Beginner Equipment advice needed

[Iren]

Hi!
I need advice on what is the best equipment to purchase if I am planning to specialise in family/portrait photography. Outdoors or in doors with daylight
My budget is £2,000-2,500 max
So far I was looking at Canon EOS 6D body + canon ef-24 105mm f 4L IS USM lens
But I am totally lost with accessories, would I need flash? Camera bag? Extra battery ?

Thanks

 

[BunnyPics]

I don't know about Canon equipment. I started with base model Nikon (D5100) three-four years ago and it took me this long to get to a stage where I need to upgrade to a pro camera. What is your experience with DSLR and photography? My advice would be start with the base camera and its kit lens to figure out what your need if you're a beginner. I took some pretty awesome shots with that Nikon and its kit 18-55mm lens, and even shot a wedding, so well that they wouldn't stop for weeks about how pleased they were!

You'll need a good flash eventually, but you'll know what you need and you'll know when you need it. Time kind of comes and you know you're ready for an upgrade, in my experience. I now bought a pro TTL flash. But the years ago I wouldn't have known what it is or how to use it.

If you go and get lots of stuff that you don't know how to use it'll just confuse you and put you off, I think. It would me! But then, I'm quite slow to learn these things.

 

[Phil V]

If you're planning to shoot indoors in daylight you'll need faster lenses.

If you're not planning to use daylight indoors, you'll need flash.

Your question is a lot more complicated than you imagine.

What sort of images? What sort of 'indoors'? Will you have access to mains power? Have you used a camera before? What is the output required? Ceiling height? Are you familiar with flash?

Outdoors, the lens will be fine, but it's not the lens I'd choose personally?

My advice: buy a camera and lens, learn to use it and you'll learn what you need to add, that'll depend on your personality and style.

 

[HoppyUK]

<snip>

My advice: buy a camera and lens, learn to use it and you'll learn what you need to add, that'll depend on your personality and style.

Good advice from Phil. And to do that, you don't need to spend anything like £2.5k.

You'd be better off spending much less on a cheaper DSLR and standard-range zoom as a starter outfit. See how you get on, learn, practise, learn, read, practise, and repeat etc. Then you'll know what extra bits of equipment you'll need, and have some budget left.

Welcome to TP

 

[russellsnr]

Agree with above, Spending £2,000-2,500 on equipment if you are just starting is IMO not a good idea. Better bet would be to join your local photography club if there is one also check out the many FREE tutorials all over the web on what you think you want to do.
Russ

 

[Iren]

Thanks for constructive comment Phil!
I am beginner, but i am keen to learn. Everyone suggesting to buy cheap camera+lens and then upgrate later. If i am going to spend money i prefer to spend on decent body and lens to start with and then add bits if/as i need them.

I plan to shoot children/families mostly outdoors in the parks and ocasionally indoors. I really like images with the natural light, so want to experement with that.
I understand that to get something decent quality indorrs with natural light in doors, i probably need to be around the window, so i am not going to rush woth the flash for now

What type of lens would you suggest?
I am happy to spend less obviously as ill be getting lightroom/photoshop and probably new laptop/pc

Forgot to add, i am planning to shoot not staged poses, but moving and jumping children , some close ups to catch emotions, so the lens thst would be able to do that

If you're planning to shoot indoors in daylight you'll need faster lenses.

If you're not planning to use daylight indoors, you'll need flash.

Your question is a lot more complicated than you imagine.

What sort of images? What sort of 'indoors'? Will you have access to mains power? Have you used a camera before? What is the output required? Ceiling height? Are you familiar with flash?

Outdoors, the lens will be fine, but it's not the lens I'd choose personally?

My advice: buy a camera and lens, learn to use it and you'll learn what you need to add, that'll depend on your personality and style.

 

[Phil V]

No one can recommend a lens to capture an image you have in your head.

If you really think it's important, go to Flickr, and check out the gear used on some images you like.

I don't want to sound disparaging, but have you any idea how many people start out with your knowledge and enthusiasm and give up within the year?

Just buy some gear and have a go. The more you do, the more you learn. The 'received wisdom' is 100,000 hours to become an expert at something. I'd guess I'm not half way there
A first camera is like a first car, would you start with a Ferrari or a Corsa? Honestly in a years time you'll realise how unimportant this decision is, buy 2nd hand and you'll lose little when you move it on. And you will do that, whether to buy something else (mirrorless?), to upgrade, or to buy a set of golf clubs.

