New to photography, equipment help

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Hey. To start off I am completely new to photography and have no experience with professional equipment at all ut want to learn. Ok, so no noob bashing please..! haha.

I have just got hold of an Olympus E-420 with a 14-42mm 1:3,5-5,6 digital lens. Firstly how good is this camera, at the moment I realise anything will be good for me to learn with but how long is this going to last before I require more advanced toys?

Secondly, I was thinking of starting taking pics in night clubs as a few of my friends are promoters and such so thought it would be a good thing to get into. If so what equipment am I going to need? I have read a few thread and see that a seperate flash gun is usually advised? Will this be a requirement for my camera and are there any other pieces of equipment I will need?

Thirdly, can anyone give me some tips on improving my skill's with a camera? I realise I will need to know the settings inside and out to understand how I can alter the pic's but other than that..?

Any help is much appreciated!
 
Hi,

Lot's of questions there! I think you'll be lucky to find someone who will be able to answer them all in detail given entire books have been written on some of the topics you've raised. Anyhow I'll take 5 and see what I can help you with :)

I have just got hold of an Olympus E-420 with a 14-42mm 1:3,5-5,6 digital lens. Firstly how good is this camera, at the moment I realise anything will be good for me to learn with but how long is this going to last before I require more advanced toys?
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I imagine it's more than good enough to get you involved with photography as a first time togger. The lens you have will be good for most day-to-day photography and you'll quickly find out what it is and isn't suitable for! One day you will find that the camera doesn't quite do what you want it to because it isn't advanced enough or perhaps you notice the quality is lacking (very subjective I might add!). You should consider upgrading when this happens regularly; it's the point where you've outgrown your gear and need something further up the camera/lens ladder! This might take months or years to get to that point but it depends on you entirely.

Secondly, I was thinking of starting taking pics in night clubs as a few of my friends are promoters and such so thought it would be a good thing to get into. If so what equipment am I going to need? I have read a few thread and see that a seperate flash gun is usually advised? Will this be a requirement for my camera and are there any other pieces of equipment I will need?
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First thing to do is search this forum for threads on nightclub photography (there are loads!) and have a nosey on Google to find some tutorials and guides. Once you have a rough idea what you need (a flashgun is almost always required by the way) go out and get it. Even better if you can borrow it off a generous friend just so you can give it a go without committing financially to new gear.

Thirdly, can anyone give me some tips on improving my skill's with a camera? I realise I will need to know the settings inside and out to understand how I can alter the pic's but other than that..?
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I can't really answer this question fully as there is so so much to learn. You can find seemingly inexhaustible amounts of guides and tutorials online so I'd start there and perhaps wander into your local bookshop and pick something you like the look of.
That aside, this is basically how I did it when I first got my camera:

1. Read the manual.
2. Practise, practise, practise, fiddle, swear, delete hundreds of crap photos then practise some more.
3. Read and learn from as many sources as you can (Books/Online)
4. Practise some more.
5. See your progress and be proud of it.

Repeat steps 2, 3, 4 and 5.

That seems to have seen me through from beginning to now. Hope it helps to show there are no secret tricks of the trade that will magic you into a great photographer; it really is just the amount of time (and a bit of money) invested.

Best of luck!
 
Not familar with your camera, but it will not be long before you will be looking at new gear. We all crave for the top of the range toys.

In most situations, a seperate flash with produce much better results than the in-built ones, from my experience.

To answer your third question, the answer is practice, and more practice:lol:
 
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