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revenuee

macrumors 68020
Sep 13, 2003
2,251
3
Chip NoVaMac said:
Kit lenses can be very good, as long as you have no need for speed of less DOF. Don't sell some of them short (the Nikon 18-70AFS and Canon 17-85IS EF-S lenses are very good according to many pro and non-pro users).

The problem with 2.8 zooms is their cost, size, and weight. It is a matter of trade offs. Unfortunately one size does not fit all sues at this point.

I agree that primes are great option. It also forces the photographer to look at their subject in different ways.

i've used the nikon 18-70 it's the lens the comes with D70 -- i had it for a few days, it's not BAD, but when it came down to it i opted to just get the D70 without that lens and get a f2.8 instead --
 

feakbeak

macrumors 6502a
Oct 16, 2003
925
1
Michigan
Chip NoVaMac said:
Many thanks there. To go off a bit, I felt that this was something that I wanted to share with just a few close friends here directly. Though I haven't been too shy at mentioning some of the changes as side notes to other threads. As zero hour nears I might take your suggestion. :)

Back on topic: Don't let others sway you in going higher than you want. The C-8080 that I just got is an awesome camera. Some quirks, but for most they are not an issue - unless you are the type to want to argue that one car that goes 6.0 in 0 is better than one that goes 7.0 in 60. Add to that many camera shops are now selling used digital cameras.
I would have to second this statement. I was looking for a digital camera a few months back and was very tempted to go for the Powershot G6 but settled on the Powershot A95 as I'm a complete noob to photography I figure it'll suit my needs for now and allow to me learn what I'm doing with the manual controls. Once I am more comfortable with photography I'll probably upgrade, but the A95 should take care of my needs for a while. With my new Mac mini it makes it a lot easier organizing and touching up my photos.

Unfortunately, I'm in a similar boat with Chip - recently broke up with my girlfriend of four years and had to have her move out. My decision, but that never makes it any easier. She stayed with me for about a month after we broke up, that time was the hardest... zero hour sucks! So, I feel for you, Chip, hang in there. Plus now one of my favorite photo subjects is now gone. I did get some good photos from around my town when the weather was nice last week (80 F, sunny), but now today is it snowing. What an awful day. :(
 

Chip NoVaMac

macrumors G3
Dec 25, 2003
8,888
31
Northern Virginia
Going OT here a bit

feakbeak said:
Unfortunately, I'm in a similar boat with Chip - recently broke up with my girlfriend of four years and had to have her move out. My decision, but that never makes it any easier. She stayed with me for about a month after we broke up, that time was the hardest... zero hour sucks! So, I feel for you, Chip, hang in there. Plus now one of my favorite photo subjects is now gone. I did get some good photos from around my town when the weather was nice last week (80 F, sunny), but now today is it snowing. What an awful day. :(

My sympathies to you. We had been together 13 years. Let it pass to say the path they went down in the past year could only hurt me in so many ways, if we were to have stayed together.

Like any divorce, the hardest part is the children. In our case Chewy will be the looser in all this. Chewey has a different relationship is with "mommy" and "daddy". And in many ways he favors his "daddy", at least IMO. :) It is true what they say, that the innocent ones are the ones that suffer. :(

My other half never was one for the camera. But Chewey on the other hand, always enjoyed mugging for. And it is a shame that it was only in the last few months that I found the time to try and capture his youthful 3 year old stage. I am also concerned that Chewey never took to warmer weather. And now he is headed to Las Vegas and all that heat. I worry about him, even though he has not left yet. Maybe just a few days if my other half is to believed. I know that they love Chewey as much as I do. But so much is going on in their life, I have to wonder for Chewey's future.

Chewey has so many friends at daycare, and at the park. When he is absent for for time, everybody asks about him. They will miss him, as I am sure will too.

