newb question... need advice on a camera

tbone13 · Mar 9, 2006

hey all,

b/c of the work i do (garment industry) i've been spending more and more time with photography and i'm getting really into it! i've made my own lighting and a make shift studio. now, it's finally time to take it to the next level and get a decent camera.

most of the pictures i take are indoors and range from upper body closeups to full body shots. b/c clothing comes in a WIDE variety of colors, i need something that can capture color very well.

i dont know if this is camera related or im doing something wrong but the full body shots that i have been taking are coming out very fuzzy. close up are perfect however. ive messed with all the settings and tried many things with lighting... but no luck. can someone enlighten me on this matter?

anyhow, what would be the best camera for my needs? the pics dont have to be hight resolution so high megapixel counts isn't a neccessity. other than that.. im open to any help.

thanks
t

Alpha · Mar 9, 2006

I'd be happy to give some suggestions, but you should probably say first whether you intend to go film or digital?

Rahb · Mar 9, 2006

i'm assuming he wants digital since she referred to megapixel

tbone13 · Mar 10, 2006

rahb is right, im looking for digital. clarity and color are the 2 most important things i am looking for. thanks for the help!

Rob · Mar 10, 2006

Your fuzziness problem is most likely the result of the camera moving due to insufficient light to generate a short exposure. The answer for this kind of work is to use a tripod and a decent lens.

I would say with this kind of work that you should be looking at an intermediate body, say a Nikon D200 or a Canon 20D. If you want to shoot in an indoor environment then you should look at lenses in the 28-80 region. Both Canon and Nikon make fixed aperture f2.8 zooms in approximately this range and both are fine examples.

Hope this helps!

Rob

darich · Mar 10, 2006

I can vouch for the Canon 24-70 F2.8 L USM lens.
Tremendous pice of glass and the one i use for about 80% of my photography

Rob · Mar 10, 2006

darich said:
I can vouch for the Canon 24-70 F2.8 L USM lens.
Tremendous pice of glass and the one i use for about 80% of my photography

That'd be the one I was thinking of! I can never remember if they're 24,28 or 70,80 etc.

Rob

tbone13 · Mar 10, 2006

thanks for the info guys!

but as the title says... "NEWB" here and after checking out those cameras.. i must say that i was BLOWN away! i know that you get what you pay for but that seems to be a little out of my budget.

is there something that can work for me that is under $500?

what about an older model of the above mentioned cameras.. how are those? id have to assume that those have decreased in price.

again, thanks for the insight!

joyride · Mar 10, 2006

If price is a major concern, start looking into the entrance level DSLR. Check out the Nikon D50, Canon rebel XT, ect. Those will run you under $1000. I've seen the Nikon for under $550 for body only. The lens will be around another $250 from what I just looked into.

darich · Mar 10, 2006

Rob said:
That'd be the one I was thinking of! I can never remember if they're 24,28 or 70,80 etc.

Rob

There is a 28-70 as far as i know. I believe it's older than the 24-70 and the 24 superseded the 28.

great lens no matter what!!
:mrgreen:

tbone13 · Mar 17, 2006

after some basic research, i have a million questions.. but ill start with a few in which i have no clue.

what affect does lense size have? you guys mentioned 24-70 but what does that mean?

nikon seems to be cheaper than canon, is canon the better brand?

do i need a macro, aspherical, or autofocus lense?

is there a site you guys frequent for your purchases that has decent deals?

thanks!

spiky_simon · Mar 17, 2006

tbone13 said:
what affect does lense size have? you guys mentioned 24-70 but what does that mean?

the number refers to the focal length of the lens. A 50mm lens rougly corresposnds to teh image you see with a zoom. A number higher than that is a telephoto lens, and a number lower is a wideangle. If teh numebers are specified in a range (like 24-70) the lens is a zoom lens and the focal length can be varied from the bottom number (in this case, 24, mild wideangle) to 70 *which is a small telephoto). For the type of photography you're planning on doing, a smallish telephoto (70 or 80 mm or so) may make the most sense.

tbone13 said:
nikon seems to be cheaper than canon, is canon the better brand?

You really don't want to ask that question! Canon users and Nikon users tend to get heated in discussions on which is the better brand. I personally use canon, but both brands are high quality and you wouldn't regret purchasing either a Canon 350D/Digital Rebel XT or Nikon D50, IMO.

tbone13 said:
do i need a macro, aspherical, or autofocus lense?

You don't need a macro - they're for taking closup images of small things like flowers and insects. Almost all lenses nowadays are autofocus, so I wouldn't worry about that. You don't *need* aspherical lenses (supposedly they are better, but I wouldn't worry about that).