ejchem101

<p>I'm glad to hear you've decided on lenses. That's exactly what I have been doing. My needs are slightly different than yours (I dont do many weddings except for relatives who are happy with any photos). Mainly I use mine for landscape / outdoor sports / anything outdoors type of photos.</p>

<p>I started with a canon d60, bought myself a few nice professional level lenses, and upgraded to a 20D. Now I have the great lenses on a better body, i'm happy all around. Start with lenses, and you wont be disappointed.</p>

<p>well, I only stopped it down because I was noticing a very odd shaped dark spot when I was shooting at f8 ( a picture of a flag with blue sky background) I only stopped down to f32 to figure out what exactly was there. Most of the dust specs dont bother me (even though a couple show up in normal shooting) but that odd shape scared me for a second.</p>

<p>Hey guys, thanks for the quick responses, a few puffs of air did the trick. Lots of dust still there, but I can live with them, that streak was just slightly annoying. Thanks!</p>

<p>Sensor now at f32<br>

<a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/10818251">http://www.photo.net/photo/10818251</a></p>

<p><a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/10818144">http://www.photo.net/photo/10818144</a><br>

I'm thinking it's a hair or something of the like as well. This image is at f32 makes it out a little more clearly.</p>

<p>HAH yep those are tree branches ;) I meant towards the middle... but i'm uploading a different pic as we speak</p>

 

<p>Hey guys, I have a used body that I'm wondering is it just an odd shaped piece of dust that can be fixed when the sensor is cleaned? or is it a damaged sensor?</p>

<p>I have attached a blue sky at f13, the dust at the top I think is just a dirty sensor needing cleaned, but what about the odd shape at the bottom of the photo?</p>

<p><a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/10818110">http://www.photo.net/photo/10818110</a></p>

<p>thanks!</p>

<p>I thought I would toss in my opinion. I just recently bought the 17-40 for my 20D. While I plan on using it mostly for landscapes, I could see myself using it as a studio lens if I needed something wide enough.</p>

<p>The reason I chose the 17-40 over other choices was for a couple of reasons. #1. The photos I take are mainly outdoor photos that I will either have a tripod for, or enough light that I dont need the large aperture. #2. For the price of a used 17-40 it was difficult to find anything else that had the build quality I wanted (for hiking etc) and IQ.</p>

<p>Lastly, even though I dont have a FF like the 5d... I do have canon film (shhh I said the f word) that I can slap the 17-40 on if I want to take advantage of the Ultrawide 17 side of it.<br>

 

<p>After 2 weeks and a couple hundred photos with this lens I couldn't be happier, haven't been disappointed that it is f4 yet (however if you do a lot of indoor, non-flash photography there are probably better alternatives).</p>

 

</p>

<p>Good luck with your decision!</p>

<p>My experience:</p>

<p>I found out that old digital SLR's were selling for not a whole lot. When I got my first full time teaching job I spent $200 for a Canon D60. I have used it for 3 years, taken some very nice photos with it, and learned a lot about photography, while picking up a used lens about once a year.</p>

<p>My first lens was the 50 1.8, then a few months later I picked up a 70-200 f4 off craigslist. A couple of months ago, I picked up a 17-40 f4 (I will probably eventually get to an old beat up used 5d). </p>

<p>After using the D60 for 3 years I've decided I could use a slight upgrade. Just today I traded in my D60 and $100 for a 20D. Looking forward to playing around with the new body!</p>

<p>Well, based on the recommendations of so many here I have a 17-40 on the way. Looking forward to testing it out. I have a feeling it will also be spending some time on my old canon film SLR to take advantage of the full 17mm length, but will be great to have a good walk-around for my D60 as well! Now if I could find a way to justify the purchase to the wife :)</p>

<p>For me I think I am most grateful for 2 things. #1 is the light metering systems of modern cameras (learning on a complete manual camera has helped me appreciate this). Also, RAW format that allows me to slightly adjust the exposure if the metering wasn't where I wanted it has been very helpful. I'm sure whenever I upgrade from my D60 there will be many other things!</p>

<p>Great ideas guys! I really appreciate the ideas, as a chemistry I kind of feel out of my element teaching photography, but I think I will have a lot of fun when I get things rolling, the startup is the hardest part. I just need to remind myself how important this is for kids... These could be future professional photographers, but if they aren't presented with an opportunity to shine they may never pursue it.</p>

<p>The D30 may be a great idea... or maybe I should upgrade my D60 to something along the lines of a 40D and donate the D60 to the school.</p>

<p>Fundraisers are also a great idea, as for banning the point and shoots, I would love to but since that is the majority of the students that are there at the moment, I also have to keep the interest up before it just falls apart. Might be something for the future.</p>

<p>Keep the ideas coming!</p>

<p>Hey guys, just found this part of the forum and thought it would be perfect for this question I have.</p>

<p>The situation with the high school I teach in and photography is not good. There is not an SLR camera to be found. The yearbook staff is using thier personal point and shoot digitals to take photos (and they all just use complete automatic settings). </p>

