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  1. #1
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    Need advice please LONG post very sorry

    Hi,

    I read the FAQ thread, so I hope that I cover everything as best I can.

    I currently shoot with my phone, and have taken some pretty great pictures, but have always liked pictures and even developing since I was in Camp.

    Couldn't tell you how to develop a picture now if my life depended on it.

    So It's tax check time and the wife wants to get me a camera, and she knows that I don't want the Ashton Kutcher one from TV.

    I'd like to shoot everything from nature, to sports games, to people watching at the mall, and even the sky as it changes colors. It would be nice to be able to take pictures of a basketball in flight and be able to get it. Now I can take the player shooting the ball and it will be blurry and then I can take one of the ball hitting the floor.

    Planning wise I'd like to store the pics on an external hard drive, but I don't know what Digital Cameras store shots on anymore, I'd guess SD cards, but SD cards aren't that big and aren't pictures pretty big now?

    Like to have

    Camera
    Lens or Lens's (is that a word lol)
    Bag
    Cleaning equipment
    Tripod
    Storage medium (whatever that is )

    So the big question, budget. I'm guessing that it will be max of 2500-2800 but not 3k
    But also please take into consideration if there is a good 1500 camera in case I don't like it as much as I like taking pics with my phone.

    I've heard of a few sites like

    Porters
    BN

    So, can I have some recommendations please on something to get?
    Love shoting movies and someone had told me that lots of people get medium end digital video cameras and then just shoot pictures with the video camera, but I don't know how well that will work out.

    Thank you very much for any and all assistance, and I'll run down any leads you point me to.

  2. #2
    Senior Member volks's Avatar
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    Re: Need advice please LONG post very sorry

    Wow, from the simplest point and shoot phone camera to a $2500+ camera budget. It would be a big dream come true for many.
    You do realize that as soon as you move away from your phone camera you will have to learn the in's and out of a true digital camera as there are many setting options that you will have to learn and master, and if you are up for that...more power to you.
    Some issues for your consideration....
    Stay with a point and shoot camera or go directly to a SLR camera.
    Brand..Nikon, Canon or other ? Price wise they are basically all the same for quality and features.
    The first thing I would do if in your shoes is to find a good camera store, ( not one in a mega box store ) and start there, to familiarize yourself with brand, size,weight, fit ( how the camera feels in your hand ) etc.
    You might even want to consider renting a camera for a week before spending a couple of grands.
    You will get plenty of suggestions here, but ultimately you will have to decide how far you want to go, and it may be best done in small steps.
    PS: Don't worry about camera cards, as they are able to store more photos now than you can possibly shoot in one day.
    Good luck.
    Volker
    Nikon D7200
    Nikon P7100
    Nikon 16-80/2.8-4 ED VR
    Nikon 55-200 VR II

    Keeping it light and simple.

  3. #3
    Woe is me! wfooshee's Avatar
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    Re: Need advice please LONG post very sorry

    I guess you'll be wanting some vacation pictures?????

    (Sorry, with the username it just had to be done!)

    If you really have a 2500-dollar budget, you'll have no problem finding something that can fill your needs. A camera body with a couple of lenses and maybe a flash will be the basic "starter" outfit.

    Most of the bodies out there will have a flash built in, but the external will throw a LOT more light out there. The kit lenses are generally a wide-to-moderate zoom and a moderate-to-long zoom. The quality of those caries widely, as some places will sell you a 3rd-party brand for the kit, to save some money. Even within the name brand lenses there will be differences, such as having stabilization or not, Even the worst of these will far surpass your phone, but in general, make sure you get lenses from your camera manufacturer, at least at first.

    Bags: those will have adjustable dividers and so many external zippered compartments you'll think you need something simpler. You don't. All those pockets give you space for batteries (get at least 3, not just the one that comes with it, or even 2 to swap back and forth) and charger, memory cards, the USB cable, owner's manual (you do want to carry the best reference material around with you, right?) in addition to the body, lenses, and flash. At least you don't need the bulk of film any more!

