Going for the first DLSR....And scared stiff!!

Jooo13

Jooo13

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Jo
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Hello all :D
A while back I posted asking for model suggestions for a newbie and I've finally found the camera of my dreams!
I'm heading towards the Nikon D90 + 18-105MM Kit as It seems just right for me to start out with....

But I'm getting extremely nervous. I have a lot of weight on my shoudlers to get good images (family expectations!!) and I'm scared as hell about getting a DSLR.
I'm excited, but at the same time wondering if I'll be able to perform as good with it as I'm coping with my digital right now. I'm so confused with all the controls and different settings and everything. So I just want to know how all of you coped when getting your first DSLR...was it hard to get used to? :D
I'm trying to learn all the camera termanology at the moment so I'm looking to use this thread to post my comments or questions...is that okay? :wacky:

Also! I'm focusing on equestrian photography right now and I was wondering if I'll be able to achieve good, clear shots without using auto focus...or is that not possible? :LOL: (I'm a learner bare with me!)

Jo
 
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You will love it .... I stepped up from a P&S and now am totally hooked to the point the missus has special "look" whenever I mention new gear:LOL:

I had a bridge Fuji for about two months after I got to the limits of my P&S canon that taught me a bit about Aperture and Shutter Priority howver that best thing is Shoot shoot shoot and learn from mistakes this place will teach you bit as will others of it's ILK but now you have one step back WE ALL started somewhere the pressue is not on you only in your head enjoy it and the reast will come
 
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Don't be nervous.

The D90 is an excellent camera, one of the best value/performance DSLR's around.


VR is vibration reduction. What it does is let you shoot at slower shutter speeds than you would normally be able to hand hold at. As a rule of thumb, you generally have to get a shutter speed inverse of the focal length you are using to be able to hand hold (i.e, if you're shooting at 40mm you need a shutter speed of at least 1/40sec to get shots without camera shake). VR would probably let you get a sharp shot at about 1/10 of a second at 40mm by comparison, letting you handhold in lower light than you would otherwise be able to.


Hope that helps ;).
 
You'll be fine, the great thing about a DSLR is that you can experiement with different settings for everything to your heart's content, and then delete the images that don't work. Practice makes perfect, just try different things, and use this forum. I learnt so much when I joined here, it massively improved my photography.

VR is great, it's saved loads of shots for me :)
 
Your first few shots out of auto mode may be a blurry mess, but look at the shooting info and try to see why. Then take more shots..and more and more.

Experiment with all the settings, you will soon learn how it all works and what it all means.

If you want some light reading, buy the book "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. Explains how ISO, Aperture, Exposure all work together to make the perfect shot.

Why do you not want to use autofocus BTW?
 
I'd say don't expect miracles, and calm your expectations.

when I started, a lot of my pictures were worse than from my P&S. However once you get the hang of things your images will be better, but the main thing for me is your creative options will be much improved.

Shutter lag alone though if you are taking anything fast moving you will notice a huge difference.

Good luck and enjoy

Al
 
Thanks everyone for the advise :D
TCR4x4 said:
Your first few shots out of auto mode may be a blurry mess, but look at the shooting info and try to see why. Then take more shots..and more and more.

Experiment with all the settings, you will soon learn how it all works and what it all means.

If you want some light reading, buy the book "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. Explains how ISO, Aperture, Exposure all work together to make the perfect shot.

Why do you not want to use autofocus BTW?
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I just wanted to know if there would be any difference in picture. I'm guessing AF will be easier for shooting moving objects? :LOL:
 
I'm moving from an entry model to a more advanced model, I'm loving photography prepare to get hooked :) As for the look from the wife, me and my partner were in Tesco the other night, she was perusing Hello or whatever cack they read and I was looking at a togging mag, when I got "Oh for goodness sake can you not read zoo or nuts once in a while!"
 
