Knights Social Forum Photography Thread

[Pika]

Great shot of the falls at Ebor.

Keep the photo, a mine has just been built there. It will never look like that again.

 

[Frederick]

I really wanna get a Canon 400D. But they're so bloody expensive

I've got an old Pentax K1000 SLR, but never really learnt how to use it properly, and now cant really be f**ked buying film, taking pictures, then taking it to be developed

 

[roopy]

I really wanna get a Canon 400D. But they're so bloody expensive

I've got an old Pentax K1000 SLR, but never really learnt how to use it properly, and now cant really be f**ked buying film, taking pictures, then taking it to be developed

The 400d is going for about 1k right now - discounted from about 1.5k, but you can get the newly released 450d with a twin lens image stabilised kit for 1.5k or so if you can find a store with any in stock, and that package is a 100% improvement on the 400d.
It is 12+ megapixel compared to 10+.
The lenses provided are image stabilised compared to non image stabilised (a massive difference).
It uses SD cards compared to CF cards.
It is faster and takes pics in longer sequences.
It has a 3" LCD sreen that can be used to frame shots compared to a 2.5 screen that could only be used to review pics and also has better screen quality.
It has a much more powerfull and longer lasting battery.

Those are the main improvements, but there are others.

All in all - it is a whole generation better.

 

[Serc]

Great shot of the falls at Ebor.

Keep the photo, a mine has just been built there. It will never look like that again.

Ah crap...shame that, know the area well! Love all around there from the Dorrigo plateau to the coast, though I am biased of course as I spent my first 18 years of my life in Coffs

Freddo - (what Roopy said) + If you are keen enough and do take photos often enough (and don't need to zoom in on the cheerleaders like roopy) the standard 450D with the 18-55 kit lens only - not the twin lens kit which will set you back an extra hundred or so - is really worth your dough.

Ian - ta, yeah I used to live in Edwards Hall from 03-05, ahh those were the days!

 

[Frederick]

The 400d is going for about 1k right now - discounted from about 1.5k, but you can get the newly released 450d with a twin lens image stabilised kit for 1.5k or so if you can find a store with any in stock, and that package is a 100% improvement on the 400d.
It is 12+ megapixel compared to 10+.
The lenses provided are image stabilised compared to non image stabilised (a massive difference).
It uses SD cards compared to CF cards.
It is faster and takes pics in longer sequences.
It has a 3" LCD sreen that can be used to frame shots compared to a 2.5 screen that could only be used to review pics and also has better screen quality.
It has a much more powerfull and longer lasting battery.

Those are the main improvements, but there are others.

All in all - it is a whole generation better.

Yeah but, 1.5k! :|

Freddo - (what Roopy said) + If you are keen enough and do take photos often enough (and don't need to zoom in on the cheerleaders like roopy) the standard 450D with the 18-55 kit lens only - not the twin lens kit which will set you back an extra hundred or so - is really worth your dough.

Basically what I was after is a camera that can be used to take pretty damn decent shots of our oztag team when we play. And obviously if I had the camera there I'd be more tempted to go out and take pictures of pretty much anything and everything.

 

[Frederick]

A quick shopbot search has revealed the 450D going for as low as $866. When it says body only, am I to assume that means it's just the standard lens that comes with it?

http://www.shopbot.com.au/default.asp?kw=canon+eos+450&position=search

 

[roopy]

A quick shopbot search has revealed the 450D going for as low as $866. When it says body only, am I to assume that means it's just the standard lens that comes with it?

http://www.shopbot.com.au/default.asp?kw=canon+eos+450&position=search

no - body only means it is for people like me who have a bunch of lenses - so it comes without a lens - and might not have a battery of sd card either.