 

[Iren]

Thanks Phil!
I will actually do that!

If in a year (or i would say 2) nothing will work out, then i'll just have a good camera to capture family monents and will find a new "proper" job

There are so many cameras and lenses out there and the description is similar that i might just point my finger at the first i see and get it

I dont want to sound rude or anything, I understand that for professionals such questions might sound silly, but when you come and and ask for reccomendstions and people tell you its not important, go and get anything, that is bit frustrating
I know that expensive camera wont take good pictures by itself and i will need to learn who itworks, techniques etc

No one can recommend a lens to capture an image you have in your head.

If you really think it's important, go to Flickr, and check out the gear used on some images you like.

I don't want to sound disparaging, but have you any idea how many people start out with your knowledge and enthusiasm and give up within the year?

Just buy some gear and have a go. The more you do, the more you learn. The 'received wisdom' is 100,000 hours to become an expert at something. I'd guess I'm not half way there
A first camera is like a first car, would you start with a Ferrari or a Corsa? Honestly in a years time you'll realise how unimportant this decision is, buy 2nd hand and you'll lose little when you move it on. And you will do that, whether to buy something else (mirrorless?), to upgrade, or to buy a set of golf clubs.

 

[Jelster]

If you think that the majority of your subjects are going to be portraits, the 6D is a good place to start. Listen to Phil, what he says is good advice. Lens wise you could utilise a couple of faster primes if you are going to be shooting indoors. The difference between f1.8 and f4 is quite a bit of light! A 50mm & 85mm f1.8 would make the start of a good portrait kit.

We all have to start somewhere, and we all end up wanting different lenses at some point, but invest in a good body and useful lenses to start, that would be my advice.

 

[Iren]

Thank you very much!
Really appreciate your reply regaring body and lenses.
Will look at the lenses

If you think that the majority of your subjects are going to be portraits, the 6D is a good place to start. Listen to Phil, what he says is good advice. Lens wise you could utilise a couple of faster primes if you are going to be shooting indoors. The difference between f1.8 and f4 is quite a bit of light! A 50mm & 85mm f1.8 would make the start of a good portrait kit.

We all have to start somewhere, and we all end up wanting different lenses at some point, but invest in a good body and useful lenses to start, that would be my advice.

 

[Phil V]

Thanks Phil!
I will actually do that!

If in a year (or i would say 2) nothing will work out, then i'll just have a good camera to capture family monents and will find a new "proper" job

There are so many cameras and lenses out there and the description is similar that i might just point my finger at the first i see and get it

I dont want to sound rude or anything, I understand that for professionals such questions might sound silly, but when you come and and ask for reccomendstions and people tell you its not important, go and get anything, that is bit frustrating
I know that expensive camera wont take good pictures by itself and i will need to learn who itworks, techniques etc

I say 'it's not important' because it isn't. The important thing is learning to use it. Your gear becomes an extension of your personality, my gear is different to many of my peers, my images are different to some but not so much to others. Just so you get this... Your first camera is just that; the first, I must have owned over 20 cameras, I currently own 4 which should be 5 (waiting for another 6d), and 10 lenses, several studio flashes, a couple of large portable flashes, 4 speedlights etc etc.

I didn't tell you that to show off, but just to show how insignificant 'a camera' really is.

My favourite phrase:
Newbies think it's all about cameras
Enthusiasts think it's all about lenses
Photographers know it's all about light.

All photography is about light
People photography is about people
Cameras are just black boxes that record what you point them at.
The 2 most important decisions in your picture taking are 'where to stand' and 'when to press the shutter', the technical stuff has to be known well enough for it to just happen naturally. It's no more challenging than making a cup of tea - don't get sucked into believing it's more difficult than that.

Some types of photography are very demanding of a camera (sports and wildlife) but for most of us, most of the time, they're relatively unimportant.

 

[Suvv]

The 2 most important decisions in your picture taking are 'where to stand' and 'when to press the shutter', the technical stuff has to be known well enough for it to just happen naturally.

That should be printed out and stuck on everyone's camera.

