SLR additions!

[Artemis]

Im one of those weird people who loves getting new stuff for stuff he has.
Well im buying a SLR soon, and i wanna know a list of all the accessories you can get for SLR cameras if thats possible.

Please include things like.
Tripods, monopods etc.

this is the camera im getting:
here[url]

 

[Big Mike]

I love getting new stuff too, however I think it might be best to just get the basics to start with.

This way you can better learn the capabilities and limitations of your camera. You will also have a better idea of what accessories you will need for your style of shooting. After all, nobody has all the accessories, and quite a lot of us have enough of them that we have to make compromises because we can't take them all with us all the time.

I'd say that some good starter accessories would be...a tripod, a UV filter (to protect the lens), a circular polarizer, a remote shutter release (although the self timer will suffice), an accessory flash (of you plan on doing flash photography).

 

[Artemis]

well i have a tripod, that about it.
Whats a UV filter do exactly?

 

[Big Mike]

Whats a UV filter do exactly?

Well, I'm not entirely sure that it has much, if any, effect on the photographs but a lot of people use them to protect the front element of the lens. It keeps the lens glass from having to be cleaned too often. If you drop the camera or anything comes into contact with the front of the lens, it's much better to replace just a UV filter than the whole lens.

 

[voodoocat]

I would go with a lens shade over the UV filter to protect your lens. Unless you plan on spending $$$ on a multicoated high quality filter. There no sense in putting cheap glass in front of your lenses. Save the money and get yourself a nice polarizer. A good circular polarizer will run $75+

 

[Artemis]

I think i know what that is, im getting better thanks guys, anything else?

 

[GerryDavid]

I think i know what that is, im getting better thanks guys, anything else?

I didnt read the specs of the camera you posted, but im assuming its using expensive cr2 or some other uncommon/expensive battery format. When I got mine, instead of paying $30 cdn for 2 new batteries every 20-35 rolls of film, I bought a $20us battery pack off of ebay *regularly $70 cdn in stores* that uses 4 AA batteries that are rechargeable. So far I havent even had to replace them.

The battery pack I got *I think BP-200, made for my camera* also gives you a longer grip on the side and gives the camera a more of a quality feel. Also there is a 2nd shutter release button on the side so I can hold it side ways, which is good unless your in manual mode since the manual buttons are on the other side.

And as for tripod, you may want to spend a bit more and get a good tripod that can do more than hold a camera. Some tripod's let you tilt the camera 90 degree's into portrait mode *my triopod does this, but it tilts it to the right so both shutter buttons are on the bottom and its a real pain to use that way, which is where the shutter release comes into play*. So if you can get one that tilts to the left, that would be better.

Also some tripods let you flip the pole that holds the camera to the botom so you can hold the camera right next to the ground for macro or low level pictures. Mine doesnt do this, but it would be nice if it could.

Some tripods have a quick release on them, which lets you take the camera on and off of it fast, but can be a pain if you have 2 camera's and only one quick release plate, so odds are when you need it, the plate is on the camera that is at home. Im still wondering if I can buy a 2nd plate for my vivitar tripod.

Hmm, filters are good to have. UV filters cut down on the haze so if your doing landscape pictures, of far away objects, they will be more clear, the sky/clouds will show up better and colors are more true. Im pretty sure thast what a UV one does. Appearantly camera shops give you a cheap versioin of the UV filter usually, but I didnt get this. I think its called the skylight filter. Itsi pretty much only good for protecting the lense.

Then theres the polerizer filter. If you use autofocus youll need a circular one, since the linear ones dont work with the autofocus. Im not sure if linear is the right term for that one. This will cut glare in pictures. So if your doing pictures of a lake and want to see the fish, this will help, or a picture of a person sitting in a car with the windows up, this will let you see in, etc.

And theres a 3rd main filter, which my mind is coming to a blank.

And a 4th one that I would like to have is called "neutral density" filter I believe. It just blocks light from hitting the film, so I can take longer exposures than I normally could. Good for extended exposures of running water, water falls, etc, to get the soft look. As well as public places. One nice trick of extended exposure is to set it up in a vey busy place and if you expose it long enough, and if you dont end up over exposing the picture, the place will look like it has no people there. Someone did this for something grand station or something like that in NY, and looks like theres no people there, which there always are.

2 things on my wish list are lenses. Id like a wide angel lense and telephoto lense. Moreso the telephoto ones so I can zoom in on wild life when I cant get close enough to them. A 80-200mm lense is about 6X magnification at 200mm which is good for wild animals, but 300, 400mm, etc are better, but be prepared to pay alot of money. Wide angle is good for spots where you cant get back far enough to get in all fo the picture. One time I wish I had one, well the only time so far was when my fiancee was meeting Superchic[k] and I coudlnt get all the members of the group into one picture.

