Beginner Question!

tsabary · Mar 25, 2013

i've also just started a few weeks ago and i felt like i really started to understand how things work after i've learned about shutter speed, aperture and white balance, and how they effect your photo. from there just start filling pieces of information that you lack (they're endless, of course, but those topics will be a good introduction)

eyeadoreu_ · Mar 25, 2013

First camera suggestions? I'm most likely going to start with the Nikon n5005 that my stepdad's going to give me. Would that be good?

KmH · Mar 25, 2013

Then hopefully you have the $$$ to buy film and can afford to develop it, or have it developed.

A 36-exposure roll of film is running $4 to $6, + processing costs. Black and White film is easier to develop than color film. Professional grade B&W film is about $8 per 36-exposure roll.
Pro grade color transparency film can be as much as $20 for a 36-exposure roll.

If you use negative film and want to see the image as a positive, you will need to scan your negatives or make prints.
Retail outlets that develop film can put positive images on a disc for you. Mpix.com charges $0.19 per image so a 36-exposure roll costs $6.84 and putting 1- 50 photos on a DVD is another $10.
So the total cost of a 36-exposure roll of film (figuring $4.50 for the roll) using Mpix and getting the disc would have a total cost of $21.34 per roll or $.60 per photo.

Dikkie · Mar 25, 2013

eyeadoreu_ said:
My stepdad is looking into giving me his old Nikon n5005. With an external flash, and another lens. So, that camera should be good for my beginner start.

That would be an excellent beginner one. I had a similar one from my grandfather, the F401. You'll learn it the hard way shooting everying in Manual mode to understand every detail of the basics.

+ it's a film camera. You don't want to waste your photos because you're limited to 36 shots a roll. You'll learn to look and adjust everything before you click the release button.

imagemaker46 · Mar 25, 2013

Get a camera, look into some night school courses, learn as much as you can, and enjoy it as a hobby.

peter27 · Mar 25, 2013

KmH said:
Then hopefully you have the $$$ to buy film and can afford to develop it, or have it developed.

A 36-exposure roll of film is running $4 to $6, + processing costs. Black and White film is easier to develop than color film. Professional grade B&W film is about $8 per 36-exposure roll.
Pro grade color transparency film can be as much as $20 for a 36-exposure roll.

If you use negative film and want to see the image as a positive, you will need to scan your negatives or make prints.
Retail outlets that develop film can put positive images on a disc for you. Mpix.com charges $0.19 per image so a 36-exposure roll costs $6.84 and putting 1- 50 photos on a DVD is another $10.
So the total cost of a 36-exposure roll of film (figuring $4.50 for the roll) using Mpix and getting the disc would have a total cost of $21.34 per roll or $.60 per photo.

There's no need to buy pro grade film when just starting out. No-name colour negative film can be bought for less than a euro a roll of 36 exposures, and even Kodak consumer grade works out at less than two euros a roll of 36, when bought in a four-roll pack. I get mine developed, printed in 9x13 size and put on a CD for four euros fifty. Using film isn't as expensive as most people seem to assume, especially when you compare how much a DSLR and the accompanying PP programs, storage hardware, etc., will cost to finance - up front. At least by starting out with film the costs are moderately low at the beginning and you pay as you go.

I also use slide film, which is cheaper to develop but more expensive to buy and takes longer to come back from the lab. Plus you need a scanner since this really does cost a packet to get put on a CD by a lab.

If you find you like film and want to stick with it for a while, then slide film can become an option and could actually lower your costs long-term. However, it's not very forgiving and negative film has a lot of leeway at the point of taking the photo, so it would be my recommendation for a beginner.

The Nikon from your step-dad sounds like a good starting point, but be sure to use it in manual and invest a little money in a separate light meter - you won't regret it!

duhast · Mar 25, 2013

Learn the basics...

Learn all you can about light - what it is, what it does, how it reacts.

^^^These^^^

AaronLLockhart · Mar 25, 2013

Wow, talk about a crapfest of mixed answers. I don't think anything is occurring here except for confusing him even further.

Let's get the basics down.

- He needs a camera. It doesn't matter if it's film or digital... he needs a camera. There is no photography without it.
- My preference is film for beginners, but If he wants to go digital let it please be known that, since he has nikon glass, he needs to purchase a Nikon model WITH a focus motor in the body. In this department, I think the D80 would be an excellent starter cam for digital. He won't put in an arm in a leg out of his wallet for it, and it still produces good quality work.
- He DOESN'T need to attend any classes to get to know photography or his camera, not even to become a professional. Learning photography can be done very easily out of the classroom.

My personal input is that he either purchases a very inexpensive Nikon 35mm body, such as an N55, N65, N75, or N80. However, even the n005 he currently have would be a great starting point. He's got at least two threads going on about the same topic in two different areas. This leads me to believe that using the older n005 is intimidating to him.

