Where do I start?

[JDub02]

My wife really enjoys taking pictures. Right now we just have a point and shoot digital camera around 4 MP. She saw some pictures that a friend of hers took with a digital SLR and would like to get into more advanced photography.

So where do we start? I'd like to send her to a couple classes at a local community college. Are photography classes worth it or could she learn just as much by playing around?

What hardware is needed? I know everyone has their opinion on what particular parts are the best, but I don't even know what parts are needed. For a PC, I know I need a CPU, mobo, power supply, RAM, HD, etc. But for a camera, I know she'll need a camera and ...... stuff. What basic parts are needed to get her started?


Thanks.

 

[Anubis]

a basic photo class at a CC will be great for anyone thats has no idea WTF they are doing, they generally teach you all the basicis about shutter speed ISO/Film speeds, F-Stops.... as well as general compisition stuff

think drivers ed for photography, wont make you a race car driver but you will know you what you are doing

for a camera if she really wants a DSLR, any of the entry lvl ones from any company will be fine, they all do basicially the same things, I suggest you go to a store and play with all of them to see what you like best and what feels best. id get whatever Package they are selling for the camera you decide you want, generally come with a lens or 2, a Storage card and sometimes a case

 

[rudder]

Luckily my community college has an actual program for aspiring photographers... so you get a little more out of it. They have the basics as Anubis said, but also advanced studio lighting, photoshop, business classes, etc. So your mileage may vary at your local community college.

Depending on the size of your town there are more than likely photography clubs. Unless they are a bunch of nitwits, they should welcome all levels.

To get started cheaply just by a used digital rebel and the 50mm f/1.8 Canon lens. Its the best lens you can get for $60-70 used. That and a CF card is all you need.

My work allows me to take a college course every semester for free, so I have been taking quite a few. Fun way to spend a night a week. It has paid though... I made $600 last Saturday doing teams shots of my daughters cheerleading league. My real first gig and I already have people asking about setting up portrait sessions. I will never to it full time... but its a good feeling to get to that point.

I think Ansel Adams was quoted as saying the best way to learn is to shoot, shoot, shoot. And the DSLR makes it affordable. I would be bankrupt had I needed to get all those film pictures developed.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: rudder
I would be bankrupt had I needed to get all those film pictures developed.

which is why you do it yourself


HURRAY FILM

 

[alfa147x]

Originally posted by: rudder

To get started cheaply just by a used digital rebel and the 50mm f/1.8 Canon lens. Its the best lens you can get for $60-70 used. That and a CF card is all you need.

I just got mine for 70$ from B&H NEW great lens!

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: rudder And the DSLR makes it affordable. I would be bankrupt had I needed to get all those film pictures developed.

i disagree. the digital camera makes you machine gun it, take more pictures than you would with film. for the number of keepers, it'll take quite a while to see the $600 difference between an inexpensive (used) film SLR and lens to learn on and a digital SLR and lens to learn on.



though, with the pentax rebate that came out today, you can get a Pentax K100D Super camera + kit zoom for under $400 (excluding taxes). check techbargains.

 

[corkyg]

ElFenix makes a good point - but it is not necessarily correct. I do buy learning to shoot film and process it. I remember the instructor of my first photography course saying loud and clear: "Film is cheap. Opportunities can be rare and costly. Shoot, shoot, shoot - bracket your exposures and keep shooting. Then sort it out in the darkroom." Ever watch a pro shooting models - click, click, click, click, click . . . etc.? Constantly changing angles. Trying to carefully take the perfect picture is not the way they do it.

Digital simply takes the messy darkroom work and lets you process quickly on a computer. So, there really is nothing wrong in being a machine gun as long as you do it intelligently and sort it out later and keep the good ones. Sometimes your best shots happen accidentally.

 

[Jawo]

I would recommend that your wife gets a prosumer point and shoot to play around with first. I loved the Canon A series having the A40, A90, and A620. The camera's are cheap ($~250), but have some nice flexibility in them in manual mode. When I got frustrated with the limits of the A620, I got my XTi. But whatever camera you get, look at it closely in camera stores and compare it with others. Also look out for camera expos that usually have very helpful factory representitives. Check out some of the other threads to see what gear people use as well.

