| Author | Message | ||
     Mikej |
I’m shooting a wedding (film, not firearms) in October, digging out my film cameras and assorted associated stuff to go with it all, probably just go with the basic no-problem filters, nothing fancy, low budget, nice but basic, get a few decent shots, along with a few random afterparty shots, and everyone will be happy. But this brings me back to other thoughts and dreams and goals and such…. Question(s): I used to do a bunch of very low light film photography with very long exposures on medium to very slow films along with some faster films. We’re talking 15 minute to four hour exposures, apertures from f5 to F16 or so, film speeds from asa25 to asa400 (pushed a bit). Some water motion shots, some ghosted images games, and just some low light stuff. Also some lower light action panning shots with 1/15second exposures wide open, stuff like that. Can digital do that stuff? I’m back in the looking phase of looking at digital cameras again, and am probably looking at some medium to high end gear, and am just starting to get back into looking at specs for various cameras. Do any of you out there in BadWebLand do much low light stuff with digital gear? Can you offer any tips or shortcuts to discussions about low light or action photography with a digital camera? I know about dpreview.com, but digging through their archives is akin to digging through the archives here, tons of info, lots of sorting and skimming to get/find what I’m interested in. I can’t hang around the site here much anymore, but can do the occasional run-by, so I’ll jump back into the discussion when I can. And if there is already a good discussion going on about this stuff as there usually is then perhaps someone could point me in that general direction as well. Thanks much, MikeJ (ducking and running from the net-nannies….) ps, I will be taking some Buell related pics with whatever I get, and yes some 15 second exposures to the side while riding with one hand, still trying to capture something on film or now digital to mimic what the eye sees somehow. | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
Long exposures are the achilles heel of digital photography. With film, one was able to compensate for very long exposures by using the reciprocity factor, ( remember that?) Unfortunately it doesn't work that way with digital, and the digital artifact is noise which looks like very,very clumpy big grain. Not pretty. There are several ways to combat this. 1. Buy a Canon camera. Canon has the best noise reduction in the business. 2. Buy a Camera with the largest sensor your budget will allow. I would recommend the half frame Canon Digital Rebel. 3. Shoot in "Raw Data " mode, convert the pictures in your computer not in your camera. The best value out there is in half frame digital SLR's which take Nikon , Canon and Minolta lenses. Nikon and Fuji take Nikon, Canon is Canon of course, and Minolta lenses go on the recently released Sony Digital SLR. Probably some others I left out. Non SLRs usually have much smaller sensors, and much higher noise in ultra low light work. That is just a brief overview, but it should get you started. I hope:-) | ||
| Mikej |
That helps, and reminds me of stuff I've forgotten or didn't remember I knew. | ||
| Court |
Iuse Fuji 160 portrait film and it is unbelievable. | ||
| Slaughter |
Call Samy's Camera Pro Department. Ask for Jim Chaconas - he RUNS the pro department. Not only is he a Buell XB racer with us at Willow Springs, he's a good resource for tech info. Ask him the questions. http://www.samys.com/ (he posts here as Chaconas) Do you have a collection of lenses? That is what is going to influence my ultimate selection of a digital body. The Nikon D80 is coming out pretty soon. I have all Nikon glass so I'm committed to Nikon. I also do a lot of long-exposure night shooting and haven't found ANYTHING in digital that can do what film can do (yet). I shoot a lot of available light, medium format - modern dance and interactive art-type stuff where strobes and artificial light give the "wrong" look. Still have problems with digital. Still looking (I'll demo a D80 when it hits the stores) | ||
| Bads1 |
Mike I just bought a Canon Rebel XT 350D and its really great unit that will more then enough for what you want it for. | ||
| Slaughter |
Wow! If I weren't so heavily invested in Nikon glass - I'd consider that Canon! Still though, I'd ask somebody about the long exposures/low light. Sunny (my s/o... introduced elsewhere) - took a night photography class from Tom Paiva at Yosemite. There's still nothing that can compete with film for high definition, low light. http://www.tompaiva.com/ | ||
| Nytrashman |
i have 2 canon bodies (1D & 20D) and both do a great job. the 1D is faster, weather proof and geared more towards the sports shooter. the 20D is smaller & lighter and is my all around everyday camera. one thing to remember with digital is you HAVE to do some post processing. images straight out of the camera are not that sharp and need some tweaking in photoshop. normally i adjust exposure (i only shoot RAW), bump up the contrast & saturation a little and then sharpen to my liking. of course a good camera without good glass will not yield optimum results so figure into buying some good lenses along with the purchase of a camera. available light/low light requires fast glass which is expensive. one of the best websites for photographers is Fred Miranda (http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/) there are lots of talented people, both pro's and amatures alike who will steer you in the right direction. there is also a free buy & sell forum which, much to the dismay of my wife, i visit way to frequently. hope this helps some. George PS: check out the Canon 5D it may be just what your looking for | ||
| Kdan |
The G'Friend's got a Canon Digi SLR and here I am pimpin' out her pitchers! http://photoshow.comcast.net/cdthatbme 56k beware! | ||
| Reepicheep |
Don't rule out the Fuji F30 (?) point and shoot... the optics are limited, but it will do 3200 ASA acceptably, and fits in a pocket, and runs for like 500 shots on a charge. You get noise (i.e. graniness) at 3200 ASA, but the shot is there, and it is every bit as good as my old T-Max days, but in color. And the graniness will do a lot less to ruin a picture then a flash will (IMHO). Not an SLR, but cheaper then your SLR lens, and a hell of a lot better then a point and shoot has a right to be. Autofocus and spot metering are not perfect, but are highly usable. (I bought the F10, which got replaces with the F30 (I think)... the F30 may do better with autofocus and metering). |
