On Tue, Mar 3, 2009 at 6:25 AM, Aditya Kapil <blue...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Tue, Mar 3, 2009 at 7:44 PM, Thaths <tha...@gmail.com> wrote: >> As with any such photography question.... what is your intent? Will >> you be shooting indoors/outdoors? People or landscapes? Can you carry >> around a lot of gear? Etc. > Mostly outdoors. Am willing to carry gear on such occasions. Intent: to > learn photography more.
I advice waiting till next week before you make a conclusion. The PMA trade show is happening this week in Las Vegas and there might be announcements about new product lines made there. My recommendations: * Buy a camera body that is cheap and does most of what you want. If you really get into photography you will likely upgrade your camera body in a couple of years anyway. Think of a camera body as a light-tight black box with a few capabilities. At the cheaper end of the spectrum you will get a sensor that has a 1.5 crop factor (i.e., a 35mm lens will act as a 35*1.5 = 52.5mm lens). * I strongly recommend a non-zoom lens such as 50mm f/1.8 (or the more expensive 35mm f/2). Learning photography with a fixed focal length lens enables you to be more deliberate about visualizing the image you want and taking steps (changing aperture / shutter speed, moving closer to farther away from the subject, shooting from low down or high up, etc.) to achieve the look you want. The 50mm lens sells for ~ $100 is one of the most widely used lenses. * A vast majority of DSLR owners shoot in completely automatic mode. IMO, this is a waste of the capabilities of the DSLR and $$. If you find yourself shooting mostly in auto mode, you may get better value for your money with a higher end point and shoot than with a DSLR. Learn the basics of shutter speed, aperture, depth of focus, etc. and start shooting in Aperture or Shutter priority mode. Graduate into fully manual mode later. * Gradually start building a good collection of lenses. Do not skimp on lenses. If you choose your lenses wisely, they will be around for a couple of decades. * If you are going to shoot landscape, invest in a good, stable tripod and head. Since you are going to be photographing outdoors, you probably can wait on buying an external flash. * Read some good books on photography. I highly recommend 'Learning to see creatively' (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0817441816). * Take lots and lots of photographs. Learn how to process them. Cull >95% of what you shoot and learn from the process. * You will end up spending more than you budgeted. Your camera gear will always be incomplete. Thaths -- "You'll have to speak up, I'm wearing a towel." -- Homer J. Simpson