 

[pjm1]

Thanks Phil!
I will actually do that!

If in a year (or i would say 2) nothing will work out, then i'll just have a good camera to capture family monents and will find a new "proper" job

There are so many cameras and lenses out there and the description is similar that i might just point my finger at the first i see and get it

I dont want to sound rude or anything, I understand that for professionals such questions might sound silly, but when you come and and ask for reccomendstions and people tell you its not important, go and get anything, that is bit frustrating
I know that expensive camera wont take good pictures by itself and i will need to learn who itworks, techniques etc

You've actually hit the nail on the head there yourself Irina.

The camera and the lens is frankly irrelevant - a perfectly valid option is to go and buy a Sony Rx100 second hand for a couple of hundred £. It will still surpass the ability of a beginner photographer in terms of what it is capable of capturing. That is not being unkind to you or beginner photographers (I'm very nearly including myself in that category, btw) - it is simply being truthful.

It actually doesn't really matter what people recommend you buy - only time will tell what is actually useful for you in your own situation and only you will find out through a bit of trial and error. Even though you say portraits, who knows how that journey will progress... there are some great environmental portraits taken with < 50mm lenses and some taken with long telephotos. And the camera body matters least. A really good photographer will use the equipment they have available to get the best possible shot at that moment (or, quite possibly, decide not to take a photo at all because the light, the subject or the environment is simply not conducive). I pretty much guarantee that such a photo would be better than you, I or half the people here could manage - because they have the skills and have honed their natural talent through tens or hundreds of thousands of hours of photography, as @Phil V has said.

So if you want advice, forget what kit would be theoretically "best" and go out and buy something/anything that will allow you to get out and enjoy taking photos. If that's a £100 second hand compact then brilliant, if it's a £25,000 medium format body and digital back then good for you, but don't be under any illusion that one will actually deliver better photos than they other right now. If you genuinely aspire to that £25k camera then you're better off buying the £100 compact, waiting until you've grown out of it and buying the "perfect" camera second hand, with someone else taking the depreciation hit and knowing precisely what you want to buy and why.

I know you've said it's frustrating to get this sort of advice, but the honest truth is the only thing that matters in getting better at photography is getting out there and shooting more. Everything else is secondary or tertiary at best.

 

[Iren]

Ok, ok I get that
I think i need to print this out and look from time to time
Thanks Phil!

I say 'it's not important' because it isn't. The important thing is learning to use it. Your gear becomes an extension of your personality, my gear is different to many of my peers, my images are different to some but not so much to others. Just so you get this... Your first camera is just that; the first, I must have owned over 20 cameras, I currently own 4 which should be 5 (waiting for another 6d), and 10 lenses, several studio flashes, a couple of large portable flashes, 4 speedlights etc etc.

I didn't tell you that to show off, but just to show how insignificant 'a camera' really is.

My favourite phrase:
Newbies think it's all about cameras
Enthusiasts think it's all about lenses
Photographers know it's all about light.

All photography is about light
People photography is about people
Cameras are just black boxes that record what you point them at.
The 2 most important decisions in your picture taking are 'where to stand' and 'when to press the shutter', the technical stuff has to be known well enough for it to just happen naturally. It's no more challenging than making a cup of tea - don't get sucked into believing it's more difficult than that.

Some types of photography are very demanding of a camera (sports and wildlife) but for most of us, most of the time, they're relatively unimportant.

 

[Iren]

That is not the sort of advice i was looking for to begin with, but it gives me better perspective now, so thank you for taking time to reply

You've actually hit the nail on the head there yourself Irina.

The camera and the lens is frankly irrelevant - a perfectly valid option is to go and buy a Sony Rx100 second hand for a couple of hundred £. It will still surpass the ability of a beginner photographer in terms of what it is capable of capturing. That is not being unkind to you or beginner photographers (I'm very nearly including myself in that category, btw) - it is simply being truthful.

It actually doesn't really matter what people recommend you buy - only time will tell what is actually useful for you in your own situation and only you will find out through a bit of trial and error. Even though you say portraits, who knows how that journey will progress... there are some great environmental portraits taken with < 50mm lenses and some taken with long telephotos. And the camera body matters least. A really good photographer will use the equipment they have available to get the best possible shot at that moment (or, quite possibly, decide not to take a photo at all because the light, the subject or the environment is simply not conducive). I pretty much guarantee that such a photo would be better than you, I or half the people here could manage - because they have the skills and have honed their natural talent through tens or hundreds of thousands of hours of photography, as @Phil V has said.

