The TPU Darkroom - Digital SLR and Photography Club

[Dethroy]

Hey everyone,

I have no experience whatsoever with (semi) professionaI photography but I'd like to join the club.
I've got a 3 year old son (2nd child is on its way) and am sick of taking photos of him with my smartphone (iPhone 6). But the smartphone at least produces much better pictures than our puny little digicam.

Carrying around a big DSLR might prove problematic when being on tour with children. So I was wondering what you guys think of the Panasonic Lumix LX 7 and the Sony RX100. Are these alternatives to DSLRs?

Best regards,
Dethroy

 

[suraswami]

Four 3rd sensor type cameras are alternative to big DSLRs, I am in your same boat like you, but I am picky and like the hold of DSLR when compared to the tiny cameras.

Check out Olympus PEN series cameras, they have very good image quality. Panasonics are also really good.

Sony Alpha series are also a good option and they are damn fast cameras too.

Like I said, try it at a store and see which one you will feel comfortable to hold and of course price might also be deciding factor.

 

[Jetster]

Welcome, some of these new point n shot cameras have the same cropped sensors that the mid range DSLRs have. High pixel density and high resolution. Everything else is automatic. You just limited on lenses and low light capabilities. But they are defiantly contenders. Definitely go buy a store and ask questions

Edit: Another option would be mirrorless cameras


http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Mirrorless-Cameras/ci/18336/N/4166995274

http://store.sony.com/alpha-mirrorless-cameras/cat-27-catid-Alpha-Mirrorless-Cameras?XID=O:mirrorless cameras:corp_alpha_gglsrch:e&adparam=sem131p18434g-c&k_id=6d6feccb-ca14-4458-b10f-76bb998f6c93

 

[Jetster]

200mm 1/160 F5.6 with a bounce flash

 

[suraswami]

awesome!!

 

[suraswami]

Ordered the Pentax 50mm F1.8 lens from Amazon, but they shipped me the 40mm pancake type F2.8 lens. 40mm lens is more expensive tho

Here are some samples

 

[t_ski]

3rd party flashes are options too.

That's what I was talking about: I don't know which ones work with my camera.

 

[suraswami]

That's what I was talking about: I don't know which ones work with my camera.

Which camera do you have?

 

[t_ski]

DMC-G5

I found this one last night:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BYL7PQQ/?tag=tec06d-20

Specifically lists my camera as compatible, plus it's bounce/swivel. I guess my google-fu was just broken.

 

[suraswami]

With these bad boys you can fire any external flash you want.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005IQRMN4/?tag=tec06d-20

I am planning to get this set with few umbrellas and stand to use my old basic Pentax flash, add bounce flash as main flash, may be to many to blind people lol.

 

[remixedcat]

I did this for a hand modelling thing and I didn't get accepted so here it is since NDA is lifted yes it's skittles it had to be food LOL.

 

[Steevo]

 

[suraswami]

Birthday cake. Photo taken with the Pentax 40mm lens.

 

[burtram]

Couple from saturday. Setting up some flowers at a country club.

 

[Blue-Knight]

Hey, @burtram! Great property you have there.

LOL!

 

[tabascosauz]

Hey guys, I would like to humbly request acceptance into the club. I'm rocking with a Nikon D7000 w/ 2 lenses: a 18-200mm VR2 (lazy lens that I use 0.01% of the time but is good for a zoom), and a 50mm f1.8G (nifty fifty that I use 99.99% of the time). I'm a student so I'm not super stocked up on software or hardware; I "edit" (I like to keep editing to a minimum and leave my photos looking natural) on PS CS6 and don't have any plans for other photo hardware in the near future, though I might cave and get that D610. I have not taken any courses and I just read up on everything by myself.

My photos are all stored up at home so I'll post a few for your evaluation when I get home.

 

[tabascosauz]

As promised.

Not too close picture actually (since 50mm 1.8G is not a macro lens, no <0.45m) of the exhaust NF-F12 in my micro-ATX rig.
D7000 | 50mm 1.8G | f/1.8 | ISO 320 | 1/60s | jpeg
A little soft since it's wide open but hey, that's the point of the photo. Plus, the bokeh is soft and WB is soft like the sunlight that day.