SimonM said:
I'm moving from an entry model to a more advanced model, I'm loving photography prepare to get hooked :) As for the look from the wife, me and my partner were in Tesco the other night, she was perusing Hello or whatever cack they read and I was looking at a togging mag, when I got "Oh for goodness sake can you not read zoo or nuts once in a while!"
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:eek::LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL:
 
akr said:
I'd say don't expect miracles, and calm your expectations.

when I started, a lot of my pictures were worse than from my P&S. However once you get the hang of things your images will be better, but the main thing for me is your creative options will be much improved.

Shutter lag alone though if you are taking anything fast moving you will notice a huge difference.

Good luck and enjoy

Al
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I agree....to start with you may be disappointed, so go out on your own, relax and just play around. I too would recommend Bryan Petersons booki. Photography is initially hard work....so many new words to understand :eek: but trust us all here....you WILL get addicted!!! :LOL: You have chosen a great camera to start on this adventure.
 
Jooo13 said:
Also! I'm focusing on equestrian photography right now and I was wondering if I'll be able to achieve good, clear shots without using auto focus...or is that not possible? :LOL: (I'm a learner bare with me!)
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Use autofocus for moving targets, it's one less thing to worry about then. AF systems on modern DSLRs are pretty competent and even when you are using AF you'll have plenty of other settings on the camera to experiment with ...

My main photographic interest is motorsport (which is comprable only in that it is about the only other sporting discipline which doesn't have a gender divide) and I use AF exclusively.
 
SimonM said:
I'm moving from an entry model to a more advanced model, I'm loving photography prepare to get hooked :) As for the look from the wife, me and my partner were in Tesco the other night, she was perusing Hello or whatever cack they read and I was looking at a togging mag, when I got "Oh for goodness sake can you not read zoo or nuts once in a while!"
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she's a keeper then ;)

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson, 3rd revision is a tenner from Amazon. A must read.
I'm currently reading The Photographers Eye by Michael Freeman, really good book about composition
 
Jooo13 said:
Eeeeek! 'VR' :LOL:

Please explain!
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As already explained the VR Vibration Reduction will help when you are hand holding the camera to reduce camera shake, but you should switch it off and increase the shutter speed when you are shooting moving subjects as you will in equestrian photography.
 
When I started I used the P mode on my Canon (think it is the same as Nikon). This enable you to change other values like the ISO levels etc.. but the amount of zoom on the lens will dictate the balance between speed and aperture. That is to say at maximum zoom it will set a fast speed and wider aperture and at minimum zoom a slower speed and smaller aperture. That helped me get more of an understanding of speeds and apertures related to ISO settings before progressing further.
 
This is important :
photostar_1 said:
...to start with you may be disappointed, so go out on your own, relax and just play around. ...
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After a week or so you'll be getting better pictures than with anything before : bar some specialised conditions, like bugs on flowers and stuff.

Jo your text is pink : there may be a setting to clear that back to black. Hope you find it.

Try and get a 50mm (F1.8 or 'faster') to go with your zoom, whatever kit you end of buying. They are mostly all cheap lenses and really important.
 
USE AF ALL THE TIME!!! Even the pro's do! trust me on this. :D

Seriously, you are paying a substantial amount of money for all the wizardry inside that little black box and whilst its lovely to know how to control it all manually, let some of it earn its keep and worry about the focusing whilst you worry about all the other stuff. Further down the line you will find occasions when manually focusing is essential, perhaps if get into macro [close up] photography, or even normal still life, but for now, auto-focus will be just fine for most things (y)

Take one step at a time learn about each function in your own time and experiment and don't be disheartened when you initial shots aren't what you were expecting, especially as someone has already said, when you first step outside the auto settings. It takes time to figure out what is doing and what and remembering to put all that together when you raise the camera to your face.

Good luck, the D90 is a fabulous piece of kit and while you will encounter frustrations along the way, have huge amounts of fun....and tell the family to sod off :LOL:
 
Delete your photos! Or more precisely, be ruthless with the photos you keep. One of the biggest driving forces for me to improve my photography is that I delete any photos that are wrong - be that with focus issues, bad exposure or bad framing (although within reason - the last two can be helped somewhat with post-processing). It's horrible to delete a decent shot that you didn't quite manage to nail, but the next time a similar situation comes up, you'll know the pitfalls precisely and will have a much better chance of getting the shot you want. Naturally, this isn't quite the same as only keeping perfect shots - otherwise I'd probably be lucky to have any shots in my library!