<p>Long story short, I teach chemistry, not art or english or anything else. Because photography is one of my main hobbies, and I understand the technical details well enough to teach others about the technical details I decided I wanted to help the school and form a photography club.</p>

<p>I am not getting paid, the club isnt even recognized by the school yet and does not have a budget at all. As far as interest in the club, we have between 5-10 students who will come after school for this. The problem is, the students only have access currently to very low-end digital point and shoot digitals, dont get me wrong you can get ok pictures with these... but for a club setting it is limited with how much I can help the students.</p>

<p>I'm getting off track... My question is I've never taken a photography class, what I've learned is mainly from my father and grandfather, who were both avid photographers, and my grandfather taught a class at the college level.</p>

<p>Topics we've talked about so far is:<br>

1: How to make the most out of thier point and shoots. Basically talking about how location is key, turning off on camera flashes, supporting their camera if it is a dark setting.<br>

2: Pre-focus and using the rule of thirds to make the photo more appealing to the eye.<br>

3: ISO settings (although most of their cameras dont even support this), noise and making sure the correct subject is in focus.</p>

<p>I have encouraged them to try and find a film SLR (remember these are HS students with no income and a very low income school district) from craigslist, or ebay or pawnshops etc. I learned a lot and came to understand photography largely based on fully manual cameras.</p>

<p>What are some other topics normally covered in very basic photography classes?</p>

<p> (I would like to teach about shutter speeds, f stops, film speeds etc, but I feel like I'm limited due to students not having a camera that will allow these things) </p>

<p>Do I just teach about composition at this point since there is not much left to talk about when it comes to the technical capability of thier cameras? Or do I require them to get manual film cameras? Or do I purchase a "class copy" film SLR and then loan it out to students who would like to use it (this would be very minimal unless I could get money from the yearbook fund.... good luck with that).</p>

<p>My main goal is to encourage excitement about photography to students who dont have any access to these types of classes or guidance. As well as support the yearbook staff to allow them to get better photography for thier publication, as of now the most quality photos are coming free of charge from yours truly (and it is fun for me).<br>

Any ideas/suggestions you have will be great! Thanks!</p>

<p>Last thing I'm thinking about is getting 2 primes to cover the range... but again I think I would be missing out on the build quality and flexibility of the zoom. </p>

<p>Thanks for all of the help guys, looks like I've come to the conclusion that a 17-40L is going to be for me!</p>

<p>Thanks for the input guys!<br>

Gabe, I think you're right that the 17-55 would be a useful range. One problem that I have is that my current D60 will not accept EF-S lenses so those are out of the question.</p>

<p>Also... maybe 5 years down the road I would like to pick up a 5D (I like having the older models that are still very good) so I would want to make sure all of my lenses will be able to handle full frame cameras.</p>

<p>Only reason I stress build quality is my wife and I do a LOT of hiking, and the constant bumping around of my pack (I have a good camera backpack but still) puts a lot of stress on the more fragile lenses.</p>

<p>Bobby and Gabriel, thanks for the suggestion of the 24-105L I think this may be another option I'll need to consider. Used it is looking to be about $200 more than the 17-40, my only concern is if I would miss the wider end on some landscape shots.</p>

<p>Hey guys, I'm looking at probably the last lens for my kit. I've only been building my camera equipment for about 2 years. I started out buying a used Canon D60, and a 50mm 1.8.<br>

Loved it. I have since bought a 70-200 F4 and also love the sharpness, and colors that the lens provides.<br>

I am looking at purchasing one more lens. Planning on it being my walk around lens for hiking, outdoor events family events and some landscape photography. My biggest concern is build quality (that it will last me many years), price (as I use my lenses outdoor most of the time and in good lighting conditions or with a tripod I dont see the need for the larger apertures), and overall image quality.</p>

<p>From the reviews that I've read I think that I should be looking for a used 17-40... Are there other suggestions that will have this build quality and image quality.<br>

PS Changing lenses doesn't bother me horribly, but the wider angle primes seem that they will cost just as much, or they don't have the build quality of the 17-40 and I would be worried about them breaking.</p>

I guess that makes sense, finding what type of photography will be best for me... depends on results, and how much I am willing to work to get good results in those areas.

 

Thanks Oskar

Hey guys,

 

I finally saved up enough to buy an old Canon EOS D60, have been using it for a couple of weeks and I'm loving it!

 

Now my dilemma is trying to find where I should spend my time with my camera. I'm a full-time High School

Chemistry Teacher. I understand that for now Photography is a hobby, but it something that I would like to get

close to semi-professional at, and I'm not in a hurry, if I get to that point by my 50's i'm happy (that's 25

years). I'm Interested in absolutely everything, Sports, music, hunting, outdoor photography... I don't even

mind weddings!

 

Are there newspapers/ magazines willing to have an extra freelance photographer in the summer? Or do most people

just want someone who can be there all the time. I think that I would rather not do portraits except for friends

and family members. Is there a place for me in this photography world to make even a small amount of money on

the side (maybe to pay for more photo equipment). Any Suggestions?

 

Thank you in advance!