Got me a new Toy

[RONDAL]

Got a Visa gift card from work on Friday so I decided I'd blow some of it on a new toy. Went to The Camera Store near my apartment and grabbed a Nikon D40 w/ kit lens. Had debated long and hard about stepping up to the D80 but this is my first venture into photography, my previous camera was a 3MP point and shoot that was less than $100. I'd also never used photoshop in any way shape or form before....so I wasn't about to leap into the deep end and drop a G+ just to see if I liked it or not.
Was something I was interested in though so I figured for $450 I couldn't really go wrong.
Borrowed a corporate full version copy of the new CS3 w/ Bridge and downloaded some tutorials I started working through on the weekend as well.


First day out on Saturday I snapped these. Taken 300+ pictures already just messy around with all the different settings, figuring out aperture, shutter speed, ISO, all that fun stuff and how it affects shots.

Also downloaded the trial version of photomatix so I could play with some HDR imaging. It's really cool and was the reason I became interested in this stuff.


First HDR attempt w/ photomatix last night:






Couple other ones I snapped on Saturday walking to my office and back.

[The_Stig]

Re: Got me a new Toy

Nice pics! I shoot with a D40 also. Great camera to start with. I did upgrade the lens a while back. Probably upgrade the body soon too. HDR can be fun but you will get better at it if you learn the basics of photography first. Buy a tri pod if you havent yet. You will need it for night shots, or long exposers.


Did you use a tri pod for the first HDR picture?

Also for the first picture, since you have buildings in the for ground and back ground i would use a bigger depth of feild. WHich is the smaller apture (larger f-stop number).

[RONDAL]

Re: Got me a new Toy

yeah i am going to take the 3 hour course offered by The Camera Store on learning to use the camera and basic photography stuff. I've just been reading internet photopgraphy forums in the last week trying to pick up odds and ends.

Need to pick up a tri-pod. I rested the camera on the flat railing of my balcony and braced it as I adjusted the exposure. That's the one downside to the D40 is no built in bracketing. Would be really nice to have if you are shotting a lot of HDR style shots.

If you know of any cheap but half decent trpods let me know. i dont want to break the bank, but i dont want to lug around a solid steel one either.

I'll prolly pick up a lens with a little more reach in a month or 2. wouldn't mind a 15-200 or something like that.

What body you thinking of? If I had the coin i'd grab a d300....sooo nice

[The_Stig]

Re: Got me a new Toy

Yeah i was thinking of getting the d300 down the road. Probably the last camera you would need to buy for a while. I bought just a ok tri-pod from blacks. It was 50 bucks and has done the trick. Made out of alluminum i think so its nice and light.

Yeah with HDR shots the camera can not be moved or wiggled at all between your differnt exposers. This will keep the picture looking nice and sharp.

Read this first. It will help you to understand all the basic concepts better.
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=414088

You can also go through this clips of this free online photography school. Start at beginner and work your way through it. Lots of great stuff in here.
http://www.michaelthementor.com/

I susggest getting the program called capture nx. Its for NIKON cameras only. Can be found online. You can download the free trial but after 30 days you will need to buy an activation code.

Its great for simple editing. (colors, contrast, cropping etc) pretty much anything you need to touch up your pictures. It just does not have all the special effects stuff like photoshop.

When your shooting pictures make sure your camera is in "RAW". This will make your pictures slightly better quality. The main reason for shooting in raw is when it comes to editing. RAW allows your to adjust the lightling and colors in your photos much better. Once edited. You will need to save them as a Jpeg file. Only some programs can view raw files and convert raw files to jpeg. CaptureNX does this nicely . Any more questions feel free to ask.

[RONDAL]

Re: Got me a new Toy

i shoot in RAW, have capture NX, but honestly...its **** compared to using Bridge and Adobe Camera RAW. I do all of my editing in the adobe suite and its so much easier.


