candid/portraits and a good reliable daily shooter:
  
  
• Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM
  
• Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM
  
  Again, I'm running into the IS or no IS problem. Didn't know if people have had experiences with either.
  
  Thank you!

I'm a bit in your same situation. I'm going to Iceland for 12 days and going to try and shoot a ton of landscapes with my Canon 60D and Tokina 11-16mm Ultra Wide angle (uses 77mm filters). Here's what I got on a budget from a little digging on Amazon.com:

Tiffen 77mm Circular Polarizer: $144; on sale for $20!

B+W 10 Stop Neutral Density filter: $252; on sale for $100

Tiffen 77mm Neutral Density 0.9 Filter: $99; on sale for $25

Step-up and Step-down rings let you use your pricey filters on your other lenses; saving you lots of $$$!
Fotodiox 7 Metal Step Up Ring Set, Anodized Black Metal 49-52mm, 52-55mm, 55-58mm, 58-62mm, 62-67mm, 67-72mm, 72-77mm: $13.49

Fotodiox 7 Metal Step-Down Ring Set, Anodized Black Metal. 77-72mm, 72-67mm, 67-62mm, 62-58mm, 58-55mm, 55-52mm, 52-49mm: $14.60

Pedco UltraPod II Lightweight Camera Tripod: $16.67 instead of a $100+ Gorillapod

You can go super cheap/artsy and use welding glass as a ND filter: $6 There's lots of easy tutorials on how to fix the color tint of the glass online.

Travel and photography are both amazing yet expensive hobbies. I hope my little list helps you out by saving you a little $ on the photo side; letting you have more $ on the travel side to do and see more... thus getting more amazing shots!

The Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 (version 1) might just be a hair outside your budget, but it's easily one of the best wide-angle landscape lenses there is. If you really can't make that price point work, the Rokinon 14 mm f/2.8 works just as well, except it's manual focus and doesn't take filters. If you don't care about the f/2.8 aperture, the Canon 10-18 is another option.

A good wildlife lens could be the Canon 55-250 STM, only $150 for a certified refurbished version. Not all landscape photos need wide angle lenses (in fact, many of the best photos are taken with telephotos like the 55-250), but sometimes it is a little hard to get used to searching for landscape compositions in a telephoto manner.

In terms of "waterproof" bags, there isn't going to be something that withstands being tossed into the ocean other than perhaps an adaptive dry bag that you can somehow throw all of your gear in. The Peak Design Everyday Backpack gets recommended a lot - it is water resistant so it can withstand a rain shower. For added protection, just buy a raincover for your backpack. I generally don't like bags that scream "camera bag! steal me!", so a lot options over at Lowepro don't appeal to me, but they may to you. I use an Arc'teryx Brize 32 backpack for hiking - it's fairly water resistant.

Might I also suggest something like this little tripod so that she can get good shots even in low light: http://www.amazon.com/Pedco-UltraPod-Lightweight-Camera-Tripod/dp/B000ANCPNM

I like the ultrapod better than something like a gorilla pod because it more easily adapts to heavier cameras, and still gives amazing flexibility in positioning. Also, it's under $20.

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.

>ask ppl to cluck like a chicken

I'm gonna hafta try that one!

Check out Picture Perfect Posing by Picture Perfect Posing by Roberto Valenzuela.

I first saw it recommended here in /r/Photography. It was a great read that, instead of giving you poses to imitate, it gives you the theory behind why you'd want the arm or fingers at one angle or another, or why you'd tilt the chin this way or that- and what effects it'll have on how your subject is perceived.

Terrible translation on my part but I think the proper English term is reflector. Something like this.

It's great for the following (and I quote from their site):

1 Translucent surface for softening

2 Silver for the contrast you look for

3 Gold for warm tone and health

4 White to fill the shadow

5 Black to block out stray light

It's probably one of the most versatile products you can buy for such little money. Translucent is great for days with hard edged shadows. Gold gives you sunshine. Black can create shadows when there are none. (removing light is also shaping light)

Can do nothing but recommend it to you

That camera has a 1/2.5" small noisy sensor. It is pretty much useless over ISO 200. The optics are also nothing spectacular. It hasn't happened to mine, but that camera seems to be pretty prone to lens error faults that render the camera unfixable and unusable.

For what it is, it is fine, an 8mp superzoom advanced point and shoot from 2007-2008.

Adding a tube to put a UV filter over the lens is not going to really be worth the effort. Any optics that you add are going to be adding to the distortion the built in optics already have, so I'd say that's not worth it either.

Here's one thing you could do. Get yourself a canon external flash and a off camera flash cord. That camera has the standard canon hot shoe and having a flash that can be taken off the camera is going to do a lot more for any pictures you take than any crazy lens tube adapters.

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Speedlite-II-Digital-Cameras/dp/B001CCAISE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292870603&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Opteka-Off-Camera-Cameras-Speedlite-Equivalent/dp/B002B8ZYPK/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1292870658&sr=1-1

Something like those will actually be useful when you get rid of the S5 and move to something else in the future.

The great thing about photography is that things like SLR lenses and flashes can outlive camera bodies and be useful for a long time.

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

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?

While everyone suggests a 35 or 50mm f/1.8 lens, let me suggest a flash that isn't on top of your camera. I'd get at least the 430EX flash (http://amzn.com/B001CCAISE) so you can swivel and tilt the head of it. Pair that up with a good diffuser (http://amzn.com/B000CLNHXY) and you can take some great portraits. Flashes are great to have even in bright sunlight to soften shadows and add catch-lights to eyes, and are invaluable in other types of photography and situations.

Also, a RapidStrap is nice to have (http://amzn.com/B002WR7VSS), as it will get your camera off your neck and onto your shoulder. It's a hell of a lot more comfortable to carry it around during hikes like this.

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?

http://www.amazon.com/Neewer-110CM-Collapsible-Multi-Disc-Reflector/dp/B002ZIMEMW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324168094&sr=8-1

$13, with gold, silver, and white. I rarely use anything but the white, personally, but there are some occasions here and there where I've been very thankful to have the options. Not really a huge investment there, also folds up, and if you're a professional, well, it certainly helps you look the part. Perception is a huge part of the business.

Easy budget, especially if you go used:

• Canon 60D or Canon 70D, midrange models which have better ergonomics than entry-level stuff, are more robust, and generally have better autofocus systems, ~$530-700 used depending on model
  
• EF-S 18-135mm IS STM: better than the 18-55 kit lens, and with more zoom capabilities, ~$280 used
  
• EF-S 10-18mm IS STM: ultrawide that's very popular for landscape work, ~$280 new
  
  That would put you at a bit over $1200 assuming you go with the more expensive 70D. If you're fine with something more entry-level or want to put more money into lenses (not a bad idea), you could snag something like the Canon T2i for ~$270.

