Photography Q's

Re: Photography Q's

David Galloway

>David, I am at the same place trying to learn some new techniques to improve my quality. At our recent GAW meeting, Howard Cutter gave us an excellent presentation on set up as well as editing with Photoshop. Since he is also in Atlanta, you might give him a call. He offered to meet with folks if they had an interest. His light box is very cool. Good luck.

Boy, this Christmas, finishing and photography have sucked up all my turning time. I was glad to get back to turning last evening, and looking forward to the rest of the week.

David Galloway

Re: Photography Q's

David Hammond, in Powder Springs GA

>Thanks David, I may indeed contact him, because I really feel like I might need some hands on help at some point here... but I want to see if I can atleast figure out the equipment I need.

Thanks!

David

Re: Photography Q's *LINK*

john Lucas

>Dave

I just lost the response I tried to give you. It was a beautifully written Novel with lots of information. Since I can't repeat that I'll just give you the link I was going to send and add a few notes.

I would not go with film if digital is your only need. You don't need more than 3 megs for digital use unless you think you might need slides for juried shows somewhere down the road. To get good slides from digital I would suggest 5 megs or more. The only reason you need 3 megs for digital is because the compression that occurs when you manipulate the images reduces there size and potentially the quality. 3 to 5 megs gives you alot of room to play without reducing the file size much.

The link I gave below will let you compare cameras. There are too many for me to memorize. I like my canon digital rebel. You need a camera with manual focus and it would be really nice to have manual exposure controls if you want to do a professional job. I don't know enough about the lower end models to answer your questions on that.

With a little playing you can get by with the camera you have but sometimes it takes a serious camera user to understand how to override all the automation to get better photos.

The software you get to manipulate the photos is just as important. I'm only familiar with 2. Photo shop and Photoshop elements. Photoshop elements lets you do an awful lot of stuff and it's reasonably priced.

I'll be glad to come down and help you out sometime. I'll be really busy in January but give me a call anyway. We my be able to set something up. Your just a hop skip and jump away. Ok maybe 3 hours but I would love to see your shop and maybe go visit Terry D and Bubbabob while I'm down that way.


http://www.steves-digicams.com/

Rebel Question?

Tony - Memphis

>I've been considering buying a digital slr. Narrowed it down to the Rebel and the Nikon D70. What are your thoughts/picks on the Rebel? Its a much better "value." Canon also has stabilized zoom lenses for a much much lower price than the Nikon. The Rebel gets pretty good reviews. I've been thrilled with my Canon Elph S300. Thanks.

Tony

Re: Rebel Question?

Randy Robertson

>Tony, I own a D-70 and have used an EOS Rebel. Both are very nice cameras and both companies make excellent lenses. The D-70 is a more capable camera but either will make you happy. If you already have an auto-focus SLR from one of these two go with what you got and use the lenses you have with you new one. If not My choice would be the Nikon. Hope this helps.

Re: Photography Q's (long)

DWFII

>I'm no real expert and this may have been said in a subsequent post but if you want a good digital camera ther are several things to look for. ..

First you want a good optical quality glass lens, a Zeiss (?) is a good one.

Second, you want at least 3.6...and better, a 5...megapixel or above, camera. Think about re-producing your photos...if you only want to share them over the internet like on these forums, be aware that a 3.6 mp camera will shoot a 28 x 21" photo at 72 dots per inch--which is about the display limit for the Web. That's equivalent to a 6 x 4.5" photo at 330 dpi--which is a reasonable minumum resolution for most print shop quality photos from a dedicated photo printer. Such as the canon i9900.

If you want to print larger photos, with a similarly dense resolution (or better) then a bigger megapixel camera is required. 8 megapixels may be overkill but anything larger certainly is, unless you want to quit woodturning and get into photography full time. Keep in mind that a photo taken at best quality--like a tiff--with an eight megapixel cameral is going to take up a tremendous amout of storage space...I'm guessing, but I'd say no less that 30 or 40 megabytes. That requires storage on your camera and storage on your hard drive.

In the end, in most cases you'll have to reduce the photo taken with an 8 megapixel camera, anyway, to a managable physical dimension unless you are planning on printing posters (requires a specialized printer) and a managable resolution size for print and storage purposes. And for displaying your photos her on the forum they load and dispaly just about right at 6"x 4" at 72dpi...and seldom more than 7k in size.

Third, don't get hung up on fancy add-ons. Digital zoom is nearly worthless and will reduce the sharpness of your photos. 3x optical zoom is pretty standard and a good choice. Also look for a camera that will function in manual mode...a camera limited to "point and shoot" functions will disappoint you if you are looking for good quality shots. But although you almsot can't get away from it stuff like red-eye reduction and special effects are better done in dedicated photo imaging software. And 30 second video clips are a gimmick in my opinion.

Finally, think about how the camera fits in your hand and where the shutter button is and the set-up/menu controls are and so forth. Some cameras are very awkward especially if you have large hands.

You can't go wrong with Sony (zeiss optics) canon, nikon, olympus, or minolta. And I am sure there are others but I'd stay away from Kodak, Epson and HP--no reason in particular just that I've never seen a superlative review of any of their models. (no offense to HP, Kodak or Epson owners).

Just another 2 cents to add to the kitty...

