Can I Whinge and Whine please?

[AussieDee]

Ok... I started getting into picture taking with a real old p&S about a year ago. then my mum bought me a newer p&s for xmas (what I use now). It's ok, but it lags too much, the auto focus is super slow. I have pictures of branches, but no bird cuz the dang camera was too slow... bird flew away!

Now the whinge and whine part.......

I just recently hauled my little cute butt half way around the world to be with my partner. Spent every cent I had from work and tax return to export my dog and fly myself to Australia from the US. I wanted so much to purchase a DSLR with my tax return but couldn't.

Now... my partner's ex still lives in the house. (don't ask- but it's all fine!) Anyway... he used to be a photographer a long time ago. Showed me pictures of my partner's sports shots he took. Anyway... he noticed how much I was into photography and went out and bought himself a new DSLR. Claiming I "sparked his interest" in it back up again. Yeah right! More like a bit of jealousy factor. Anyway... I've been looking through flyers, searching online, looking over ebay to find something suitable for me but because I am still living here on a tourist visa I can't work. My partner supports me 100%, she wants me to get a DSLR but we currently can't afford it.

Sunday... we are going to an air show. My first one. And I'm crying inside because I don't have a decent camera to take pictures with and Mr. Ex will be going as well with his bright and shiny new Sony DSLR! I'm so bummed!

Also... (more whining)... My partner's sister bought a gift shoppe with paintings and photography. Her sister loves a few of my shots and wants me to sell them in their shoppe but because I can't afford to have them professionally printed and/or framed, I've gone without. And in comes Mr. Ex who decides he's gonna sell his in her shoppe! :banghead:

Ok... ranting and whining and whinging is now over with.

As you all were ...

Oh.. and if this isn't the right thread, feel free to move it or ........ delete it.

 

[tirediron]

You certainly may whinge and whine. Unfortunately, as verbose as I am in this forum, I don't have any words that will solve your problem. I can say, "I feel your pain". How about weekend rentals? Most major camera stores will rent gear; granted it's usually aimed more at pros, but hey, a weekend with a D3 or 1D MkII and a couple of lenses would be a lot of fun.

The other side of the coin is, how good is he with his shiny new Sonly DSLR? It would be awfully ego-gratifying to take some killer shots with your P&S and have him turn in with sloppy, poorly focused, under-exposed images of aeroplane wheels...

Good luck!

 

[AussieDee]

How about weekend rentals?

Yup, there are a few places here that'll rent by the week. Atleast I think I saw an ad for that. Good idea...

how good is he with his shiny new Sonly DSLR?

Actually, I dunno. I think he's too chicken to show me what pictures he's taken so far. I only saw 1 that he put up in the shoppe. Different color variations. He printed them out on his own ink jet and then bought a few $2.50 plain black picture frames. Cheesy if you ask me!

Oh and I haven't even seen his camera! All I know is that it's a sony. Sony A200? I think.

 

[tirediron]

Actually, I dunno. I think he's too chicken to show me what pictures he's taken so far. I only saw 1 that he put up in the shoppe. Different color variations. He printed them out on his own ink jet and then bought a few $2.50 plain black picture frames. Cheesy if you ask me!

Oh and I haven't even seen his camera! All I know is that it's a sony. Sony A200? I think.

The A200 is a nice piece of kit, but remember, it's only a recording device. You're the photographer. A good photographer can take a good picture with any camera. You can give a 500CM to a bad photographer and all you'll get is bad photographs. Now. Get out there and put him in his place!

 

[AussieDee]

Yeah, so I have read....
"It's not the camera that takes the good shots, it's the person behind the camera"

I'll be posting if I get any good shots. But like I said, my $99 is giving me some headaches lately. Blurry mostly. Can P&S's go bad?

 

[Jedo_03]

Oh well - AUSSIE-Dee or USASIE-Dee... whatever...
GO FOR IT with the P&S..
How many times has it been said that the Camera don't maketh the man??
BigW - online, will print 6x4, 7x5, 10x8, larger, canvas... at reasonable prices using Fuji processing...
Frames galore at the Reject shop... cheaper than BigW...
Hang'em up proudly - Nay, Assertively, in your partners sisters gift shoppe and I bet that your offerings will sell better than Mr Ex's Sony...
It's NOT the Camera - it's the Craft...
Jedo

 

[tirediron]

Yeah, so I have read....
"It's not the camera that takes the good shots, it's the person behind the camera"

I'll be posting if I get any good shots. But like I said, my $99 is giving me some headaches lately. Blurry mostly. Can P&S's go bad?

