Help Please, New to photography

L

Lynn

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Name
Lynn
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Hi all,

I am looking to buy my first SLR camera and am looking at the Cannon 40d or perhaps the 50d.

I have no clue as to what functions I need LOL. If I let you all know what I need it for maybe someone can help me decide which camera will be best for me.

Ok, I am a reborn baby artist and am looking for a camera to enable me to do baby portraits with very very good detail in my art work. Most pictures are taken close up. But the camera I have does not pick up much detail in the skin tones of my babies.

Please please if anyone has any advice for me it would be much appreciated. Also I do not have a photo studio or lighting of any kind so I rely on the sunlight.

Lynn x
 
Thanks so much for your help The next question I have is which lens would be the best to buy to go with the camera.

Also would I be able to buy a cheaper slr for the things I want if for or would it be better to spend the extra on a better one??

Lynn x
 
Hi friend,

I hope you don't mind my small suggestion, Since you are not going to use very professional... I will suggest you to go for Fuji FinePix S100fs ($799)

Review page : http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/fuji/finepix_s100fs-review/

Its not a DSLR but have a very good specifications then DSLR... you don't need to buy any extra lens because you will get multipurpose attached lens ( no need to change) Price is also moderate.

Its my personal suggestion.... please read the review. If you find comfortable then go ahead.

thank you.

PCP
 
Hi PCP

Thanks so much for your reply I am open to any suggestions. I already Have a sony DSC-H7 which is fairly good and cost almost £300 but It just doesn't take the pictures clear enough for me???

I was told that an SLR would be sooo much better???

Thanks very much for the suggestion I will go and have a peep

Lynn x
 
Hi and Welcome.

As you are unsure as to what functions you want/need I am guessing you don't know a lot.......yet:)

Do not get fixated on one brand there are several you should look at first.

Go to a shop nd handle the bodies and see which feels comfortable, not all will, everybody's hands are different.

Also see which button layout on the camera feels most intuitive to you.
 
You are absolutely spot on LOL. I know nothing but I know what I want the pictures to look like. Useless really I am. I choose canon purely because I have read a lot of good reviews on canon. I personnaly am a sony person.

Thats great advice though thanks

Lynn x
 
OMG I never thought It would be so hard,. There are so many cameras out there to choose from and so many people with different views. Ok this task is proving very hard.

Lynn x
 
if your only needing an slr for taking a picture to later use the image to make a painting from i'm guessing a painting by hand? an entry level slr would do for you, canon 400D's are going for £200 on ebay at the minute and are more than up to the job, even a 1000D would probably do with a kit lens to start.

personally i don't see why you P&S isn't up to that task, maybe you just need some imaging software to sort the colours or am i heading of in the wrong direction?
 
Hi Lynn,
Unless you are planning to really get into photography a Canon 40D or 50D might be a bit of overkill. You could save a bit of money and look at the lower spec Canon models - 450D, 1000D or other manufacturers (Nikon D40, D60, Sony ....) as suggested.

Any of these would probably give you the image quality boost you are looking for and save you a bit of money!

Perhaps you could post some samples of the photos you are unhappy with and you may be given some tips on getting the best out of your current camera.
 
Thanks f1charlie I was wondering if spending that much money was worth doing for the pictures I was wanting to take.I was also looking at the 450d but wasn't sure if it was uup to the job.

Chris I make and paint dolls to look like real babies and sell them on ebay. (I know I am a nutter). I need the camera to pick up every detail in my work on the dolls. I.e the suble viens and the mottles effect on babies skin.

Thanks for all this help it is much appreciated.

Lynn x
 
I'm guessing you take your photos with the camera on auto, so if the lighting isn't good the camera will be boosting the ISO/sensitivity and giving you grainier photos, losing detail.
Do you take your photos indoors? Do you use the flash?

It may just be a case of getting the lighting and the camera settings right, otherwise you might buy a new camera and still be disappointed!
 
Now that was another thought of mine. I do take pictures indoors and do not use the flash. My photos do seem grainy you are right.

Lynn x
 
layla3011.jpg


layla1022.jpg


These are a couple of piccies I took of a recent doll I made but the colouring is just different in the flesh so speak than in the picture???