I have a few recommendations for you:


Master the Business of Photography with Sal Cincotta: This class will give you a good primer on the business side.


Build Your Lighting Knowledge with Peter Hurley: Peter will teach you simple lighting setup and whatnot.


Because I like books, I'll recomend some as well.

• Best Business Practices for Photographers by John Harrington
  
  
• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
  
  
• The Trusted Advisor by David H. Maister
  
  
• Ziglar on Selling: The Ultimate Handbook for the Complete Sales Professional by Zig Ziglar
  
  
  Beyond that: practice, practice, practice.

So I have had my T4i DSLR for a while now, and I am looking to get a new lens. I got it with the 18-135mm STM lens.

I want to get more into photography, specifically landscape shots, a lot of cool night scenes, and some timelaspes. I am also going to Europe for several months and am looking for something a bit smaller than the 18-135 that will be more comfortable to carry around.

Two lenses I have came up with are the Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM Lens and the Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM Lens.

Now in terms of price I am definitely more comfortable with the 24mm as I am just getting into photography more.

One thing I am worried about with the 10-18 lens is it being too wide for a lens that will act as my primary one. While it may be nice for those landscape shots, would it work photographing places in European Cities like London? Also, I have read the 10-18mm takes sharper photos, is this true?

Let me know what you think I should pull the trigger on.

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

It's probably because your question is so vague. For example: were you referring to ambient light or artificial (meaning strobe) light? The two subjects are radically different, and combining the two is another discussion entirely.

Another thing to consider: pretty much everything about photography eventually boils down to light, because it's about capturing said light in an image, utilizing a wide variety of tools to do so. Asking about guides for light/lighting for beginners is a bit like going to a BMW association forum and asking about guides about cars and fuel.

If you'd like to learn about using strobe, I'd second shamrok's suggestion of [strobist.blogspot.com](http://strobist.blogspot.com /). It's great for it's huge section on Lighting 101, and has tons of tips, tricks, reviews, and how to do things on a budget. You might also look into some of Joe McNally's books, particularly The Hot Shoe Diaries.

I've also written a description of how and when to use strobes with modifiers, in case that's also of interest to you.

Your lenses are slow, but I wouldn't bother buying new lenses. Buy the 430EX, and learn how to bounce it, sync it, adjust it, etc. You're going to need an off camera flash eventually.

Don't bother with that package, just buy the straight flash from Amazon for cheaper and pick up batteries locally.

Eventually, I'd pick up the 50 1.8 lens. It's a very sharp, decently fast lens for $100. I have $1400 lenses and I still love this lens.

Please don't go buy $300 lenses right now. Your situation will be best served by getting a flash and learning to use it.

I went with this dolica one and I haven't had any problems with it so far. It's one of the cheapest ball head tripods I could find but I think the quality actually seems pretty good. The carrying case is nice to have as well.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004XC3GWU

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.
  

I would highly recommend looking into mirrorless cameras. They use digital viewfinders and ditch the mirror, showing you to see exactly what the camera sees. They usually have far more features than an equally priced dslr, and are much lighter.

I love my a6000, it's in your price range and you won't regret it. I had a d3200 and honestly the d3200, I outgrew quickly from learning/practise and wanted more. The increased fps, noise quality, focus points, focus speed, and extra features like focus peaking were seriously worth returning the d3200 and buying the a6000.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I8BICB2/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_zkxPwbGHR8DBV

Well, I haven't read a lot of photography books, but two instructional/anecdotal books that have done a lot for me are The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman and The Hot Shoe Diaries by Joe McNally. None of them are strict, step-by-step instructables-style lectures, rather they cover various aspects of composition and technique. I'd say that the former one covers more of the basics if that's what you were looking for - it's kinda hard to help you when you don't provide any info apart from "photography books pls" ;)

And yeah, I am unable to recommend one photography book. I'd rather recommend two :D

I'm looking into a good general-purpose prime lens for my Canon APS-C camera, something that I can keep on by default for hikes, parties, etc. I've narrowed it down to three:

24mm f/2.8 pancake: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NI3BZ5K/
28mm f/2.8 IS: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0076BNKU8/
35mm f/2 IS: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A2BVBTG/

28mm is probably the ideal focal length for me out of the three, but I'm not sure if IS is really necessary at that focal length.

If I don't need IS, I'm tempted to save a few hundred bucks and go for the pancake lens. I can handle 4mm wider and the small/light form factor would be nice. If I ever upgrade to full frame I'll lose the lens, but at $150 it's not a huge loss.

On the other hand, if IS is useful, I could add 7mm and get another full stop. 35mm is pushing it though since I already have a 50mm prime.

Any thoughts?

>Isn't there some kinda verbiage you need to have ready to go for how long they can use it for

Yes. This is called a licensing contract for usage rights (or something like that).

A book like this can help you understand how to handle writing such a contract:

https://smile.amazon.com/Best-Business-Practices-Photographers-Second/dp/1435454294/ref=pd_sbs_14_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1435454294&pd_rd_r=BYMEZ05X7ADQNZ28MG3X&pd_rd_w=qoJ3o&pd_rd_wg=eTKTp&psc=1&refRID=BYMEZ05X7ADQNZ28MG3X

You could also use those calculators on Getty and Corbis to understand each factor you need to address in the license you create. There is more than just "how long they can use it for."


-----

>proof that its your picture

This is on them to ask for.

You should be able to do this in a number of different ways.

The easiest and most important one is to have a copyright registration document to show them.

Without that, there are many other ways. Use common sense with this.

Can anyone recommend a good lens for firework photography? I'm shooting with a Canon T6S with crop sensor. I'm leaning towards the Canon 10-18 f4.5-5.6 or maybe a Rokinon 14mm f2.8 since I don't need AF nor IS for this purpose.

The pics won't be traditional firework photography like most people here do with items in the foreground to balance it out. I'm a member of the Pyrotechnics Guild International and participate in many competitions. So the photos will strictly be of the fireworks and firework displays.

Here's some images that other members took of shows that our crew shot. These are not great images, but gives a good idea of the framing I'm going for.

• 1
  
• 2
  
• 3
  
• 4
  
  I'd prefer a prime lens, but if a zoom does the job then so be it. Prefer to keep it under $500 new, but I still need a good tripod so the less expensive the better.

There may be better options out there, but I have this one and I like it. The ball joint is reassuringly firm and the legs are pretty solid when extended. When folded up, the legs form a V-shaped channel that lets the tripod rest stably against a rounded pole/rail/whatever, whether using the velcro strap or (as I sometimes do) simply holding the tripod against a rail during a long exposure.

I'd suggest something like the Sony A6000. There are newer models out like the A6300 or A6500 but those start to get much pricier and there's nothing wrong with the A6000. It's APS-C so image quality is great and there is decent lens selection. You can snag one on Amazon with a 16-50 for $550 or get the 2 lens kit that also comes with the 55-210 for $695.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I8BICB2/ref=twister_B00Q7QEPY8?_encoding=UTF8&th=1

I'm sure others more familiar with that price range will chime in shortly, but that'd be my recommendation on where to start looking.

