Beginner's Help To Choose Camera.Thankyou In Advance!!!

I am SO appreciative of all you who are advanced in your knowledge. I am starting out with zero knowledge. ~Ha I do have the passion to learn and now have a reason to learn.
I am a makeup artist who would like to become "the best of the best," and do MY OWN photo shoots instead of someone else making all the money. I know I have A LOT to learn and it will take some time. Please start me out by recommending an awesome camera.
I will be doing mostly weddings and on site for models.

How many lenses and types would I need to do these type "shoots?" I am a little nervous about the $$$$. ~Ha

Thankyou for your help!

So you're talking about a digital SLR? What is your budget? You can get up and running these days for well under $1000. However, professional portrait, fashion and wedding photographers are usually using cameras that cost $1500 and up and lenses that cost even more than that.

How much photography experience do you have?

The choices of lenses you will be using depends on the camera's sensor size. The larger the sensor and the newer the camera will give you less noise in the photos and higher ISO setting with less noise than older camera. The top of the line cameras are up there in the 5- grand range and have full frame 35mm sized sensors. Some are now giving 14 bits per color in RAW mode.

You don't need top of the line cameras to get good photos but even if you purchase the top of the line camera your investment in the lenses will cost you more than your camera.

You best bit to get it right is to read up on photography before you decide what to purchase.

AND don't forget if you go digital you will need a fast computer with maxed out memory and a large hard drive, plus PhotoShop, unless you use Linux.

Photo-John, I have no experience! I am just starting to read as much as I can.
So you are saying that the camera could be $1,500.00 and up. How many lenses do you think I would need and what would be your "guess' estimate" at much I am looking to spend?

Freygr- I appreciate your help as well. And that is why I am here... to ask all you pros your advice as to what camera, etc. Thank you for advising me as to the computer. I think I'm okay there.

Soooooooooo... what would you guys advise me to buy if I were a relative starting out ???

Before chosing your camera, can we spend a little time defining what your needs are?

You are a makeup artist on model shoots and weddings. This means essentially doing headshots in less-than-perfect conditions? Here's what I imagine:

Needs

- The person is yours the time you do the makeup
- This happens in someone's house or or a lodge but not actually on a photo set
- When the makeup is ready you have two minutes to do your shots before the person gets whisked away to get married or whatever and you don't see her again

Facts of life

1. When doing a portrait is that the subject must be at least six feet away or else you get a comical perspective effect where the subject's nose looks to big because it's the thing closest to the camera
2. In order to get a headshot from six feet you need a fairly long telephoto lens (135 to 200mm on 24x36mm sensor). If you also want to do a full-body shot you need a "normal" or even slightly wide-angle lens and back off to 10 feet or so (35mm or 50mm on 24x36mm sensor).
3. The light is absolutely crucial to the final result and as you can't count on being in a studio you'll have to provide your own. This means one or more Cobra type flashes that you can position away from the camera but piloted by the camera. Because you're going to be the best you're going to spend ages practicing with these things to see what lighting effects you can get. Your subject matter is limited - you want to show off the makeup - so concentrate on that and get good at it.
4. You need a compact outfit because you already have your makeup gear to carry around

What I would choose (in fact it's what I have already):

a) Low-end pro camera with an APS-C sensor (example: Nikon D300). It has all the quality and technology that you need.
b) If I had to stick with one compact lens with maximum versatility it would be the Nikon 18-200. This is not the sharpest lens that Nikon makes but I've used it a lot and I think it's enough
c) One or two Nikon SB800 or SB900 flashguns to start with. When you've got through experimenting with what you can do with them then you can add extra lighting shaper things

Being pragmatic

That's already much more than the $1500 that someone mentioned. If you want to start off more economically - I think that a Nikon D90 with the 18-105mm kit lens and a Nikon SB600 flash would give you similar results. You might get the professionals sneering at you because this is amateur material but it's the result that counts. The D90 has pretty much the same processor and sensor as the D300 and - most important - it can control remote flashes via it's built-in flash, just like the D300.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Franglais

Before chosing your camera, can we spend a little time defining what your needs are?