And as so many people have said - go out and have fun taking photos!
 
I am sure you will be fine. Just spend time shooting everything and anything and get used to the effects that aperture, shutter speed and iso have in different situations! One piece of advice- don't get roped in to shooting a family wedding and then come and ask for advice here! :p
 
It's a great camera but the best thing is, if it all goes pear shaped ( it won't ) you could always sell it and you would have enough for a GF1 kit!
Good luck anyway.
Allan
 
The best advice I can give you is to just go out and "play" with the camera and settings, take a few horse shots, try altering the aperture (F number in Av mode) and see how it affects things, shoot your mates messing around, get them to jump in the air and see if you can get a clear shot of them (Tv mode, adjusting the shutter speed),and definitely try and shoot any of the lads messing around and showing off, especially if you can catch them when it goes wrong ;)
Don't get to bogged down with all the theory as taking pictures is supposed to be fun and don't let anyone pressure you, do things at your own pace.
If you find playing with the camera leaves you with a question just come on here and ask, that's what we are all here for, to help each other.
So get out with it and have some fun Jo..
 
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autofocus isnt a great idea for show jumping, prefocus on the jump and click as the horse jumps works much better for me.
 
First thing is read the manual , familiarise yourself with the camera and where everything is (some of the guides are better at explaining than the manual)

Have a look and see if there any evening classes in your area, winter nights ahead and its only usually for a couple of hours a week

As others have said, have a play with the camera and don't expect miracles, but do use AF and VR

Someone on here local to you might be able to offer some pointers if you could meet up

Most of all enjoy it and don't worry about family expectations, perhaps explain you feel under pressure and just need some time to take it all in
 
Haha, check out some folk on here implying that photography is sooooo difficult, and takes years to learn how to do and master - that's poppycock :) It's just a camera for pete's sake... it's not rocket science... :)

Never mind evening courses, or hours and hours reading books, and certainly don't bother with monthly/weekly photography magazines as they are a waste of money and are just one big advert.

Just ask any questions you may have about your kit on here or other forums, and get out there with your kit, it really isn't as difficult as some may lead you to believe :)
 
Hi there...

Are you interested in video?

If so, I'd make one suggestion. I'd say hang fire on the D90 until you've seen the new Nikon D7000. It's a replacement for the D90 but with HD video.

The spec looks very good and it's as if you get the video for free if you were planning on a D90 anyway.

It's worth a look.

Clown Guy
 
About a year and a half ago I went from a compact to a DSLR and honestly haven't looked back - the key thing for me was processing power as my compact could no longer process and save a photo in under 30seconds. With regards to learning to use it in manual settings you've just got to take it a bit at a time, keep notes and the camera guide on you and keep going with it and at some point it just clicks and you can do it. I found an initial dip in quality when I started to use the manual settings because I was still learning, but after a while you find it performs way way better then you could imagine the difference would be like!
 
clown guy said:
Hi there...

Are you interested in video?

If so, I'd make one suggestion. I'd say hang fire on the D90 until you've seen the new Nikon D7000. It's a replacement for the D90 but with HD video.

The spec looks very good and it's as if you get the video for free if you were planning on a D90 anyway.

It's worth a look.

Clown Guy
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Yes! I make alot of videos and advertisements for my school ICT department so HD would be nice!
How much roughly will the new model be? And when will it arrive? :)
 
The best way of learning is see if you can join up with a TP meet in your area.

Getting opportunity to have a natter with a few like minded folk and ask questions is a fantastic way of filling in the knowledge gaps that are harder to articulate via the typed word.

Reading your first post - make anyone who thinks 'excellent camera = excellent photos' understand that the person using the camera is the only real factor in an excellent photo. It will take you a bit of time to learn - just done be scared of the family!
 
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