$400-500 Camera Suggestion?

Rob · Dec 9, 2005

I love my 20mm lens. It is of course double the price of the 28mm, but it might be worth looking through both before you choose.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...s&Q=&sku=12082&is=GREY&addedTroughType=search

GrandMasterK · Dec 9, 2005

what does a tripod do towards night vision? I can adjust the shutter speed on the camera right?

You don't need a large zoom for tornados. They look unimporant and diminished from far away

But what about base shots my good watson?

GrandMasterK · Dec 9, 2005

Super Wide Angle eh Rob. I'd love to get it but even excluding a wide angle range lens im pushin $1,000. Not gonna be to many presents for me under the tree this year hehe. What camera do you use Rob?

Rob · Dec 9, 2005

Loads of them.

I currently use a Contax 167 for the bulk of my stuff and a YashicaMat 124G. For parties a Contax T2 & T3. For astro, night and fast photography my F3HP. As a beater a Pentax Spotmatic.... yeah lots!!

Tripods are for holding a camera steady. The rule of thumb is that your shutter speed should be a minimum of 1/mm. i.e. you should have a shutter speed of at least 1/50th with a standard 50mm lens. If the exposure is longer the chances of fuzzy crapness get larger. I can comfortably hand-hold my F3HP down to 1/15th with a 105mm lens, but that's the weight and stability and my beer habit!

Rob

GrandMasterK · Dec 9, 2005

What kind of lens to use if you need a close up of an object from a couple hundred feet away?

DocFrankenstein · Dec 10, 2005

GrandMasterK said:
What kind of lens to use if you need a close up of an object from a couple hundred feet away?

I rent this:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...&Q=&sku=186153&is=GREY&addedTroughType=search
Or this:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...s&Q=&sku=381604&is=REG&addedTroughType=search

Kent Frost · Dec 10, 2005

Joerocket said:
its people that take "good" pictures not cameras

I assume this is what people tell themselves when they take photos with a camera phone?

DocFrankenstein · Dec 10, 2005

Kent Frost said:
I assume this is what people tell themselves when they take photos with a camera phone?

No. This is what people who know photography tell people who don't know photography... mainly because it's true.

Kent Frost · Dec 10, 2005

Tell me you haven't been somewhere taking photos and snickered at the guy who has a serious look on his face while snapping a photo with his PHONE.

Sorry, I sell phones, and it amazes me how many people actually tell me they want a good camera on their phone. And considering when it comes to phones that everyone wants it for free, the ones they run into ALL shoot at 640x480. I simply tell them that if it's a camera they're concerned about, then BUY A CAMERA.

DocFrankenstein · Dec 10, 2005

Tell me you haven't been somewhere taking photos and snickered at the guy who has a serious look on his face while snapping a photo with his PHONE.

I didn't and wouldn't snicker at all my friend.

You're telling me and your clients, that if a camera outputs a 640*480 file, then there's no way one can make a good picture with it? Or be serious about it?

If I give you eight thousand dollar 1Ds mkII and put a thousand dollar lens on it. Do you think it will change anything?

With a cell phone, one can make crappy 640*480 pictures.

With that ten thousand dollar setup, you can make five crappy 16 megapixel shots per second.

doesn't change a thing.

You're saying one can't make good pictures with a pinhole camera.

Rob · Dec 10, 2005

One thing I would say is that when I'm interfering with non-photography friends taking snapshots (yeah I know, but I can't stop myself!) that when they get the pictures done they always comment like "That's a great one!", "ooh, why's that one so much sharper/brighter".

It's cos I hold the camera steady and I'm not shooting into a mirror with flash for the most part!!!

It's not the camera, but camera phones are not great (yet).

Computers will never need more than 640Kb of RAM either.

Rob

hobbes28 · Dec 10, 2005

See, that's where I tend to differ. I remember a few months ago, some guy posted a few "snapshots" from his phone camera and they were amazing. The quality wasn't even around 75% but it didn't defer from the images any IMO. It's all about the person holding whatever intstrument they're using to capture their vision. I'm a huge fan of pinhole photography and that's about as cheap as you can get.

Kent Frost · Dec 10, 2005

DocFrankenstein said:
You're saying one can't make good pictures with a pinhole camera.

Show me where I said that. I never said any such thing. I've seen some outstandingly awesome photos come from pinhole cameras. I have NOT, however, seen any such results with a phone.

Sorry guys, I don't buy it. I'm not saying that the artist isn't an artist when he/she uses a camera phone. I'm just saying that the technology in a camera phone just isn't up to par for someone who wants to take it seriously. The only use I've found for it is to have FUN with it as a gag gimmick or to shoot photos of evidence if nothing else is around to shoot with. And I never said anything about having to use a camera that's $4000 either. A $200 point & shoot digital camera will do just fine. I'm just saying if you want to take pictures worth printing, GET A CAMERA, not a phone. I don't understand why this isn't jiving with you guys.

And as far as the camera phones that DO have 1.3 and 2.0 megapixels, they're ungodly expensive. And most people (MOST) want a phone for nothing. It's unbelievable. So they get the cheapest camera phone they can find and expect it to work wonders. Not gonna happen. Then they come back and ask why it doesn't look so great. All I can think at that point is "I tried to tell you".

DocFrankenstein · Dec 10, 2005

Kent Frost said:
Show me where I said that. I never said any such thing. I've seen some outstandingly awesome photos come from pinhole cameras. I have NOT, however, seen any such results with a phone.

My point is that there isn't much difference between a holga, a cellphone camera and a pinhole camera. The resolution is approx the same.

Kent Frost · Dec 10, 2005

DocFrankenstein said:
My point is that there isn't much difference between a holga, a cellphone camera and a pinhole camera. The resolution is approx the same.

Sorry, I don't buy that.