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imagesetc · Joined: 15 Sep 2011 Posts: 297 Location: South Europe

Until you have them all in your bag,...stay around 30mm (middle) on your kit lens. They are really soft when shooting on ends of zoom (eg. 18mm or 55mm)55mm is totally useless focal length. Shoot in A mode F8. You could place a camera on some solid surface like tray when shooting from furniture, because cushions are moving (camera slowly sinks),...until you buy a tripod. And when buying one,...head is VERY important (beside tripod sturdiness)
Beware of shallow depth of field! Common focusing problem.
1. Step back
2. Zoom out
3. Close aperture (raise f number(f 8 is sharpest))

Even tack sharp, this shot would be rejected for lighting and low commercial value.

I think you can make it

Tom

rinder99 · Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 12:08 am

Also... you said your lens is 3.5. It is at 18mm the more you zoom in the slower it gets. It says 3.5/5.6. That means 3.5 at 18mm and 5.6 at 55mm thats really slow.

my 24-70 and 70-200 is 2.8 throughout the range. HUGE difference, like 4 stops of light.

semmickphoto · Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 12:29 am

The difference is also 2000 dollars

jeffbanke · Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 12:52 am

Mike Hammond · Joined: 05 Jun 2012 Posts: 35

luizeduardo · Joined: 12 Sep 2010 Posts: 72

jeffbanke · Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 10:37 am

I know that some of us in the fast glass grouping sound like we are preaching sometimes, what the rest of you need to understand is that we have been shooting with SLR's and medium format cameras since the 1960's. We have made every mistake there is in the book during that time. We have bought cheap lenses and suffered the consequences for it.
Our only motivation in telling you all to get the best glass (note I did not say that you can afford), is that you will save money in the long run, you will be able to get images that others cannot, and therefor get more work, and you will look more profesional in the process.

Now lets address the financial side of things, you have options.
Pay for it outright (seems most are reluctant to spend money on expensive gear, but are willing to purchase cars to go to work when a bicycle, motorcycle, scooter or bus would do).

Alternatively you can but gear on the never-never (over time)

Another alternative is to rent the better glass (which is something I recommend to everyone to try the lenses out anyway)

libyphoto · Joined: 08 Jun 2009 Posts: 796 Location: Oz

Good glass is not a gamble. I bought the Canon 50mm 1.4 over the 1.8 and was not impressed with it for the extra money spent. Sold it for $50 more than I payed for it. The point is, you can always get most, if not all, of your money back out of it.

Start with the 50mm 1.8 as suggested earlier. It what, 99 bucks?

semmickphoto · Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 11:49 am

imagesetc · Joined: 15 Sep 2011 Posts: 297 Location: South Europe

Hi,
Every piece of equipment (vehicle, on-set items, post-production equipment,...) has its "working price". It should be calculated taking these inputs:
1. Purchase price
2. Service price
3. and usage wearing (retail price later)

Working price is presented in hours. In TV station calculations, we must calculate price per second (both for production and emission(premiere and repetition))

RULE: Shoot more - cost you less

FINAL THOUGHT: Most expensive piece of your equipment is the one which sits on a shelf.

Calculate for 20 years period. Understand importance of warranty period.
You need to be very well informed and educated about photography and equipment as well, before buying anything. Check for local service shops and shipping of spare parts.
Maintain your equipment and always follow given instructions and safety precautions by manufacturer. It`s the rule.
Some of us have a great opportunity to rent something if it is necessarily. Always write down scenario. If possible make a shot list with schedules and things needed, you will be surprised how much it helps on set. Expand your scenarios and you will be able to make monthly shot list. This simple techniques can drastically improve your results and help you understand price.

Good luck to all,

Tom

Mike Hammond · Joined: 05 Jun 2012 Posts: 35

Brought my tripod along on this week's business trip.

When I woke up this morning, the little guy was checking himself out in the mirror - flexing his muscles and stuff. I think he may be feeling a little inadequate.

What do you think? (Looking for critiques of the tripod - not of the photograph.)

For those who care - this was hand-held with my 50mm f/1.8 manual focused on the brand name on the leg. The exposure was 1/160th sec. at f/2.0 with ISO set at 1600. It's not the best photo ever taken.

hhltdave5 · Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 8:25 am

It looks like one of the basic tripods that you would get in a camera store with a pan head (meant for video cameras). From what I can tell it looks like it is made from aluminum and those generally are not very stable.

When getting a tripod you need to think of it as more than something to just hold the camera. It needs to be able to keep the camera steady in wind, vibrations, on unstable surfaces such as sand and so on.

The problem with the pan head that this looks like it has is that it does not give you good range of motion. It basically goes side to side or up and down. That is why most of us use what is called a ball head. These allow you to move the camera in all kinds of directions.

This is the ball head that I use:

http://www.adorama.com/BG498.html

This is the tripod I use

http://www.adorama.com/BG055XPROB.html

ruxpriencdiam · Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 8:50 am

Looks like one of the cheaper ones from wall mart,it has a handle on it to carry it and the cheap plastic crank to tighten the center column.

Not the greatest.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000EHW6PG/ref=asc_df_B000EHW6PG2068342?smid=A14HQ79M65J2WQ&tag=shopzilla_mp_1339-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395129&creativeASIN=B000EHW6PG

And when it breaks and it will you will see why you should have bought a better one.

Because now you have wasted $80 and will need another one preferably a better one that is going to run near $200.

Mike Hammond · Joined: 05 Jun 2012 Posts: 35

semmickphoto · Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 9:30 am