Lynn x
 
I think I may be better off taking a college course in photography rather than spending out on a new camera.
 
i think that would be the safest bet Lynn, as these pictures are fine, i'd say it's more to do with how the images are handled on a computer, just make sure the course covers the digital manipulation as well
 
The first shot has a rather cold look to it due to the white balance being off. I'm not sure of the specifications of your camera but it seems to me that you really need to have it set to manual and then start reading the instruction book.
 
I'm certainly not an expert in this area (still learning!), but here's one explanation of white balance:

http://www.photoxels.com/tutorial_white-balance.html

Plenty more if you google! The trouble is cameras aren't as clever as the human eye! You should be able to adjust the colouring afterwards on your computer to get it looking right, but that's another skill to learn!

To get the most detail in your photos make sure you use a low ISO - this means you will need plenty of light to get a fast enough shutter speed to avoid camera shake or better still use a tripod so that the shutter speed won't matter, but you will be able to select the best aperture to get the sharpest results out of your lens.
 
Lynn said:
Hi PCP

Thanks so much for your reply I am open to any suggestions. I already Have a sony DSC-H7 which is fairly good and cost almost £300 but It just doesn't take the pictures clear enough for me???

I was told that an SLR would be sooo much better???

Thanks very much for the suggestion I will go and have a peep

Lynn x
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for your kind response (y)

Hope you get a good one.

Also, Keep an eye on Canon 5D Mark 2 :love:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_eos5dmkii.asp

Sounds great for quality and flexibility :woot:
 
pcp said:
:love:WOW...AWESOME...WOW:love:

I love Taking children too:love:
Click to expand...

These are dolls, not children!!

They are fantastic, Lynn. I can see why you want to show them off to their best., (y)
 
Thanks so much for all your help I sincerely appreciate. I think maybe I need to work more with the camera I have first. Thanks ever so much.

Thanks Janice you are right it is a doll, I took this hobby up two years ago and have never looked back I love it.

Lynn x
 
Hi Lynn,
The dolls are fantastic, Going by your pictures that you have posted I reckon that if you get a good lighting set up that the pictures will improve greatly, Where abouts in the country are you? If you are localish to me you can always try my studio flashes to see if the lighting does improve your shots.
 
Hi Lynn

I think a 40D or 50D would be a bit too much for what you are looking to do.
What you want to achieve can be done on a much cheaper model with a decent lens.
A 350D or 400D would be fine but the important part would be learning about the different functions on the camera and also about lighting.
You can pick some really good second hand cameras up which would save you a fair bit of money which could then go towards a good lens etc.

As already mentioned though, don't discount Nikon, Sony etc as they are all great cameras and it's more to do with knowing how to use a camera than the make and model.

How big are the dolls?

Ian
 
Hi again thanks so much all this information is fantastic for me.

Ian the doll are actually newboen baby size. They range from around 17" long to 22". Thanks for the compliment Dave, Also thanks so very much for your offer that would be fantastic. The only problem is I live out in the sticks in sunny cornwall around the Camborne area???

Lynn x

Lynn x
 
Hi Lynn

Good luck with your search for a camera - I think that I saw a program about these dolls a while back, the people that collected them treated them like real babies!

Ian
 
Yes Ian some people do treat them as real babies???? each to there own of course.

I was actually wondering if it would be ok to post a link to my auction on ebay at present for you to see the pictures I have on there as these pictures seem to be so very bright but grainy as well. I have no clue what I done LOL

Lynn x
 
Hi Lynn,
No problems on the offer, unfortunately a bit far for me to come at the moment due to work commitments.
 
Lynn,
It might be worth trying shooting them next to a window with a net curtain up as a diffuser and a reflector on the other side of the doll to fill in some shadow.
 
Thanks Dave I will have a go at that next time I will try anything.

Lynn x

Guess what I really need is one of you guys to do the photography for me.

Lynn x
 
To be honest, there's so much information that you need to know about lighting, white balance, camera settings etc that it would be almost impossible to tell you how to get it right in a short space of time - it's something that takes years of practice and knowledge.

I would imagine that you could better results by doing a little research into the different settings on your current camera and a visit to your local library and some reading matter on digital cameras would help you immensely.

It's all about the right settings for the subject and unfortunately there's a lot of learning to do to know about the right settings.

It could be cheaper to have the dolls photographed by a local photographer than buying all the equipment yourself -obviously depending on the amount of dolls that you make?

Ian
 
Thanks Ian ans thanks everyone for the support and help. I think I will have a look at some good college courses.

Lynn x
 
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