New to photography

I am really interested in photography but don't know where to start. Do you

have any advice for a beginner? Since I am new I want to start with the basics

but I don't want to get in over my head. Can anyone recommend a good

camera/equipment for a begginer? Any other tips are apprecited as well. Thank

you!

 

Cece

The first decision is whether you will use film or digital, B&W or color. The next is whether you will do your own processing or computer work? The third is to set a budget. Then you will get plenty of help here.

Bruce is right - your question is much too generic - there are just too many options. You need to think this through a little bid more and then come back with some more specifics, incl. what Bruce has listed, but also, what do you want to photograph, how much do you want to get involved in this hobby (are you a point&shoot type of person, or do you want ultimate control).

Check out the learning section of this site and the local library. There are decent books by Kodak and National Geographic that can be very useful. Also consider a local camera club and community college photo class.

Thank you for your responses! I got involved when I started photographing jewelry I made to post on my website. I was able to take some good pictures with an avarage digital camera, but learned qickly that when photographing small still objects it was best to use a tripod. I also learned a bit about lighting. Photographing jewelry was interesting, but not fun, so I moved on to nature, animals and flowers and people. I'd like to stick to that. I'm not great with film - had exposure to that back in highschool 12 years ago and although many things have changed I'm not interested in sitting in a dark room. With that said I'd prefer to stick with a digital camera and computer work. to start out I'd like to set a budget of about $800-$1000. I also think I'm a bit of both, a point & shoot type, but like control when needed. Again thanks for your responses!

Why so against film? I actually find it better to teach on than digital. Reason being, digital, you can fudge with the exposure a bit, film, not so much. It really brings it home and teaches a lot of important skills that i fear a lot are missing now. Also, I like teaching with full manual cameras, and they are super cheap used. Once again, it really enforces the vital areas that you need to learn in the technical realm.

 

However, you mentioned business in there. Do you need a really fast work flow? Do you currently own any film based SLR gear? Nikon, Minolta, Canon? Might be worth it to invest in that system if you have a lens or two. No company has an outright advantage over the other, so going Sony, Nikon, or Canon is completely up to you. And any of the base level SLRs (Rebel, Alpha, D40/D80) will do the trick. Do you have a lot of memory cards already? Might be a thought. Got a place that you can try each body, or at least hold them? For me, the only reason I went Nikon was ergonomics. I just didn't like the placement on the old film SLRs, and had a bit of a system for Nikon when I went digi and stayed with that.

 

So basically, unless you have some really weird constraints, or an older film system, it is really up to you, no one here can say that one camera is completely better than any others.

I would suggest getting a cheaper body, then getting one or 2 good lenses to start with. If you like canon, i would suggest a 10D because they are getting very cheap now, since they are getting kind of old. However, it is a very capable camera and i have seen some great photographs out of it on this website. Its a bit of an advanced camera though, not a basic SLR like the rebel series (which i while the 2 older modles are descent, i advise against the new one, waste of money IMHO). For lenses i would suggest a prime lense (not zoom) that is also designed to do macro photography (which will be good for the jewerly, where the subject can be smaller than the lens's front element). A 100mm macro lens i think would also suit as a good all around lens, especially with a teleconverter atached. It should be noted however that i have no experience with a true macro lens or converters though. Then i would get a zoom with lots of range, the 28-135 may be good there. Rough calculations in my head get you to about 1100 i think. For learning, you cant be digital though, definetly cheaper in the long run.

Now we have something to work with -here is my suggestion (I am a Canon user, so it will be biased towards Canon). I would get the Rebel XT (also called 350D) with the kit lens - it is not the greatest lens, but people do take very good pictures with it and it is very cheap when bought with as a kit with the body. Then I would invest into a Macro lens, as you can use that for your business - I use the Canon 100 f/2,8 Macro and it is a fantastic lens. You should also buy the very inexpensive 50mm f/1.8 which you can get for less than $80 brand new. You'll be slightly over your budget, but not by much and it wserve your purposes well. Down the road you can upgrade the kit lens and/or buy a 70-300 IS zoom or whatever suits you for tele shots. Good Luck!

This link is to the home page to ABOUT:Photography. Look at the red-lettered categories

along

the left side. Each one leads to tutorials on that particular topic. Good luck.

 

http://photography.about.com/

I'd say go to dpreview.com, and check out the buying guide. Check the features you want in a camera, then pick one. If your budget is for photo equipment ONLY (i.e., your computer has enough "juice" for post-processing, and you have the software you need), then you should have enough money for a high end p&s or an entry level DSLR.

I agree with Zach. The theory of photography is easier to teach with film -- that said, the reality is that film at the consumer level is going to be a dinosaur. Many labs that used to go to no longer process film. Even more don't process slides at all.