I haven't gone off the deep end yet. For I am the only one trying to get the house ready sell. The other half has only been interested in packing their things, when it suited them. Plus I have to arrange for the sale of the house, and set up my new place. Too much going on in the next month and half to two months to really feel sorry for myself. The only luxury I have allowed myself in that regard to worry about Chewey. And to think how much I will miss him the most.....

(thanks for letting me share....)
 

mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Chip NoVaMac said:
My other half never was one for the camera. But Chewey on the other hand, always enjoyed mugging for. And it is a shame that it was only in the last few months that I found the time to try and capture his youthful 3 year old stage. I am also concerned that Chewey never took to warmer weather. And now he is headed to Las Vegas and all that heat. I worry about him, even though he has not left yet. Maybe just a few days if my other half is to believed. I know that they love Chewey as much as I do. But so much is going on in their life, I have to wonder for Chewey's future.

Chip, I'm so sorry for your heartache. :( And thank you so much for sharing. I'm glad you got some chances at least, to capture those moments with your son. I hope that he is immediately and forever aware that distance cannot destroy your love for him.
 

emw

macrumors G4
Aug 2, 2004
11,172
0
Congrats, e. I'm especially happy with this thread since we just ordered the XT the other day, at what I think is a great price, and we'll have it on Wednesday. I'd heard great things about the quality of the pics, and this just confirms it. Awesome.

I'm a noob with cameras as well, so I'm really looking forward to playing with it. And to hear the battery life (which has been horrible on my current digital) is decent is a big plus.

I look forward to more good shots.
 

emw

macrumors G4
Aug 2, 2004
11,172
0
It came today! I'll be playing with it tonight, and will be taking the day off tomorrow (unrelated) so will hopefully have a chance to play with it some more. I'll post some pictures.

Can't wait!!!
 

mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
emw said:
It came today! I'll be playing with it tonight, and will be taking the day off tomorrow (unrelated) so will hopefully have a chance to play with it some more. I'll post some pictures.

Can't wait!!!

Lucky dog! I just hope mine will beat Tiger here! :p :D
 

emw

macrumors G4
Aug 2, 2004
11,172
0
I have to agree with everyone else who has one of these things - it's fantastic. Now I know just a little more than nothing about actually taking pictures, so I've got a lot to learn. I went out last night without even reading the manual and took a few shots (okay, about 100) and was impressed by several things.

1. Speed. Man, this thing can take pictures. If I'd taken 100 pictures with my Dimage s404, it would've taken half an hour. This took about 10 minutes. I need a bigger flash card.

2. Quality. Wow. I did nothing but point and shoot, and I'm impressed by the color and detail. Despite the fact that the swing shot is taken close to sunset and there's not a lot of natural light, I think it still turned out well.

3. Ease of use. Even for someone who doesn't like to read manuals, this is a pretty simple camera. I dropped the size down to Small Fine due to the limitation of my flash card, and could figure that out with no problem.

4. Features. I can tell there's a lot I can do with it once I take the time to figure it out. I need to get perhaps some new lenses, as mentioned elsewhere in this thread, to get better zoom capabilities, and perhaps a specialty lens for fun shots, but that will come later. Right now I need to learn more about exposure, shutter speed, etc.

(Click on images for full-res)

Here's a shot of my son enjoying our swingset:



Here's one of the true sign of spring - a bee visiting our flowering bush:

 

mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Gorgeous shots, emw! Is that your son? He's adorable! :) The macro of the bee turned out very nicely, too!

To put a thumbnail in your post and make it a link to a full-size, you do this:

Code:
<URL=http://large_picture><IMG>http://thumbnail</IMG></URL>

Replace all the <> with [] natch. Cuz *I* forgot how to get those to show up in the post without being interpreted! :( And thumbnail is the link to your thumbnail, and large_picture_link is the fullsize.
 

emw

macrumors G4
Aug 2, 2004
11,172
0
mkrishnan said:
Gorgeous shots, emw! Is that your son? He's adorable! :) The macro of the bee turned out very nicely, too!

