steve_simons

Before Christmas, I had to shoot some family portraits of myself and

my family, they were for a present for my grandma's birthday (even

though the film wasn't processed in time and we had to use Digital

Photos we took months earlier).

 

Anyways, I faced exposure problems with shooting the pics. It was

dusk outside so there wasn't much light coming in through the

windows, I had the room light on, a large halogen light on one side

of us, and a smaller light on the other side, but I was getting a

shutter speed of 1/25th shooting at f/3.5. I didn't want to shoot

f/3.5 either because that meant I was shooting wide angle and had to

get close.

 

So... when I'm shooting in conditions like this again, what is a

suitable shutter speed for family portraits where I can use a smaller

aperture? I was shooting Kodak TMax 400 by the way, and the pics

didn't turn out too great, They were actually slightly overexposed

because, even using 9.5% partial metering, metering on faces, it

picked up some of the shadows and must've tricked my metering :(

^^ Thanks for the info on the 10D, but to the people that just suggested a 1D, that didn't help at all, this is 2 people on a very tiny budget here, there is not enough money to spend on a 1D, not to mention that they want the 6mp to provide the quickest possible way of making prints and cropping images. We don't have time to prepare the images, once they're ordered they have to be printed immediately and given to the buyer.

 

The budget was $1500 Canadian for each camera, and we already have a couple of EOS lenses to use, I don't know the quality of them... but I know that if I use the cameras I'll probably use my 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM, even though it's not very long it should work better than the older, slower lenses they have. Also, we can't rent things in this town, there are 2 photo stores here, one of them deal EOS equipment, the only products and lenses they have are the cheapest of all, anything else has to be ordered in.

Hello,

 

Today I talked to a former employer of mine who runs his own website

and contributes to newspapers. He does mainly Sports Photography.

 

He asked me if I'd like to help him and his friend in doing on-site

photography selling at Sports Events. They're going to be the

official photographers at the "Nike Cup" soccer tournament here and

they need someone on the sidelines uploading/printing photos and

giving them to the buyers. That's me.

 

Anyways, they're going to be buying 2 Canon DSLRs, 2 photo printers,

and mostl likely a laptop to go along. I get 20% of all profit so

I'm definetly up for this.

 

Anyways, I know that he's looking into getting 2 Digital Rebel's, but

I think he should be picking up at least 1 10D instead of a 300D.

He's kind of the point and shoot guy, mainly focusing on capturing

the action. But with the new camera's I'm assuming he'll be wanting

to use AI Servo AF. With the DRebel, you only get AI Servo AF when

in "Sport Mode"... just like my Rebel Ti.

 

So I'm thinking that if he'll shoot Av, he'd want AI Servo... but

besides that, what other arguments can I give to get him to buy some

10D's instead of 300D's?

 

I'm hoping to use one of these, I don't know if they'll let me

because at the moment he doesn't even know I'm interested in

photography. But if I shoot some pictures, there's no way I'll be

using Sport Mode and, although I'm used to Pre-Focusing with One Shot

AF, using AI Servo would be so much more convenient.

 

One last thing, they'll be shooting team portraits with this... if

that changes anything.

 

Thanks.

My personal experience is that it's VERY sharp at f/16. But then again, so are most lenses out there.

 

Like the person above me said, the lens isn't that good for diffusing the background of an image, I mean, it blurs, definetly, but you can just barely make out what's going on in the background which makes it sort of annoying. And shooting wide open at 28mm isn't too good either, I had to shoot wide open for some family portraits because I couldn't get a decent shutter speed, and the photos didn't turn out too good. They were very soft and ugly.

 

But all in all it's an awesome lens and I'll probably have this one forever.

^^ You can't compose your shots with the LCD because digital P&S cameras don't have a TTL viewfinder, they have a TTL LCD though. The viewfinder's are either electric (just another LCD) or a hole in the camera to peer through. The Viewfinder on the 10D and other DSLRs is TTL, so you can't add another TTL viewfinder... although it'd be pretty cool if you could switch between the viewfinder and the LCD so they could have those pull out and twist style LCD's for composing shots at low or high angles.

I've read the posts on here and it's brought me to answer a question also.

 

So... if the field of view is cropped by the 1.6x factor, is it actually cutting off the edges? Because if it is, this would mean you could buy one of those cheap fisheye converters and it'd crop off the vignetted corners. Hmmm... I don't know how concerned you are about quality, but maybe getting a cheap fisheye converter would change things somewhat, even on top of that 17mm lens... I'm not too sure on this but if I had a DSLR I'd try a fisheye converter just for the fun of it.

There are no drivers on the manufacturers website for this device. And I HAVE tried finding the drivers on my Hard Drive, I literally checked every folder on my computer for them through the install thing. But nothing has worked, I'm just lucky the card was given to me and cost me nothing because if I had to pay for it I'd be downright mad.

