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Permalink Reply by Jen Bell on December 5, 2009 at 9:27pm

LOL. Thanks, how about giving a few pointers/tips on better or should I say easier ways to actually use it. I have NO formal training and my work requires a lot of time, yet I wish by March or so I'll be able to further pursue photography or at least take a class to learn the basics.


Adrienne A. Desch said:

I Have the Nikon D200... love it!!! I would never sell any of my photography equipment. Even the 35mm cameras... what's a couple 10 or so cameras....

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Permalink Reply by Jason S. on December 10, 2009 at 9:48pm

It's great to see other people interested in photography. It's always been an interest of mine that I'm now pursuing more in my free time. I took a short college class recently and I'm looking to get my first DSLR (D90). I've been using point-and-shoot cameras but they just don't let me take control of the photos. I can never get the shot I want. Plus I love macro photography, so I'll need something like a telephoto lens (or other ideas?).

I'm up for a photo walk or meet up. I think it's a great idea. I have some photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonblogs/

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Permalink Reply by Dave B on December 11, 2009 at 5:31pm

Hi Jason - For ultra-high macro magnification on a DSLR you usually need what they call a dedicated 1:1 macro lens, giving you a life size reproduction of small objects like this:



Dedicated macro lenses typically cost between $300 and $800-ish depending on focal distance of the lens. 50mm length on a DSLR is comparable to what the human eye sees, 300mm is like looking through low-powered binoculars, and 10mm gives you a very wide perspective.

Alternatively, slightly lower grade consumer zoom lenses often can focus relatively close for pseudo-macro shots. Tamron 70-300mm is sometimes a good starting block for stuff like that. The included Nikon or Canon kit lens plus a basic telephoto is a nice starting package for a new DSLR user and gives you a decent palette of tools to start with. Amazon.com is a good resource for reviews and sample pictures for example, "nikon macro lens" should give you good hits.

Good luck!

Jason S. said:

It's great to see other people interested in photography. It's always been an interest of mine that I'm now pursuing more in my free time. I took a short college class recently and I'm looking to get my first DSLR (D90). I've been using point-and-shoot cameras but they just don't let me take control of the photos. I can never get the shot I want. Plus I love macro photography, so I'll need something like a telephoto lens (or other ideas?).

I'm up for a photo walk or meet up. I think it's a great idea. I have some photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonblogs/

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Permalink Reply by Dave B on December 12, 2009 at 4:27pm

Mia - Image quality varies little from body to body when it comes to modern DSLRs, unless you are talking the top of the line $5,000 pro models. Sure, 6.1 megapixels can be a shortcoming, but only if you are running large prints or making full use of the size. Low light performance (w/o flash does improve some as you move up the camera chain). High quality flashes and lenses make a much larger impact on the quality of the photos though.

Mia Kliuieva said:

Hey guys, I've purchased Nikon D40 camera this summer, but it seems that I have outgrown it already. Now I'm thinking about spending some money on a new one. The next camera in the series is D60, but I keep wondering if I should go with D90 instead. What do you think? Would you say that D60 is an improvement over D40 or more mega pixels is the only difference between the two?

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Permalink Reply by Dave B on December 12, 2009 at 5:04pm

Unfortunately I'm inexperienced with the Nikon line, but I think my Canon 7D is supposed to match up with the D300s pretty squarely. 7D ISO goes up to 12,800 but that just seems like a novelty. I could prob go up to ISO 2000 for prints in some circumstances. I run the Neat Image plugin in Photoshop to clean them up.

Mia Kliuieva said:

Thanks for reply, Dave! I'm aware of the fact that pixels do not matter much unless one wants to print large photos, and this is not at all why I'm interested in upgrading my camera. I'm more interested in less noise, more vivid colors, etc. I've seen some SOOC photos of D90, and they do seem to be of much better quality that those taken with D40. I've also heard that d90 has a different sensor than that on D40 and D60. I realize that the photos I take with D90 won't be as good as those taken with D3, but won't I see any improvement at all taking into consideration that I do already have good lenses and flash lights. Thanks

Dave Blinder said:

Mia - Image quality varies little from body to body when it comes to modern DSLRs, unless you are talking the top of the line $5,000 pro models. Sure, 6.1 megapixels can be a shortcoming, but only if you are running large prints or making full use of the size. Low light performance (w/o flash does improve some as you move up the camera chain). High quality flashes and lenses make a much larger impact on the quality of the photos though.
Mia Kliuieva said:

Hey guys, I've purchased Nikon D40 camera this summer, but it seems that I have outgrown it already. Now I'm thinking about spending some money on a new one. The next camera in the series is D60, but I keep wondering if I should go with D90 instead. What do you think? Would you say that D60 is an improvement over D40 or more mega pixels is the only difference between the two?

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Permalink Reply by Jason S. on December 12, 2009 at 11:15pm

Searching online I find http://photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00RdJO
For me, I'm looking to start out slow but then quickly take advantage of any extra features the D90 has to offer. I want something good to begin with, but also still good once a person goes beyond the beginner stage. It probably depends on what you want to do with the camera. What do you want to be able to do? What exactly made you outgrow the D40?

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Kumara on December 17, 2009 at 11:45pm

Im using a Sony Alpha DSLR. I absolutely love it. I'm also a car nut so i use it at car shows and taking pictures of friends cars etc. heres a couple ive taken 1st pic is my car and the 2nd is a friends. these were taken on the hwy at around 65mph

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Permalink Reply by Nick Wong on January 4, 2010 at 12:58pm

I'm a photo enthusiast myself. I go with Canon gear personally. It's more widely available and generally cheaper too.

I have an old Canon Rebel Digital with a Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens (great for indoors/low light shots), and a Tamron 55-200mm f/4-5.6 telephoto zoom.

One of my favorite shots:

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