 

[Frederick]

Ahh, well I suppose it's of no use to someone like me who has no lenses then :lol:

 

[roopy]

Yeah but, 1.5k! :|

Basically what I was after is a camera that can be used to take pretty damn decent shots of our oztag team when we play. And obviously if I had the camera there I'd be more tempted to go out and take pictures of pretty much anything and everything.

this camera will do 90% of what you can do with an SLR - and the other 10% is all stuff you need to be really keen to learn how to do - and it costs half of what an SLR costs.
It also does a few things you can't do with an SLR like take a movie clip.
http://catalogues.camerahouse.com.a...7?Ntt=panasonic&Ntk=Primary&N=0&source=search

 

[Frederick]

Hmm that doesn't sound too bad.

 

[roopy]

Hmm that doesn't sound too bad.

The things you won't be able to do are take photos in RAW or .tiff formats which are giant files that are used for professional shoots and to blow up into posters etc - but you can take .jpeg pics that are more than good enough for up to A4 size photos and to post on the net etc.
You also can't hook up big flash light units or put on lenses for wide angle, big telephoto etc etc etc.
Basically, you can point and shoot a decent pic which is image stabilised so you can move a bit in 5 minutes after reading the instruction book, and the camera will have settings for portrait, sport, landscape, night etc which will do all the set up work for you.
If you want to do a lot more than that you need an SLR and need to do a photography course.

 

[Serc]

If your Oztag is during the night - well you will be in a bit of trouble! Hard to get right without spending some $$$ on lenses. That Panasonic thingy is a good example of the other ones you can get that are cheaper than your Canons and Nikons...don't forget the Pentax ones in that cheaper group as well.

Also - 'body only' means what you get in the box is exactly the same as the other ones, except only the lenses are missing, nothing else!

 

[Frederick]

If your Oztag is during the night - well you will be in a bit of trouble!

Yeah it is at night during the winter comp. So the Panasonic isn't good for night action shots?

 

[roopy]

Yeah it is at night during the winter comp. So the Panasonic isn't good for night action shots?

Night action shots are a challenge for any camera - basically you need a slow shutter speed for poor light and a fast shutter speed for motion shots - and to make matters worse the ground lighting is like a bunch of mini suns you need to avoid looking straight into.

 

[Serc]

The trick I do is having recently acquired an f1.8 50mm prime (probably the cheapest lens in the whole Canon catalogue), I sit myself at one corner of the field, and take pics whenever the play gets close to the tryline in my corner. Which only happens a few times every 10-20 mins or so but it does mean that I give myself a chance to get a few decent pics, rather than no chance at all. This of course is because being zoomed at 50mm means the players need to be within 20m of me to be worth taking photos of

 

[Frederick]

Hey roops and/or serc, do you know much about the Olympus SP-570? We just started stocking it at work, and it doesn't look half bad to me.

http://www.olympus.com.au/component/option,com_product/id,294/Itemid,69/task,detail/

 

[roopy]

Hey roops and/or serc, do you know much about the Olympus SP-570? We just started stocking it at work, and it doesn't look half bad to me.

http://www.olympus.com.au/component/option,com_product/id,294/Itemid,69/task,detail/

It sounds brilliant.
It has 20% more zoom than my SLR - which is enough zoom to take pics anywhere on a footy field - basically one end to the other.
It also has features i didn't think compacts had like a 'hot shoe' for an external flash and it shoots in RAW - which basically means big files containing full information that can be much better manipulated in photoshop etc.
The only feature i don't like is that it uses AA batteries rather than rechargeable lithium batteries, but people who travel overseas prefer AA batteries because of power differences.

Anyway, if it is all as good as the specs say it is much better than i thought a compact camera could be.

 

[Frederick]

How would you rate it compared to that Panasonic you recommended earlier?

 

[roopy]

How would you rate it compared to that Panasonic you recommended earlier?

The specs seem much, much better, but i know for sure the panasonic has a very high quality lens, and without reading reviews i wouldn't know if the olympus does.
The last camera i had before the SLR was a panasonic lumix and i was very pleased with it.
Another thing about the olympus is it uses xD cards for memory - i don't know if they are expensive - i know the SD seem to be the most popular and cheapest now.

 

[Frederick]

Yeah xD's are expensive...$49.95 for a 2gb. But you do have the added bonus of being able to take panoramic pics.