Are you asking about other speedlites (small flash guns)? Or are you looking to upgrade to monolights?

If you're sticking with small flashes, it might depend on your camera system. Probability suggests you're either shooting Canon or Nikon.

With Canon people really like the 430EX

With Nikon, the SB800 gets a lot of love.

These are not the top of the line flash for either system, but they appear to have a balance of cost and features that people like. Buying on-brand flashes also means you benefit from the full functionality the system. e.g. I have a bunch of YongNuo flashes and a Nikon D610, which means I can't use the camera menu to group and control the flashes. As for the power you're looking for - these are as powerful as you might ever need a small flash to be.

Both of these will work on rechargeable batteries, and your request that your power lasts "all day" really depends on what you're shooting. Just buy and carry a few few extra cases of batteries. (I have 48 Eneloops the last time I counted)

If you're thinking the solution to your power problem involves an upgrade to a monolight, and money isn't really an issue, then you should look at something like the Profoto B1 500 AirTTL

These are fast becoming the go-to flash for professional photographers on the move. They're powered by battery packs that slide right into the body, so there are no cables to deal with. The consistent quality of the light and the feature set in general are hard to beat when you the portability in account.

This really depends on what you shoot.

Have you found that you need more range? Do you need a longer focal length? What exactly are you shooting in nature/outdoor? If you're trying to take animal photos, then yes, get some extra length.

Personally, I'd be getting this lens if I were shooting Canon and a spare $1000. But that's just because it suits my style more. It is a faster lens, so you'd be able to shoot in less light, and has a very "normal" focal length range. I don't typically take photos of things/people that are far away, I prefer to get up close and take more intimate photos, rather than stalker photos from across the street.

But if you want to shoot birds and animals, or sports, the 55-250mm mark II is nice, it is cheap, and lightweight for what it does. There is also a 70-300mm, which is almost double the price, and almost double the weight, for 20% more reach.

Also; I would recommend buying lenses, rather than upgrading your body... the t2i is only 1.5 years old. You will see more of an improvement from buying lenses than camera bodies, and lenses can be used on future bodies.. whereas if you replace your camera body every 2 years, you're losing your investment every 2 years.

p.s. Don't be afraid to look at sigma lenses they're usually 95% of the quality, for 50% of the price.

P.p.s. These links that I've added contain an amazon affiliate tag, but please don't feel compelled to buy using them, you should check ebay, keh, b&h, adorama, or even your local shops etc. for the best deal. The mods have yet to decide what to do with any money that the amazon affiliate tag raises for the reddit community.

P.p.p.s. There are no solid guarantees in place that I won't backstab the reddit community and steal the $35 currently in the reddit amazon affiliate account! Well, no guarantee besides my word. (I promise not to do it.) (I'm just pointing out that anonymous reddit accounts shouldn't really be trusted..)

Hello /r/photography !

My sister is looking to buy her first camera for Photography AND Video. She has a budget of 600$ CAD, is there anything good at this price?

I was looking on Amazon Canada and I found some Best Selling camera and I was wondering if those were good for Photo and Video:

• Canon EOS Rebel T6 Bundle
  
• Nikon D3400 Bundle
  
  If those are not really good, do you guys have any suggestions?
  
  Thank you very much!

A few people have already answered your questions but I was almost the exact same boat as you just a month ago. I also bought the D3300 with both kit lenses as my first camera.

> How do you know from looking at lens specs which ones are wider, just the focal length (18mm vs 100mm)?

Im not 100% sure what you are asking here but generally the lower number = wider view.

> Would a Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G allow me to take better low-light photo's than the 18-55mm kit lense?

The 35mm 1.8G was the second lens I bought after getting a 50mm 1.8 (Which I hate on the D3300 Cropped sensor). I LOVE my 35mm on the D3300. I took it off one time after I bought it so I could show someone the picture of the moon with the 200.

Shooting at 1.8 lets in more light which does mean you can shoot better in low light.

You have the remember that your camera has a cropped sensor which means you have to multiply the mm of a lense by 1.5, so if you buy a 35mm and put it on you are shooting at 52.5mm. If you are showing at 200mm you are actually at 300mm, ect.

> I am looking to get a tripod, thinking about the Dolica GX600B200; anything better in that price range that I should consider? Travel friendly-ish would be nice.

I did a lot of research in to tripods before I got mine and it generally seems like any new tripod under $100 is a no go. They are almost always flimsy and poorly made. I ended up buying a used Manfrotto from http://www.fredmiranda.com/ for $40.

> Good idea or bad - I read that I should just start in aperture priority mode, does it make sense to learn this way?

I taught myself to shot in manual mode first. The D3300 has a really nice light meter built in to it that makes shooting manual easy. When I got my 35mm tho I went to aperture priority almost exclusively. You just have to pay attention to the shutter speed it is going to use tho. If it is too dark it will start getting under 1/30 which you dont normally want. IMO learning manual first is a must just so you gather an understanding in what is happening that way you can take control if Av isnt working how you want.

> I downloaded RawTherapee to play with as I'm shooting RAW, is there a simplier way to just view RAW photos?

Windows 10 lets me see RAWs with no extra installations

> Will shooting RAW + JPEG slow shooting down or is that just a space savings concern?

It will have very little effect. I also went to all RAW but then I realized if I wanted to send a quick picture to someone I had to convert it which was a pain so I went back to R+J.

I will say tho the kit lenses are garbage. I actually sent my D3300 back for a full refund and Im getting a 5300 body only. (I have the 35mm that I got for $120) If I need to get the kit lenses I can buy them second hand for almost nothing.

I want to add a second speedlite to my existing setup. What's going to be the most cost effective way to do so?

For a few years now I've had a Canon 430exii and micnova e-ttl ii flash trigger (https://www.amazon.com/Micnova-MQ-WTC40-Wireless-Trigger-328-foot/dp/B017UYZR42) for my Canon SL1. Since I wind up taking a lot of family+friends group photos in the summer, I want to try out a two light setup.

​

I'd heard good things about Godox, so I ordered a TT600 and was planning to buy one more micnova transmitter to go with my existing pair, but I found out that HSS doesn't work with that arrangement. HSS does seem to work if I connect the transmitter to the 430exii and set the TT600 as an optical slave, but I don't want to rely on that working outdoors.

​

I'm not sure where to go from here. Should I return the TT600 and get something else? Can I buy a godox transmitter and stack it with my existing transmitters (i.e. put the micnova transmitter in the camera hotshoe and the godox transmitter in that)? Buy a godox transmitter and an extra receiver (that seems like it would be another $100 - don't really want to spend that much more on top of what I already bought)?