To put a thumbnail in your post and make it a link to a full-size, you do this:

Code:
<URL=http://thumbnail><IMG>http://large_picture_link</IMG></URL>

Replace all the <> with [] natch. Cuz *I* forgot how to get those to show up in the post without being interpreted! :( And thumbnail is the link to your thumbnail, and large_picture_link is the fullsize.
Thanks for the help (I figured to switch the thumbnail and large picture URLs to show the small pic and link to the big one).

Yes, that is my son. I'll have to post pics later of my daughter and our dogs as well. Still playing with the camera while the kids are at school.
 

mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
emw said:
Thanks for the help (I figured to switch the thumbnail and large picture URLs to show the small pic and link to the big one).

Oops, right! :D It's easy with photobucket because, as it happens, the URL is exactly the same, except the thumbnail has th_ at the beginning of the filename. But I think you use your own site for hosting? Do post more pics soon! :)
 

mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
I got my DRebel!!! :D

I didn't catch much of the evening light today, because, ahem, there was a competing priority for my attention this evening. ;)

Here's one picture I got though...lemme know what you think. If you think I'm bokeh now, wait until I get my f/1.4! :D

Just as emw and edesignuk have observed, the vividness of the color is amazing when you go from a point-and-shoot to this! Just like the good old days with my K1000! :)

IMG_0209.jpg
 

emw

macrumors G4
Aug 2, 2004
11,172
0
mkrishnan said:
I got my DRebel!!! :D

I didn't catch much of the evening light today, because, ahem, there was a competing priority for my attention this evening. ;)

Here's one picture I got though...lemme know what you think. If you think I'm bokeh now, wait until I get my f/1.4! :D

Just as emw and edesignuk have observed, the vividness of the color is amazing when you go from a point-and-shoot to this! Just like the good old days with my K1000! :)
Nice shot - I see flowers are the subject of choice for us n00bs. I'm looking forward to getting a proper zoom lens.

I've been playing with mine for a few days now - but this weekend I'll really have a better chance at it. Too many features for my feeble mind to grasp right now.
 

mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
emw said:
Nice shot - I see flowers are the subject of choice for us n00bs. I'm looking forward to getting a proper zoom lens.

Hehehe, and I'm trying to get my hands on a lense that doesn't have a zoom! :eek: :D

But yes, these things are amazing! Using a point and click was like spending a couple of years not wearing glasses! :( But then again, I will continue to use it -- this is too big to lug around to everything.
 

emw

macrumors G4
Aug 2, 2004
11,172
0
AL-FAMOUS said:
i opted for the 20D and The 70-200L, these are the sort of results in getting...
Sure, make all of us n00bs look bad! :p

Those are some great pictures!
 

emw

macrumors G4
Aug 2, 2004
11,172
0
What camera bag do you guys use? We need to pick up a new one to house the XT and potentially some lenses, and maybe the Belkin media reader for iPod.

Any recommendations?
 

BakedBeans

macrumors 68040
May 6, 2004
3,054
0
What's Your Favorite Posish
mkrishnan said:
Yeah, okay, whatever! :rolleyes: ;) :D The owl is very nice. Do you find the 70-200L easy to shoot with hand-held?

yeah, really easy - i chose the F4 version partly because of the weight or lack of it compared to the f2.8 and IS versions, its actually a little sharper than them too and outside i dont miss the extra stop
 

mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
emw said:
What camera bag do you guys use? We need to pick up a new one to house the XT and potentially some lenses, and maybe the Belkin media reader for iPod.

Any recommendations?

I need to resource fork some recommendations on this too. :D
 

revenuee

macrumors 68020
Sep 13, 2003
2,251
3
emw said:
Nice shot - I see flowers are the subject of choice for us n00bs. I'm looking forward to getting a proper zoom lens.

flora and fauna never stopped being my subjects

PRIME lenses is where it's at
 

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