Help for a beginner. From lenses to batteries.

dangergoinoff · Jul 29, 2007

Hello.
I will be aquiring a new PentaxK100D with the 18-50MM lens in about 8 weeks.
This is my first camera. I bought my girlfriend a Canon Ixus500 a few years ago for her birthday and have been using that over the past few years and thought that it was time to step up. I really enjoy landscape photography.
So here are my questions.
Do you think this is a good camera to learn on?
What sort of batteries are the best in this type of camera?
Will i have enough on my hands initally with the 1 lens for it to make more sense to wait before I buy a second lens?
What would be the best memory card to get?
Are there any good instructional books readily available?

I would appreciate any help that you can offer.
Thanks.

Garbz · Jul 30, 2007

1. Good camera to learn on yes! It has all the features you could need.
2. Don't they come with specific Li-ion batteries for that model? I'm shaky on the details, but all other DSLR cameras do.
3. It depends on what you want to learn. The 18-50mm is a good range for wide angle nature, landscapes, cityscapes, and on the wider side of portraits. But if you want to learn to take photos of birds right from the go then no it's not. That kind of lens suits my shooting style so I would wait and play around with the lens you have before investing further. But since I am not you, only you can decide if you need something else.
4. Memory cards are mostly the same. They all have equal reliability. I use a generic EBay card which is really slow, but I put up with it because of the cheap price. In any event the camera's inbuilt buffer takes care of action shots anyway.

dangergoinoff · Jul 30, 2007

Thanks for the help I appreciate it.
I dont think this camera does come with specific batteries. You can use AA's but they recommend rechargable ones. From what i have read.
I think if i get an extra lens at this stage i will end up not learning enough about either to do them justice.
Once again thanks. I have posted a few questions on this site and it seems that unless you are female you get bugger all repsonses. I guess some people just treat all areas of the internet as a pick up joint.

Seefutlung · Jul 30, 2007

I strongly recommend to use the kit lens until it falls apart. There will be a point (hopefully before the lens falls apart) when it is painful to pick up the camera with "that crummy little kit lens". There will be a point when you've progressed/grown into photography that you will know what lens you need to continue your progress.

Gary

dangergoinoff · Jul 30, 2007

Thanks Gary.
So what lenses suit what types of photography?

Seefutlung · Jul 30, 2007

dangergoinoff said:
Thanks Gary.
So what lenses suit what types of photography?

As a general rule(s):
wide angles are used for landscapes and architecture;
normal to medium telephoto for people and portraits;
medium to long telephoto for sports and animals (birds/zoo); and
macros for closeups of small stuff like flowers and insects.

Remember there are no "Rules" in photography only guidelines. When you think outside the rules is when photography really becomes fun, interesting and creative. When all else fails then follow the rules.

Good Luck
Gary

i.e.
a 20mm wide angle for a portrait

200mm Telephoto for architecture

super tight for sports

the underside of flowers

or like a 500mm telephoto for closeup of flowers

DSLR noob · Jul 30, 2007

I've posted this a lot but it seems to help.

Myself said:
DSLR Noob's lens buying guide.

How a lens is named(Canon, others are similar)

Canon------------50mm------------f/1.4------------USM
^manufacturer----^focal length----^max apertrue--^feature, in this case, a USM ring focusing motor

Focal length guide(variable "L" for length):
L < 28 it is considered wide and would be good for landscaping, somehting around 14 to 21 would be ideal. It is also good for taking pictures in cramped spaces. One can also emphasize the size of a building.

30> L < 80 Is considered a midrange lens. Good for portraits, photos of cars, etc.

L < 80 Is a telephoto, good for taking pictures from a distance. Lengths above 250 are great for nature photography of animals that'd be scared when you approach closely. think a telescope for your camera.

Aperture Guide usages and benefits.
A low aperture number or a high aperture (the lower the number the higher the aperture, don't ask). A high aperture (like 1.8) means that the aperture blades in the lens can open up to a very large hole to let light pass through. Thus you can take a picture in a low light situation, without a shutter speed slow enough to make camera shake a horrible reality. The positives, being able to use faster shutter speeds, brighter viewfinder, interesting blurring of the objects not focused on (called bokeh, and is achieved with a shallow DOF [depth of field] ). Downside, fully opened lenses aren't as razor sharp as usual, shallow depth of field can be a bad thing, (i.e. let's say you focused on a bench 30 feet in front of a building, this bench has really nice aging wood and beautiful woodgrain, but the building also has a detailed antique feeling. You want to capture both. well if your aperture is wide open at 1.8, when you focus on the bench, the building turns into a blurry series of dots of light[you see them in movies in the background or foreground a lot].

Using a smaller aperture (lower MAX is still preferred in buying a lens but this is a usage tip) can be good because more is in focus. you would be able to take a picture where the bench and the building, are in moderately good focus (naked eye probably couldn't tell the difference). Downsides to this are, longer shutter speeds, possibly needing a tripod, darker viewfinder, and if too high, once again losing razor sharpness on the most focused object.

Most lenses work best (for razor sharpness) at around F/8.