​

Thanks in advance!

Unanswered (again) question from a previous megathread

Author /u/Philosophy_of_IT - (Permalink)

I want to add a second speedlite to my existing setup. What's going to be the most cost effective way to do so?

For a few years now I've had a Canon 430exii and micnova e-ttl ii flash trigger (https://www.amazon.com/Micnova-MQ-WTC40-Wireless-Trigger-328-foot/dp/B017UYZR42) for my Canon SL1. Since I wind up taking a lot of family+friends group photos in the summer, I want to try out a two light setup.

​

I'd heard good things about Godox, so I ordered a TT600 and was planning to buy one more micnova transmitter to go with my existing pair, but I found out that HSS doesn't work with that arrangement. HSS does seem to work if I connect the transmitter to the 430exii and set the TT600 as an optical slave, but I don't want to rely on that working outdoors.

​

I'm not sure where to go from here. Should I return the TT600 and get something else? Can I buy a godox transmitter and stack it with my existing transmitters (i.e. put the micnova transmitter in the camera hotshoe and the godox transmitter in that)? Buy a godox transmitter and an extra receiver (that seems like it would be another $100 - don't really want to spend that much more on top of what I already bought)?

​

Thanks in advance!

I also have the 77D with the 50mm 1.8. I bought the 24mm 2.8 pancake lens and love it. Great cheap lens for all sorts of shooting. Love using it to take landscape shots but is also great for portrait shooting a subject up close.
https://www.amazon.com/Canon-EF-S-24mm-2-8-Lens/dp/B00NI3BZ5K/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1524755265&sr=8-3&keywords=24mm+2.8

Ben Long's Complete Digital Photography, now in its 7th edition, is pretty good for beginners, and only costs $30. I used it to design an online course in digital photography for a graduate school project (e-learning design).

Edit: for aspiring professionals, I'd recommend Best Business Practices for Photographers by John Harrington (2nd edition), around $22 on Amazon. It's chock full of recommendations for starting your own business, shooting professional paid assignments, handling releases and contracts, copyright protection for your work, etc. Great resource.

When you bounce off a wall, you're simulating a much larger light source (the whole wall). Outdoors where there is nothing to bounce off of, try putting something large and translucent (a scrim) between your flash and your subject. Look at http://www.amazon.com/Neewer-110CM-Collapsible-Multi-Disc-Reflector/dp/B002ZIMEMW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1371494710&sr=8-3 and http://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox--1-4872-Premium-Reflector-Collapsible/dp/B003Y2EOBW/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1371494710&sr=8-5 and http://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-10BG-57-DIF-KIT-Collapsible-Diffuser-Lighting/dp/B003Y2KSF8/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1371494710&sr=8-6

Or just make your own with some PVC pipe and white ripstop nylon. I'm sure you can find plans online for gratis.

The strobe illuminates the entire surface of the scrim, which then acts like a big sexy window light. This is what you want. If it's really sunny out, you can use one scrim to create portable open shade, and another to bounce the sun under it for fill light, and then you don't need a strobe at all. Just two or more minions to hold reflectors for you.

I preface by saying I know almost nothing about photography.

My gf has a Canon Rebel T2i and recently we went on vacation to Iceland where she commented she wasn't taking the best pictures because she only had a kit lens.

I wanted to get her something around the $300-400. What would be the best bang for my buck? She likes doing wildlife and landscape photography.

I see these two lenses, are both of them together a good deal?

Zoom lens

Landscape Lens


Is there another lens in that price range that would be better than both of these combined?
Also, is it worth it getting a lens for a T2i, she was commenting that it was a beginner camera.

https://www.amazon.com/Neewer-43-inch-Collapsible-Multi-Disc-Reflector/dp/B002ZIMEMW/ref=sr_1_4?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1480092542&sr=1-4&keywords=REFLECTOR

I've used these for several shoots with great success. for 20 dollars build quality is great and i dont see them falling apart anytime soon. Unless youre going to be shooting a loooooot of portraits i wouldnt spend more.

Okay, here is a better list, sorry for the mess:

Flash -- around $65.

Transmitter --around $35

Light stand + umbrella + flash bracket // around $30. I got this one used for $20 on Amazon. There are different ones and with different quality.

Canon 24mm f/2.8 -- around $150

Canon 50mm f/1.8 -- around $110.

Also, Yongnuo makes their version of the 50mm ($50), the 35mm ($88) and some others. I can only vouch for the 50mm, I either got a great copy or it is just great.

Most people will recommend a 50mm 1.8 but honestly its too long for a crop sensor camera like the t6i in my opinion, I recommend a 24mm or 40mm instead.

I purchased my first camera, a Nikon D3300 with the 18-55mm & 55-200mm kit lenses.

Just a few general inquries :)

• How do you know from looking at lens specs which ones are wider, just the focal length (18mm vs 100mm)?
  
• Would a Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G allow me to take better low-light photo's than the 18-55mm kit lense?
  
• I am looking to get a tripod, thinking about the Dolica GX600B200; anything better in that price range that I should consider? Travel friendly-ish would be nice.
  
• Good idea or bad - I read that I should just start in aperature priority mode, does it make sense to learn this way?
  
• I downloaded RawTherapee to play with as I'm shooting RAW, is there a simplier way to just view RAW photos?
  
• Will shooting RAW + JPEG slow shooting down or is that just a space savings concern?
  
  Thanks!
  

Why is there never any love for Hedgecoe in these threads?

For a beginner, go with John Hedgecoe's New Manual of Photography. It breaks everything down into easy to read lessons that are no more than two spreads long (most actually cover one spread with lots of pictures). It's great.

Then I'd suggest McNally's Hot Shoe Diaries but it's a bit advanced though a great read if you want to get into flashes.

You can buy LED lights if you aren't interested in strobes, but you never know.. maybe you'll really take off! Before I got my strobes, I used these from Promaster for lighting smaller areas and they worked like a charm (keep in mind they can get a little hot - don't cook the baby!). But if you're interested in something a little more professional:

The strobe

I personally use a single AlienBee B800. You may be able to photograph newborns with a B400 (a bit more affordable, but pumps out a little less light) version since it won't require you to light many large areas.

The modifier

Then you'll need a modifier to put on it so you can spread that light around the set cleanly. I prefer to go with Fotodiox products, as they are cheap and affective. I own the Fotodiox 36" Octabox.

Then of course, you'll need decent light stand to put them on.

Depending on how you position your strobe, you may also want to get a little reflector disc so that you can bounce light into areas that are too shadowy in your shot. You can also just do this with a regular ol' white foamcore board.

You will need a flash, and most likely your on camera flash will not be enough.

You will need an E-TTL flash so that you can take pictures on the fly without having to adjust the power of your flash. You can buy a 3rd party one or a Canon version, or rent one if you want.

