Its the EOS 10d and its the first real camera that I have owned thats not a point and shoot. Since we have been having -10 to -30 temps the last couple of days , i have been hesitant to go out and actually shoot stuff to see what it will do. This has more to do with me not being cold weather resistant, rather than seeing what kind of operating enviroment the camera can withstand.
I have been visiting different camera forums and most notably photocamel. Since this camera came out in 03 or 04, the canon family has gone to the 20/30/40/50d, so my baby is not as fresh as the newer models, it does have several limitations that have become apparent now that the newer models have come out , but fundementally is still a good design, so they say.
I am of the opinion that a good photographer can take a crappy camera and work around its limitations and put out a good shot , while the converse is not true, a top end camera with a good lens in the hands of an amateur will give a mediocre shot, so if I have to start learning about taking Raw pictures vs Jpegs, then an older camera that has limitations that I may not notice, is good enough for me.
The folks over at camel seem to be really friendly about passing on advice or shooting the breeze with regards to a wide variety of topics , but I litterally find myself at a loss as to what questions to ask, since I am normally a point and shooter. I am planning on leaving the camera in automatic mode for the next couple of months till the summer, while I research the best lens for me for general purpose use. For those that might be wondering , I want a lens that will go from the end zone of a football field , up to the fifty yard line and I figure I will go from there.
I will say that I was astounded to a certain degree regarding the amount of information available to anyone with any desire to photograph.
This is no such thing as a best lens. It all depends on what you want to shoot. But I would suggest the complete opposite of leaving the camera in automatic. Set it to M, and learn how to take pictures yourself instead of letting the camera do it (unless you just need to grab a couple family snapshots or something, then auto is fine). Learn how to set exposures manually. Learn when the meter is leading you astray and you should override its suggested exposure. Learn when you want to get a given exposure with a wider aperture and shorter shutter speed, and when you want to get it with a narrower aperture and longer shutter speed.
It’s really not that complicated. Plus any dslr gives you very powerful tools for learning these things, since you get instant or near-instant feedback from your experiments. Not like the film days.
Right now I am going through the manual matching up the symbols on the paper against the same on the camera and what wheels change what settings. For the next couple of days the temperature is polar bear ambient so Im waiting until at least the weekend before I can get out and start shooting.
I am interested in ISO shooting , when I was at the car show last year , alot of the cars had chrome and really shiny surfaces so I got a lot of noise from a point and shoot, so this year I want to go a bit more knowledgeable on that.
Great thread! I just bought a used Nikon DSLR, a Nikon D70. I’m still figuring out how to use it.
UncleRojelio, is there a forum like that of your link for Nikons?
My friend the Talented Professional Photographer tells me that it’s a good idea to carry a plastic bag with you on cold days; you stick the camera in the bag before going indoors, and the condensation (as the warm inside air hits the cold camera and bag) occurs on the bag instead of on the camera.
Local community colleges have classes in photography where the prof will tell you what you are doing right and wrong. Take lots of pix and have people in the know criticize them for you. You are right, great equipment in untrained or untalented hands doesn’t do much, and a good pro can turn cheap equipment into great art. And anyone can get lucky, even me, a bad amateur, occasionally gets a good shot.
Congratulations. I’m sure you will have lots of fun with your DSLR. I just bought my first DSLR too and I am enjoying it a lot. It’s quite an expensive hobby though but I was lucky to get a few lenses from my father from his film SLR days, which still work perfectly with new DSLR’s.
I’ve been hanging around a little on the forum at www.dpreview.com, where they have sections for different brands and subjects. They have pretty good camera and lens reviews on that page as well.