Professional digital SLR camera?

Star_Climber · Mar 20, 2012

Hello

I am planning to buy my first professional SLR camera and i need your advice?
So my absolute dream is "fashion photography",so with my potential new camera i want to be able to shoot quality shoots of people, models...portraits,beauty shoots etc.
can you give me any advice?

Bitter Jeweler · Mar 20, 2012

The Canon 5DmkII or mkIII would be great for you.

Overread · Mar 20, 2012

Wouldn't fashion - at least pro, top end fashion be dominated by more medium format gear? Excluding things like a fashion show, I'd have thought a staged studio fashion shoot would be the ideal domain of the medium format camera.
Granted medium format digital is exceptionally expensive, but you can get very good second hand film medium format cameras for much more affordable rates - then you just need film and then you can process that at home and scan to computer or mail it off to be processed and scanned (to get the most out of it you would need a serious scanner so if you can't afford that posting it off to be scanned and processed would be best).

I'm certainly not saying that the 5DMII or MIII could not do a good job, they are ideal 35mm options for this field; the 5D original is always a very capable camera body for this field if the budget is more limited - remember in the field of fashion and studio work lighting and lens are going to be top items and you'll probably sink the most money into lighting gear to start with.

Star_Climber · Mar 20, 2012

Bitter Jeweler said:
The Canon 5DmkII or mkIII would be great for you.

i am still a student,so my limit is 1000 euros...i know...stupid,but is there any model with that price that could work for me?
i'm in Europe,so i don't know are the prices in USA and Europe for cameras the same, but i guess they won't be that different. ^^

Alex_B · Mar 20, 2012

Star_Climber said:
Bitter Jeweler said:

The Canon 5DmkII or mkIII would be great for you.

Click to expand...

i am still a student,so my limit is 1000 euros...i know...stupid,but is there any model with that price that could work for me?
i'm in Europe,so i don't know are the prices in USA and Europe for cameras the same, but i guess they won't be that different. ^^

To my experience ... photographic equipment is cheaper in the US than in Europe ... bad for us Europeans

For a start it does not have to be a camera in the Canon 5D mk2 range (although it would be nice

).

For everything in a set-up environment such as a studio, you do not need the fastest autofocus, and the best performing camera for low light. You can set up the situation such that you can achieve very good results with cheaper cameras.

Not sure what the Canon 5D mk1 costs used these days, or even a camera with a smaller sensor.

If I were you, I would go for a used cheaper camera (be it Canon or Nikon does not really matter), and get at least one or two good lenses, and a reflector and/or some flashes with softboxes ... try to get used equipment so you can squeeze it into the 1000 EUR range somehow.

Or if you rent a studio with the flashes and all included (or join a photo club with a studio) ... the more money remains for camera and lenses.

2WheelPhoto · Mar 20, 2012

The Nikon D4 will set the light positions, levels, camera, and make you an instant portrait professional. If you don't believe me, ask the expert at bestbuy

trizzo · Mar 20, 2012

Pro camera for 1000 eur? Forget about it.

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk 2 Beta-2

Big Mike · Mar 20, 2012

i want to be able to shoot quality shoots of people, models...portraits,beauty shoots etc.

Very little of that has to do with the camera model you have.

Alex_B · Mar 20, 2012

2WheelPhoto said:
The Nikon D4 will set the light positions, levels, camera, and make you an instant portrait professional. If you don't believe me, ask the expert at bestbuy

Evil reply!

Damn, that is why I never succeeded ... I always had the wrong cameras

Trever1t · Mar 20, 2012

Star_Climber said:
Hello
I am planning to buy my first (Remove this word-professional) SLR camera and i need your advice?
So my absolute dream is "fashion photography",so with my potential new camera i want to be able to shoot quality shoots of people, models...portraits,beauty shoots etc.
can you give me any advice?

why do you want a "Pro" camera?

It's obvious to me (and most everyone) that you are not a professional. Your budget says you don't understand the costs of pro gear. Not to say you can't buy a decent DSLR within your budget but it'll be a far cry from what most consider "Pro" gear. Let's not forget that you'll need lenses, which run close to $2000ea. for top quality. Look for decent used gear.

tirediron · Mar 20, 2012

Star_Climber said:
...can you give me any advice?

Study photography; buy whatever camera you can afford and use that to learn your craft. Granted you might not want to use a Canon Rebel for paid commercial work, but it will go a LONGGGGGG way toward teaching you what you need to know.

Alex_B · Mar 20, 2012

I have seen people using a Rebel for paid work .. producing good images.

tirediron · Mar 20, 2012

Alex_B said:
I have seen people using a Rebel for paid work .. producing good images.

To be sure; the difference between pro bodies and consumer bodies (outside of extremes such as ultra-high ISO) is far more about build-quailty and control availability.