You will also want something to diffuse the light. There are simple caps, on-flash soft boxes, and another that seems to be popular is the Gary Fong Lightsphere. I personally use an on-camera softbox as it offers the largest light source, though the lightsphere seems to work pretty well too and isn't as bulky and fragile. These things also should be used in close range, over about 10ft the diffusion quality diminishes and they require too much power to light the subject.

Honestly, I think you’ll be unhappy going cheap in the beginning. You’ll probably want to upgrade later on, so you might want to save some extra money for better equipment. But if that’s not an option right now, I totally understand!

You really can’t go wrong with the Yongnuo flashes. Check those out to see which one fits your needs and is in your price range. These triggers are pretty decent. You’ll want a nice bracket for your umbrella and flash. These stands are also fairly decent.

That depends, I'm generally sort of hesitant about used bodies because I don't always know what to look for to check and see if it's in all working order. I know people here often say to get them, it's a matter of comfort I think.

You could get a new t2i or t3i from amazon for around 700 bucks, with a lens that would be ok for most stuff. They aren't the most durable cameras, but they take great pictures and are cheap.

For lenses, you could get a 70-300 is usm which will give you a nice range for animals and large birds. That looks to be about 500 bucks.

The lens that comes with the camera and that one should cover most of what you will want.

The main thing I'm looking for is a bigger aperture to get that nice background blur, aside from that I just need to make sure I can be close enough to take pictures in small rooms sometimes. I'm actually going to be using whatever lense I get for cosplay photos a lot so it's good to know it worked for you.

I'm starting to think this lense will be best for me. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003A6NU3U/ I'm hoping I won't miss having f/1.8 on a prime lense though since that one is max f/2.8.

How do I mount a speedlite to my sony a200 which uses it's own proprietary mount?
I recently got into photography with a second hand sony a200, I want to buy a speedlite but I realized that the hotshoe isn't the same on my camera as the ones on most flashes. I realize I need some sort of an adapter to use them but is that all I need? I was thinking about getting these two, keep in mind I'm very new to photography and I don't want to invest far too much money so I don't want to buy a dedicated sony alpha compatible flash that I can't use later in my life.
The speedlite I want
The mount I want
Is there anything else I would need to use the speedlite? Also with this adapter will I be able to use it as a regular flash/speedlite?
Thanks!

Just had my first paid shoot last night with some old high school friends. I'm not too psyched with how it ended up whatsoever, but they like the pictures and I only charged $20 for the whole thing.

Anyways, I'm pretty happy with my compliment of lenses and I'm looking to start investing in some more auxiliary gear.

Should I get this 43'' reflector, or will the 24'' get the job done for portrait shots?

Will this wireless remote get the job done?

Lastly, next time I get paid I'm going to invest in a speedlight. What are some decent entry-level ones?

Edit: My bad, Canon Rebel t3i

Here are a few I've found to be helpful.

John Harrington's Best Business Practices for Photographers:
http://amzn.com/1435454294

Scott Bourne's Going Pro: How to Make the Leap from Aspiring to Professional Photographer
http://amzn.com/0817435794

In addition, PPA (Professional Photographers of America) and ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers) offer tons of resources on their websites, as well as several publications, seminars, and online courses. If you go pro, membership to these two organizations is extremely helpful.

ASMP's Professional Business Practices
http://amzn.com/1581154976

I would get the T2i unless you really want the flip out screen. Spend 325 for the kit, 20 for a SD card, and 125 on a 50mm 1.8. You'll end up right around the 450 mark with three lenses instead of one. You could also wait for the new 24mm 2.8 pancake thats coming out instead of the 50mm. I find the 50mm a little bit tight on my T3i but it's still a fantastic lens.

There isn't much difference between the two unless you want the flippy screen like I said before. I wouldn't think you'd really want the battery grip anyways as it just adds weight and bulk, but thats my opinion.

I actually read two books, that I found pretty interesting:

"Picture Perfect Posing: Practicing the Art of Posing for Photographers and Models" - Which takes on the rather technical side, almost drawing charts about where to put which body parts and what it signals. (Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Picture-Perfect-Posing-Practicing-Photographers/dp/0321966465)

"Psychologie der Fotografie: Kopf oder Bauch?", which is a German book about the psychological aspects. Here the focus is not about the perfect focus point, but telling stories with the pictures. I'm not sure whether there is an English version of the book, but I bet there are similar titles or articles if you google.

What I've learned: just start doing something. Just shoot some models. While during that, try out some weird and creative stuff. If you like the not-so-posed pictures, do stuff with them and document them in the meantime. Personally, I find that more fun than just posing, too. But it's all down to just getting started, learning to see, learning to communicate and direct, and then start exploring while using the experience.

Tony and Chelsea Northrup's book is incredible and widely recommended. It's inexpensive and has a wealth of knowledge to help you understand what is necessary to make excellent images.

https://www.amazon.com/Tony-Northrups-DSLR-Book-Photography-ebook/dp/B006KY2VZ2

4.8 of 5.0 stars. 2,200+ reviews. It's solid.

Thanks for the pointers. I meant to ask earlier, how can I tell if the flash is TTL? I assume the Canon 430EX is but I don't see TTL anywhere in the product name or description.

Thanks for the pointers - I'm already having a lot of fun!!

Could you folks recommend a lens for astrophotography? I'm new to any type of photography and I've been shooting with a Canon 20D and a sigma 18-55 kit lens. I've arranged to pick up a 60D used. I'm thinking I'd like a dedicated astro/landscape lens.

I've been doing landscapes and trying my hand at astro landscapes. So I'm wanting something with a fast f-ratio and a small focal length.

I've heard some good reviews about the Rokinon 14mm, but how would something like a 24mm canon prime lens work for me?

I'd say my budget is anywhere from CAD $ 200-400, +/- $100.

Hey guys...I recently bought THIS Canon EOS Rebel and I need help!
Here is the downlow! (Humble brag) My son is a Freshman and he started wrestling in December. In January they promoted him to varsity! (OMG, I know, this mom is gross.) Anyhow, he is now going to VARSITY sectionals. I used my Bday money to buy this camera, because the boy wants Mom to take pics of him. I'm so lost. I'm trying the "action" shot photo option, but when I travel to sectionals on Friday, he's going to be about 300 ft away on a mat, moving his ass off.

What are the best settings to do his awesomeness justice with what little resources (and zero experience) I have?

(PS - I've watched hours of youtube videos and I'm just not a photographer, so DUMB IT DOWN FOR ME.)

The Rokinon 14mm 2.8 is $300 and works pretty well. Since it's fast and manual you can control everything really well while still letting in a decent amount of light. However it's pretty heavy and 100% manual, so you probably won't use it for anything that you don't have time to shoot.

Otherwise, the Canon 10-18mm is nice and wide, especially for $300 also. It has IS and focuses really quickly. On the flipside it's really, really slow and doesn't have a focus distance scale marked on it.