You are a makeup artist on model shoots and weddings. This means essentially doing headshots in less-than-perfect conditions? Here's what I imagine:

Needs

- The person is yours the time you do the makeup
- This happens in someone's house or or a lodge but not actually on a photo set
- When the makeup is ready you have two minutes to do your shots before the person gets whisked away to get married or whatever and you don't see her again

Facts of life

1. When doing a portrait is that the subject must be at least six feet away or else you get a comical perspective effect where the subject's nose looks to big because it's the thing closest to the camera
2. In order to get a headshot from six feet you need a fairly long telephoto lens (135 to 200mm on 24x36mm sensor). If you also want to do a full-body shot you need a "normal" or even slightly wide-angle lens and back off to 10 feet or so (35mm or 50mm on 24x36mm sensor).
3. The light is absolutely crucial to the final result and as you can't count on being in a studio you'll have to provide your own. This means one or more Cobra type flashes that you can position away from the camera but piloted by the camera. Because you're going to be the best you're going to spend ages practicing with these things to see what lighting effects you can get. Your subject matter is limited - you want to show off the makeup - so concentrate on that and get good at it.
4. You need a compact outfit because you already have your makeup gear to carry around

What I would choose (in fact it's what I have already):

a) Low-end pro camera with an APS-C sensor (example: Nikon D300). It has all the quality and technology that you need.
b) If I had to stick with one compact lens with maximum versatility it would be the Nikon 18-200. This is not the sharpest lens that Nikon makes but I've used it a lot and I think it's enough
c) One or two Nikon SB800 or SB900 flashguns to start with. When you've got through experimenting with what you can do with them then you can add extra lighting shaper things

Being pragmatic

That's already much more than the $1500 that someone mentioned. If you want to start off more economically - I think that a Nikon D90 with the 18-105mm kit lens and a Nikon SB600 flash would give you similar results. You might get the professionals sneering at you because this is amateur material but it's the result that counts. The D90 has pretty much the same processor and sensor as the D300 and - most important - it can control remote flashes via it's built-in flash, just like the D300.

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Charles,
I don't know how to thank you for such a DETAILED note. You are AWESOME!!!!
I would also like to eventually do weddings and events. What would you suggest?
I anxiously await your reply. (Or anyone else who wants to chime in!!! :>)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shopgirl1960

Charles,
I don't know how to thank you for such a DETAILED note. You are AWESOME!!!!
I would also like to eventually do weddings and events. What would you suggest?
I anxiously await your reply. (Or anyone else who wants to chime in!!! :>)

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You can start with the same configuration for weddings (D300/18-200/SB800/SB900 or D90/18-105/SB600). For weddings you need:

1. A lens or lenses to go from moderate wideangle to telephoto quickly
2. A powerful flash to make sure you have decent lighting in all situations. This is very important - you need to keep detail in the bride's white dress and the groom's black suit, even when they are standing outside the church with bright sunlight putting everyone's faces in shadow. The camera/flash combinations I mentioned have the technology to get an acceptable result automatically
3. Good results at low ISO for situations in dark churches where you don't want to destroy the atmosphere by using a powerful flash head-on

Weddings are actually quite a challenge. You have to adapt to a wide variety of situations with lighting that you can't master, find good places to shoot, manage a crowd of people, choose just the right moment to release the shutter at each picture.. Everyone has their own preferred tools, usually extra lenses to work in low light

So the same camera and lenses you mentioned originally will still work for weddings as well. Okay, great! Thankyou so much and I can't tell you how much I appreciate your expertise.

Della

Charles' advice is accurate. The camera and lenses Charles mentioned can be used for weddings, travel, portraits, you name it. As you gain experience, you'll better know what your needs are and will begin expanding your lens line-up. Good luck.

Thankyou so much for adding your comment. I am now convinced that I will choose one of the these two cameras.

Thankyou,thankyou,thankyou!!!!!

Here's a wedding photographer I snapped in the center of Paris this morning. His wedding party were having a rickshaw ride round the Marais and he was accompanying them, on a motorbike driven by his assistant.

So he has a D300. The lens appears to be an 18-55 f2.8, one of the professional's standards. I didn't recommend it because you need a second lens with more telephoto for the closeups.

And he has his SB800 flash on something I've never seen before. It's a flash bracket with an infra-red pod that goes on the flash hot shoe. Wow. Remember I said the quality of the light is important? He must get better results with the light at the side rather than on top of the camera. And he's snapped down the wide-angle diffuser to get a softer right..

Just remember there is not a silver bullet for a camera. There are too many variables during wedding and other social events.

You don't need all the bells and whistles in a camera to get great photos, you just need to know when you exceed you equipment capabilities.

I wanted to post an update. I decieded to go with the Nikon D90. Without your help and advice I would still be searching and deciding. Thankyou so much!!!! :>)

A special thank you to Charles!!! And interesting information on your last post Charles. :>) Your awesome!

Della

The thing you need to remember is that you're buying more than a camera. You're buying a system. And with a system, the body will come and go. So, I'd start with an entry level camera like the Canon XSI and spend most of your on your glass. Then, as you get more advanced, you can step up the body and still use the same lenses.