I will have to go have a look at black's for a tripod this week....i realize you're not supposed to move the camera during HDR, problem is with the D40 you gotta click buttons....which kinda sucks. When you blow up my HDR image you can see areas at the edges where there was a little movement, but photomatix does a really good job of aligning everything up i found.

I am working through a series called "Total Training for Adobe Photoshop CS3" i found on mininova. It's worth the download if you are new to PS CS3 like I am. Shows you how to use the Bridge interface with the camera, and link it into the full Adobe Suite so you can go directly into Camera RAW or Photoshop with a few keystrokes.

Stig if you don't have ti already, I can give you a full free version of CS3. it's worth having as it sounds like you are into photography. Lots of $$$ if you buy it outright tho.

I'll take a look through those links. Thanks dude.

[The_Stig]

Re: Got me a new Toy

Yeah man sounds good. I have Wanted CS3 for a while. Yeah i find even with a tripod if i bump it pushing the shutter button it can be enough to cause a little edge bluring. Just hitting the 10 second timer works well also.

[RONDAL]

Re: Got me a new Toy

You in town? if so I can just burn you a DVD with all the stuff on it that you need including the tutorial videos I have been using.

I looked online at blacks website but the only $50 tripod they have thats full size looks kinda iffy. what brand is yours?

[The_Stig]

Re: Got me a new Toy

I cant remember my brand. Yeah its just super plasticy and stuff. Nothing special but it has worked fine for what i have used it for. Will plan to get a better one soon, but they are so bloody expensive. Yeah but im in calgary

[VeeDubArt]

Re: Got me a new Toy

D40 is a nice camera. One of my friends has it.

I myself got a Canon XTi and am pleased with it

[RONDAL]

Re: Got me a new Toy

i dont have small hands so the XTi just wasn't gonna work

[niXon]

Re: Got me a new Toy

HDR is played.

[niXon]

Re: Got me a new Toy

i dont have small hands so the XTi just wasn't gonna work

What horrible reasoning. You shot with a point and shoot and it was fine.

I have big hands and have no issues at all with my XTI. Sure a battery grip helps with the overall feel of the camera but to say it's not gonna work cause of hand size is retarded.

[Jam-T]

Re: Got me a new Toy

Nikon has better ergonomics which is far better for ppl with bigger hands. Is not retarded at all.

[RONDAL]

Re: Got me a new Toy

What horrible reasoning. You shot with a point and shoot and it was fine.

I have big hands and have no issues at all with my XTI. Sure a battery grip helps with the overall feel of the camera but to say it's not gonna work cause of hand size is retarded.

with this comment i WILL generalize you as an idiot. Sure I shot with a point and shoot. I hated it.....why do you think I bought an SLR?


go on any photography forum tell them that you are looking for a camera, dont know what kind you really want.
you know what they say?

"Go to a store, pick up a bunch of bodies and pick one that feels right...and just forget about price for now"

You know why they say this?

Because if you dont feel comfortable holding the camera, you're not going to shoot with the camera. Plain and simple.


I picked up more than my fair share of bodies, even well outside my price range. I like the ergonomics of the D80 and the D40, hated the D60. I liked the D300 but the weight really put me off. Wasn't a fan of the feel of the Pentax at the $600 range, tho the dual click wheel was nice. And the Canon's were simply too small for the bear paws I call hands to hold....that is until I got WAAAY outside my price range. I shouldn't HAVE to buy a grip to make a camera feel right. If you do...you clearly like throwing money at things.
Now you might be a canon fanboy...so of course anything nikon makes is ****. I didn't care either way. I went into the store as a blank canvas and tried finding what worked best for me.

As for saying HDR is played, go jerk off a crack whore. Thanks for the constructive criticism buddy. You will notice HDR isnt all i shot and posted. I can also tell you of the 500 photos i have clicked off so far, 10 exposures total (5 per HDR) have been used to create 2 HDR images.

Thanks for coming out.

[R_Ethug]

Re: Got me a new Toy

hey andrew how you still liking it? i think i'm going to splurge on a new camera before my trip and was thinking the D40 or D60 for its crazy high 10.2 MP