They wiggle, their fasteners don't hold tightly, they wear, and they break. Even when they're new, they just don't hold a camera stock-still enough for long exposures in imperfect situations. They move in the wind, they transmit vibration, and they just plain aren't designed well or built of solid materials.

You can find some OK mid-priced tripods, but with a tripod, "OK" can really, really ruin your day when you need a tack-sharp 1.5 second exposure. I had a very good $40 tripod, it'd wiggle if I hit the shutter release on the camera, and it wouldn't damp vibration. The leg locks would slide--very subtly at first, but then one lock let go altogether. Gusts of wind would make it nearly unusable.

It's just one of those situations where a $150 tripod can cause you endless problems, while a $250 tripod will save the day. It just doesn't make sense to trade the $100 for many missed shots and frustration. I know that when I snap the legs out and tighten the extension locks, nothing is going to move. At all. A good set of legs will allow you much more flexibility--it'll have several positions for each leg, providing for solid placement on very off sets of surfaces. I've set my Manfrotto legs up in very cramped, uneven spaces, and I've always found a way to set it solidly. That simply isn't possible with a cheap set of legs, or at least none that I've seen. (Each leg locks at 25, 46, 66 & 88°)

My Manfrotto 055 legs can hold my camera, a heavy lens, 2 flash units, and an external Quantum battery pack at 7' without any motion. The center column cannot rotate. Nothing has any play.

I have several cheap tripods. I use them as light stands. See the stabilizers between the legs and the center column on this tripod? You know why those are there? Because it needs them. Every interface between metal and plastic is a place that motion can occur, and it'll get worse as the tripod ages. I have a friend with a ~25 year-old pair of Manfrotto legs like mine that are just as rock solid as they were when brand new. This one looks better, but I wouldn't expect it to last for years.

Go to a camera store and play around with a few well-engineered, well-built tripods. You'll see that they're very different types of equipment than department store tripods.

Hello, relatively new Canadian here. I am planning on buying the Yonguo 560 IV! for about $100 in hopes of taking better portraits. What controller works best? the YN560 TX! for $60 seems to give me wireless controls but it requires batteries so I don't know how reliable that is, there is also just a simple trigger! for $40 dollars. Is there anything else I should be looking into when purchasing? Thank you.

I really enjoyed Scott Kelby's The Digital Photography Book - Vol 1 -3

It's got a lot of practical information for beginners, and covers stuff like explaining aperture, focus, etc to finishing photos in Photoshop and everything in between. And if you want to save some money, he has Kindle versions of his books. Of course, being a book on photography, it won't look great on the actual Kindle, but it looks great on the computer.

I did a lot of solo traveling when I traveled to Europe, so I recommend getting a mini tripod like a gorilla pod or I use [this] (http://www.amazon.com/Pedco-UltraPod-Lightweight-Camera-Tripod/dp/B000ANCPNM/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1369817861&sr=1-1&keywords=ultrapod) for night photography. also its cheap, strong, and light. Also I find that the Eiffel tower is cooler at night.

Make sure you have extra battery's and memory cards. I took three memory cards with me and one failed. There were so many photos from different country's on that memory card, that I still get angry thinking about it . If you bring your computer please dump your footage whenever you can, if not try to spread your photos through different cards.

Also maybe consider an ND filter and lenspen.

Be safe, have fun and happy travels !

I own a 70D with a 50mm f1.8 STM lens on it - and only that lens. I was wondering if there was another ~$300 lens that has the ability to zoom, but won't require me to move around too much when photographing. I hang out with my friends quite frequently and capture it all through the 50mm, although lately I have been finding it more and more inconvenient when trying to take a group photo or generally pictures in small places - there's no room to move around much with the 50mm. I was looking at this lens, but wondering if there was any other lens that could fit the need I'm trying to fulfill ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K899B9Y ). Thanks guys!

I looked around quite a bit before I ended up with the Manfrotto 190cxpro3 and the 498rc2 ballhead. I'm a little over 5'7" and the size of the tripod works fine for me. I have a T1i and I've used my tripod/ballhead with the 55-250mm with no issues.

I'm also mainly a nature/landscape/architecture photographer. I've carried around this combination for several hours a day (along with a packpack with my gear) and the weight doesn't bother me all that much. I'm also quite happy with the operation of the ballhead and the quick release mechanism. I was really tempted to pick up one of those really fancy $400+ ballheads but decided that I'm not pro enough for something that nice.

I've read mixed reviews about the gorillapod. I have one for my point and shoot and love it, but from what I've read, the SLR version doesn't work quite as well. If you go that route I believe you'll have to get the version with the ballhead or you'll be very frustrated trying to adjust it to the right position.

The mini tripod I would recommend as an alternative to the gorillapod is the UltraPod II

Really need help buying a camera...so many different options. Originally I was hoping to stay under $500, but that can be extended if necessary (i.e. if the camera/kit is significantly better). Absolutely no more than $800.

Currently looking at this kit. But I'm not too sure if that's the best way to go. Refurbished sounds great to me because of the lower price and little to no risk of a bad product, but the camera itself is worrying me. Is 18MP really enough? Also not all reviews of the camera seem to be spectacular. I'm a beginner so I don't need something absurd, but I'd really like to be able to take profession-looking shots. Touchscreen and a movable screen would be nice too.
Mainly planing to do landscapes, cityscapes, sunsets, and the occasional portrait/closer range stuff.

Advice/thoughts? Thanks!

I have this book, which I found quite useful.

Laurence Kim's blog has also been quite useful as well, and his blog touches on a lot of what you're interested in (I'd suggest reading it in an RSS feed since his redesign destroyed any easy readability of post titles).

Sorry, I made this a post then saw the sidebar


So I finally decided to ditch videogames as the only hobby I have and pick up photography. I went out and bought a few things that I deemed required after I researched a little bit.

• Canon EOS Rebel T6 with Kit lens
  
  
• Lexar 64gB (10 speed? Read to make good videos I needed a higher class one so I just got 10)
  
  
• Canon 50mm 1.8f STM Lens
  
  
• 2 Extra Vivitar batteries
  
  
• Tripod
  
  
• Carrying Bag with shoulder strap
  
  
  
  I still have a bit of money I can drop on anything else I need. Since I wanted to do some night photography and am interested in astrophotography I was thinking about getting a remote for my camera, although I read that I can just put the timer on before I run long exposure shots.
  
  
  I also got a couple books!
  
  
  
• National Geographic Book
  
  
  
• And an old edition of "Digital Photography for Dummies" (I am going to buy the new one if I figure out it's too outdated)
  
  
  
  I was thinking I need a lens hood but I'm not sure how to figure out. I am going to San Antonio on Thursday and just wanted to make sure there isn't anything I need that I looked over because I'm a scrub!
  