Here is just a feature yo might see someday when looking at lenses.

Macro- indicates a life-size magnification. In other words, you can focus close enough to a small object, filling the frame, and it would take the picture with the object in life size proportion to your sensor. think, if you sensor is the size of a postage stamp, and you take a picture of a bug that fills the entire postage stamp, then when you uploaded the image, that poster stamp image makes a 40 inch high res Monitor sized digital image, and in theory, a 40 inch bug in full detail!

Focal length diagram of how a telephoto sees compared to a wide angle. (Variable "C" for camera, lines represent everything camera can see, not the shape of the lens) Both cameras are pointed at a red Corvette.

Telephoto, 150mm

......|...........|.........
......|...........|.........
......|...........|.........
.......|.........|..........
.......|.........|..........
.......|.........|..........
........|.......|...........
........|.......|...........
........|.......|...........
.........|.....|............
.........|.....|............
..........|...|.............
..........{C}.............

Wide angle 28 mm

\.........................../
....\.................../....
.......\............./.......
..........\......./..........
............{C}............

On the telephoto, notice the accuracy to fill the frame with a small portion of what the camera is pointed at, but at high magnification (imagine the lines at the end of the camera's sight being edges of a picture frame, the photo is the same size, just stretch or squish the image into that perspective. this camera sees from a few feet in front of the bumper to just in front of the rear tire of the car.

On the wide angle, it captures a lot of what it is pointed at, more than what your eye can pick up (eye is about a 50mm), but everything in the picture is smaller to fit. Once again picture is same size. This image captures the car and the entire parking lot

Always research a lens before buying it. Just because it has the focal length and aperture you want doesn't mean that the image quality is great. ask here before purchasing!

Aperture diagram.
This is a bad example because I rarely take photos with a large depth of field but here is aperture at 2.8

See how the girls are both in focus, as is the front of the table to the rear of the table?

Well here is another photo at 1.8

look at the table the can is sitting on. Notice how an inch of depth is in focus. Everything an inch behind the can is blurry everything an inch in front of the can is blurry. Making the can stand out, a desired effect in this instance. The soft background is called bokeh and is visually pleasing without its sharp lines and harsh contrast.

DSLR noob · Jul 30, 2007

Besides that guide I wrotev here is more help.

1. you can learn a ton from that camera. A dSLR was my first camera and I learned everything I know on it, I considered the Pentax myself and would have got it if my friend didn't have an EOS camera I could borrow lenses from (I later found out he sold it so I really chose canon for all the wrong reasons but love it).

2. if you can find NiMh rechargables or Li-ion rechargables, you're set.

3.use use use that kit lens. You'll slowly start to see the lenses limitations when you realize how your lens's features are effecting your image and what features to look at next time around. Take for example the kit lens having a max aperture of 3.5 ( a lower number is a larger value, so low is good) and later on you realize you need a lens that will let you take hand held pictures in a dark room without flash and without high ISO noise, you will know to get something faster (if you like the kit and it's too slow, get one of the 3rd party 17-50 2.8 lenses)

4. Try and get several smaller cards, don't go for 1 bajillion gigabite card, rather get 2 or 3 cards with 2 gigs of memory, so if you lose or damage a card, less data is lost.

5. Understanding Exposure I haven't read it but I am a quick learner via these forums. apparently this book is a godsend according to most people here, I've heard so many positive reviews I don't feel bad about reccomending it without reading it myself. Yes, it's THAT good. (apparently)

Stratman · Jul 30, 2007

I would suggest getting at least 2 sets of sanyo Eneloop AA rechargables. buy one set with the charger, and another set of 4 so you have a spare, they are GREAT batteries, i have 2 sets and can get close to 500 shots per set depending on flash use, and how much i use the LCD, they are a bit more expensive than energizer rechargables, but to me they are worth it. I have 2 Transcend 2 gig cards for my K110D, and they work great, and are cheap !! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820163158 Eneloopp batteries http://www.amazon.com/Eneloop-Battery-Charging-Rechargeable-Batteries/dp/B000IV0REA

dangergoinoff · Jul 30, 2007

Seefutlung said:
As a general rule(s):
wide angles are used for landscapes and architecture;
normal to medium telephoto for people and portraits;
medium to long telephoto for sports and animals (birds/zoo); and
macros for closeups of small stuff like flowers and insects.

Remember there are no "Rules" in photography only guidelines. When you think outside the rules is when photography really becomes fun, interesting and creative. When all else fails then follow the rules.

Good Luck
Gary

i.e.
a 20mm wide angle for a portrait

200mm Telephoto for architecture

super tight for sports

the underside of flowers

or like a 500mm telephoto for closeup of flowers

Thanks thats really helpful

dangergoinoff · Jul 30, 2007

DSLR noob said:
I've posted this a lot but it seems to help.

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Thanks.

dangergoinoff · Jul 30, 2007

Yeah i hadn't thought about getting two medium sized cards in case of a malfunction.
Makes good sense.
I will keep an eye out for the rechargable batteries over the next few weeks.