Ontopic The UF Photography Thread

Sarcasmo

A Taste Of Honey Fluff Boy
Mar 28, 2005
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Austin
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After spending a weekend in Dallas recently with a photographer friend and becoming completely fascinated by the process of composing shots, I've decided to take up photography as an escape from having extra money. I've dabbled with it over the years, but mostly on the budget side as I experimented with tricks to get the most out of low-end equipment. Macro shots, nature, urban architecture, and various other subjects that are easy for amateurs to experience without any real compositional or technical knowledge.

Any UFers avid photography hobbyists? What kind of equipment do you use? I've graduated myself to mid-level stuff and just picked up a D7100 with a few basic lens options. (18-105mm/3.5-5.6, 18-200mm/3.5-5.6, 50mm/1.8, 35mm/1.8) Full-frame DSLRs like the D700 or D800 are out of my price range at the moment, so I've got a couple hurdles right at the get-go. (The D7100 has a 1.5x crop, which means it automatically narrows your angle of view compared to a full-frame 35mm sensor, forcing you to give more consideration to your shots)

digital_sensor-sizes.png


My short term goal is take awesome landscape and monkey pics in Costa Rica. My long term goal is the mastery of prime lenses. The pics they take are amazing, and in skilled hands produce color and clarity that zoom lenses cannot match. And they force you to become a better photographer since you have to think and move to compose your photos. So any advice with regard to primes would be especially useful. Tips, tricks, criticism, etc.

I know Kiwi and April are photographers, and it's been a long time since I've seen any related discussions on UF. So like, let's get discussin'.

sigma-telephoto.jpg
 
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The best thing about primes, is that you can get lower f stops with out the price. They can also be sharper than a zoom lens, but that's negligible. What do you want to know or discuss? I've been out of the loop for awhile but have been steadily taking family pics for the last few months and am seriously considering getting back into it more.
 
I have a Pentax K1000 35mm film camera that I enjoy lugging around. I'm more of a dabbler though than anything.

When I was stationed at Andrews, I did snag a very nice lightning bolt over/across the flightline with it though
I will see if I can dig that one up.
 
love it. it does everything the 7d does but just has a smaller sensor.

ehhh, not sold on micro 4/3rds still. Ill stick to the APS-C mirrorless'es. I like my Nex, and lately the Pentax K‑01 for 250 measly bucks has been intriguing me, and it takes any of the 250 pentax lenses on the market with no adapter needed.
 
ehhh, not sold on micro 4/3rds still. Ill stick to the APS-C mirrorless'es. I like my Nex, and lately the Pentax K‑01 for 250 measly bucks has been intriguing me, and it takes any of the 250 pentax lenses on the market with no adapter needed.
I have been meaning to upgrade my camera for a while now, got a link?
 
After spending a weekend in Dallas recently with a photographer friend and becoming completely fascinated by the process of composing shots, I've decided to take up photography as an escape from having extra money. I've dabbled with it over the years, but mostly on the budget side as I experimented with tricks to get the most out of low-end equipment. Macro shots, nature, urban architecture, and various other subjects that are easy for amateurs to experience without any real compositional or technical knowledge.

Any UFers avid photography hobbyists? What kind of equipment do you use? I've graduated myself to mid-level stuff and just picked up a D7100 with a few basic lens options. (18-105mm/3.5-5.6, 18-200mm/3.5-5.6, 50mm/1.8, 35mm/1.8) Full-frame DSLRs like the D700 or D800 are out of my price range at the moment, so I've got a couple hurdles right at the get-go. (The D7100 has a 1.5x crop, which means it automatically narrows your angle of view compared to a full-frame 35mm sensor, forcing you to give more consideration to your shots)

digital_sensor-sizes.png


My short term goal is take awesome landscape and monkey pics in Costa Rica. My long term goal is the mastery of prime lenses. The pics they take are amazing, and in skilled hands produce color and clarity that zoom lenses cannot match. And they force you to become a better photographer since you have to think and move to compose your photos. So any advice with regard to primes would be especially useful. Tips, tricks, criticism, etc.

