So you want an SLR camera? Do you really need it?

[WapleSpunK]

I get asked a lot about cameras so I wanted to post this to help people out.

First, brand. To be honest, it's really a matter of if you like a brand already. However, there's really not much difference in whichever brand you get.

A couple questions you need to ask are things like: Do you really need an SLR? Will you actually take advantage of what it has to offer?

I realized after going to Disney that it's definitely not an easy camera to lug around. They're just big. I really had wished I brought Nee's little pocket camera and I would have had more fun on the trip. So do you want to carry around that burden? On working trips, where I'm out to get photos to sell and whatnot, I'll carry my 30 pound backpack.

A lot of people buy an SLR and keep it in automatic mode. Why? You can get pretty good pocket cameras now that will look the same as what you get if you don't get artsy with your SLR. If you want to use your manual, aperture and shutter modes you can really do a lot of neat stuff. I keep my cameras in manual about 77% of the time now and adjust to what I want to shoot.

Are you willing to also invest extra money into better lenses? This is one of the real advantages to an SLR. I, for example, have a wide angle lens (12-24mm) for getting wide landscapes, big archetecture, and purposely distorted shots. My normal lens is a 17-55mm. If I want to get tight portraits or far off subjects I use the 70-200mm. And I have a macro lens for getting really close-up stuff like bugs. None of my lenses are slower than f4, meaning that in low-light, I can usually still get a good shot without a flash. The lens that comes with the camera will be fairly slow (meaning less light comes through the aperture so you need to expose the shot longer which could cause motion blur).

Do you want to learn, if you don't know already, how f-stops and shutter speeds affect the shot? Do you want to be creative and use these to make the shot more interesting? This goes back to leaving the camera on auto.

Will you use an external flash? The pop-up flash on a camera sucks because it'll leave very unflattering shadows, cause red-eye or take longer for the shot since you have to do the pre-flash thing to help reduce red-eye. An external flash will really improve the shot.

A lot of people do spend a lot of money on SLRs but they don't always do it for the right reasons. Because they are bulky, heavy, cost more (you also have to get their insides cleaned every so often), have more accessories, and so on, really decide if you need it before you get it.

If you have any specific questions you want to ask me, feel free. You can email me at bob at M3Imagery.com

Bob

[Freejack]

Thanks for the little essay, Waple. Whether to buy an SLR or not is something I ponder every now and again. I currently have and use a Canon point-and-shoot that I pretty much always keep in manual mode. While far from ideal, I am able to capture most of what I want and what ends up sucking is usually due to my lack of skills and/or knowledge of proper camera technique and such.

[WapleSpunK]

Thanks for the little essay, Waple. Whether to buy an SLR or not is something I ponder every now and again. I currently have and use a Canon point-and-shoot that I pretty much always keep in manual mode. While far from ideal, I am able to capture most of what I want and what ends up sucking is usually due to my lack of skills and/or knowledge of proper camera technique and such.

My pleasure.

Some people actually improve their skills when they invest in the higher-end equipment because they figure, "since I have it, I may as well try to use it". Others, however, will still suck because they just don't want to learn. My opinion is if you don't want to learn and really use what you have, stick with the regular stuff.

It's amazing that I find photographers who claim to be wedding or fashion photographers and when I quiz them in an interview, just to subtly see what they know, they don't have a clue. I've asked people coming to me for a job to things like, "so what lens is that?" or "what's the maximum apperture on that lens" and they'll say, "uum, it's the lens that came wtih the camera, I really don't know". That's when I know if I want to use them. Especially if they say they've been a photographer for a while. Sometimes it's fun to play with them.

[CheapToad]

About 2 years ago I sold my digital SLR for the reasons Waple mentioned. I now have a nice Point and shot that takes very nice shots. I really don't miss the SLR. Spend a few hundred on a top of the line Point and shot and you'll be very happy you did.

[zantedeschia]

That was very informative. Thanks for the insight.

[Briarthorn]

Sorta a related subject...
Is a Nikon really all that much better than other point and shoots? Is it worth the $500?

[WapleSpunK]

Sorta a related subject...
Is a Nikon really all that much better than other point and shoots? Is it worth the $500?

For MY answer, I'd say that a $500 Nikon would be about the same as a $500 Canon. Very often it's up to just what your preference is over one brand over the other. Some Chevy owners hate Fords. Why? Who the heck knows.

