best type of camera lens for portraits image
Jessica G
I've never used anything more than a snapshot type camera! I need to produce some photos that look as professional as possible. The photos are of models and clothes and accessories.
Please can you recommend a camera that's easy to use and will produce professional results? Budget as low as possible, not exceeding £450 second hand...Thankyou!
Answer
Take a look at this video of a photo shoot.http://fstoppers.com/iphone/ Shot with an iPhone and a bunch of talented people.
Don't take the "any camera will do" too seriously. There was a lot of expensive work to make the images look like they do. What you should take from this is that it is not the camera that produces the image. It is the photographer.
Also while the images are striking the quality is just passable. OK for the resolution displayed on the WEB. You can see the noise in the images (look at the backgrounds) and the images are a bit soft. The images have been heavily professional retouched. So what you are seeing for skin tones are not quite real.
The sensor in the iPhone is not that bad. But it needs a lot of light and the noise level is a bit high. But it is a phone. Better to start with a clean image from a good camera. This may look good on the web but it would not work in print.
This was a nice experiment but really you couldn't use that for real pro use. But it shows you that the camera is not the most important part to get great images. Remember the extra people that had a hand in making the images look good.
You need good lighting. Composition. A professional camera does not produce professional photography. The photographer does. Yes it is desirable to shoot with a professional camera but if you give a good photographer the original Canon digital Rebel SLR you can still get great results.
**** But to answer your question. I would recommend a Canon 30D and a 50mm f1.8 lens. A 40D would be a little nicer but the images will not be noticably better. The 30D camera new was $2000. Now you can get it for a fifth of that.
Stay away from Point & Shoot cameras. They will not give you what you need. Sensors on DSLRs are so much bigger (physically bigger not just number of mega-pixels) and will give you a cleaner image. A good photographer could make good enough images with one but you need a lot more powerful lighting equipment and that will cost more in the end than having gone for the DSLR.
The 30D and the 40D are metal framed cameras rather than plastic as in the Rebel series. These were semi-pro cameras that a lot of professional photographers also used. (don't buy one if it was used by a professional photographer as it would have seen some hard use) They also had shutters with a design life of 100,000 shots.
The other important factor is the lens. The 50mm f1.8 is a very good lens available at a low cost. Great for portraits. A 50mm f1.4 would be great but it will cost much more money. The best bang for the buck is the 50mm f1.8.
The 30D and a 50mm f1.8 can be had in your buget range. I bought one recently (body without lens as a backup camera) for $350 CDN (almost the same as the USD now). The previous owner was selling his 30D and 40D since he had just upgraded to a 50D(or was it 7D, I forget). The 30D had little use (since he had upgraded to the 40D). I didn't want to spend much more for the 40D since it would not give me better image quality. (it does have some other nice features I do like though)
The 50mm f1.8 costs about $100 new. I don't know the current exchange rate but I still think this is under your budget (both camera and lens). You will need to buy a new battery or two. Ebay sellers has them for about $8 each delivered. Then you need a memory card. The seller of the camera may or may not sell one big enough with the camera. Get 512MB or bigger. You don't need bigger than 512MB.
I have one full size image on the web from this camera. This was just a Thanksgiving day snapshot but it shows you what it can do. Other than this shot I don't post full size images of my work. http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r174/hydedj/2008thanksgiving/comp1.jpg I have not cleaned up or enhanced this image (notice all the dust and fuzz on the clothing) This is the default setting for the camera. The lighting is undramatic but that is what I was going for.
You can get good Canon equipment cheaper than Nikon. Canon upgrades their line more often and "obsoletes" bodies faster than Nikon does. Yesterday's hot camera is today's old news even though it still produces the same great images.
But in the end you still have to create the image. The camera just captures it. It is not that easy to do but if you are working with professional models it sure does help.
The video shows what helps for professional looking images.
You will have to learn about lighting. A great starting point is http://www.onelightworkshop.com/page5/page5.html Get his DVD. You will be glad you did. Nice simple setups.
You will have to learn a bit but it is just like anything else, one step at a time.
Take a look at this video of a photo shoot.http://fstoppers.com/iphone/ Shot with an iPhone and a bunch of talented people.
Don't take the "any camera will do" too seriously. There was a lot of expensive work to make the images look like they do. What you should take from this is that it is not the camera that produces the image. It is the photographer.
Also while the images are striking the quality is just passable. OK for the resolution displayed on the WEB. You can see the noise in the images (look at the backgrounds) and the images are a bit soft. The images have been heavily professional retouched. So what you are seeing for skin tones are not quite real.