Originally posted by: corkyg
ElFenix makes a good point - but it is not necessarily correct. I do buy learning to shoot film and process it. I remember the instructor of my first photography course saying loud and clear: "Film is cheap. Opportunities can be rare and costly. Shoot, shoot, shoot - bracket your exposures and keep shooting. Then sort it out in the darkroom." Ever watch a pro shooting models - click, click, click, click, click . . . etc.? Constantly changing angles. Trying to carefully take the perfect picture is not the way they do it.

Digital simply takes the messy darkroom work and lets you process quickly on a computer. So, there really is nothing wrong in being a machine gun as long as you do it intelligently and sort it out later and keep the good ones. Sometimes your best shots happen accidentally.

I would agree. I love having the 3 fps on my XTi....have gotten some really nice photos because of it.

 

[JDub02]

Thanks for the responses. I've found some Canon XTi packages for < $700. From what I can tell, it's a great camera on the low end of the dSLR line.

She has a birthday and Christmas coming up, so maybe I'll get her the camera and 1 lens for the b-day and some accessories for Christmas.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: JDub02
Thanks for the responses. I've found some Canon XTi packages for < $700. From what I can tell, it's a great camera on the low end of the dSLR line.

She has a birthday and Christmas coming up, so maybe I'll get her the camera and 1 lens for the b-day and some accessories for Christmas.

make sure she likes the ergonomics. they don't bother me because i used to use an AE-1 which lacked a grip and so i hold the camera with my left hand. but some people really hate the xt/xti.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: JDub02
Thanks for the responses. I've found some Canon XTi packages for < $700. From what I can tell, it's a great camera on the low end of the dSLR line.

She has a birthday and Christmas coming up, so maybe I'll get her the camera and 1 lens for the b-day and some accessories for Christmas.

make sure she likes the ergonomics. they don't both me because i used to use an AE-1 which lacked a grip and so i hold the camera with my left hand. but some people really hate the xt/xti.

CANT AGREE MORE

which is why in my post i suggest you go and play with all of the cameras

 

[JDub02]

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: JDub02
Thanks for the responses. I've found some Canon XTi packages for < $700. From what I can tell, it's a great camera on the low end of the dSLR line.

She has a birthday and Christmas coming up, so maybe I'll get her the camera and 1 lens for the b-day and some accessories for Christmas.

make sure she likes the ergonomics. they don't both me because i used to use an AE-1 which lacked a grip and so i hold the camera with my left hand. but some people really hate the xt/xti.

CANT AGREE MORE

which is why in my post i suggest you go and play with all of the cameras

That's why I asked for general hardware suggestions. We hit up best buy today. They are really overpriced on their camera hardware. But she did get to handle the sony alpha-100, nikon d40x, canon xti, and a couple others. She really likes the canon. It doesn't hurt that a good friend of hers also has an xti, so they can pool lenses.

 

[Jawo]

Originally posted by: JDub02

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: JDub02
Thanks for the responses. I've found some Canon XTi packages for < $700. From what I can tell, it's a great camera on the low end of the dSLR line.

She has a birthday and Christmas coming up, so maybe I'll get her the camera and 1 lens for the b-day and some accessories for Christmas.

make sure she likes the ergonomics. they don't both me because i used to use an AE-1 which lacked a grip and so i hold the camera with my left hand. but some people really hate the xt/xti.

CANT AGREE MORE

which is why in my post i suggest you go and play with all of the cameras

That's why I asked for general hardware suggestions. We hit up best buy today. They are really overpriced on their camera hardware. But she did get to handle the sony alpha-100, nikon d40x, canon xti, and a couple others. She really likes the canon. It doesn't hurt that a good friend of hers also has an xti, so they can pool lenses.

Yes, Best Buy is horribly overpriced....even during their "sales." But its a great place to play with the cameras. Even better would be to go to a real camera store (not Ritz or BB). Penn Camera is my favorite for the DC Metro area, don't really know about the VA Beach area. Talking with knowledgable sales persons can really help you decide what you want.