Re: Photography Q's

Jerry Nicholson

>One thing that hasn't been mentioned is the need to place your camera on a tripod rather. I am not sure that all of the lower cost cameras have a tripod socket. For your purposes, I could not recommend a film camera although the cost for a good film SLR is much lower than the cost for a digital SLR. The digital SLRs are big, the prime reason I chose a small Canon G6 over the Nikon D70 even though I have several old Nikon lenses that are marginally compatible with the D70. If your prime need is studio work and you want the best results, I suggest the Nikon D70 or the Canon Digital Rebel. Their lenses are excellent, they allow manual as well as automatic adjustments, and their imaging sensors are much larger than those for smaller cameras, leading to better image quality. I lean toward the D70 but that is a personal preference.

Jerry

Re: Photography Q's

John Weeks

>I second the recommendation for Photoshop Elements. It does 80 percent of what Photoshop does, and most of that other 20 percent involves things like professional work flow controls - not something we are ever going to need. That 20% also costs about $650 more retail.

Re: Photography Q's

john Lucas

>Lots of good responses. The tripod being the most important because using tungsten lights will require long shutter speeds. Use a cable release also. I found that even using a tripod if I release the shutter with my finger the images won't be as sharp.

We have the Nikons at work I use the D70 a lot and so I compare it to the Canon. I prefer the Nikon. I just think it feels more professional. As far as actual usage I don't think they are much different. Right now the CAnon is much cheaper.

Re: Photography Q's

Bob G.

>Well I shoot semi-pro (meaning I shoot for a living but my day job keeps me out of the poor house) however I shoot very little product work which is what you are basically looking to shoot.

First I would forget film. Went digital years ago and have never looked back

Next, are you invested presently with any one company�s lenses or camera. ie: do you already own Nikon or Cannon (or anybody else�s) stuff. If so you may want to look at how much you have. If it�s a lot it can be costly to jump to another brand.

FWIW I shoot Nikon and have for the past 30 years. For the type of stuff I shoot I am a dying breed as most of my peers have jumped ship to Cannon. Many switched because others they know or looked up did and they did to be like the Joneses, so to speak. Cannon has been ahead of Nikon with IS lenses for years but IS is not the magical cure all for bad shots. Personally I know I can get the same shot with good technique that someone with IS can get. Most seasoned photographers have been doing it for decades. I also know a number of excellent photographers who will quietly tell you that they regret switching and they wish they could afford to switch back.

Nikon on the other hand has been ahead of Cannon for years with FLASH (flash technology will be very important with what you want to do), metering and auto-focus. Also with some other specialty things that really would not apply to what you want to do.

For the shooting you want to do I would probably buy a D70 and a good lens. The D70 is an excellent very affordable camera. As for a lenses I think it would depend on my budget and the area I have to shoot products in. Do not skimp on the lens, it is more important than the camera. Zooms with long range ie: 80-400mm are not usually as optically good as short range zooms ie: 70-200mm. Prime lenses are always better in optical quality.

For lenses I might consider Nikon's 28-70 AFS f2.8 zoom, 85mm f1.4, 17-55 AFS-DX f2.8 zoom. All of these are excellent in quality and are regarded as pro grade lenses. Yes they are priced as such too. The zooms will give you a little more flexibility for your money. The 85mm f1.4 is probably the best lens in its class ever made.

Whatever system, equipment you buy make sure you are getting actual USA imported goods. Don�t rely on what the dealer tells you check the paperwork and send back anything that is not. For instance all US imported Nikon lenses now have US before the serial number. This is important because most all the manufacturers will refuse to service non-USA goods here in the U.S.. Even if you�re willing to pay they will probably refuse to do the work. Your only option ends up being an independent repair shop or for warranty work send it back to the Japanese offices of the company in question.

With any digital system you will get the most out of the camera shooting RAW images and processing them to jpg or whatever you need.

Good luck but don�t expect to make a living with it�

Bob

Re: Photography Q's

David Hammond, in Powder Springs GA

>Thank you much John, even if I didn't get your novel. I really appreciate the info, and I'm reading reviews and looking at stuff as I write.

I'll holler at you sometime, when I feel like I've got a little better setup! Hands on help would be great. Thanks.

David

Re: Photography Q's (long)

David Hammond, in Powder Springs GA

>Thanks DWFII, the long post was very helpful. I need all the help I can get, and so your help is appreciated! I'll be shopping...

Thanks

David

Re: Photography Q's

David Hammond, in Powder Springs GA

>Thanks, Jerry.

David

Re: Photography Q's

David Hammond, in Powder Springs GA

>Thanks Bob, your post was really helpful; thanks for taking the time to write that. I'll be shopping and looking into all this, and I'll be back with questions.

Thanks.

David

Thanks

Tony - Memphis

>I don't have any lenses (well, actually a couple of Minoltas - manual focus). I was leaning towards the Rebel because of the cost and Canon has the IS lenses that are reasonable. But, it seems like everything I read says the Nikon is better. But, the Nikon is almost $400 more than the Canon. In evaluating my useage though, I really don't need a zoom that often, so maybe I should give that less priority. And I can get a Nikon regualr zoom for a fairly reasonable price. Hmmmmmmm....

Tony