The sensor in the iPhone is not that bad. But it needs a lot of light and the noise level is a bit high. But it is a phone. Better to start with a clean image from a good camera. This may look good on the web but it would not work in print.
This was a nice experiment but really you couldn't use that for real pro use. But it shows you that the camera is not the most important part to get great images. Remember the extra people that had a hand in making the images look good.
You need good lighting. Composition. A professional camera does not produce professional photography. The photographer does. Yes it is desirable to shoot with a professional camera but if you give a good photographer the original Canon digital Rebel SLR you can still get great results.
**** But to answer your question. I would recommend a Canon 30D and a 50mm f1.8 lens. A 40D would be a little nicer but the images will not be noticably better. The 30D camera new was $2000. Now you can get it for a fifth of that.
Stay away from Point & Shoot cameras. They will not give you what you need. Sensors on DSLRs are so much bigger (physically bigger not just number of mega-pixels) and will give you a cleaner image. A good photographer could make good enough images with one but you need a lot more powerful lighting equipment and that will cost more in the end than having gone for the DSLR.
The 30D and the 40D are metal framed cameras rather than plastic as in the Rebel series. These were semi-pro cameras that a lot of professional photographers also used. (don't buy one if it was used by a professional photographer as it would have seen some hard use) They also had shutters with a design life of 100,000 shots.
The other important factor is the lens. The 50mm f1.8 is a very good lens available at a low cost. Great for portraits. A 50mm f1.4 would be great but it will cost much more money. The best bang for the buck is the 50mm f1.8.
The 30D and a 50mm f1.8 can be had in your buget range. I bought one recently (body without lens as a backup camera) for $350 CDN (almost the same as the USD now). The previous owner was selling his 30D and 40D since he had just upgraded to a 50D(or was it 7D, I forget). The 30D had little use (since he had upgraded to the 40D). I didn't want to spend much more for the 40D since it would not give me better image quality. (it does have some other nice features I do like though)
The 50mm f1.8 costs about $100 new. I don't know the current exchange rate but I still think this is under your budget (both camera and lens). You will need to buy a new battery or two. Ebay sellers has them for about $8 each delivered. Then you need a memory card. The seller of the camera may or may not sell one big enough with the camera. Get 512MB or bigger. You don't need bigger than 512MB.
I have one full size image on the web from this camera. This was just a Thanksgiving day snapshot but it shows you what it can do. Other than this shot I don't post full size images of my work. http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r174/hydedj/2008thanksgiving/comp1.jpg I have not cleaned up or enhanced this image (notice all the dust and fuzz on the clothing) This is the default setting for the camera. The lighting is undramatic but that is what I was going for.
You can get good Canon equipment cheaper than Nikon. Canon upgrades their line more often and "obsoletes" bodies faster than Nikon does. Yesterday's hot camera is today's old news even though it still produces the same great images.
But in the end you still have to create the image. The camera just captures it. It is not that easy to do but if you are working with professional models it sure does help.
The video shows what helps for professional looking images.
You will have to learn about lighting. A great starting point is http://www.onelightworkshop.com/page5/page5.html Get his DVD. You will be glad you did. Nice simple setups.
You will have to learn a bit but it is just like anything else, one step at a time.
What type of camera do I need for Landscape photography?
J Martinez
I am a beginning photographer looking to buy a Digital SLR & trying to figure out what type of camera I need. Landscape, up-close nature, & portraits are my main interests. You can be as detailed as possible... the more info the better. Thanks.
With all the "extras" for sale, how do I know what I really need to start. Just the basics.
Answer
Ah, well, portraiture and landscape have very markedly different requirements.
Any modern dSLR and a good lens is very capable of producing wonderful portraits, however, landscapes are best captured with a Medium Format or Large format film camera. Intrinsic acuity and final print size is a real and ultimate concern to quality minded landscape photographers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RZ67
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View_camera
If you must shoot landscape with a digital camera then you might look into the Nikon D700 or Canon 5D Mark II. Those two cameras are almost universally considered the minimum for landscape.
Ah, well, portraiture and landscape have very markedly different requirements.
Any modern dSLR and a good lens is very capable of producing wonderful portraits, however, landscapes are best captured with a Medium Format or Large format film camera. Intrinsic acuity and final print size is a real and ultimate concern to quality minded landscape photographers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RZ67
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View_camera
If you must shoot landscape with a digital camera then you might look into the Nikon D700 or Canon 5D Mark II. Those two cameras are almost universally considered the minimum for landscape.
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