camera & photography crew...

[Donziikid]

Many photography dedicated stores will still have them in stock; even if they are old, abused and refurbished. If you like it but don't want to buy it there (typically wayyy overpriced anyhow), get it online. Check Google to see if you have any stores in your immediate area.

[mrpink]

Originally Posted by STANG KILLA SS

great advice pink! unfortunatly all the models i want(and can afford) have long since been discontinued.

love that knife edge shot!

check the buy/sell section here, people are always upgrading and shedding their starter gear for a decent price

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/

Another knife edge pan shot fer ya.....






p!nK

[STANG KILLA SS]

kick ass! i fly RC airplanes and always watch the redbull races. killer shots. i drool every time they play the mega slow mo on there, you can see every hit of the cylinder in the smoke, thats a damn expensive camcorder to have that kind of frame rate

thanks for the forum tip!

[slimeball]

Photographers are like any other true hobbyist that loves what he/she does. They are always anxious to share some of their knowledge with anybody that wants to learn. A lot of reading, and Q&A will yield you plenty of good results.

Those red bull pics are awesome. I missed the races last time in San Diego. Panning is super hard to get clean shots, focusing can be tricky especially at those speeds...those pics are beautiful. Good Job pink!

[mrpink]

craigslist is always good for used DSLR's. Always get a shutter count, ask for serial numbers, grey market (foreign sales, not warrantied by manufacturer). If you know someone local that has a clue about cameras, take them with you for the purchase.

here is a link to all of my red bull air race pics....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4640087...7624226800270/


p!nK

[NorCal 2500HD]

I havnt really read through the post, but whats your budget?

My buddy just a got photography gig and they are supplying him with a bunch of Nikon glass. He is going to be selling all of his gear.

He has a Canon40D with about 6k actuation's......was his back up body. Sensor was just cleaned, not a scratch on it. Everything that came in the box is still in it, untouched.

Also selling a 24-70 F2.8L and a 70-200F2.8L (Non-IS)

Receipts for everything. Everything was just sent to canon for cleaning. 70-200 does have 1 blem on the botton of the tri pod mount. other then that its all in excellent condition......

His asking price is $2400 for everything.......has some cf cards, 2 extra batteries, grip, neoprene lens covers, decent tri pod and a sensor cleaning kit he will throw in as well......

[STANG KILLA SS]

lol norcal. im trying to speed 500ish ready to shoot. looks like the package i was looking at is going to go fore more that id hoped. ive found some good deals on craigslist though, with less compitition ;)

hey guys would this lense work?
http://austin.craigslist.org/pho/1821218767.html
i know the 200mm is what im looking for, but is the "1:4-5.6" what i need for the outdoor blurry background action shots i want? and why does it say macro? is it for close ups only?

DISCLAIMER: i know this lens is "trash" to yall and you wouldnt be caught dead with it, but im not after increased quality over my point and shoot, just a better ability to catch the action (camera function) with its difference focusing system.

[STANG KILLA SS]

no one knows if those numbers are what i need or if its a macro only lens? seems weird for a zoom lens to be macro doesnt it?

[Sydwaiz]

Originally Posted by STANG KILLA SS

seems weird for a zoom lens to be macro doesnt it?

Nope!

[Offroader5]

Originally Posted by STANG KILLA SS

no one knows if those numbers are what i need or if its a macro only lens? seems weird for a zoom lens to be macro doesnt it?

That lens would work fine for what you're going to use it for. IMO though for being on the moving boat...you may want to spend a bit more and get a lens with some type of image stabilization.

I have a 70-300mm that is also a macro. Not real sure I'd call it a true macro, but it does do some good closeups. Both a problem/plus with mine is that you have to stand like 4 feet away from what you want a pic of since that is the focal length when the lens is being used in macro...but can be good when you don't want to scare away a bug or something having to be right on top of it to get the shot.

If that lens is like mine...once it's adjusted out to the max (in this case 200mm), then there's a switch on the side of the lens barrel that you slide and the end interior portion of the barrel comes out even further to make a real long lens....getting the lenses in position for the correct focal length. Mine loses the ability to auto focus though when in macro....which really isn't a big deal.

Here are a couple shots using my 70-300mm on "macro":

[STANG KILLA SS]

thanks! spent some time at B&H and i think ive landed on this lens. looked at all the 200mm under 250 and really like the specs and reviews of this one the best out of all the brands. its also got stabilizer
Sigma 50-200mm f/4-5.6 DC OS HSM High Performance Telephoto Zoom For Canon Cameras
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=622383&is=USA

[slimeball]

For the kind of pictures I take, honestly I never really use image stabilization. If your Shutter speed is high enough it isn't necessarily needed. A basic rule of thumb is your shutter speed should be at least equal to your focal length...so if your zoomed all the way out to 200mm, than your SS should be 1/200 or higher. Now if your shooting action your going to at the very least need 1/500 if not higher. Now image stabilization is only going to compensate for hand shake and its not going to stop the action.


