Shutterstock Photographer Forum :: View topic

kenny123 · Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 5:41 pm

Quite simply, master whatever equipment you have-all arguments whether nikon v canon,PC v mac,p&s v dslr,are a total waste of time,just make the most of what you have,realise the limitations of your equipment,and master basic photography. Regards, Ken

ryanpatrick · Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 27

There's an old Irish expression: You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

Get yourself a Nikon D40 with a 50mm f/1.8 lens or the best medium zoom you can afford.

(Oh oh . . . better check to see if that 50mm will function on the D40. Sorry.)

Ryan

kenny123 · Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 12:51 pm

cptbiscuit · Joined: 27 Jan 2008 Posts: 16

Hello everyone!
This is my first post. I've been shooting for over 15 years, and have made a pretty good second income from shooting sports in that time. I've been reading about the whole microstock agency industry, and thought I'd give it a shot.
I started out shooting back in the film era with an old Pentax K1000, slowly adding a kmart-brand zoom lens here and a 2x converter there. I mostly shot college and pro sports from the stands, with lousy results. I submitted lots of photos to different outlets, and received lots of rejection letters. One Sunday, I was lucky enough to speak to a pro who was shooting at a college baseball game. He took one look at my gear and said," Spending $50 for a cheap lens and another $75 for another cheap lens may seem smart now, but after a while you've got $1000 worth of crappy gear!" He advised me to get a good Nikon or Canon SLR body and a good quality lens or two, even if I had to take out a small loan. I ended up buying a Nikon n6006, 70-210 zoom and 400mm f5.6 Sigma. I sold my first photo a month later to a national magazine, and have since been published literally thousands of times. There is a lot to be said for skill, but you really need the right tools to get consistently great results. If you're really serious about shooting, get a DSLR...it may cost more now, but you'll save money in the long run.
Good luck to you all!

kenny123 · Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 9:09 pm

eppicphotos · Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 1:39 am

I will argue though that cameras, especially PS cameras and even "advanced" PS cameras can have their limitations no matter how good you are.
For example my wife has a Fujifilm 9MP S9100. I've tried my best to get anything stock-worthy out of this
(over priced) 600.00 camera, but the artifacting is what kills the photos.
Doesn't matter if I shoot ISO 80, shoot RAW, play with the sharpness settings, use a tripod, whatever, I still get unacceptable artifacting that by the time I get rid of it degrades the photo to an unacceptable level.
My old Olympus Stylus 300 3.2 MP took better quality photos than the S9100.

kenny123 · Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 3:08 am

eppicphotos · Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 12:33 pm

Fringing isn't the issue, and noise isn't the issue either. At ISO 80 there is very little in the way of noise. Even ISO 200 isn't bad, but the artifacting is terrible.
I think the issue with this particular camera is how the camera processes the image. Anyway I'm gonna go with an older Canon A series instead as they tend to have better image quality.

susumis · Joined: 19 May 2007 Posts: 84

Fuji Fine Pix S5700 ? ? ?

Any experience with Fuji Fine Pix S5700 ?

Can I make photos good enough for shutterstock?