So if you want advice, forget what kit would be theoretically "best" and go out and buy something/anything that will allow you to get out and enjoy taking photos. If that's a £100 second hand compact then brilliant, if it's a £25,000 medium format body and digital back then good for you, but don't be under any illusion that one will actually deliver better photos than they other right now. If you genuinely aspire to that £25k camera then you're better off buying the £100 compact, waiting until you've grown out of it and buying the "perfect" camera second hand, with someone else taking the depreciation hit and knowing precisely what you want to buy and why.

I know you've said it's frustrating to get this sort of advice, but the honest truth is the only thing that matters in getting better at photography is getting out there and shooting more. Everything else is secondary or tertiary at best.

 

[BunnyPics]

No one suggests a bad camera (add opposed to a "good" expensive one), we are suggesting a beginner camera because they're easier to learn on. They're not "bad", or unsuitable for good shots, they're just made with s beginner on mind. For example you won't get any automatic modes on a pro camera, but I found them indispensable when learning. I'd shoot a photo in automatic without flash or with, study the settings camera 'choose', and tweak them myself in manual mode to make the shot different or better. Learning to use a DSLR with a professional kit would be like learning to drive in an F1 car. Just saying from my experience.

 

[Demonid3e]

I can add the posts above. I have seen pictures take with mobile phones better than some people take with pro bodies. Phil said correctly its not about camera its about light and person behind it. I started with canon a510 compact got my way all the way to 1d series trought 350d-30d-5d-1ds and every time there was illusion that as soon as you get a new camera the world will change. But it wont. Now I focus on a shot and a tool what I need to take that shot rather than what camera/lens I have. Want something decent buy used semi/pro camera they cost nothing and buy a zoom and half decent prime. Lenses hold their price very well. And you will see what is good for you prome or zoom and if so then what sort prime etc.

 

[Phil V]

Have a look in the 'people' photo sharing section.

There's very little mention of gear at all, and if you ignore the newbie questions, even in the people talk section, it's all about what image we want to create, about light and about people.

Or take a look through my portfolio (nothing special, the same would be true for thousands of others) and is it obvious what was shot on a 300d, 20d, 40d, 7d, 6d?

To an experienced photographer, what will be obvious are some of the lenses used and particular lighting techniques, and obviously some composition techniques. But no 'photographer' would give a thought to the actual camera used. You could replicate every single image in my portfolio with a relatively cheap S/H FF or crop camera.

 

[StewartR]

... you won't get any automatic modes on a pro camera, but I found them indispensable when learning. I'd shoot a photo in automatic without flash or with, study the settings camera 'choose', and tweak them myself in manual mode to make the shot different or better. Learning to use a DSLR with a professional kit would be like learning to drive in an F1 car. Just saying from my experience.

That's a very good point. Modern cameras are very good at working out the focussing and exposure, and the settings they choose are available for inspection in the image data. So straight away that's a powerful learning tool: study what the camera's automatic modes do in different circumstances, and try variations on those settings to see what makes things better(*) and what doesn't.

(*) "Better" in the sense of "more like what you personally want to produce". That might not be the same as what I would want to produce, or what the engineers who designed the camera's automatic modes thought most people would want to produce.

 

[Iren]

Good advice!
Once i get the camera, i'll start with the manual and take it from there

That's a very good point. Modern cameras are very good at working out the focussing and exposure, and the settings they choose are available for inspection in the image data. So straight away that's a powerful learning tool: study what the camera's automatic modes do in different circumstances, and try variations on those settings to see what makes things better(*) and what doesn't.

(*) "Better" in the sense of "more like what you personally want to produce". That might not be the same as what I would want to produce, or what the engineers who designed the camera's automatic modes thought most people would want to produce.

 

[davidch99]

Making a nice cup of tea is more than having a fancy kettle . Get yourself a nice cheap camera and fast lens and go play . Buy some books , read some forums , practice and ask for feedback .

Look to spend no more than 300 - if a ways buy second hand . Canon 550d plus a canon 50 1.8 will get you started.