It looks a bit brighter because I think I brightened it up a bit before I converted to jpeg. It was a pretty cloudy day, just stopped raining, but that's my favorite kind of weather. At the marina at around 9 PM.
D7000 | 50mm 1.8G | f/5 | ISO 800 | 1/100s | RAW to jpeg
The reason I hate heavy editing (I end up tossing most of the less-than-ideals rather than trying to save them with Photoshop) is because editing the photos creates graininess that really bugs me. It's here too but since the sky is bright it's not so noticeable.

Not enough / too crappy for me to enter the club? I have a few more.

 

[Jetster]

Welcome. Love the 50mm 1.8 shots. Why a D610 get a D700 its a tank but great photos. But the D7000 is a nice camera also

 

[tabascosauz]

Welcome. Love the 50mm 1.8 shots. Why a D610 get a D700 its a tank but great photos. But the D7000 is a nice camera also

I don't think the D700 is around anymore, and its 12MP FX is a bit low by today's standards. The D750 takes its place as basically a 5DMKIII from Nikon but cheaper with 24MP FX and built-in wifi. But you're right; the only reason I was a little interested in the D610 was because it would be my first FX body. It's just a D7200 in FX and that's a big premium for the full frame. I guess I'll nab a macro sometime and start saving up for a higher FX body that isn't a D610.

 

[Jetster]

I actually sold my AF S 35mm 1.8 G and bought a AF S 40mm f2.8 G Macro.

The 1.8 was nice but I needed a Macro. I have a D3200

 

[suraswami]

I just bought a used K mount 135mm F2.8 manual lens for my Pentax dSLR, is it still going to be at 135 or because of crop sensor it will be at 135 x 1.5?

 

[tabascosauz]

I actually sold my AF S 35mm 1.8 G and bought a AF S 40mm f2.8 G Macro.

The 1.8 was nice but I needed a Macro. I have a D3200

I originally had just the 18-200 vr2 but I needed something faster. The three candidates were the 50mm f1.8G, 40mm f2.8G, and the 35mm f2D. I decided against the macro because I'd have to be too close to the subject, and it's DX (fine for a lot of people but since I want to go FX in the long run I don't want more than 1 good DX only lens). I eventually crossed out the f2D as well because the AF-Ds don't come with a hood and I'm pretty paranoid about protecting my front elements. It's a great lens, being FX, fast, reasonably sharp and also a semi-macro lens, but the 50/1.8G had such splendid bokeh that I just had to have it. I save the macro for a 85/105mm macro.

 

[Jetster]

This is the AF S DX 40mm f2.8 G Macro.

 

[tabascosauz]

Hey everyone,

I have no experience whatsoever with (semi) professionaI photography but I'd like to join the club.
I've got a 3 year old son (2nd child is on its way) and am sick of taking photos of him with my smartphone (iPhone 6). But the smartphone at least produces much better pictures than our puny little digicam.

Carrying around a big DSLR might prove problematic when being on tour with children. So I was wondering what you guys think of the Panasonic Lumix LX 7 and the Sony RX100. Are these alternatives to DSLRs?

Best regards,
Dethroy

I might not be a great candidate to give you advice on what to buy and so on, but if you get the chance, you can try to find out compact methods of transporting/using your camera. I have this huge-a** lowepro backpack bag that accommodates a camera, up to like, 4 lenses, a laptop and a whole lot more but I hate it. Lowepro has these backpack bags that are long enough on your back to hold a sizeable kit but are narrow and more compact. Of course, there are other brands as well.

I have a neck strap that came with the D7K but I never use it as a neck strap, nor do I use it to sling my camera around my shoulder. I take my hand and loop it into the strap from underneath so that it ends up at my wrist, and then twist my hand clockwise (looking down from above) and after a few loops I grab the camera's grip and pull the strap out of the way of the viewfinder. Now the camera is firmly wrapped around my wrist, without dangling and without cutting off circulation. ymmv since not all camera straps are made equal, but this is a nice little trick that I hope would work for you, since you don't want it to get in the way.

 

[grunt_408]

Thought I would come out of hiding and post something.