I know Kiwi and April are photographers, and it's been a long time since I've seen any related discussions on UF. So like, let's get discussin'.

sigma-telephoto.jpg

You sound like you've copy pasta'd from a photo blog... Liek Omg prime lenses are the gateway to photog jedi-ness. :fly:

One really good, humble lesson tho is that buying expensive equipment does not mean better photos. :hs:
 
ehhh, not sold on micro 4/3rds still. Ill stick to the APS-C mirrorless'es. I like my Nex, and lately the Pentax K‑01 for 250 measly bucks has been intriguing me, and it takes any of the 250 pentax lenses on the market with no adapter needed.

I'm not sold on the mirror less concept yet.
 
You sound like you've copy pasta'd from a photo blog... Liek Omg prime lenses are the gateway to photog jedi-ness. :fly:

One really good, humble lesson tho is that buying expensive equipment does not mean better photos. :hs:

You can't find a 1.4 aperture on a zoom, and thus you cannot take the same kind of photos on one as you can with a good prime lens.
 
ehhh, not sold on micro 4/3rds still. Ill stick to the APS-C mirrorless'es. I like my Nex, and lately the Pentax K‑01 for 250 measly bucks has been intriguing me, and it takes any of the 250 pentax lenses on the market with no adapter needed.

meh its good enough
 
You can't find a 1.4 aperture on a zoom, and thus you cannot take the same kind of photos on one as you can with a good prime lens.

My last comment wasn't about prime lenses.... Just camera gear overall. I'm not a zoom lens fan for the same reasons you've mentioned.

Anyways, I know this person who has a big snazzy camera and all of their pictures I've seen so far are junk. Blurry, not framed right, confusing, etc. I take 1000000x better pictures with a shoe box camera that costs pennies to make.

I'm just ranting because the whole camera fanboy crap is lame. So many people with expensive cameras that have no idea what they are doing.
 
I want a 24mm/1.4 lens for it's versatility, for example, but it's a $2,000 lens. I can get a slower, cheaper lens for $1,000 and accomplish pretty much the same thing for general purposes, but it's still a $1,000 lens.
 
I think no matter how much you spend on a camera or what equipment you buy, having a good eye for composition, setting, framing and lighting are much more important things. I can take a great picture with my point and shoot. I can take a crappy picture with excellent equipment. I don't have great equipment right now, but someday I might. I learned from lots of experience that no matter how good you are, most people only take a good picture like 1 in 10 times. Of course sometimes more, sometimes less depending on the day. I minored in photography in college. A lot has changed since then. I miss the days of darkroom innovation. I do love digital stuff too though, it's just such a different world.
 
I think no matter how much you spend on a camera or what equipment you buy, having a good eye for composition, setting, framing and lighting are much more important things. I can take a great picture with my point and shoot. I can take a crappy picture with excellent equipment. I don't have great equipment right now, but someday I might. I learned from lots of experience that no matter how good you are, most people only take a good picture like 1 in 10 times. Of course sometimes more, sometimes less depending on the day. I minored in photography in college. A lot has changed since then. I miss the days of darkroom innovation. I do love digital stuff too though, it's just such a different world.

This is why I take 10 pictures for every one I successfully save
 
I want a 24mm/1.4 lens for it's versatility, for example, but it's a $2,000 lens. I can get a slower, cheaper lens for $1,000 and accomplish pretty much the same thing for general purposes, but it's still a $1,000 lens.

I have the 50mm 1.4 and love it... I do wish it was a bit wider tho. I paid maybe 300 for it.

Zac bought me a fish eye lens and boy howdy has it been fun to play with.
 
My last comment wasn't about prime lenses.... Just camera gear overall. I'm not a zoom lens fan for the same reasons you've mentioned.

Anyways, I know this person who has a big snazzy camera and all of their pictures I've seen so far are junk. Blurry, not framed right, confusing, etc. I take 1000000x better pictures with a shoe box camera that costs pennies to make.

I'm just ranting because the whole camera fanboy crap is lame. So many people with expensive cameras that have no idea what they are doing.

I'm no expert, but I really want to be. It's the technical aspects of photography that are fascinating. Understanding Bayer arrays and demosaicing, the components of exposure and how they are related (and can be duplicated with other functions and settings)... Anyone can take a pic. I want to be able to compose incredible ones.