    If you travel by air, carry the camera bag as carry-on. If you don't want to do that, then you'd better get a really good hard case with fittable foam inside.

  4. #4
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    Re: Need advice please LONG post very sorry

    Thank you for the replies.

    We only have one camera store here and it's not that big, but also the last time I was in there they hired high school kids who were doing the typical Best Buy type sell.

    I agree that going in a store would be the best.

    As far as the money goes, yes I do realize lots would like to have that, I do also realize that I Have a beat up old car, house in shambles, and due to some trauma am looking for a new hobby, (or to resurrect an old one) Once I get started, I dive full on in depth to my hobby or passion.

    I hadn't thought about the flash, thank you very much What is etiquette on using a flash now a day's? like if you're at a basketball game, how do the 100 camera persons who are behind the basket get away with taking shots of the player (don't they have flashes?)

    To my other question the rapid succession shots, does that come with every camera or no? Thought I read 3.4 shots a second, is that correct? Can you get the fish jumping out of the water, at his peak, coming down, and then hitting the water? Or is that well out of this price point?

    Protection from elements? how do you protect your camera from rain, dust, dirt WHILE shooting?

    If I was forced to buy from online, which place should I start browsing at?

    Once I get a camera, I'll be able to contribute back to what you have given to me, but for now, I'm the sponge. Sorry.

  5. #5
    Panarus biarmicus Moderator (Sports) SmartWombat's Avatar
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    Re: Need advice please LONG post very sorry

    To protect the camera it can be as simple as a plastic bag and sticky tape.
    Or a rainsleeve from Optech if you have a long lens to protect as well.
    PAul

    Scroll down to the Sports Forum and post your sports pictures !

  6. #6
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    Re: Need advice please LONG post very sorry

    Can you speak to any of the other questions, or just that one specifically. I am making a note of that company for the rainsleeve, and I thank you.

    Quote Originally Posted by SmartWombat View Post
    To protect the camera it can be as simple as a plastic bag and sticky tape.
    Or a rainsleeve from Optech if you have a long lens to protect as well.

  7. #7
    Woe is me! wfooshee's Avatar
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    Re: Need advice please LONG post very sorry

    Almost any modern dSLR camera will do bursts of at least 3 or 4 frames per second. Some are faster, some a tiny bit slower. The main difference is how many of those pictures it can buffer before it has to slow down and let the memory card catch up.

    The camera can shoot faster than it can save to the card, so it has an internal buffer of fast memory where it keeps what hasn't been saved yet. More buffer memory means longer bursts of consecutive frames.

    My D5000 will go about 8 frames before it slows down, and then it actually stops after 2 or 3 more slow frames. That's somewhere between 2 and 3 seconds of continuous frames, then a couple more about a second apart, then I have to stop and wait for it to catch up. A higher-end camera would run faster, or longer, or even both.

    Flash at a sporting event is an "it depends." When you get there you'll probably be able to tell pretty quickly. If all the pros are shooting without, then you probably shouldn't use it. (Make sure you know what modes don't use it the built-in flash automatically, by the way.) On a basketball court, probably not. It would be annoying to the players, and even to the crowd. On the other hand, flash is common at auto racing events that run into the night, like the Sebring 12-hour race.

  8. #8
    Senior Member volks's Avatar
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    Re: Need advice please LONG post very sorry

    You can't go wrong with a Nikon D5100 or D7000. Deciding on the camera is actually the easy part, compared to deciding on lens selection.
    Adorama is a great online company for buying camera equipment.
    My DC445 Kata camera bag is the best one I have had so far. It's not big, but carries all my stuff with room to spare.
    Volker
    Nikon D7200
    Nikon P7100
    Nikon 16-80/2.8-4 ED VR
    Nikon 55-200 VR II

    Keeping it light and simple.

