kari v

8mm Peleng is great fun. It can be a little scary at first if you're not accustomed to such design and manual focusing... but then again who needs AF with 8mm anyway?

And if you wan't to go seriously fishy just buy a cheap 35mm film body and enjoy almost complete circular vision. :)

One thing not yet mentioned here is that primes are usually fast. Shooting f1.4 glass is great fun and you really see what DoF means. I like handheld low light shooting and consider f2.8 bare minimum, slow actually - and that's the fastest zoom you can get...<div></div>

It doesn't look too bad really. Make a print and see how it works. I think most people would be thrilled.

There is something seriously wrong. Usually prints get a bit contrastier, you lose *some* shadow and highlight detail quite easily, but this?

Have you tried sending the pictures as normal sRGB? When you find a consistent lab this works great. Yes, I realize this isn't the most professional answer and I'm not a pro shooter, but I have healthy eyes with a slight tendency to "pixel peep" my prints and 98% of them turn out just the way I intended with very simple sRGB workflow.

For a $100 I'd do some research on older camera models and buy one used, but that really requires some work and knowledge about camera specifications and of course actually finding an older model can prove to be tedious hunting.

(I still use Konica-Minolta Z10 3,2Mp. It has really full manual control, even flash compensation, 36-288 zoom, and it focuses to about 1cm.)

 

I have to agree that A530 is a nice little camera for the money. I don't think you can go really wrong with it.

 

"Do any of you have a favorite digital camera that works well for landscapes and close-up shots?"

 

Any p&s works for close-ups, though I really recommend one with an ability to manually focus (A530 has that). P&S autofocus tends to get frustrating. For landscapes a wider lens than 35mm would be nice sometimes, but you can't get one with $100. You could try stiching two or more images (there is software to help you) if you want wide, a tripod and moderate amount of patience is essential here.

 

"It must also have software that's compatible with Mac OS X."

 

Camera software really doesn't matter. You can transfer pictures through usb like any other files and you can edit with whatever software you like.

Great optics, you can't really go wrong with either one, it's a matter of taste and available space. I find 50mm more versatile in general shooting.

Hello,

 

I'm new here at Photo.net and I've been shooting with T70 for five months now.

I got it for free with 28/2.8, 50/1.4 and 70-210/4, all in perfect condition -

can't really complain as that is basically all I need (ok, 85/1.8 would be nice).

 

T70 is ergonomically a bit challenged but I've grown to it. It's amazing how

much a big bright viewfinder contributes to relaxing shooting. Manual focus with

50/1.4 wide open works like a charm. It's a dream after shooting with my

friend's Rebel XT. I mean, first time I looked through XT's vf I thought I was

dying, but recovered quite quickly when I realized that in addition to dark

tunnel I should be seeing bright light at the end...

 

No real point here, just thought to say hello and wish you happy shooting.

(I'll also try to make a picture attachment. Let's see...)<div></div>

"I will want to invest in a quality wide angle lens"

 

If you want to go really wide check out the Sigma 10-20. Just keep in mind that this lens, even when zoomed to it's max, is still a little bit wider than your Cybershot and at 10mm mind blowing if you're not accustomed to the view. Trying it inside a store may not feel so great, but take one outside and you'll see what I mean. Also a good thing is that wider lenses can be used handheld with quite slow shutter speeds without visible shake in the picture.

 

I think either Rebel XTi or D40(x) would be a good choice. Both are recent models, quite small, inexpensive, objectives are readily available to every taste and picture quality is good. Lenses, accessories and proper camera handling technique should be your first concern, you can upgrade the body later if you feel like it and lose very little $$$. 40D would be a total overkill.

"but at the same time, not be so advanced that I cant use it."

 

None of these cameras is really more "advanced" than the other, don't worry. There'll definitely be a learning curve but if you panic you can always put the camera on automatic mode and let it handle the situation - same as your Cybershot - and when you have time you can experiment.

One suggestion though: buy enough memory cards and shoot raw + jpg. Raw gives you better tools to save / correct / enhance your pictures later as your photoshop skills grow to meet your toy. (I take that you are not familiar with raw files.)

A camera with a bulb mode would be nice in your line of work. Many P&S digitals have that. The noise can get quite bad with long exposures but you'd be able to stack longer and still decent exposures than 1/1.7sec.

 

If you want to stay digital I'd say a cheap dslr is good. If you don't mind analog get an old all manual film camera for pocket change, put some nice slide film in and leave the shutter open for hours if you like. Never running out of battery is a nice bonus...