Intro... and help required.....

[joe_coleman]

Hello one and all.

 

i am a new user to both photo.net and photography. and after seeing some

spectacular pictures from my local area i decided to try and create some of my

own.

 

Im a 21 yr old about to start uni (Sept 2008) so with high expeses looming i

bought a Canon EOS300 from a friends dad for ?50 with a Sigma Hyperspeed DL

1:3.5-6.3 28-300mm Lens and cover on it.

 

I have run a film through it (not expecting brilliant results as its only a

first attempt) and was suprised. the film contained both static lanscape,

portrait and moving vehicle pictures.

 

i was a little dissapointed with some of the landscape pics etc (they appeared

grainy as if the lens struggled to get a sharp picture) but the moving pics

were brilliant. they only had a few small problems (focus on wrong areas in

pics etc) but i have self evaluated them and on the whole i like them. and have

learnt from them

 

its just the Landscape pics im a little stumped about. could poor lighting

(almost raining) be a result of the grainy picture? mixed with the camera

struggling to keep the picture sharp?

 

also i am needing to purchase a few more films (and would like to try black and

white) can anyone suggest some good films? both colour films and black and

white.?

 

Ive been reading the forum for a while and know that i need a film capable of a

quick shutter speed (moving vehicles)

 

Ta.

 

Joe

 

(PS the vehicles are motorbikes trail riding)

[colin carron]

Joe, welcome to Photonet. Good to hear that your bike shots came out well. The landscape problem is probably due to the lens. The Sigma lens you have has a fairly poor write up on such sites as Fred Miranda where people can post their own reviews of photo gear. Have a look here :

 

http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=183&sort=7&cat=37&page=2

 

To get the best out of this lens you will need to set a small aperture of about f8. To achieve this aperture and keep the camera still you might need a tripod too. This will get the best sharpness out of your lens. However the lens has probably got inherently low contrast (see the Fred Miranda reviews).

 

The best immediate solution to the landscape problem is probably to buy a Canon 50mm f1.8 II lens. This is a low price, high quality lens which will give you better sharpness and contrast. It is built down to a low price so the build quality is a bit dodgy but it works very well.

 

If you have a bit more money then start looking for a high quality wide angle lens for your landscapes.

 

Good luck and good shooting.

[joe_coleman]

Thankyou very much ( i will try and scan / upload some of them if they still look true to light)

 

the write up is pretty much what i would agree with.

 

another question is that it has a filter for blue light on it? the previous owner put it on....

 

 

without making myself look an idiot. is it worth keeping on there or should i replace it with a UV filter? (And how do i do it?)

[colin carron]

Best for picture quality to have no filter. But people often put a UV filter on (more or less plain glass) to protect the fronmt element of lenses from scratches, dirt etc.

 

A polariser is a useful landscape filter as it reduces glare and makes blue skies look a deper blue. In your case a Circular polariser to fit the filter threads on your lens is what you should use.

[colin carron]

The filter should be just screwed into the filter threads at the front of the lens. The filter will have the name of the manufatcturer and what kind of filter it is and the filter size in millimetres written round the edge. They are sometimes real pigs to get off so if that is the case you may need to use something to grip it with. Be carfeul to not damage the front of the lens itself once the filter starts to come off.

[joe_coleman]

just been out of the office and had a look... and sure enough yes it is... thankyou very much colin. you have be so helpful (although i feel these are silly questions)

 

only a question of film now.

 

i would like ot try shooting black and white but remain processing them at the local Morrisons (supermarket - Fuji i believe) is there any recommended films? make / speed etc.

 

also the same for a colour film would be appreciated. that last i used wasa fuji 400 colour film. (purple stripe on film)

[tonmestrom]

nothing much to add here, but if you want to try b&w film the best you can try is Kodak Tri-X film Iso 400. It's still one of the most forgiving films there is. For myself I prefer Ilford's Delta 100 which is arguably the best ever made, but for top results it needs a very good lens and an extremely accurate devolpment.

[colin carron]

Hi Joe, questions and answers on this Casual Conversations forum disappear after a few days so this is the place to ask those 'Where is the ON switch?' questions!

 

If you want reasonable and high quality processing for B&W then have a look at Peak Imaging in Sheffield (you are in the UK aren't you?)

 

http://www.peak-imaging.co.uk/

 

They may not match Morrison's for price but they are good value for what they do and quite quick too.

[petemillis]

Joe, I like the Ilford films for black and white. I'm in UK too. Just finishing uni at age of 40, do trail riding (well, did until connecting routes on the South Downs here were downgraded to frickin' bridleways!) on a KTM 200 EXC, and up until last year competed every year on the Dawn to Dusk 12 hour enduro down in Wales. Man, I really need to dig my bike back out of the garage again - haven't had a chance to ride it for months now!

[joe_coleman]

pete millis

 

brilliant. im involved with the wessex cup (my dad is the competitor) i am not quite sure if i am ready to start haha.

 

so will illford films need to be processed proffesionally?

 

has anyone got any details of good high street developers?