  9. #9
    Panarus biarmicus Moderator (Sports) SmartWombat's Avatar
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    Re: Need advice please LONG post very sorry

    Online, in the US I'd go with Adorama or B&H.
    In the UK Warehouse Express, or Park Cameras.

    Almost every DSLR will give you 3 frames a second, the more you spend the faster it will be able to shoot, but 3-4fps is enough for most things to give some movement between frames.
    Faster and faster speeds are available if you spend more and more untit it sounds like a machine gun, then you get a lot of almost identical images - and after the event you pick out a few (spray and pray).

    Sony, Nikon, Canon, Olympus who have I offended by leaving them out?
    Really, any DSLR manufacturer has a camera that does what you want, and upgrades from that to do way more than you want now but might want in the future.

    The hard part of what you want is the indoor sport, usually where no flash is allowed.
    That means more expesive lenses with wider aperture to get maximum light into the camera.
    Or a more expensive body which works at a higher ISO speed so it needs less light to make the image.

    New improved bodies are released about every 2 years, new improved lenses maybe every 5-10 years.
    The big investment is in the lenses, as you will keep them forever, and put them on the new bodies.
    At least you will once your budget is big enough for the more expensive lenses.

    Bag, I would not get a Canon or Nikon bag. It says "steal me" to loud

    Don't worry about SD cards they go up to huge sizes, but I would never put all my eggs in one basket or all my images on one memory card. Either 4G or 8G is fine, depending on the resolution of the camera body.
    Big tip, shoot in RAW and get a copy of Lightroom to do the initial asjustments and conversion to JPG for printing. You get much more scope for adjustment of the image that way. If you want almost instant printing, use JPG+RAW and an 8G card, best of both worlds.
    I would rather use a lot of smaller cards and have one card fail and lose a few images, rather than have everything on one large card and possibly lose them all.

    Get a memory card reader to plug into your computer, and it will be faster than plugging the camera into your computer. It saves wear and tear on the USB connector and cover too. Cheap too at $10 or so.

    Don't forget a good stable tripod and remote release for your sunsets and sunrises.

    For shooting people you might want the hinge out screen instead of a fixed screen, so you can shoot from the waist without having to lift the camera to your eye. It's useful for lower angle landscapes too, saves bending!

    Cheapest accessory perhaps, extension tubes for macro images; flowers, insects, abstracts, whatever you want to get close to.

    You don't have to get lenses from the big manufacturers either, look at alternatives from Tamron, Sigma as you can get similar lenses cheaper.
    PAul

    Scroll down to the Sports Forum and post your sports pictures !

  10. #10
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    Re: Need advice please LONG post very sorry

    Very good advice in the replies you have received here. I've been doing photography for far too many years, and have spent a very large sum of money on equipment, that would be significantly reduced if online forums had been available to get the advice contained within this thread..

    +1 for the concept of third party lenses. My inventory of lenses include 4 Ex Series Sigma lenses in FX format, which have and continue to work very well. And they work even better on the DX format sensors in my Nikon DX cameras. ( FX and DX refer to the physical size of the image sensor with FX being the same size as a 35mm film image, DX somewhat smaller)

    Given 2500 to spent, a Nikon 5100 kit with 1 or 2 lenses would be a very good step, (Canon makes equivalent models and kits, but I haven't used Canon in nearly 20 years). Then get a good external flash, which takes another 400 to 500, tripod, bags, etc., and you will use most of the 2500.

    Welcome to the wonderful world of photography! A world you can enjoy the balance of your life.

    Andy

  11. #11
    Senior Member Anbesol's Avatar
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    Re: Need advice please LONG post very sorry

    Sony, Nikon, Canon, Olympus who have I offended by leaving them out?
    Pentax, Panasonic, Samsung, Fuji, & Leica users. ;)

    Oh no, is there someone we've forgotten? Now they'll REALLY be offended.
    - Charlie

    Feel free to edit and repost my work as a part of your critique.

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