photo's for beginners!!

All about Photography. Share your work or the work of other artists.

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prossett
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Post by prossett » 30 Mar 2008, 4:07 pm

and carefully check for sand damage - this part of the world is deadly to cameras and other sensitive electronic equipment.

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Post by Accord98 » 30 Mar 2008, 5:42 pm

Thanx for the advice guys.

Carrefour has a special on. Nikon D40x for 1999 AED. hmm......

Irakli, r u a friend of Zoey and Farah by any chance? and know a retarded guy that drives his dads BMW 7 Series through the desert?

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Post by Irakli » 30 Mar 2008, 10:43 pm

Accord98 wrote:Thanx for the advice guys.

Carrefour has a special on. Nikon D40x for 1999 AED. hmm......

Irakli, r u a friend of Zoey and Farah by any chance? and know a retarded guy that drives his dads BMW 7 Series through the desert?

Get the D60, new cam upgrade to D40x, dunno the price.

Not really friends but yea I know Zoey and Farah ... And you are ? ? ?

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prossett
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Post by prossett » 30 Mar 2008, 11:07 pm

D40X discontinued in Jan 08 - Carrefour in UAE consistently works as dumping ground for left-over goods from rest of world.

In marketing terms, Middle East is usually placed with Africa so purchasing people buy lots of second quality goods, or goods near their expiry dates, or discontinued models - all of these will not sell in Europe, so they come cheap and are sold expensive here.

I know people who go to Italian fashion auctions, where name brand goods are sold in large quantities - they all have minor manufacturing defects, or are last season fashions, and they fill containers with them... and we buy them not realizing.

I'm more and more favouring buying stuff online...

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Post by Metamorphosis » 28 Jul 2008, 9:07 am

1- Don't fall into the Nikon/Canon fanboy war. Both brands make excellent cameras and with the newer Nikons, Canon should better be prepared! The next release Canon comes up with needs to be ground-shaking or they will lose the DSLR battle.

A lot of the professionals use Canon and a lot of them use Nikon, the numbers are quite even actually. I personally know of a lot of professionals that use Canon (Mostly because of their coveted L series lenses) but that's not the point. Point is both are excellent. Both offer a great choice of lenses and room to diversify.

What you need to do is walk into a camera store and try the cameras out. You should look for an entry-level DSLR since you're a beginner. A lot of beginners actually get frustrated when it takes them time to learn the ins and outs of their kit. You need to hold a camera and see...

How does it feel? How does it fit? Is it light/heavy? Are the functions accessible/inaccessible enough?

What type of photography are you looking to get into? Because that will affect the choice of lens and untimately your budget will have to be revised. Are you planning landscape, portraits, motorsports, macro (1 x Magnification), etc.. etc... You need to sit down and make a list of your requirements.

2- No, photoshopping does not help you in taking good photographs. Most of the professionals use the least amount of post-processing. Yes, you can play around in photoshop because it is like developing a film. Each camera has a routine built in, its own tones, colours, etc... A photographer can choose to play with those and bring it in line with his requirements.

What I'm trying to say is photoshop is your last resort. You will never become a good photographer if you expect that photoshop will improve your work. No, it will not. What helps is your eye and composition and lighting. Simply put, you need to put hours into this. Its like a commitment, you need to shoot and shoot and shoot until you are satisfied.

Finally, I would recommend that you try for used kits because these will hurt your pocket less and will give you the basic foundations to build your experience on. Plus, it allows you to stay in touch with someone who has used these kits before and is a form of getting advice from the seller.

Don't think Nikon is the absolute best or Canon is the absolute best. Its a matter of preference. Just like some people like orange juice, some apple. Haha, I know its a crappy analogy but its true. I tend to disagree with Sam when he mentions Nikon is the best. Sure, newer Nikons have an edge on the Canons but your requirement is entry-level DSLR. And there, Canon has the edge with their older/current generation. Olympus is another competitor which has come up too (Although their lens selection leaves much to be desired).

If you really want to take high-quality photographs, you're going to need a DSLR. Ordinary point-and-shoots will help you in improving your skills, incredibly so that I recommend anyone thinking of getting into photography to first work on PnS cameras. When you think your eye has developed enough, you need to make the move to a DSLR. Simply because even with 10 and 12 megapixels, the sensors on PnS cameras are simply rubbish when compared with even a 4 megapixels DSLR. Take it from my experience and a lot of professionals around.

All the best with your search and pleasant shooting!

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Post by Tamu » 28 Jul 2008, 9:41 am

woow impressive right up Meta, i really gained some good knowledge from that....
now the next thing i want to ask you is how to take that perfect picture??? the lighting, the shades, the angles, the timings!!! what makes a picture worth a million bucks??

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Post by Metamorphosis » 28 Jul 2008, 9:50 am

Tamu wrote:woow impressive right up Meta, i really gained some good knowledge from that....
now the next thing i want to ask you is how to take that perfect picture??? the lighting, the shades, the angles, the timings!!! what makes a picture worth a million bucks??
Practice makes the perfect photograph. And you shouldn't worry about any of those things until you have your camera with you and are taking lots and lots of photographs. So first step, get the equipment and then shoot like crazy! Trust me, that's what improves photographs.

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Post by albertho555 » 28 Jul 2008, 11:43 am

i have a fujufilm S9600 for sale, rarely used it :-)
all accessories + box . PM me your best price :-)
Honda owners get free 2gb card .... just kidding ;)

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Post by Metamorphosis » 28 Jul 2008, 12:43 pm

albertho555 wrote:i have a fujufilm S9600 for sale, rarely used it :-)
all accessories + box . PM me your best price :-)
Honda owners get free 2gb card .... just kidding ;)
To be honest, I wouldn't recommend the S9600. Its a Point and Shoot and compared to even the most basic entry-level DSLR's, it is nothing.

-Its way too noisy, even at 400 ISO the noise gets extremely noticeable, bad really.
-There aren't really many bolt-on lenses available, which means his flexibility is lost.
- Its a decent Point and Shoot but this guy is looking to get into proper photography. One way to go. DSLR/SLR.

Although I am going to say, for a Point and Shoot, the S9600 has some of the best glass on the market. Very good Point and Shoot. Recommend it to someone who is after a good camera on a budget and not very high requirements.

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Post by albertho555 » 28 Jul 2008, 1:56 pm

i know....its low down the list, does the work for some1 who's on a budget .... or in simple words --> a poor man like me :P

2" multi-angle lcd screed
9MP
28-300mm zoom
runs on 4x AA batteries
XD & CF card
video
usb

i better get out of here before Sam arrests me for thread-jacking :P



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