Ps phil - it's 10,000 hours I believe so you are 5 times past what you need ! Happy days !!!

 

[snerkler]

You've had a lot of good info already. Light, technique and composition are vital and far more important than the gear.

However, I'm going to make an assumption here and when you say you want to shoot portrait photography you'll be wanting subject isolation with nice background blur/bokeh and as such you want to be looking at fast glass, that is lenses with wide apertures (low f numbers such as f1.4 and f1.8). You mention the 24-105mm f4 lens, and whilst a very nice lens indeed and perfectly good for portraits it would not be my first choice. I'd personally be looking at an 85mm f1.8/f1.4/f1.2 as this makes for a really nice portrait length and helps prevent any facial distortions and can create really ice background blur/bokeh.

If you're starting from scratch I would get some hands on experience with the different camera makes as ergonomics and feel is soooooo important when using a camera. I'd recommend the Nikon D750 over the Canon 6D as it's a noticeably better camera in just about every area for very little extra money, BUT this means nothing if you prefer the ergonomics, handling and layout of the 6D. Also you need to look at the system and lenses. Do Canon or Nikon (or Fuji, Sony) have the lenses and accessories etc that you want or may want in the future?

 

[Iren]

Thanks for the reply

I am still keen on cannon 6D body and 85mm 1.8 lens (1.2 looks appealing, but very expensive to start with)

A friend of mine also suggested to get 40mm 2.8 lens as its small to carry and universal, but i am not sure, so probably stick with 1 lens for now

You've had a lot of good info already. Light, technique and composition are vital and far more important than the gear.

However, I'm going to make an assumption here and when you say you want to shoot portrait photography you'll be wanting subject isolation with nice background blur/bokeh and as such you want to be looking at fast glass, that is lenses with wide apertures (low f numbers such as f1.4 and f1.8). You mention the 24-105mm f4 lens, and whilst a very nice lens indeed and perfectly good for portraits it would not be my first choice. I'd personally be looking at an 85mm f1.8/f1.4/f1.2 as this makes for a really nice portrait length and helps prevent any facial distortions and can create really ice background blur/bokeh.

If you're starting from scratch I would get some hands on experience with the different camera makes as ergonomics and feel is soooooo important when using a camera. I'd recommend the Nikon D750 over the Canon 6D as it's a noticeably better camera in just about every area for very little extra money, BUT this means nothing if you prefer the ergonomics, handling and layout of the 6D. Also you need to look at the system and lenses. Do Canon or Nikon (or Fuji, Sony) have the lenses and accessories etc that you want or may want in the future?

 

[Iren]

Thanks everyone for the advice
After reading more on this forum, various reviews and talking to people who been in photography for a while, i am still keen on Cannon 6D body and 85mm 1.8 lens (although after looking more into this i want min 4 lenses ), but i'll be senseble and better start practising
Will be coming here more later on for the tips

 

[davidch99]

Ps one thing with kids - you want a fast shutter speed as the ability to take a lot of shots per second as well as fast focusing

I have a 50mm 1.4 on a canon 550d . Perfect for lots of occasions. .

 

[chris malcolm]

Just buy some gear and have a go. The more you do, the more you learn. The 'received wisdom' is 100,000 hours to become an expert at something. I'd guess I'm not half way there

The figure is actually only 10,000 hours, considered as about 20 hours a week of serious dedicated practice and learning for 50 weeks a year for ten years. So you may already qualify as a possible expert

 

[chris malcolm]

When I decided to convert myself to digital, after fifty years of sporadic enthusiasms for photography, ending up with an SLR and half a dozen old fashioned fully manual lenses incompatible with any modern DSLR, I decided I didn't know enough to make a good sensible choice of camera body. Candidates were Canon, Nikon, Sony (Minolta), and a few others. A camera body commits you to the range of lenses made for that system by the maker p!us third parties like Sigma & Zeiss, plus some others for which mount converters of various degrees of goodness might be available.