 

I'm going to check into USB scanners now... but, can anyone out there tell me anything about the lower end Pacific Image scanners? Are these any good (sharpness, etc) or does the cheap price reflect cheap quality? I'm looking at the ScanSmart 1800 or whatever it's called. I found it on CameraCanada.com for only $220CAN which is pretty good, but I don't want a cheap-o that's going to give me awful prints (max 8x10, usually 5x7)

Yeah, I'm on a PC, with... *sigh* XP. The worst part is, I have a firewire card, but I have NO IDEA what happened to my XP CDs, and to install the firewire card I need to have my CDs because the card doesn't come with a driver disk or anything, I've emailed them for tech support twice and the first time they told me to call a 1-900 number (no) and the second they said "It's on your XP CDs".

 

But thanks for the info guys, that definelty cleared the air.

I've been looking into film scanners lately, and I overlooked this

before but when I wondered if they used USB, or USB 2.0, I went to

check it out. Turns out they use SCSI or something... you guys

probably all know what these things are, but I don't, so assuming I

don't have one (because they're something like $600-$4,000 on

compusmart.ca)... what decent scanners are there that use USB or USB

2.0 (preferred). Or... IEEE 1394.

 

Minolta Scan Dual III says it's USB 2.0 on the box... but it's a bit

out of my price range, even at $320 on ebay.ca (Buy it Now). What

decent negative/slide scanners are there that I can use with these

more basic connections? Or better yet, are SCSI cards really the

prices I see on compusmart.ca?

 

Thanks.

Maybe it's because Auto selects the ISO itself, it's probably choosing ISO 400 while you may be choosing ISO 100, try taking the pics in "P" mode in all different ISOs and see if that makes a difference.

^^ It has 9.5% partial metering... isn't that basically the same thing as spot metering?

I'd say this one would have to do with the metering... not the actual metering itself but the difficulty of shot you're putting on the light meter. When shooting full auto you have to take into consideration that you're using evaluative metering which will not work well unless you're shooting from the right angle. Heavy contrast from the sky to the people causes the meter's 35 zones to pick up a lot of lights and a lot of darks and average (hence "Evaluative" metering) them. I'd suggest you do this.

 

Shoot in "Av" mode. I know you probably think it's for more advanced people but really, it's basic.

 

the larger number you select (ie; 16, 22), the more will be in focus. The lower number (ie; 4.5, 5.6), the less will be in focus. That's how people blur out the background in images.

 

Now that you know that, you can use that mode and use spot metering. With spot metering, all you have to do is point the center of the viewfinder at the subject, then press the shutter half way. Then, while still holding it halfway, recompose your image and press full way to shoot. If you have problems with this, then another precaution to take is to take the reading (pressing half way) and then press the * (exposure lock) button and it'll make it so you can take more time to recompose the image.

 

 

I hope that helps, sorry if you knew all that already, but if you didn't, this'll help. Also, pick up an old book on photography, try not to get something new, you want something old that's going to teach you the raw basics without all the technology introduced nowadays. Try not to use the basic modes on your camera (Auto, Portrait, Landscape etc) and over time your skills will improve a lot. Good Luck.

I don't know what could've gone wrong since 1/2 of that didn't make sense to me... but after you've metered, before you've r-composed... try using the exposure lock? See if that helps.

^^ That was a thought for me too, but I bought a digital camera to learn new techniques on shooting, but the digital is so awkward to use compared to an SLR. With an SLR you control pretty much everything... with the P&S digital it controls you.

 

That's why I want a DSLR, so I can take hundreds of SLR photos without paying for rolls of film, developing, a film scanner, and the time needed to scan the good ones I want to show.

 

Now that digital is available, it's pretty much revolutionizing photography in my views. There were so many incredible photos on film all the time, but for a person just learning you spend a lot of money on film and developing until you get to a point where most of your shots are turning out, with digital, you can just delete the shots you don't want and it costs you nothing, that's what I want. Over the summer I was shooting something like 2 rolls of film per month, if I was shooting digital I would've been more willing to take the pic and would have 10x as many photos.

 

I'm just hoping the D60 will drop eventually because it looks like such a nice camera and I have plans for the summer where I want to be taking as many photos as I possibly can.

Charlie, the DRebel does lack some features that I want/need. For one, you don't get AI Servo in any mode except sports, sure that doesn't really matter too much, but it's useful.

 

The thing I hate the most about it though is that it's metering modes are set to whatever setting you're on, that's the way it is on my Rebel Ti and I hate that.

Yeah, I asked this because I'm sure there's more people out there than me who'd like a Digital SLR, can't afford a 10D, and don't want a Digital Rebel.

 

I was looking into getting a D30... but the 3mp resolution would restrict me, I love to print 300dpi, but I'm stuck printing 180dpi for a 3mp 8x10 print.

 

One last thing, I'm 16, poor, and would die for a D60... anyone else out there like me?

Anyone think that the D60 will drop down in price later on? Now that

there's the 10D (6mp) and the DRebel (6mp) people will probably be

buying into those because they're newer, and the people selling their

D60's will be forced to drop their prices to try and make a sale.

 

Anyone have any estimates?

