bjscharp

Indeed, the Olympus Pen F camera's. With that fast rotary shutter and weird way of aperture marking...

Yes. XSi is a good first camera. An XSi and some photography classes will undoubtly bring you better pictures than

a more expensive camera and no clue on how to use it properly.

 

Get the kit lens, it's a good starter, especially the IS version, and a simple flash like a Metz 36 ( < $100)

 

After the classes and your first months of shooting, you can then identify what parts of the gear you find lacking and

want to improve upon (longer lenses, shorter lenses, bigger flash, more expensive camera, etc)

 

Welcome to photography.

Get some macro gear and a whole new area of indoor-photography opens up...

I'd like to agree with the `timing' better than `spraying' part.

 

When shooting Waterpolo, I've gotten some good shot by putting the camera on a tripod, focussing on the goal of the defender and following the game with wired-remote in hand. Using MLU will make the response of the camera slightlyly quicker as well.

 

This way, you can keep BOTH eyes on the game, making proper timing even easier.

 

For baseball, the same would apply: focus on the home plate, set a fast shutter speed, and look at the pitcher.<div></div>

...and some more.<div></div>

More swimming.<div></div>

Swimming. Lots of it.<div></div>

> sigma 30 1.4

 

You beat me to it :-)

 

A 50mm for a crop-camera will be very limiting when used indoors...

<p>What you are looking for is a `panorama head', a combination of bars which allow you to rotate the camera/lens around the lens' nodal point, instead of the focal plane of the camera.</p>

 

<p>RRS have a <a href="http://reallyrightstuff.com/pano/index.html">very good explanation</a> of this all on their website.</p>

 

<p>Their `Pano package' is also one of the best panorama heads around, or so I'm told (still saving up for one).</p>

LSV tripods are `Leveling', you can angle the center column independently of the legs. This can be practical on uneven terrain, but I understand it does compromise stability somewhat, especially when extending the center column.

<p>Also, have a look at Ron Herron's excellent <a href="http://herron.50megs.com/">Mamiya 35mm page</a></p>

 

<p>As for lybricants: Sewing machine oil, preferably synthetic, is good for small stuff like this. For the really small

stuff, graphite might be even better (doesn't clog up as bad when it gets dirty). Ask a good locksmith.</p>

 

<p>I have a broken ZM Quartz with some lenses lying around which I've been meaning to sell, if you're interested.</

p>

Government?

 

What does the government have to do with it? The childrens' parents should throw out the TV and tell their kids to go play outside, enroll them for a sport, make them take a bicycle to school instead of dropping them off by car, give them a sandwich instead of a bag of crisps for lunch, etc.

 

None of those things can (or should) be done by a government...

Have a look at one of the off-brand RF remotes. Don't have one (yet), but they certainly look interesting.

 

As for the remotes you mentioned, depends on your application.

 

The RC-1 is ideal for putting yourself in group pictures, it has to be activated from the front of the camera (that's where the IR sensor is). It has two settings: direct, and 2-second delay. (sort of a short self-timer, the ST light blinks during the 2-second period).

 

The RS60E3 is cabled, meaning you have to be within a certain distance of your camera. It's mostly suited for tripod shots where you want to minimize camera-shake (use MLU!). It also has a sliding switch with which you can lock down the shutter. This makes it the only reliable way to use BULB exposures (unless you want to hold your finger on the trigger for over 30 seconds).

 

I hope this is helpful to you.

I like the fact that they introduce camera-shake at slow shutter speeds :-)

<p>I think the key-part in your story is this line:</p>

 

<p><i>(also, my daughter thinks its funny)</i></p>

 

<p>If your daughter thinks it's funny, she'll undoubtly laugh more, leading to nicer picture opportunities.</p>

 

<p>Experiment, and use what you like, that's my advice. Don't bother about what `pros' or armchair photographers tell you.</p>

I think another problem is that you have dived "into post after post, blog after blog, and book after book", and not just taken the camera and lenses out for a spin, to see if any of them are what you are looking for in a lens.

 

If they all are, good, if any fail to meet your demands, sell them

Don't know the answer to the first question, though I think that if you plan on using the wide end for landscapes, the polarizer will open up new possibilities.

 

As for the second question: Any autofocus SLR will require a circular polarizer, or you lose AF.

 

Remember though that the 18-55 has a front element that rotates during focussing, so you'll have to focus BEFORE you adjust the polarizer, or hold the filter while focussing.

I use ACDSee Pro for both my post-processing and displaying needs. It might not

be as powerful as PS, but it's got all the basic needs (and plenty more), and has

good raw-processing, and I prefer to get it right out of the camera anyway. My

work puts me behind a computer more than enough. And it's a lot cheaper than

PS...

I have a 17-40L on my EOS 30, and I can heartily recommend it.

<p>You get an underwater housing for your camera.</p>

 

<p><a href="http://www.ewa-marine.de/">Ewa-marine</a> make some good ones</p>

Me too. Go a bit wide (say 35mm), so chances are better the B&G will be in the picture. Set a medium aperture, and focus won't be super-important.

 

You'll need to do some PP (cropping, background blurring), but any picture is better than no picture.

What will you be shooting?

 

If you're going sports, get some fast primes

 

If you're going landscape, get something with a wide angle and no distortion.

 

If you're going portrait, get something medium with shallow DoF.

 

There's no `perfect setup', you need to pick on what you'll shoot, and know the limitations of your choice.

 

My choices:

 

For sports (on APS-C): 50mm 1.8, 135mm 2.0 and 1.4x extender.

For landscapes: Film body, 17-40mm 4.0 and 50mm 1.8.

For portraits: 50mm on digital, 135mm on film.

 

Walkaround with digital: Sigma 30mm 1.4

Walkaround with film: 50mm 1.8

 

The great thing about an SLR is that you don't have to limit yourself if you don't want to... :-)

Another option is to create two custom `picture styles', and agree that you always use one or the other. You can set the two styles to be identical, and changing the picture style is just a two-click action.

 

Of course, this only works if you don't regularily use the picture styles. As I always shoot RAW, I never use them, but the selected style still gets tagged to the EXIF data, so can be used for picture identification.

I know several Nikon users that are hoping for a 5D-equivalent Nikon: a semi-pro full-frame body...

 

As they say, the grass is always greener..

And they even make one for the mini-jack version remote as well!

 

Now, to find a store in the Netherlands with stuff like this...