So I bought a good second hand bridge camera to give me a year or two to learn enough to make a sensible decision. If you're new to photography I'd suggest joining a few camera clubs, local photography Meetup groups, etc., and getting a cheap second hand APS-C DSLR of whatever is the most popular make among the photographers you take a liking to. Because they'll help you. APS-C (aka crop) sensor variants of full frame camera systems are a lot cheaper and will deliver image quality indistinguishable from full frame until you're up to the level of winning prizes in local competitions and making large gallery exhibition prints. Plus you can get a cheap but optically very good crop sensor 50mm f1.8 or f1.4 lens, equiv in field of view to the conventionally "optimum"full frame portrait focal length of 85mm. That will give you all you need to learn the ropes of fast nearby kids in action in all kinds of light, plus all the stuff about blurred backgrounds and bokeh. You'll be able to produce top quality A3 prints.

If you decide in a year or two that you bought into the wrong camera system you won't lose much selling it and the few inexpensive lenses you might by then have bought. You shouldn't consider your first camera purchase as an investment in hardware. You should consider it as the cost of an education. You may even find, if you make some good local photographer friends, that one of them will have just that kind of camera and lens sitting on a shelf gathering dust which they'd be happy to pass on to you.

 

[StewartR]

You shouldn't consider your first camera purchase as an investment in hardware. You should consider it as the cost of an education.

That's a very good way of putting it.

 

[Phil V]

The figure is actually only 10,000 hours, considered as about 20 hours a week of serious dedicated practice and learning for 50 weeks a year for ten years. So you may already qualify as a possible expert

I wasn't counting hours, but my 'expertise'.

 

[big soft moose]

Thanks for the reply

I am still keen on cannon 6D body and 85mm 1.8 lens (1.2 looks appealing, but very expensive to start with)

A friend of mine also suggested to get 40mm 2.8 lens as its small to carry and universal, but i am not sure, so probably stick with 1 lens for now

Isnt the 40mm f2.8 an EF-s lens ? (that is only compatible with cameras Canon cameras with the EFs mount - ie those with 1.6 crop sensors not the 6D which is full frame)

If it were me i'd say get a 24-70 f2.8 as a second lens as having only one focal length can be restrictive , especially when learning (the canon version is very expensive, but the sigma and tamron versions arent bad at half the price) , however if you want to stay with primes i'd say something like a 35mm or 24mm would be a sensible second choice - you might want to pick up a 50mm f1.8 as well give how cheap these are

 

[Iren]

My friend who has 6D suggested 40mm f2.8 lens as compact and she uses it most of the time now, the reviews say its comparable with EOS
24-70 f2.8 is bit expensive, after all the people trying to talk me out of expensive purchases, I'll probably won't get it
From the reviews 50mm f1.8 seem to be a good option for second lens, however the same friend who suggested 40mm had this as well and it did not last long probably not well made, but I'll look into that option as well

Thanks

Isnt the 40mm f2.8 an EF-s lens ? (that is only compatible with cameras Canon cameras with the EFs mount - ie those with 1.6 crop sensors not the 6D which is full frame)

If it were me i'd say get a 24-70 f2.8 as a second lens as having only one focal length can be restrictive , especially when learning (the canon version is very expensive, but the sigma and tamron versions arent bad at half the price) , however if you want to stay with primes i'd say something like a 35mm or 24mm would be a sensible second choice - you might want to pick up a 50mm f1.8 as well give how cheap these are

 

[big soft moose]

yeah your right , my mistake its an EF mount ( I was thinking of the cheap 24mm which is an EFs)

with regard to the 50mm , the mk2 was a bit of a bag of crap - it wasnt great optically, focussing was slow and the build quality sucked like a ten dollar whore , the Mk1 was slightly better built and had a steel lens mount - they are rare as rocking horse poop these days though

however according to reviews and those on here who have it the 50mm f1.8 STM is supposed to be significantly better built and better focusing - I will probably get one when my Mk1 breaks as i don't feel the need for a pancake and i've already got 40mm f2.8 covered by my zoom

One point of note as to why you might be better buying the 6D straight away is that I started with a crop ( I had no choice at the time there were no affordable FF Digitals) and subsequently bought a lot of lens fit only for crops which then delayed my move to fullframe due to the expense of replacing all those lenses ... if you think you may go FF it therefore make sense to be FF from the start (currently Ive got a 6D but i still have a 70D as well to use all the crop glass )

 

[GordH]

