Dummies guide to SLR digital Cameras
Posted on Oct 9, 2007 by
Paul WhiteSo back in March of 2007 I finally got a real digital camera. I was
coming from the point and shoot world, so I had no reference going to
an SLR digital camera. There are many different
brands models,
ext... One would typically only look at how many megapixels the
sensor handled, but I soon learned there was much more to them then
this. The first thing is every SLR camera body is seperate from the
lense. That is you can switch the
lenses to get better zoom, more
light, or a wider angle of view.
The first thing a man with
an ego would want to know is what is the best camera? Even though I
didn't pick this, the industry leader is cannon. More professional
Photographers use cannon than any other brand. If you watch football
games and see these guys with monster
lenses on the sidelines ( often
getting run over ), they all use cannon SLR digital
cameras. SLR
digtal
cameras start around $700 and work their way up. Cannon's
Flagship is a 23 Megapixel Mark III. If you have an ego that needs to
be fullfilled and the general bragging rights, this would be the camera
for you. Just be prepared to spend over $8k for the camera body.
I
am sure you are all wondering what camera did I buy. I bought the Sony
Alpha 100. This would the first SLR camera sony every released. The
truth is Sony bought out Minolta / Maxium, and simply rebadged all
their hardware. This is nice because all the minolta
lenses will also
fit the sony
cameras.
The Endless pursuit of Perfection
Cameras are just like
Cars. You can get a stock one, and then deck it out. With
cars you start off with your factory options, then do simple stuff like add a better muffler, headers, Air Intake ext...
Cameras are the same way but this is with the
lenses. The stock lense you get will be pretty good for most shots. But depending on what you are shooting there is always a lense to upgrade to. I have seen some photographers that use an arsenal of over 20
lenses. Each one has its own strengths. Just remember as you upgrade from your 50mm 1.7 to a 50mm 1.4 the lense can only do so much. If you have spent thousands on
lenses and are still not getting the shots you want, either you dont' know what you are doing or your camera body is not sophisticated enough. You might need to upgrade to a newer ( more expensive ) camera body. If your upgrade forces you to switch
brands, then sell your old stuff on ebay. Just be sure when you sell your stuff you sell everything seperately. There are lots of guys who want your f1.4
lenses but not your camera body. Then be sure to offer combined shipping, in case someone wants to buy multiple
lenses.
Lenses for Dummies
Lenses can be measured by many Factors.
Aperature, Angle of View, Focal Length, Focus Speed
First thing you should know is
lenses have a specific mount they were
designed for. IE a lense made for a sony alpha will not work on a
cannon EOS. Usually the mounts are pretty compatible throughout a
brand. If you bought a Sony Alpha 100 then you can use
lenses that
work on both the sony and Minolta's.
Aperature
Determines
your field of focus, and how much light is coming into the camera.
These values range from f1.0 and up. The Higher the number the less
light your lense is letting in. The lowest aperature
lenses are able
to capture shots with very little light, and with a very fast shutter
speed. As your Aperature gets higher, you have to leave your shutter
open for longer. If you don't have a tripod, or steady hand this will
almost always result in motion blurr. Also the lower the aperature the
more expensive the lense gets.
Focal Length
This is
how long the lense is. The longer the focal length the closer in you
can get to your subject matter. Also the longer the lense the narrower
your field of view is. Since the specs on
lenses are usually given
based on a 35mm frame ( from the film days ). a 50mm lense would make
subjects appear close to what they appear by a nake eye. Anything
shorter than 50mm would make objects look zoomed out. Anything longer
would make them look zoomed in.
Angle of View
This is is most important when shooting tight spaces. If you want to
capture an entire room from the corner you will need a lense that has
an angle of view greater than 90 degrees. This usually means going up
to a super wide angle lense or a fisheye. Fisheye
lenses or converters
give you a 180 degree view with a distorted view.
Focus speed.
This is the speed at which the lense can get in focus when shooting in
autofocus mode. Have a lense that can focus fast is important if you
are shooting sports or any event in which your opportunity to capture
the action is very limited. Cheaper
lenses usually are much slower on
the focus.
What can I expect?
First of all you will be
amazed how good your pictures look in auto mode. I can tell you from
my own experience that the color and contrast of the pictures I take
with my camera many times looks better than real life. It would be
nice to say it was the talented photographer, but it was really just
the hardware doing all the work for me.
Is Film dead?
No
of course not. But film is getting more expensive in camparison. I
can go out and take over 1000 photos with my camera, and it doesn't
cost me a thing. While film I would have to buy 40 rolls, plus pay for
developing.
What about batteries don't digital cameras eat batteries?
Not
at all. I can get a good 500 shots with
flash. Then it only takes
about 8 hours to recharge my battery. Batteries are also cheap on
ebay. I have found replacement batteries by third parties for about $10
/ each. I currenly have 3 batteries.
How expensive are lenses?
Depends
on what kind of lense you want. A cheap lense would be around $100. a
decent one would be around $600 ( retail ). If you want Carl Zeis to
custom design a lense so you can shoot monkeys in africa from a mile
away, be prepared to spend over $100k. And Yes there are die hard
photographers that have done this.
What lenses should I buy to get started?
First lense should be an 18-something( 65, 120, 200, 300) that will do for most shots.
Then
get a fisheye adapter that can fit onto the end of this lense. This
will allow you to shoot interiors of rooms, allowing you to capture
everything. Next if you want to shot at night and truely capture the
night ( meaning no
flash ). You need a fast lense ( low aperature ).
Get a lense with a f1.4 aperature if you can find one. These will be a
good foundation for shooting most things.
Where can I find lenses for cheap?
Easy, check ebay. I have bought all my
lenses on there. There are
many photographers that decide to switch
brands ( often upgrading to
cannon hardware ), and the auction off all their stuff. I have bought
$500
lenses for $150 on ebay. Plus if you buy a lense and decide that
you want something better, you can always put it back on ebay and get
most of your money back.
Will a lense made for a film camera work on a digital camera?
Usually as long as the lense will fit the mount it will work. Keep in
mind that most
lenses are made for a 35mm frame. Digital
cameras only
have a 28mm sensor size ( on average ). Some
cameras have sensors that
are a full 35mm giving the results as you get from a film camera. So
when reading the specs on a lense if it says it has a 114 degree angle
of view, they are giving specs for 35mm. On digital you would have
closer to a 90 angle of view.
I have a cell phone with a camera isn't that good enough?
No, Even though I have a sony k800i 3.2 MP cybershot cell phone it doesn't come close to my SLR in quality or performance.
Should I shoot in RAW?
Yes, If you want your pictures to be perfect, RAW is the only way to go. JPEG is fine too, but if you are shooing in bad lighting, RAW will give you more options later to clean up your photos. The will require you to manually adjust your pictures from within a program like Photoshop CS3. The nice thing is if your pictures were over exposed, under exposed, or the lighting was off. you can easily adjust these once in a RAW picture editor. JPEG can store alot more photos on your memory card, but RAW will give you perfection.
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