Very New

[Sophie P]

Hi I'm really new to photography not sure what camera to get...Even though I have read about 20 books in the past 2 days. I know I keep coming across lens and I know I love black and white pictures and pictures of people and things not into super zooms or whatever sorry for bad terminology BTW. I love the work of Matthew Rolston if that gives an idea. I'm an artist familiar with Photoshop and so on but photo taking and camera knowledge, I will categorize myself as in the dummies section at this moment but a quick learner. if anyone can throw me a few links or suggestions it would be great TY .....

 

[Jeff15]

Hello Sophie and welcome, lots of information on youtube and google, good luck with your photography......

 

[Geenphoto]

Well, looking Rolston’s work, just about any camera will do what you want. I would look for something that allowed you to do off camera lighting so maybe an SLR like the Nikon D850 or Mirrorless Z7.

For portrait work you might want to stay in the normal lens range. This depends on the form factor of the camera but for an FX form factor, 50mm is considered the standard though a 65mm might play well. You could go as wide as 35mm without too much problem. I probably not go more telephoto than 85mm or 105mm.

Those are just some of my suggestions on where to start.


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[jcdeboever]

Fujifilm XT3 or XT4. XF56 f/1.2R and the XF90 F2 LM WR.

Strobes, grids, stands, and trigger

 

[Sophie P]

Hello Sophie and welcome, lots of information on youtube and google, good luck with your photography......

Thank You so much I am doing that too

 

[Sophie P]

Well, looking Rolston’s work, just about any camera will do what you want. I would look for something that allowed you to do off camera lighting so maybe an SLR like the Nikon D850 or Mirrorless Z7.

For portrait work you might want to stay in the normal lens range. This depends on the form factor of the camera but for an FX form factor, 50mm is considered the standard though a 65mm might play well. You could go as wide as 35mm without too much problem. I probably not go more telephoto than 85mm or 105mm.

Those are just some of my suggestions on where to start.


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Wow that was was so helpful..Thank You I have a lead now on a camera I need Thank You again

 

[Designer]

Hi I'm really new to photography not sure what camera to get...

Hi, and welcome to the forums.

What is your proposed budget, and what do you like to shoot? IOW: if portraiture, I would propose one thing, for travel, something completely different.

Also, you are buying a system, which includes camera with at least one lens, and maybe lights, tripod, remote triggers, light modifiers, etc. etc.

You're going to get widely divergent opinions, so I recommend that you sort of "average them" into something that makes sense.

 

[Derrel]

Budget is a biggie...the D850 is fairly expensive...a used D800 would be 95% as good , and would save you $2,500.

A used D5300 would save you $3,000-- enough to buy a (used) studio's worth of lights and stands and modifiers.

 

[Original katomi]

How welcome

 

[Soocom1]

Jola and welcome..

As Derrel says money is everything.

Like many others, its best to start small and move upward as time, experience and money allows.

Don't try to emulate others, find your own style first.
The reading is good.

Equipment wise, I personally would start with a mirrorless system because as many have been saying, SLRs are probably going to get scarce soon.

A Fuji as previously mentioned or a Sony system would be fine.
Nikon for an SLR system but again go used and keep the budget low to start.

 

[Sharpshooterr]

Hi I'm really new to photography not sure what camera to get...Even though I have read about 20 books in the past 2 days. I know I keep coming across lens and I know I love black and white pictures and pictures of people and things not into super zooms or whatever sorry for bad terminology BTW. I love the work of Matthew Rolston if that gives an idea. I'm an artist familiar with Photoshop and so on but photo taking and camera knowledge, I will categorize myself as in the dummies section at this moment but a quick learner. if anyone can throw me a few links or suggestions it would be great TY .....

Sophie, just get a Canon...., any Canon!!! Sorry everyone if that's bad terminology!!! LoL
SS

 

[The_Traveler]

You probably realize that Matthew Rolston's work is very sophisticated in concept and technique. As you grow in photography your interests may diverge from these original interests.
I suggest you start with the least camera that will allow you to change lenses and synchronize to external flash. That plus a couple of basic lenses (50 and 105 mm) and a tripod will allow you to progress until you know more about where you are going.

 

[Derrel]

Rolston's work is almost all studio strobe and celebrity/model/set/styling...i would be very tempted to spend 75-85% of my budget on used professional-grade studio flash equipment, stands, and light modifiers, backgrounds, and 15-25% on cameras and lenses.

I would suggest for greatest economy that you buy _ used_ studio equipment. This is one area where used prices are way lower than new prices.

Old Hollywood was one of Rolston's inspirations. Brush up on your B&W processing and on retouching fundamentals and on lighting styles.

 

[Derrel]

Nikon D800 and 50mm Af lens, 70-200 f4 lens, 35mm f2 AF-d lens would be plenty good. The D800 allows extremely good cropping. The cheapie 28-80 afd ($45 used) does astoundingly well when used with studio flash at f/7.1 or f/8 on the D800. You could buy a used D800 and s 28-80 for $800, and you would have a setup that would allow you to do a tremendous number of studio type photos for well under $1,000.

 

[SquarePeg]

The best advice I have for you is to buy used from a reputable online store like Adorama, B and H, Cameta etc. some even offer 1 year warranties on used camera bodies. It’s an expensive hobby and you can really stretch your budget if you’re open to buying used