Currently I have a Canon Powershot A70... but it lacks. I was

thinking of trying to sell it and using that money and money I have

saved to upgrade to the Canon G3. These are the things I've noticed

I'll be getting:<br><br>

 

Pros:<br><br>

 

- 4mp resolution<br>

- better sensor<br>

- f/2.0-3.0 lens<br>

- Custom Modes<br>

- Hotshoe (A70 flash sucks)<br>

- Faster Continuous shooting<br>

- Faster / More Precise AF and also MF<br>

- More Zoom<br><br>

 

Cons:<br><br>

 

- Won't have the nice 640x480 video mode on the A70<br>

- G3 is larger, may not fit in my Pelican Case alongside my SLR<br>

- Can't use AA Rechargeables like on my A70 (I get about 6 hours

battery life)<br><br>

 

I will end up upgrading sooner or later, but I'm wondering if I

should buy one now, or wait until a new model comes out and when I

have more money to spend. The Pros are nice, but the cons like the

size and battery life are major factors to me.

^^ Actually yeah, "Neurtral" mode tones down the contrast a tiny bit, but you have to take a bunch of test shots if you really find what you want. Another thing, do you notice the A70 LCD as being very bright? Or is it just my monitor? My monitor is pretty dark but there's a drastic change between the LCD and my monitor.

 

Also, I just printed a 1024x768 6x4 print at 180dpi on glossy paper and it turned out pretty nice. It was 1024x768 because I was shooting a sports sequence and it shoots faster at a lower resolution... but I unfortunately forgot to turn off "review" and the LCD so I lost 2 or 3 frames because the camera was displaying the pic after each shot, I included it if you wanted to see. It was a snow shot and I set it on "neutral" at 100ISO, shutter 1/2000, aperture f/8.0. Turned out Ok.

Steve Levine, I know that low contrast film is meant for high contrast scenes, that's why I want it :P

 

I shot Fujichrome Provia 400 today, I think that's what it was :P. It was already loaded in my camera so I thought I'd try it out. My only thing though was the difference in metering, I'd meter the snow and the meter would say it was a 1/2 stop overexposed, meter the trees and it was 1 stop underexposed, the sky, however, was exposed correctly, so I'm hoping my shots turned out with the metering I used. I was trying to shoot f/8.0 most of the time unless I was trying to diffuse the background in which I shot f/4.5 at 105mm.

 

Wish me luck! Slides will be here in 10-14 days!

I know of Kodak Portra 160NC as a low contrast, natural color film,

but do you guys know of another kind of film that is pretty close to

it? I want accurate colors for skiing photography, which means high

contrast scenes. I'll be shooting with a polarizer most of the time

(if not all) so the contrast isn't toooo much of a problem, but I

want a film with low saturation, cool colors.

 

Can anyone give me a hand with this here?

I own the A70, and I'd have to say that the the print sizes aren't the thing you should be worrying about. I've printed some 8x10s with it... they didn't look very good though. I printed them at 180dpi, which was fine, but the quality of the camera was what upset me.

 

The thing with this camera is that it can't handle contrast very well... at all... it's set to be very high contrast because people want "green grass and blue skies", not accurate colors and low contrast.

 

What I'm trying to say is, it'll print fine, which was your question, but the camera sensor itself isn't that great, but I'm not sure if the A80 would be that much better.

Alright, here's the story.

 

I was shooting Kodak T400CN, in a city called Prince Rupert, a

seaport on the west coast of Canada. After some Christmas Family

Portraits, landscapes, and super close ups (1-2 feet away) pics of a

big flock of seagulls, I was done my roll, so I rewound it and put it

in my pocket.

 

I wanted to put in my Porta 160VC 36exp roll that I had 21 shots

left, so I put it into the camera and listened to it wind up, I had

15 shots of skiing from a couple days before, shots I couldn't wait

to see. The odd thing was... the counter on my EOS Rebel Ti went up

to 39... I thought that was odd so I pressed the automatic rewind

button for safe measures. I could hear the spin... but no pulling

sound. I thought "Maybe it didn't load in the first place" and

opened up the back.

 

NO!!!! The canister was on the left, and the torn strip of film on

the right, my 15 skiing photos lost because my film ripped when

getting wound into the camera... the strange thing though was the

shape of the tear, it tore in a triangle... check the enclosed pic

for example.

 

But anyways, I not only lost $6 of a good roll of film, but lost a

princeless amount in photos from skiing, photos that I wanted to see

soooo bad.

 

I had a film tear previously with Kodak Gold 400 where I lost a lot

of telephoto images shooting 160-400mm at my brother's soccer game

and of some wildlife. Anyone else have any problems with Kodak

Tearing?

 

This sucks.<div></div>

I just realised, I want a job in glamour photography... good god that has to be the best job in the world.

It clarified a lot of stuff for me. I own a Rebel Ti and I hate how it selects the metering and AF settings for you, I'd much rather be able to choose the mode I want, like, having spot metering in Manual and have Center Weighted Average metering in Av.

 

I hope the price of the 10D decreases sometime because I'd like to buy a Digital SLR next year and the 10D looks like the perfect one.