That lens you picked out will def work. Sigmas HSM focusing is pretty good but there is a lot of range in a cheap price, that's not necessarily a good thing. The reviews seem pretty favorable so it might be worth trying.

Heres what I would recommend. Look for this lenses in your local craigslist.

first would be a Canon 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._5_5_6_IS.html

This is a kit lens that people generally get with 50d and 7d..usually these go on CL for around 250-300. Its a great all purpose lens. Will perform way better than the sigma (remember you can always crop pictures)

next is the 50mm 1.8 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...0mm_f_1_8.html

this is a great budget lens, often referred to as the "nifty fifty" great for portraits and has a huge aperture. Just read the reviews! It usually goes for 60-80 bux on CL.

I know the next one is a lil out of the price range you stated, but this lens is the cheapest of the L series, and one of the funnest lenses I have ever owned. Its the 70-200 F4L http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._f_4L_USM.html

This lens is great, perfect range, constant F4L throughout the whole focal length, lightning fast focusing and cream of the crop Canon L quality. This lens is perfect for action photography. They pop up on CL all the time for around 500 bucks used (the image stabilized version is a tad more so don't get them confused)..I bought mine used for 500 bucks, used it for 2 years and sold it on CL for 500 bucks! L quality lenses hold their value!

[STANG KILLA SS]

slimeball i greatly appreciate the info and time! i know those lenses would be WAY better. maybe someday. right now ive got a tight budget. ill definatly book mark those for upgrades!


well im on my way! just won a body on ebay! the rebel Xti/400D i wanted.
$275! 7500 shutter count and "well" taken care of.
(silver edition)





plan to order from B&H
-$159 Sigma 50-200mm f/4-5.6 DC OS HSM High Performance Telephoto Zoom For Canon Cameras
-$24 SanDisk 4GB 30mb/sec compact flash card
-$12 GGI CF card reader

thats $471 ready to shoot!

Ebay
- $30 generic battery grip
-$15 or just a spare battery

[Offroader5]

You should be more than happy with that lens as a starter. But...photography equipment is like crawlers...you will end up addicted and buying more. Those future purchases can be the better lenses and possibly a body upgrade. I spent a good amount of time shooting with my 30D with an old 35-85mm meant for a non-digital SLR and made due with that as my all around lens. I finally bought a decent 11-16mm wide angle recently to go with my 70-300. Right now I'm researching an all in one solution lens to replace the 70-300, something that picks up right around the 20mm bottom end.

[STANG KILLA SS]

i do have a question, since i want to (or have been told by yall) to shoot at f/2.8 to get the blurry background, but the lens is only rated at f/4 (well closer to f/5 since ill be zoomed in near the 200mm)

will i not be able to get the blurry background?

[slimeball]

Congrats on the purchase. Your off to a great start!

You will be able to get background blur somewhat but its all going to be about distance to and from subject and distance behind..so try to be a lil farther away from them with the background far away as well...for instance, say your kid is running across the grass and you wanna take some pics, instead of standing up and taking pics, which would result in most of the background being the grass he/she is running on, try taking a knee and changing the angle to where most of the back ground of the pic is the landscape and stuff off in the distance.

Just experiment! You would be surprised at what, even the most basic camera is capable of.

[mrpink]

Yeah, the lower the "f number" the shorter depth of focus. On a lake, the background will be generally pretty far away so you should not have too much issue when shooting at f/5.6.

I would reccomend a good CPL (circular polarizing filter) here is a good deal, I have bought from this place before- takes a few weeks to get your gear but for 1/3 of the price the wait is worth it...

http://maxsaver.net/NEW-HOYA-55mm-HD...al-Filter.aspx

That is the size you need for your lens.






p!nK

[Offroader5]

Originally Posted by mrpink

...I would reccomend a good CPL (circular polarizing filter) here is a good deal, I have bought from this place before- takes a few weeks to get your gear but for 1/3 of the price the wait is worth it...

http://maxsaver.net/NEW-HOYA-55mm-HD...al-Filter.aspx

That is the size you need for your lens.

p!nK

Holy cow...wish I would have seen those. I just paid $175 for a 77mm B&W.

[STANG KILLA SS]

WOOT! got everything in! body came in monday, and the lens showed up today!





my old man was big into 35mm back in the '70s and had this old case still. we cut some new foam for it and works great.


been foolin around trying to learn this thing today. there seems to be alot of scenarios my point and shoot would take a pic of that this thing wont. mostly low light semi close up. anyway some random shots from the first day. cant wait to try this thing at the lake! all shots were taken at medium/5 mega pixel.






















ive started setting up the AV mode for wakeboarding. i cant seem to get the continous shooting to work. ive got it set to AI servo and continous shot, but it doesnt. it does work in sports mode though. so if i cant get it to work ill end up just using that :(

[mrpink]

my best advice.... RTFM, then.... RTFM again. Keep the manual with you in your gear bag. I have owned my D90 for over a year, had many paying gigs and I still find myself referring to the manual for random shit.





p!nK