High Tide Aquatics

complete newbie to photography, please help

beaupierce

beaupierce

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Hey all,
So, for a wedding present my buddies want to buy me and my soon to be wife a nice camera. I want to use it to do photos of my reef as well as family photos/ vacations. I am thinking about an SLR.... maybe a Nikon D90 or comparable...hell i don't even know what SLR stands for LOL

Since I don't know anything more than a basic point and shoot camera I need some serious help in telling them what i want.

also, what is needed to take these beautiful pics of corals and fish? i would love to blow some up and put them in my house and office..

So, if you guys could point me in the right direction, as me some questions and I'll do the best I can to answering in what little knowledge I have
Cheers
 
Single lens reflex. ;)

Too much to go through. If anything, pick up a book or check out some forums (e.g. Aquatic Photography Forum). Go through some of kinetic's postings as well in this forum (i.e. stickies).
 
[quote author=Zepplock link=topic=6976.msg90688#msg90688 date=1237568276]
I'd suggest Nikon D40 - once you learn how to use it - you'll know if you need D90 or higher models
[/quote]

+1

My girlfriend got me the D50, my first and only DSLR, and it's been great. Haven't found any real need to upgrade to a different camera. All I've added are a new lens, polarizer, and a larger memory card.
 
Yes, I had D50 as my first camera too. Even though I have D90 now, D50 was not a BAD camera. I have lots and lots of great photos.

It's better to spend money on good lens. Buy macro/wide/prime lens for it. (D40 does not support ALL lens, so be careful)
 
I use tamron 90mm 2.8f on my d90 now
I really like it and most pics here http://www.flickr.com/photos/zepplock/ are macro ones using 90mm tamron
 
The d40 is a very capable camera but you will be limited to af-s or hsm lenses only for af.. IF it was me I'd want something that could af both af-s and af-d lenses...


When I was in the market I went out and just felt a bunch of different cameras. hahah Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony, Olympus there is a huge array of different dslr;s.. Take into consideration what your friends shoot as well, it's always great to be able to borrow a lens to try.. Most of teh mid to high end Dslr's can be rented from Calumet or Ksp so you can get a feel for the cameras ergonomics as well as functions... Eric helped me loads here when I was shopping...
 
[quote author=Zepplock link=topic=6976.msg90779#msg90779 date=1237583207]
I use tamron 90mm 2.8f on my d90 now
I really like it and most pics here http://www.flickr.com/photos/zepplock/ are macro ones using 90mm tamron
[/quote]

Love the pics. I'ma put that lens on my wishlist.
 
Yeah, I looked up the Nikon 105mmVR, and it's almost $1000. After briefly using a lens with VR on it, I'm leaning more towards the Nikon than the Tamron.

Sorry for switching subjects on this thread, beaupierce. Hope you find the right camera for you. I've seen the D90 at Costco for ~$1000 dollars - not sure what kind of lens it has, tho'. Costco didn't have the D40 from what I saw, but you can pick one up at Ritz camera's website. They usually have pretty good deals goin' there. That's where we ordered the D50 from for $500, camera plus zoom lens.
 
In my opinion VR is useless for macro shots.

You can try ebay store called Cameta, they are official Nikon dealer, and you can take advantage of any of paypal/ebay coupons that way.
 
I wouldn't call VR useless for macro shots. I actually know a number of guys who have switched from shooting Canon over to Nikon just for the ability to use VR on their macro shots.

VR in macro shooting comes in handy when:
1) Object is stationary
2) You're not carrying a tripod
3) Tripod can't get to where you need it
4) Too much caffeine, not enough sleep, your handholding skills leaves more to be desired (like mine...)

VR doesn't come into play when subject is moving faster than your shutter speed. Otherwise, VR can come in handy.

As for whether it matters or not, that's really subjective. Some people want the newest and greatest. Others prefer to stay within budget. I actually picked up an old manual focus Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Adaptall and shot with it a few nights ago - no metering, no autofocus; just a simple macro lens. I had to do some manual adjustments, but it did everything that the 105mm VR did, and at a fraction of the price.
 
Yeah I agree. It depends on a person.
Last time i did about 200 macro shots in SF during the Orchid expo. All 800 ISO, handheld no tripod and only 10% were out of focus, blurred.
Overall I had 50 keepers which is a lot for me, but there were so many nice orchids ;-)
 
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