  
  Thanks!

Have you considered a mirrorless camera? They are more portable and older Sony models are in your price range. You can get a Sony a6000 on Amazon for $600 with a 16-50 mm kit lens. It's a great camera with a high burst rate and excellent image quality.

EDIT: Grammar

What telephoto, Canon EF lens would you suggest? New, or lightly used is ok too. It doesn't have to be a Canon brand. I'd like to stay as far below $1,000 as I can. I don't care much about what the lower focal length is as I have other lenses that cover those, but I'd like the upper length from 200-300mm. This is going on a 6D.

I'm debating between the Canon 70-300 IS USM, the Canon 70-200 L, or the Tamron 70-300. Should I stay away from any of these, or is there another one to consider?

Thanks!

A book like Joe McNally's The Hot Shoe Diaries (Or "Sketching Light", or "The Moment it Clicks") is nice in that it is page after page of different images where the light is explained. After you've gone through it and seen 100 examples using various amounts of lights and various light modifiers and color gels and all that you start to really have a general idea of the process, how it works, what it can do... You can then extrapolate and come up with your own setups for the images you want to create.

There's tons of resources in various forms (books, video tutorials—paid, or free on YouTube—,etc.), but that's just one suggestion that I found quite useful.

That shot might be challenging since I don't have a 400mm and we're playing one of the better schools in the state (and we're not exactly known for football), so the amount of times we'll be near the endzone will be limited. I guess I could take the shot while the other team is about to score, but it wouldn't put that in the yearbook (possibly my portfolio though!).

Canon actually has a non-L 70-300. None of those photos are at 300mm, but this one from my paintball set is. The trick to getting good photos at 300mm is to stop down (which is why a bunch of the football ones are at f/8, just in case I had to zoom) and to not display your photos too big :) I'll put up/PM you a photo at 300mm when I get a chance.

I own this and it's amazing. It folds up really nicely, supports my t2i even with the tokina 11-16 f2.8. It has a forever home in my bag, and is invaluable while traveling. I will not travel without it.

Hello, i come back with an other beginner question,

So i am buying my first flash for my Nikon D5200 and i came across this seems to be Chinese brand that offers good flashes (according to many reviews on youtube)
and i was willing to buy the Yongnuo YN-560 IV
so i have to questions:
1- what do think about it, do you recommand it?
2- is it compatible with my Nikon D5200?

thank you once again lovely subredditers :3
cc u/MrSalamifreak

Giving direction comes with time and practice and is on the basis you know the foundation of a good pose and what things to avoid.

Read the book Picture Perfect Posing. It teaches you how to make a good pose, and what things to look out for.

Hi there, so I'm a flash newbie, but I want to buy a yongnuo flash to work with my Canon 5d classic. I also want to be able to attach the yongnuo to a tripod and fire that with a wireless trigger on my 5d in certain settings. I'm wondering what flash equipment I would need for this to work. I'm considering this, but I'm not sure it would work? Would I need something like this for it to fire the flash wirelessly? Is it simple enough to buy the yongnuo YN560-TX, attach that to my 5d's hot shoe, dial in the settings, attach the yongnuo YN560III to a tripod or wherever, then press the shutter button on my camera to activate the flash? Thanks for the help!

What would be the best camera for someone who's just breaking into photography and need something for great shots up close, far away, and has most of the options to edit?

Edit: How's this bundle and camera?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D93Z89W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_0sXazbDBGFPQC

I have a single 430EX II and a softbox from CowboyStudio. When deciding on the softbox I read many reviews deriding CowboyStudio's continuous lighting equipment. I cannot attest to the quality of the continuous equipment but I can say that the softbox is a good value. If your camera does not have a built-in wireless trigger, I recommend FlashZebra for TTL cords.

Also, check out Speedlighter's Handbook by Syl Arena for more tips to master flash photograhy.

Not so accurate at describing the Nikon solutions.

One of the reasons I got a D300 was for the wireless iTTL capability. It can control any number of flashes in three banks. The main flash and each of the three banks can be individually controlled. Perhaps the 7D has this capability, but no other Canon does. Nikon's Creative Lighting System is pretty amazing.

I also disagree with the statement that using a hotshoe-mounted flash is a terrible idea. Better advice is to read Joe McNally's Hot Shoe Diaries and see how a real pro uses speedlights.

Congrats on having your photographs well received.

Whenever you send photos to anyone, or give permission for use of the photos, you should be explicit, in writing, with what can and cannot be done with the images, and whether or not they need to be credited, etc. It's important to be very specific and include limitations (you can do use for social media, but not advertising; you can use the photos in a local market but not national; etc).

You're looking for info on what to charge for next summer, and also what to charge for photos that are already shot?

Here's a useful book about licensing your photos:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0041IXRQQ?btkr=1

And photo business in general:
http://www.amazon.com/Business-Practices-Photographers-Second-Edition/dp/1435454294/ref=sr_1_1

I can recommend something like this. Great starter camera. Just be warned, try not to get discouraged. There's a steep learning curve where you'll wonder why anyone bothers with dslrs at all and why they don't just stick with their phone camera all the time.

But once you get over that hurdle, you have greater flexibility and capabilities

Perhaps I should have specified, I don't mean "as cheap as possible" I just mean "not 100+ dollars". For instance this tripod seems good to me, I was just wondering if there were better options. I don't care if it's light, I just want something cheap that's moderately compact (not even really compact, just compact enough to not be absolutely massive and in my way) and strong enough to not drop my camera or topple over from a light breeze.

Whoops! I corrected it, here is the other one. I posted this same question in r/nikon and somebody suggested getting the newer Sigma, which I think might be this one. Its a bit out of my price range but I might just suck it up and get a used one. Do you know what advantages the new one would have?

Thanks for your help! I'm leaning towards a Sigma!

1. Found this cheap reflector on Amazon, will it work fine for photographing models outside or should I rethink and buy something more expensive? http://www.amazon.com/Neewer-43-Inch-Collapsible-Multi-Disc-Reflector/dp/B002ZIMEMW
   
   
2. I'm also looking at getting this lightstand: http://www.amazon.com/Neewer-Photography-Relfectors-Softboxes-Backgrounds/dp/B00K69A0QY/ref=pd_sim_p_10?ie=UTF8&refRID=0D4BMN9Z97PRH719JW48 , but looking at pictures of that lightstand, it doesn't seem like it can be rotated or used like this http://www.cowboystudio.com/v/vspfiles/photos/8051-reflector-C%20holding%20arm-2.jpg , is that true? If then, can you point me to another relatively cheap light stand that has that capability?
   
   
3. What are some more things that I should consider buying for photographing models outdoors?
   

I have the T2i and its great. If you feel like spending a couple hundred more, you could look at the T3i. Its basically the same as the T2i with an updated movie mode and an adjustable screen.

