SLR Help.

[Communism]

ok, so i've been recently using my girlfriends Canon XS and have been doing most of my shooting with that. I mainly do live music/promo/modeling shoots.

i run a small clothing company and would LOVE to cut the price for a photographer and dedicate my funds to finishing a website if i could.

some of my best friends are also in a bigger local band and i've been shooting their shows as well as their promos that they are sending to record labels.

i would like to be able to continue to do that, it's a ton of fun and some larger bands that come through my town are asking me to do pictures for them too.

i don't know much about brands or anything, i just feel like i may have found my niche finally and i'm trying to learn all i can about which camera company to go with, what lenses to use, etc.

so my budget is like 700ish or so, i may be able to swing 800 if i need to, and i'd like some sort of extended warranty that covers damage because some of these shows can get rowdy and i dont want to break my camera and be screwed.

any help you guys can give me would be awesome =D

not to mention any advice on lenses, technique, etc. would be appreciated. thanks so much =D

 

[kyzen]

$700 might cover a decent lens for low light event shooting. Definitely not going to get you a full setup.

 

[mfacey]

Looking at your uses, like concerts, which will be low light, I would consider a body with good high ISO performance. For your budget you might want to consider a used Canon EOS 40D body or one of the newer Canon Rebel bodies (450D or 500D, sorry I work with the european names). You'd be needing fast glass, so a large aperture and possibly quite some reach on the zoom side. I am only aware of the Canon 70-200 F2.8L which is crazy expensive and way above your budget. Sigma also makes a fine 70-200 F2.8 for less than half the money of the Canon. Looking in the used range keeps the prices down.

 

[peskaa]

Looking at your uses, like concerts, which will be low light, I would consider a body with good high ISO performance. For your budget you might want to consider a used Canon EOS 40D body or one of the newer Canon Rebel bodies (450D or 500D, sorry I work with the european names). You'd be needing fast glass, so a large aperture and possibly quite some reach on the zoom side. I am only aware of the Canon 70-200 F2.8L which is crazy expensive and way above your budget. Sigma also makes a fine 70-200 F2.8 for less than half the money of the Canon. Looking in the used range keeps the prices down.

Forget the 70-200, primes all the way.

50mm f/1.8 or f/1.4, or the 85mm f/1.8 would do you well.

 

[mfacey]

Forget the 70-200, primes all the way.

50mm f/1.8 or f/1.4, or the 85mm f/1.8 would do you well.

Primes are great for the added stops in aperture, but I would imagine the loss of versatility under concert conditions could be a deal breaker. However with the budget constraints the 50mm F/1.8 is a great option for our OP.

 

[compuwar]

i run a small clothing company and would LOVE to cut the price for a photographer and dedicate my funds to finishing a website if i could.


so my budget is like 700ish or so, i may be able to swing 800 if i need to, and i'd like some sort of extended warranty that covers damage because some of these shows can get rowdy and i dont want to break my camera and be screwed.

1. If you want *good* clothing shots, you're going to need good lighting- your budget is on the low end for lighting alone.

2. If you're using it in business, then you should have it covered by your business insurance.

3. If you're shooting at venues, you should have insurance.

4. If you're shooting for publication, you should have insurance.

You're looking at about $500/year for insurance that'll cover most of the issues you might have under those conditions as well as your equipment. If you're making money at a rowdy show- you're a good target for anyone wanting to file suit when something happens.

 

[Communism]

i've really just began running my business, i have a graphic/web designer doing my website, and all of my clothing, which is mainly just tshirts, is my work, and i'm shooting an online catalog for it when my website launches, hopefully in the next few months =/

lighting i'm not too worried about, one of my good friends is a videographer who can supply me with the lighting equipment and whatnot.

i have yet to apply for insurance yet, but thats one of my next things i'm doing.

"If you're making money at a rowdy show- you're a good target for anyone wanting to file suit when something happens." what do you mean by this? i'm kind of confused. haha. plus i'm on like 2 hours of sleep right now. and in class.

i just really enjoy shooting shows and i would like to make a career out of it, but i doubt that will ever happen. haha.

but thanks so much for your input, i'm still looking online.

i found a nikon D50 i think for like 350 for the body, is that a good deal? or should i just keep looking?

 

[kyzen]

I think you could score a D50 for a better price, but that's just me. I also don't think Nikon is your best bet if you're planning to use a low end body. Their midrange bodies, like the D300/D300s, and D90 are excellent, but their lower end bodies - especially the older ones - leave a lot to be desired. Canon's lower end bodies will offer more bang for your buck.

I will say if you plan to sell *prints* of photos, a 6MP camera isn't going to cut it, as you lose a LOT of cropping ability, and are going to have a hard time hitting optimal resolution for anything. For web images, 6MP would suffice., but if you're trying to print anything, get a 10-12MP camera.

 

[compuwar]

I will say if you plan to sell *prints* of photos, a 6MP camera isn't going to cut it, as you lose a LOT of cropping ability, and are going to have a hard time hitting optimal resolution for anything. For web images, 6MP would suffice., but if you're trying to print anything, get a 10-12MP camera.

I disagree completely- if you shoot with a lens that's long enough to fill the frame, 6MP is perfectly fine for anything up to and including 11x14 prints, and honestly, you can go bigger if the image is properly exposed and viewed at the correct viewing distance for the size of print. I know people who've shot commercial billboards with 6MP cameras. For the Web, 4MP is overkill- go to any online retailer and look at the image sizes- everything is downsampled.

I've done 13x19 prints from less than 6MP of crop and until you get within 4" of the print, the images are just fine. Certainly they're commercially viable prints at 13x19.

Edit: My favorite image, hanging over my desk is a 4.4MP crop printed to 13x19. It's way more resolution than needed for the Web, and is a salable image at that print size.

Paul

 

[peskaa]

Primes are great for the added stops in aperture, but I would imagine the loss of versatility under concert conditions could be a deal breaker. However with the budget constraints the 50mm F/1.8 is a great option for our OP.

At a concert you'll be in the pit at the front, with a typical width of about 2m - not exactly much working room. When I'm doing a concert I take my 16-35 and 50, with nothing longer, as you're close enough anyway. Pits are busy places, so you can't move around much either.

Festivals, it's usually the 70-200 (sometimes with 1.4x extender) and 400mm.