Yes the 6D is a great camera I have one but its derided by some because of its low frame rate and lack of focus points so with kids running around its a steep learning curve to get the shots, but being a full frame body with excellent low light capabilities you'll get great images,and I agree with big soft moose If you start on a crop and and purchase EF.S lenses these will not work on a full frame and changing all to full fame is gonna work out expensive so I think you've probably made the right decision with the 6D, the 5D3 being better spec'd but way too complicated as a first camera, as for lenses the 24 -105 is a decent short zoom and would cover most of what you need, primes being better but not as versatile but a tad sharper, the 85mm f1.8 lens is by all accounts a great lens and I would go for something like that as opposed to the 50mm variants none of which are that good ..... end of the day has as been said its down to the person behind the camera and the the gear is secondary to some extent, but as always you need good light so whatever you decide to get learn about read what you can and above all practice, practice, practice as the more you put in the more you get out

 

[Iren]

Thanks for your reply!
I did get 6D in the end with 85mm 1.8 lens and currntly practising standard settings with some variations to start with, i wish i had more time to do it though
I decided to hold off purchasing any other lenses for now.
The quality of images is very good, but i am not good at taking nice picutres yet.

How important is the lens hood? Also, what memory cards could you suggest? 32gb can hild only few photos, so looks i need somethingwith much more space

Thanks

Yes the 6D is a great camera I have one but its derided by some because of its low frame rate and lack of focus points so with kids running around its a steep learning curve to get the shots, but being a full frame body with excellent low light capabilities you'll get great images,and I agree with big soft moose If you start on a crop and and purchase EF.S lenses these will not work on a full frame and changing all to full fame is gonna work out expensive so I think you've probably made the right decision with the 6D, the 5D3 being better spec'd but way too complicated as a first camera, as for lenses the 24 -105 is a decent short zoom and would cover most of what you need, primes being better but not as versatile but a tad sharper, the 85mm f1.8 lens is by all accounts a great lens and I would go for something like that as opposed to the 50mm variants none of which are that good ..... end of the day has as been said its down to the person behind the camera and the the gear is secondary to some extent, but as always you need good light so whatever you decide to get learn about read what you can and above all practice, practice, practice as the more you put in the more you get out

 

[chris malcolm]

How important is the lens hood? It depends on the specific lens, it depends on how close the sun or other bright light source is to your direction of view, and it depends on whether you like or hate the glare and reflections that show up in the worst affected images. If you need to shade your eyes with a hand or a hat when looking at what you're going to shoot then you should be using a hood.

32G card too small? 32GB = 32,000MB. So if you were shooting RAW + JPEG (the maximum image file size) at 50MB per image (an overestimate) your card would hold more than 32,000/50 = 640 images. You think that's "only a few"?

 

[GordH]

My belief is a lens hood will protect your lens far better than any filter will and I never use them, two schools of thought on cards the bigger the card the more it can hold can work against you if it gets damaged or you lose it and you lose all your images, I personally dont go higher than 32gb and a few of mine are 16gb,with your camera in raw a 32gb card will hold around 400 ish images and 4000ish in jpeg

Sensible choice to just have the one lens, learn how to use it, its an ideal portrait lens and you should get some good sharp shots

 

[juggler]

To digress slightly... you're clearly ambitious and have an aim in mind. How do you plan to achieve that aim? I ask 'cos I haven't been taking photography seriously all that long and I've achieved a degree of competence within a narrow field. However my unusual academic and acrobatic background has made me really quite good at learning stuff and more importantly working out how to learn stuff. If you want to turn pro* in just a year then you're going to have to do the same.

I'm assuming that you are basically a beginner and I'm trying to help you focus on some key skills. I'll start by asking some questions; I'm not expecting you to answer them in public but I think that if you want to turn pro in a year then you should have good answers to all of these:

• What are you doing to master the controls on your camera?
• How are you getting familiar with what your various lenses can do for you?
• How are you learning about composition?
• How are you getting familiar with the back office stuff - pc maintenance, backups, sensor cleaning, etc?
• What experiments are you doing to understand how to use light? (Even window light can be used in a huge number of ways. How many can you think of?)
• What are you doing to teach yourself post processing?
• How are you developing your portraiture & interaction skills?
• What are you doing to learn about marketing, book-keeping, social media, business plans and the like?
• What are you going to do to master print preparation?
• How are you going to learn about lighting?
• You say you don't want to pose people but how are you going to learn to create natural looking situations which produce semi-candid shots?
• How are you going to find about what you haven't even thought of yet?
• And the hard one.. how are you going to learn to use photography to communicate?