Shopping list.

Canon T3i

Canon T2i - You can get used on Amazon for under $600.

Nifty Fifty

Canon Speedlite 430EX II

Step back! Generally lenses are made with the same equivalent field of view for different sensor sizes (for instance, m43 is a 2x crop factor, and we have 17mm, 25mm, 40mm lenses instead of 35mm, 50mm, 80mm); the only time you should be running into field of view issues that using a more appropriate lens won't help with are when you get into super-wide angle. And if you're looking at doing portraits, you should be far away from that territory, since wide angle lenses will produce unflattering photos.

Since you're on an APS-C sensor, your 50mm lens will be more equivalent to an 85mm lens on a full frame, which is a pretty good focal length for portraits. If you want more environmental portraits, you might try something like the 24mm f2.8 (some photos on flickr here and here).

I've been using a Gorillapod for my GoPro and an Ultra-Pod for my a6000 when I'm out travelling. Definitely both on the short side but they both save on space and are ridiculously light. For me, I'd have the size and weight advantage since I can usually easily find something to elevate the tripods on.

Thanks! But it looks like the 50 is better for portraits, which is what I use more of the time.

Do you know anything about this one?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009XVCZ/ref=psdc_173565_t2_B00X8MRBCW#customerReviews

I am looking for some input on a cheap umbrella lighting kit versus a decent add-on flash for my DSLR. I was looking at getting a lighting kit like this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003WLY24O/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3BEPADCNG466L&coliid=I3QAC42G79T1CA&psc=1

However, I saw some comments saying I would be happier with the more versatile add-on flash that costs a fair amount more.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001CCAISE/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3BEPADCNG466L&coliid=I2T75QSPRHX8UX

In addition actually getting to know how to use your camera and finding your niche, read these:

Best Business Practices for Photographers by John Harrington

The Personal MBA by Josh Kauffman

One thing I'll grant you, kid: You're not a good photographer yet, but at least you seem to recognize that taking sellable photos and running a photo business require two sets of skills, and that you should be developing those skills in parallel if you are serious about creative work as a career. Those two books should get you on the right path for the latter.

Also, don't print a portfolio. You're not good enough yet and you'd be wasting money by doing so. Get a few photos you're proud of (and that have been critiqued well) before dropping real money on marketing materials. The money is better invested in the two books I linked above.

Hello! I am looking into getting a camera for my wife and myself. I haven't had the time to fully research cameras and look though all the guides available here since we are preparing a baby. We would be using this camera for baby photos and family photos, a general/casual use. I wanted to get a camera that is worth the investment with a budget around ~$500.

Ive been looking at bundles such as this Camera and accessories bundle Is it worth it to bundle though? I'd say that this is on the high end of my budget but its not unreasonable if it is worth the bundle. I don't have anything for a camera right now and if I buy a stand alone camera, I need to buy all the accessories as well.

Are there any other Cameras/ bundles that you would recommend?

https://amzn.com/B004LEAYXY

Here you go. Reliable, cheap, and it works. Don't forget the batteries!

Yes, it's a manual flash. Best kind. Works off camera via optical triggering.

Hey guys, I'm planing to travel to Thailand and I want to buy some new lenses for that trip. At the moment I only have my Nikon D5300 with the kit lens 18-55. The lenses I'm planing to buy are: Tokina 11-16 2.8 // Nikon 50 1.8 G // Nikon 35 1.8 // Sigma 17-50 2.8. I love doing landscape photography, astrophotography and portraits, but I can't afford all these three lenses and I don't want to travel with all that weight on my bag. What would u do in my situation? Thanks for the comments.

I got this alternative and I like it. You can't wrap it around anything, but you can strap it around most things! I've tried it with a three pound setup and it was secure.
pedco ultrapod II

As for the rest of my setup, I got this tripod head to put on that ultrapod
so that it works with my peak design capture (clip with the dual plate)[https://www.peakdesign.com/product/clips/capture/].

It trades a bit of bulk for more convenience so i think it's worth it.

Wanting to buy new lens for my d3300 and I'm stuck between this Tamron and this Sigma. I currently have 35mm f/1.8G Nikkor Prime and I like it because I can shoot low light landscape shots of NYC as well as portraits when needed (although its not perfect, but it does the job). I'm looking at these zoom lenses because I feel like a little bit more versatility can help me out with the zoom. My question is, which one is better, and will switching from a prime lens to a zoom lens mean less picture quality? I know the f number is lower so lower light situations and bokeh for portraits might not be as good, but will the overall picture quality be worse? In terms of sharpness and detail because I mainly shoot landscape shots of NYC, but I also want good details for portraits when I do shoot portraits although it's just for friends and a lot more rare.

What's the best small / mini portable tripod that is less than $50?
Looking for something like this: https://www.amazon.ca/Pedco-UltraPod-II-Lightweight-Camera/dp/B000ANCPNM

Or perhaps a bean bag is more suitable?

I am getting into flash photography and my first step is buying a flash then heading onto strobist.ive done a little research on cheap flashes that are within my budget and i have narrowed it down to the neewer vk750 ii and yongnuo yn560 iv.The flash would be used for indoor events for example weddings. I would like to know which flash is the best of the two.

For a budget tripod people often recommend the Dolica GX600 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004XC3GWU/ref=sr_ob_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1503187362&sr=8-1

Personally I just took a chance on one of these and I've been very satisfied with it's performance for the money.
https://www.amazon.com/PrimaPhoto-PHTRBBL-Gear-Traveler-Tripod/dp/B015RJ0WHY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1503187529&sr=8-3&keywords=primaphoto+big+travel

Get a good book on posing, try can learn a ton about how best to direct people. Also, might help to link inexperienced models to YouTube posing tutorials.

I'm interested in getting a flash to start learning with and I'm ideally looking for one that I can fire remotely off something like a light stand. I'd prefer to stay around $100, and so far I've narrowed it down to these two but can't really tell the difference.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PGTOX26?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_4&smid=A1NZ7IEFV816B1&pldnSite=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OUU7W8O?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_8&smid=A6EGA15UEFYEQ&pldnSite=1



Any help / recommendations?

I have a Canon T3i btw.

I carry this 5 in 1 deflector / diffuser thing. Its definitely useful.

I often hold it myself with 1 hand or have the model hold it. As a diffuser its a bit more difficult but I sometimes use that as a diffuser for my flash. Good thing to have in your kit and it's relatively light and costs almost nothinf. It sits in the front pocket of my camera backpack.

They also make a 1.4 variant. I think 1.8 should suffice for most situations though (Not trying to be condescending I just don't know how much you know) I know 2.8 on my 70-200 is pretty thin (though it is a zoom lens.) If you don't mind a manual you can pick up a rokinon/samyang pretty cheap. I use the Rokinon 35mm 1.2 and it's DoF is razor thin. Do you have a budget?