And something else that wouldnt hurt would be a good flash unit. The built in flash units are not that good, and can create red eye. But with an external one you can hold it to the side, bounce it off of the ceiling, and if its on the camera, its up high enough to not create red eye. And you can set it more manually to how much flash you want to give, depending on the one you get, bu tthe ones ive seen are not all that cheap.

But when your just starting out with the camera and you want a few toys with it, I would go with the UV filter, polerizer filter, cable release, and telephoto lense, as well as the tripod.

And if you dont kown how to use the manual mode of the camera, I suggest a camera class/course to teach you how to use it, since you can take more creative pictures knowing how to use the camera to its full.

Ive rambled enough here, hope it wasnt to much. :0).

Oh ya, and on a side note, I bought my canon rebel 2000 just because I had planned to one day get the canon digital rebel and the lenses and stuff that works on the rebel 2000 will also work on the drebel. If it wasnt for that, I would probably be more interested in getting a medium format camera. Im sure they would be fun to play with.

 

[Walt]

If you really want to go nuts, set up a darkroom!

 

[GerryDavid]

If you really want to go nuts, set up a darkroom!

A darkroom isnt that big of a setup, from what ive seen. :0)

Pretty much need *for a black and white film darkroom*:
* developing tank, 1 or 2 reel. Range in price between $20 and $40 cdn
* developing solution, about $10 I think, depends on volumn
* stop solution, close to the developing solution price I believe
* fix solution, again, close to developign solution price I think.
* Cant remember the name of the stuff, but you put it in a tub of water and you rince the film in it, and it prevents water circles that form when the water evaporates off of the negatives.

Then if you wanted to develop the black and white film you need:
* enlarger, which you can pick up used for probably between $50 and $250 cdn.
* photo paper to expose the prints on
* paper developing solution
* paper stop solution
* paper fix solution
* and a dark place to do the paper printing in

Personally I dont really see much point in developing the pictures myself, its cheaper to go to a trusted developer, unless your doing alot of large prints.

Im not sure about doing the color version of this, its much more sensative to temperature, so if its not exactly the temperature its suppoes to be, plus or minus a fraction of a degree, itll mess up. Whereas with the b&w film, we didnt control the temp. we should have but we werent that strict about it.

 

[Walt]

If one is inclined to delve into the darkroom the point would be the process. Sure it's cheaper for a few prints to go to a developer. Take it a step farther, if all you want were some pictures you could just go buy some! I digress, you can go nuts with darkroom equipment.
Things to get (a sample list!):
Print dryers
Print Washers
Beakers
safelights
developing tanks
changing bag
print analyzers
grain focusers
easels
paper safes
enlarger timer
contact printer
various size trays
just to name a few!!!

 

[GerryDavid]

If one is inclined to delve into the darkroom the point would be the process. Sure it's cheaper for a few prints to go to a developer. Take it a step farther, if all you want were some pictures you could just go buy some! I digress, you can go nuts with darkroom equipment.
Things to get (a sample list!):
Print dryers
Print Washers
Beakers
safelights
developing tanks
changing bag
print analyzers
grain focusers
easels
paper safes
enlarger timer
contact printer
various size trays
just to name a few!!!

Ah, beakers, forgot about those. Things to measure the solutions in so you use the right amount and can mix the right ratios with. Myself I woudlnt go with a changign bag, I would just go into a dark room like a bathroom and move the film roll to the developing tank roll thing *cant think of the right name* and then come out intot he light to do the solution's with.

Personally I dont really like printing, Id prefer to get a nice negative scanner and put them on the pc and play with them that way. I like the feel of my film camera but I dont like the cost of the film *$6 cdn for ilford b&w 125*, nor the developing costs of it *$20 or so, depends on the store* or even the developing costs of regular film *$6 cdn*. So the idea to buy a bulk loader and 100' or 200' of b&w film is very appealing. To take 36 pictures and develop them for around $1-$2 cdn.

 

[Artemis]

Wow thanks guys.
Well, the lucky thing about having a dad into photography, is he wants a dark room to, although if i know what hes like, hell just say "Naaahhh itll be to expensive" no matter how much it is parents ey?! LOL.

As for the tripod, i got that, and i have a lille tiny tripy for close pics.
My tripod has the quick snap stuff and does the 90 degree turn It was very cheap, less than £20, if your interested go to Jessops.com and find the tripod called Alfa 3, and yeah they spell it with a f which i dunno why.