I don't want to turn pro, but I do want to produce professional quality work. And I've got answers to nearly all of those questions.

It boils down to directed practice - it's no good just doing stuff and repeating your mistakes. You have to really think about what you are doing and why, and then you have to analyse the results. For instance you can set yourself exercises to master the camera controls, e.g. use it without looking at the rear or top screen at all, try to use it without looking for the buttons, spend a few weeks exclusively with each of the focus modes in turn and so on. Then work out what went wrong - and regularly ask for feedback.

It is quite possible to learn by muddling through but it will take a lot longer. And it's possible that you have a natural instinct for one or more of the above; realistically that'll only give you a slight head start.

You don't need to restrict yourself to portraiture to devise exercises to improve your skills. You'll need to specialise for a while but if you really are a beginner then not just yet.

It's really worth paying for some 1-1 training if you can find someone good but there are lots of good online resources.

I reckon that if you're working full time at the moment then it might be possible to get enough of those skills together in a year - if you're really focused and do meaningful, directed practice every day. (For instance just today I've worked out that I get slightly more consistent focusing results with a really shallow depth of field at long focal lengths if I use single-shot rather than continuous autofocus mode on my new camera. Over the next few weeks I'll spend some time working out how to get the best out of AF-C on it. Some of that time will be spent photographing passing cars at a variety of angles and distances.)

To do it in a year you'll have to avoid getting bogged down in either lighting or post-processing like I did.

Obviously I've made a lot of assumptions about your current skill level; maybe you can do three quarters of this stuff already. And maybe you learn more quickly than me. I'm not trying to put you off, just sharing an approach which has worked for me.

*there are some photographers who charge money but produce shocking work. I'm assuming that you don't want to produce high volume low grade cheap stuff. If that's your ambition then much of the rest of this post won't really apply.

PS the 85mm focal length works well for considered portraiture; I find it a little bit tricky to use it to catch kids in motion.

 

[GordH]

(For instance just today I've worked out that I get slightly more consistent focusing results with a really shallow depth of field at long focal lengths if I use single-shot rather than continuous autofocus mode on my new camera. Over the next few weeks I'll spend some time working out how to get the best out of AF-C on it. Some of that time will be spent photographing passing cars at a variety of angles and distances.)

Slightly off topic but my brother who has a 5D3 and 100-400mm II found the same when we were at Bempton attemptig to photograph the Gannets he said maybe his tecnique suits that and he did have more sharp images than firing with continuous a.f

 

[Iren]

My belief is a lens hood will protect your lens far better than any filter will and I never use them, two schools of thought on cards the bigger the card the more it can hold can work against you if it gets damaged or you lose it and you lose all your images, I personally dont go higher than 32gb and a few of mine are 16gb,with your camera in raw a 32gb card will hold around 400 ish images and 4000ish in jpeg

Sensible choice to just have the one lens, learn how to use it, its an ideal portrait lens and you should get some good sharp shots

Lens hood protects lens from dust etc? I just not sure if this is something essential or just good to have

In regards to memory cards, I just checked and RAW is switched off, but JPEG was the largest possible, so when I say few I had only 5 photos stored, one for example is 4.25 mb!
If I select the S3 (0.3M) it allows me to take 33 photos (in addition to 4 large ones that I already have)

 

[Iren]

How important is the lens hood? It depends on the specific lens, it depends on how close the sun or other bright light source is to your direction of view, and it depends on whether you like or hate the glare and reflections that show up in the worst affected images. If you need to shade your eyes with a hand or a hat when looking at what you're going to shoot then you should be using a hood.

32G card too small? 32GB = 32,000MB. So if you were shooting RAW + JPEG (the maximum image file size) at 50MB per image (an overestimate) your card would hold more than 32,000/50 = 640 images. You think that's "only a few"?

Thanks!
So hood is not just to protect lens, but also improve/change the outcome/images!?

In regards to card, I actually have 32mb not Gb, each photo weight around 4-5mb I could take only 5!
RAW is switched off, but JPEG on largest possible
I had this memory card for long time, so looks like I need to get 32GB instead