Newbie ramblings...

[cjburianek]

Hi

Just started the PaD a week ago after spending hours... umm days... ok ok months looking at all the great photography on here... WOW... Quite envious of everyone with digital SLRs... I've thought of the Pentax *ist D considering my film SLR is Pentax.. anyone have one? Seems most of the photos are taken with Canon or Nikon... I've been noting cameras on the shots that make me go WOW... Seems I've been drawn to the Nikon D70... Oh time to save lots of pennies

Anyway.. decided to start the PaD as a means to not be afraid to have to put together entire collections at once but just any random photo a day. I've noticed a great variety of "rules" some seem to take a "theme" each month even saw one with doing the ABC... that was cool.. right now just dreary with the fact that it is still quite brown out in New England... and very muddy... Ok off to sink in mud and figure out what to take a photo of today...

CJ

[jude_53]

I had a Canon point and shoot for a long time before I got my DSLR.. was nice as a starter camera.. I got the Rebel and now use my work (newspaper) Nikon D100.. each have their better qualities.. but if you want something really kick butt.. take a look at the Oly E1.

Look at this link: http://www.pbase.com/type
He started out with a Canon and in the past 3 or 4 months had the Oly.. big difference in color and depth.. It's convinced me, although I'm' waiting until summer to see if their updated version will take a bit of the noise problem away.. Then again, the Rebel's noise isn't as bad but their color sucks mud.

As for PAD? well.. we used to do themes all the time, which was helpful when people felt out of ideas. But most don't do that anymore. Some, though, make their own weekly or monthly themes which help..

Other than that.. for rules? Forget it.. do whatever you want.

Oh. and welcome aboard!

[cjburianek]

Hi Jude,

Thanks for the welcome.
I checked out the link. Very nice!! I love this one http://www.pbase.com/image/41055738
I have noticed that the Canon's don't have the color/saturation that the Nikon pics do or now that you pointed out the Olympus...

I'm still playing around with my Sony F717 which I bought a couple years ago right before going to Scotland. I figured it was pretty much an intermediate between the Sony F70 I had had before and an DSLR which I simply couldn't afford. The 717 has been a good camera and it has allowed me to play around a bit with filters etc but starting to wish for more settings and freedom to do more...

CJ

[twdarby]

One thing to keep in mind regardless of what camera you get is the availability of accessories. Any dslr will work for you once you understand its abilities.

Of course I would never engage in a battle of Canon vs Nikon vs Ollie

Just have fun!

tom

[cjburianek]

Thanks Tom

Accesories was one of the reasons I was thinking more along the lines of the Pentax considering I already have some Pentax SLR stuff which could be used with DSLR.. a couple lenses (aleit I would have to get a new macro and everyday lense for the DSLR)... as well as a really nice flash... I found Scott Nickell's shot today and he is shooting with a Pentax *ist D http://www.pbase.com/snickell/image/41688604 Though a drawback with the Pentax is that they haven't been in the DSLR for very long.. it took them FOREVER to get the *ist D out and the DS isn't exactly an "upgrade"...

BTW... Your gallery was actually one I was thinking about in my orginal post - the way you did the "red" theme in February. (even though you do use a canon ) Oh and I loved your angry Tit Mouse!

CJ

[clickaway]

When I started PAD I just had a point and shoot. I got a Canon DSLR 5 months later - because I had the Canon lenses already.

Whatever camera you buy, its YOU who makes the pictures.

Have fun!

Ray

[stormseye]

Whatever camera you buy, its YOU who makes the pictures.

Ray nailed it.


The Pentax *istD and *istDS were very well reviewed, and that fact that you can use the lenses you already own is a good point to consider.

You should really go to a shop and hold a few in your hands, see how they feel, see if the operations make sense to you. You'll get more use out of a camera that is comfortable for you. Play with them a bit.

As for color, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you can alter the presets in just about any camera out there, with varying degrees of control. Don't forget that people will also adjust to suit their tastes during the post-processing.

And don't feel you must own a dSLR - as has been pointed out, many people got a good start with simpler cameras, and took soem excellent photos.

[floradoragirl]

You get out of Pad'ding what you put in. What I found was that when I was at a low ebb, looking at other people's pad's both depressed me (they're so much better than mine, more inventive etc.) and much more often, inspired me. I did my whole first year pad with a Nikon coolpix - camera doesn't matter, and though I say that full of the first flush of pride in my new D70, it's still true.

Mostly, just enjoy it!

[Pentax user]

You may find this review to be of interest:

http://www.photo.net/mjohnston/column65/

[cjburianek]

Thanks for the review. Interesting history on the company. A friend who got me into photography years ago (pre-digital) used Pentax in all of his work (magazine product shots) so naturally when I went to get my own 35mm SLR I bought a Pentax.
Something that really impressed me with Pentax was when I was looking for a bounce flash and couldnt' find any in my area, I called them to find out ordering info and actual MSRP since I got a wide range of prices for ordering in various shops... The person I talked to at Pentax was very helpful and recommended I call B&H Photo Video for the best pricing and service and gave me their number....
I've been looking at reviews at dpreview etc and it seems if you shot in RAW there is hardly any noticable difference between the Pentax/Nikon/Canon...
So... of those with DSLR how often do you shot in RAW??
CJ

[twdarby]

CJ,

I've been shooting RAW only for the last two weeks and its a big change from my workflow with jpegs. I like the outcome of the photos so I think its worth the effort. Here's a link to a free program that I use before I take them into PS CS:

http://www.pixmantec.com/products/rawsh ... tials.html

Give it a try when your ready! Oh, glad you liked the angry Titmouse and the Red Theme was a struggle but worth it from a personal perspective.

Tom

[ian_stickland]

I think the choice of DSLR's has never been better and Nikon are about to make it even harder to choose with 2 new cameras!

I personally feel that you can't really go wrong with any of the current DSLR's (pro-models excepted) as they're all capable of producing excellent photos and all have reasonable lens support. All the major players are present now and the best thing you can do is go into a real shop and give them a try. Yes you can argue at a pixel level over which pixel is best, but you're far more likely now to choose a DSLR based on which model feels best in your hand and makes you feel good about it.

Of course if you already own lenses, why not use them? worked for me!

Ian.

[adalberto_tiburzi]

cjburianek asked

So... of those with DSLR how often do you shot in RAW??

I shoot RAW even with my old Canon G2, does it count as an answer?

(for Rosie: "See what I've seen... the way I did it")

[floradoragirl]

Adal... heh~

[clickaway]

I never shoot in RAW, but would consider so if there was a strong likliehood that my work would would be published in large format - perhaps for a calendar.

But I prefer to wander around the street taking loads of photos - if I shot RAW that card would be full too quickly.