 

[Neos]

Here is a great buy on one of the latest 10 mp. available. It also being the smallest DSLR there is is something women like.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/...10_Digital_Camera.html
The compact lenses on it have been raved about by owners, has a dustbuster that is the best + great scene modes all the way to fill manual control. Great build quality and reliability.
Plus this - if you build on a system - the Olympus glass can't be beat.

 

[JDub02]

Originally posted by: Neos
Here is a great buy on one of the latest 10 mp. available. It also being the smallest DSLR there is is something women like.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/...10_Digital_Camera.html
The compact lenses on it have been raved about by owners, has a dustbuster that is the best + great scene modes all the way to fill manual control. Great build quality and reliability.
Plus this - if you build on a system - the Olympus glass can't be beat.

Thanks. We spent yesterday at a local camera store (who didn't sell any dSLR's, oddly enough), best buy, and circuit city handling a bunch of different cameras. The more both of us handled the Canon XTI, neither of us liked the way it felt. The Olympus 410 looks promising at first, but we felt the size was definitely too small. My vote was for the Sony A100 for the meaty grip and image stabilization. Her vote was for the Nikon D40x ... for reasons only women would understand. It looks like we're going to wind up with the Nikon. It felt 2nd best to me and I really liked the menu system. A happy wife is better than IS.

 

[Sid59]

you need to ask and gauge the following questions:

1. type of photography she's interested in. Wildlife (animals), landscape, portraiture, macro, still ife etc
- depending on what she's interested in, a dSLR is not always the best choice, unless you have money to burn.

2. why delve into a dSLR when "prosumer" lines are available. They have all the basic functions of a dslr, aperature / shutter priority, manual, different scene modes. Although the sensor isn't as 'good' as the dSLR, it's a starting point to figure out what she likes.
- often these cameras have a faster/zoom lens, most often starting at 2.8 AND IS/VR. You can't say the same for dSLR lenses.

3. then you gotta take into account post processing. most pictures do not come out "eye pleasing"

If your mate wants to get into, Community Colleges offer beginner SLR classes and composition, usually 2 different classes. Then she'll want to take a PhotoShop class to learn about digital post processing. Of course these are optional if she's diligent about shooting without care, playing around post processing and joining a nice online group who can offer tips.

 

[JDub02]

Sid, she's interested in basically all of the above .. "artsy" type shots of just about everything.

We've done the "prosumer" thing. It seems to be the popular thing to suggest ... and can be smart .. but it just doesn't offer the flexibility or features that we're looking for. We're ready to make the jump to the SLR level. Aside from that, it's required if she decides to take a photography class. There's got to be a reason people have them over advanced P&S cameras, other than ignorance.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: corkyg
ElFenix makes a good point - but it is not necessarily correct. I do buy learning to shoot film and process it. I remember the instructor of my first photography course saying loud and clear: "Film is cheap. Opportunities can be rare and costly. Shoot, shoot, shoot - bracket your exposures and keep shooting. Then sort it out in the darkroom." Ever watch a pro shooting models - click, click, click, click, click . . . etc.? Constantly changing angles. Trying to carefully take the perfect picture is not the way they do it.

Digital simply takes the messy darkroom work and lets you process quickly on a computer. So, there really is nothing wrong in being a machine gun as long as you do it intelligently and sort it out later and keep the good ones. Sometimes your best shots happen accidentally.

I think it really comes down to what types of photos you're taking. If you're taking landscape pictures - landscapes are relatively static (over a period of a minute or so, anyhow) - he's correct in that regard. You would care more about your camera settings for the picture, rather than just play & experiment with a dozen or more shots.

The difference is though, and this is where ElFenix is correct, "shoot shoot shoot" is correct. However, a lot of digital people are "shoot shoot shoot" okay, now I'm going to change the ISO to... "shoot shoot shoot" alright, now with this setting changed "shoot shoot shoot" - they still tend to take more pictures.

Then again, it's a great way to learn which types of settings work best in different environments.