I've always been a Canon guy but that's really because it was my first SLR. When I bought a DSLR, I almost bought a Nikon D70. But it never felt right in my hands. I tried a Canon 30D and it just felt right, very comfortable. The cameras were very similar (the Canon did have better features but was also about $500 more).

If you look at a Canon 1d Mark III vs a Nikon D3, both top of the line models, they're almost equal in every way. One may have a few features that are better but the other may have different features that are better.

Not really sure I answered anything. What Nikon are you looking at that's $500, what Canon are you comparing to, and what features or qualities do you need?

[CrazySauer]

I have a Canon Rebel XTi and have had mixed success shooting Ultimate Frisbee. I went with Canon because my dad has a Canon, and had an extra lens to give me when I frist got the camera body. Anyhow, I had also heard that Canon lenses focused a bit faster and would be better for shooting sports.

I have a Canon 55-200mm Ultrasonic zoom lens that I use at most sporting events, if I recall correctly it was about a $350 birthday present. I think Canon makes faster focusing lenses, but at double the price. Would a faster motor'ed lense help get crisper action shots?

[WapleSpunK]

It really depends on where your problem is. Is it slow focusing where you can't get it to lock in quickly enough, or are you getting blurry shots even with focus or something else?

ultrasonic motors are usually quite fast to focus, however, that lens, if I'm looking at the right one, has a maximum aperture of 4.5 which means, approximately in leyman's terms, that it's only letting in about 1/4.5 of the available light. In comparison, a lens with a max fstop of 2.8 will let in almost twice that, and a lens needs light in order to focus well.

So, if you're shooting in dusk or lower light, that may slow it down. However, if you're in full or mostly sun, that shouldn't be an issue.

Another potential cause would be shutter speed. When shooting sports you need to shoot (usually) at a minimum shutter speed of 1/500, preferably 1/1000. Your aperture setting and ISO will affect this. If you're shooting at ISO of 100 you'll need your shutter to be open twice as long as if you were shooting at ISO200, or 4x as long as if at ISO400, etc. And your aperture too. If you were using f5.6 you'd have a shutter speed half as long as if shooting at f8.

To get the fastest shutter speed to eliminate motion blur would be to open your aperture to it's fullest, 4.5 in your case if I'm right with the numbers, and bump the ISO as high as you can while keeping digital noise down. On a rebel, probably no more than ISO 800.

Actually, this is important. Your lens has an aperture (f-stop) range of 4.5-5.6 which means that if you're zoomed wide to the 55mm end you'll get the 4.5 aperture, but if you zoom in to 200mm your aperture will close down to 5.6 so you're letting in only 1/5.6th of the light as opposed to 1/4.5th.

I hope this helps. If you can send me one of your photos along with the camera settings I can probably give you a more precise answer. Feel free to send one to bob at M3imagery.com.

[CrazySauer]

Thanks Waple, I'll pay closer attention and try to get more consistant results next time Im shooting, using ISO 800...

...which would mean that I need to shoot in aperature (Av) or shutter (Tv) priority mode. Would you then recommend using Tv - 1/1000 and ISO 800 if there seems to be enough light outside?

[WapleSpunK]

Thanks Waple, I'll pay closer attention and try to get more consistant results next time Im shooting, using ISO 800...

...which would mean that I need to shoot in aperature (Av) or shutter (Tv) priority mode. Would you then recommend using Tv - 1/1000 and ISO 800 if there seems to be enough light outside?

That depends. In Tv mode at those settings, when you focus it'll tell you if it's over or under exposed or not. If it's overexposed you can either stop down the f-stop by going from f8 to f11 or whatever, but that will bring more of the background in focus which you may not want, or you can lower the ISO which would be the better solution. If it's showing it's underexposed, you'd either raise the ISO but that will add noise, or you can open the aperture if you can open it anymore.

However, that is a good starting point and Tv mode would be the better choice for shooting sports.

Another thing to consider is where the sun is. If you are in a position where the sun is over your shoulder, you'll be getting much more light on them and it'll help. Directly behind you and the lighting will appear flatter than if it's at an angle. If the action is between you and the sun you'll have a harder time lighting them and will end up with more sillouhettes, or blowing out the sky when you overexpose for the people. however, if you have a flash you can get some cool effects. In that case you'd go into manual mode and meter a correct exposure for the sky/background and then let your flash light up your subject.