Im very lucky, cause i should be able to get a job right after my b-day, cause then im 16, so ill have loads of money to spend on new stuff.

As for the camera classes, im taking photography at College, and they must teach you the basics at least, the disapointing thing its like ARt photography, apparently one kid took pics of loads of peoples feet as his project....wtf?lol

Thanks for all your help guys, and i think my first toys will either be lenses, or filters

P.S. How many different filters are there?

 

[GerryDavid]

P.S. How many different filters are there?

How many stars are in the sky? Probably around the same answer, hehe. There are a ton of "artistic" filters, that give you the star effect off of bright objects, some for double exposures that blocks half hte frame and then the other half when you turn it around, some for b&w photography, etc. Theres the main ones that I mentioned and then theres a ton of artistic ones. The main ones are like between $10 and $50, the one is pretty expensive, I forget which one it is. But you could pay more to get better quality as well.

And for lenses, when your buying them, the reason why a 200mm lense is $500 and another 200mm is $5000 is because of the glass and the options it comes with. The main thing I would look at is how fast the lense is. Like what the lowest Fstop I can use with it. I dont want to have to use F8 at 200mm for a tight shot of a bird because itll just be a blur. Id want F1.5 to F2.5 or around there. Also theres image stabalizers in some lenses, and thats where a few extra 0's at the right of the price come in as well.

Have fun with the class. :0) And ask as many questions as you can *smirks*.

 

[Artemis]

LOL
How do you know so much? its like...wow, wish i knew all this.
Can someone also gimme a low down in terminology, specially for lenses.
Like what is good and what is avarage zoom n stuff, if you could please.
Appreaciate it mates, Arti

 

[GerryDavid]

LOL
How do you know so much? its like...wow, wish i knew all this.
Can someone also gimme a low down in terminology, specially for lenses.
Like what is good and what is avarage zoom n stuff, if you could please.
Appreaciate it mates, Arti

I dont really konw much, its all an act *smirks*. And you just pick stuff up from various places. From magazines, forums, class, etc. I read a thread some where about the Canon lenses, if its worth it or not and they showed some examples of the stabalizer on and off. 3 of each, the 3 with it on were sharp, the 3 with it off were all blurry and should hit the trash can right away.

Your camera may of came with a kit lense, and they tend to be between 28 and 35 mm to 75 to 110mm. I think my kit lense on my canon rebel 2000 is 28-90mm. To translate the magnification into english I think you devide the largest number by 35, or maybe its 28, im not sure. Assuming its 35, a 110mm lense is something like 3.14 magnfication *almost pi, odd, hehe, I say almost because the decimals after these 2 dont follow pi*. On a digital camera, say point and shoot digital, these numbers may be different since the sensor inside isnt the same size as 35mm film. My Fuji 3800 has 6X magnification, but the lense is 6-36mm. My digital 36mm is the equivalent to film 200mm, give or take on the numbers.

So if you want something like 6X magnification, a lense around 200mm is what youd want, which is half descent for wildlife.

And since this relates I figure Ill share this as well, youve probably heard of "macro" shots, which is usually on small things like flowers, bugs, coins, etc. This is done by setting the lense to its smallest number, say 28 to 35, then you adjust the focus to the start or end, im not really sure which. So now when you position the coin infront of the camera, you focus by moving the camera in and out. This gives you a 1:1 ratio on the negative, and the coin will be actual size when you print it out on a 4X6 or something like that.

And on a side note for this, there is a special flash for macro shots, instead of a top flash which would only light part of the object and give you a shadow in the shape of the lense of the camera, this flash is circular and goes on the lense itself near the front. It lights the area evenly on all sides. Think its called a ring flash.

And if you wanted to go "artistic" you could use a fish eye lense. It creates a circular picture on the negative and lets you photograph 180 degree's all in one shot. If you hold it and point it at something, you will get the object in the picture, along with your feet and everything around it. Im not sure what good this lense is, unless you got software on the computer that can convert this distorted circular picture into a 3d rendered picture that lets you turn around and see the entire place in quick time or something like that.

I hope this all sounds like english to you and not greek, and that it makes sense.

So short form, and to my understanding.....

on a lense, the numbers below 35mm is wide angle and numbers above 35mm is telephoto. The smaller the number, the more of the area around you you can get in the picture. The higher the number, the more it zooms in. If you wanted to go really high, you could hook the camera up to a telescope, but have fun lugging that around. :0)

And the larger the fstop *smaller the number, ie F2*, the faster it is and less blur you will get. The smaller the fstop *the larger the number, ie F22*, the slower the lense is and the more blurry the picture will be if its something that is moving, and you will probably need to have it on a tripod.