So, instead of intimidating him further, by adding a bunch of crap and irrelevant input to his situation, how about we encourage him that the equipment that he already owns is not hard to use, and he is very capable of learning it?

eyeadoreu_ · Mar 25, 2013

Thank you so much ^

imagemaker46 · Mar 25, 2013

AaronLLockhart said:
Wow, talk about a crapfest of mixed answers. I don't think anything is occurring here except for confusing him even further.

Let's get the basics down.

- He needs a camera. It doesn't matter if it's film or digital... he needs a camera. There is no photography without it.
- My preference is film for beginners, but If he wants to go digital let it please be known that, since he has nikon glass, he needs to purchase a Nikon model WITH a focus motor in the body. In this department, I think the D80 would be an excellent starter cam for digital. He won't put in an arm in a leg out of his wallet for it, and it still produces good quality work.
- He DOESN'T need to attend any classes to get to know photography or his camera, not even to become a professional. Learning photography can be done very easily out of the classroom.

My personal input is that he either purchases a very inexpensive Nikon 35mm body, such as an N55, N65, N75, or N80. However, even the n005 he currently have would be a great starting point. He's got at least two threads going on about the same topic in two different areas. This leads me to believe that using the older n005 is intimidating to him.

So, instead of intimidating him further, by adding a bunch of crap and irrelevant input to his situation, how about we encourage him that the equipment that he already owns is not hard to use, and he is very capable of learning it?

In this day and age you would seriously recommend that a beginner start by shooting film, doesn't need any classes or additional information to start learning how to take pictures. I suggested that he take some classes, get as much information as he can. How is his taking a few classes not going to be beneficial?

It will end up costing him a lot more to start shooting film, getting it processed and printed or scanned than it would starting with an entry level digital camera. So he has a Nikon lenses, he can learn manual focus. How much does he know about light, or how to understand and read light, wouldn't a few classes help.

He would end up getting more frustrated shooting film than digital.

AaronLLockhart · Mar 25, 2013

imagemaker46 said:
AaronLLockhart said:

Wow, talk about a crapfest of mixed answers. I don't think anything is occurring here except for confusing him even further.

Let's get the basics down.

- He needs a camera. It doesn't matter if it's film or digital... he needs a camera. There is no photography without it.
- My preference is film for beginners, but If he wants to go digital let it please be known that, since he has nikon glass, he needs to purchase a Nikon model WITH a focus motor in the body. In this department, I think the D80 would be an excellent starter cam for digital. He won't put in an arm in a leg out of his wallet for it, and it still produces good quality work.
- He DOESN'T need to attend any classes to get to know photography or his camera, not even to become a professional. Learning photography can be done very easily out of the classroom.

My personal input is that he either purchases a very inexpensive Nikon 35mm body, such as an N55, N65, N75, or N80. However, even the n005 he currently have would be a great starting point. He's got at least two threads going on about the same topic in two different areas. This leads me to believe that using the older n005 is intimidating to him.

So, instead of intimidating him further, by adding a bunch of crap and irrelevant input to his situation, how about we encourage him that the equipment that he already owns is not hard to use, and he is very capable of learning it?

Click to expand...

In this day and age you would seriously recommend that a beginner start by shooting film, doesn't need any classes or additional information to start learning how to take pictures. I suggested that he take some classes, get as much information as he can. How is his taking a few classes not going to be beneficial?

It will end up costing him a lot more to start shooting film, getting it processed and printed or scanned than it would starting with an entry level digital camera. So he has a Nikon lenses, he can learn manual focus. How much does he know about light, or how to understand and read light, wouldn't a few classes help.

He would end up getting more frustrated shooting film than digital.

I'll tell you how much I know about shooting film. I had been shooting for 5 years before I came here to TPF, and I have never shot film. I had a K1000 that my grandfather handed down to me sitting in my bedroom. I was referred by a member here to start film. I SUCKED at shooting digital back then... Within 6 months of shooting with film, trial and error, and learning to get it right, learning how to use external light meters, read DoF calculators on lenses, etc... my digital quality in photography increased well over 100%.

Looking back, I wish I would have started with film. When you have less shots... and the shots are costing you money, you learn much faster. That's all I'm saying. As for the schooling part, there are so many resources available on the internet, taking "a class" is absolutely pointless. You can get just as much information by searching for it.

eyeadoreu_ · Mar 25, 2013

I am going to at least take digital or film photography classes my senior year which is next year.

manicmike · Mar 25, 2013

What you could do, is get a digital and only give yourself 36 shots (like a roll of film). Make each shot count.

Or you could just get a digital and take a ton of pictures. Buy a book like Understanding Exposure or any in the Scott Kelby series and you'll have a decent starting point. I think the Nikon d50-d90 series would be a cheap alternative for a starter camera.