Photography posted

I joined a photography class this block at Cornell and I'm really looking forward to it. I really need more photo experience for work.broox.com, plus I think photography is one of the best forms of art there is. Anyway, we needed an SLR (Single Reflex Lens) camera, so I spent about 4 hours comparing cameras in my price range. I narrowed it down right away to the Canon Rebel 2000 and the Minolta Maxxum 5. I went to Best Buy and talked to 3 of the High School kids that know nothing about any product in the store except for the new 50 Cent CD. Then I got the privelage to talk to someone who might know what he's talking about. I asked him how fast the lens was on the camera (Aperture Range), and he just looked at me and then told me that I'd have to read the manual. Finally I got to talk to a sales manager who knew camera's really well. So after spending a couple hours with him, I decided to pick up the Maxxum 5. The Maximum shutter speed on the Maxxum 5 is 1/4000, which is twice as fast as the Rebel 2000. Using the Maxxum 5 manually is much quicker and easier to figure out. The Maxxum 5 also has many more shutter speeds than the Rebel.

I turned off all automatic settings (even though there are some great auto-features on the camera) and I'm starting to learn what real photography is, it's great! If you want to check out my camera, here is a picture of it.
Tags: Art, Tech

comments

  • Photogrpahy class is really good at first and youll learn a lot of good stuff, but after that first half the rest is just pure shit that you will never use again in your life. You made the right choice on the camera, not just based on the shutter speed tho. You'll prolly wanna a pick up a 52mm filter for your SLR, and a flash, as well as a booster. I have spoken

    greg posted

  • ...and when I say flash, I mean REAL flash, not that peice of flip shit that comes on all new cameras and couldnt light up the inside of a matchbox. Plus take that stupid lens hood off.

    greg posted

  • Camera Update: While I absolutely loved this class and got some great pictures... my camera is no longer in my posession.




    Let me explain... First of all, we are on the block plan at cornell. you take 1 class at a time for 2-4 hours a day for 3.5 weeks. Once that class is done, you have a final, get 4 days off and then start your next class. Alright, toward the end of this class, I realized that I liked digital better... not for the "taking pictures" part, but for the "printing pictures" part. SLR cameras like this take the best pictures, but they are still restricted. First of all, they use small format film, which is 35mm (just like the camera you probably own). Well, 35mm is fine if you're printing 4x6's or something, but as soon as you start blowing them up, they get REALLY grainy. 35mm quality could easily be compared to a 1.3 megapixel digital camera; they're nice but not nice enough.




    the second problem i had with film photography is the processing of the film and printing of the pictures.


    A. it takes forever


    B. it's expensive


    C. there is a lot of wasting


    With a digital camera all you have to do is plug it into your computer and copy your pictures over, then it's done (unless you want to print them or something). You don't have to worry about the temperature of the water when processing your film, you don't have to mix tons of chemicals exactly right, you don't have to worry about light getting to your film, you don't have to worry about water spots/scratches on the film, and you definitely don't have to sit there with a timer and work with the film for 20 minutes. Then you have to worry about all that stuff again when printing the pictures! Basically if you want to develop 1-2 rolls of film, it takes at least a half hour to get your film out of the canisters, developed, and dried. then you can count on spending more than 4 hours in the dark room printing your pictures to make them look perfect. Adjusting contrast and all that is such a pain to get right. Now with a digital picture and photoshop, it's SOOOO easy and fast to manipulate your image. First of all, if you want black and white photography, you can still take the pictures in color (just in case you want them later), and then convert them to grayscale in photoshop in seconds. Adjusting brightness/contrast is just as easy and you don't have to make a ton of test strips.




    the last cool thing about film camera's like this are the controls which can all be done manually: focus, zoom, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc. Most digital cameras have been VERY limited with these features. However, Nikon is finally starting to do something about it. Nikon recently made a digital camera called the D-100. This camera operates exactly like a standard SLR camera, it has all the manual controls, and puts out pictures with a lot better quality than 35mm; they take 6.1 megapixel pictures!




    The bottom line is film cameras are expensive. I had 1 month to return my camera and I did right after my class was over, heh. With a digital camera you never have to buy film, you never have to pay for developing, you don't have to waste hours on getting them to look right, and if you want to use them in a manual or on a website you won't ever have to scan them.

    derek posted