I suppose like anything, things can go wrong. Do some experiments. Set it on a steady surface, set up a large object which will be easy to determine focus on and using self-timer (to ensure absolutely no human-induced movement) take a picture. If that's good, you can be reasonably assured the camera is working fine (and with most of today's electronics, they'll generally give you an error message if something is bad). Could it be the way your holding it, or is there a setting (shutter speed?) which has been inadvertantly set too low?

 

[tirediron]

Oh well - AUSSIE-Dee or USASIE-Dee... whatever...
GO FOR IT with the P&S..
How many times has it been said that the Camera don't maketh the man??
BigW - online, will print 6x4, 7x5, 10x8, larger, canvas... at reasonable prices using Fuji processing...
Frames galore at the Reject shop... cheaper than BigW...
Hang'em up proudly - Nay, Assertively, in your partners sisters gift shoppe and I bet that your offerings will sell better than Mr Ex's Sony...
It's NOT the Camera - it's the Craft...
Jedo

^^ That's what I meant to say! :thumbup:

 

[AussieDee]

Well... thanks you two! Don't feel like whinging anymore. *hugs*

I'll see how this weekend's air show goes. Do what I can with what I got.

 

[manaheim]

The A200 is a nice piece of kit, but remember, it's only a recording device. You're the photographer. A good photographer can take a good picture with any camera. You can give a 500CM to a bad photographer and all you'll get is bad photographs. Now. Get out there and put him in his place!

This is a great idiom, but falls apart when the camera won't even grab the picture before the subject moves out of frame (OP's original comment about the bird flying off being a great example)

In other words there are some limits to how far you can go with less than ideal equipment.

 

[AussieDee]

Thanks for picking my brain. I couldn't spit that out. Hence why I whinged about going to an Air show with a p&s. Most of my shots will be grounded aircrafts.

 

[Robin]

This is a great idiom, but falls apart when the camera won't even grab the picture before the subject moves out of frame (OP's original comment about the bird flying off being a great example)

In other words there are some limits to how far you can go with less than ideal equipment.

I totally agree. It's true that a good photographer can take a great photo with any camera - but the camera can still be limiting in what kind of photo you can produce. A camera with a slow lag and poor autofocus simply isn't going to take good action shots. I'm tired of people seemingly forgetting that a P&S can still be limiting when it comes to certain aspects.

 

[manaheim]

I totally agree. It's true that a good photographer can take a great photo with any camera - but the camera can still be limiting in what kind of photo you can produce. A camera with a slow lag and poor autofocus simply isn't going to take good action shots. I'm tired of people seemingly forgetting that a P&S can still be limiting when it comes to certain aspects.

wow. You and I should form a club. The "people who understand that sometimes equipment CAN limit you" club. We'll be a pretty lonely group though.

Between the people who don't want to upset the folks who don't have uber gear, and the folks who are defensive because they don't have uber gear... well... we may get another 1-2 members.

 

[tirediron]

I totally agree. It's true that a good photographer can take a great photo with any camera - but the camera can still be limiting in what kind of photo you can produce. A camera with a slow lag and poor autofocus simply isn't going to take good action shots. I'm tired of people seemingly forgetting that a P&S can still be limiting when it comes to certain aspects.

Trust me, I know full well that a P&S can be very limiting; no doubt about it. BUT having owned my fair share of PoS P&S cameras, I also know, that you can mitigate a lot of the slow-focus and other issues with practice. That's the whole point: The good photographer's photos with the P&S might not be as good as his/her DSLR shots, but they'll still be a whole lot better than the bad photographers work with the $10,000.00 Hassy kit!

 

[STICKMAN]

Trust me, I know full well that a P&S can be very limiting; no doubt about it. BUT having owned my fair share of PoS P&S cameras, I also know, that you can mitigate a lot of the slow-focus and other issues with practice. That's the whole point: The good photographer's photos with the P&S might not be as good as his/her DSLR shots, but they'll still be a whole lot better than the bad photographers work with the $10,000.00 Hassy kit!

SO TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have taken some of my best shots with my old fugi p&s, its funny when people go nuts over a shot from the p&s and go right past the dslr ones.... Just makes me want to go practice more!!!!!!

Hang in there and keep shooting maybe you'll take the shop over:thumbup: