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Anonymous
I have a digital Nikon SLR that was bought in 2005, back then it was $1000 for it and its only a 8mp camera. I know little about photogrophy, but i believe i have a creative mind and could take decent shots, i just dont know what the hell I'm doing, and i want to get some half decent shots for a camera that has been barely used at such high cost. What is there to me look out for when taking a shot. Things i should be doing myself and also when capturing the shot itself
>> Anonymous
if you just want to be creative and not worry about your camera, just put the camera on auto.

If you want to learn the technical aspects too, start reading.
>> Anonymous
thanks, thats helpful... i just need somewhere to start
>> Anonymous
for learning your camera, or photography?

for your camera, there will be numerous books teachign you the controls, what everything does, etc.

for photography, try this for basic help. (http://www.azuswebworks.com/photography/ph_comp.html)
your local library will have numerous books on photography, too.
>> Anonymous
>>153987
This is wrong. Shoot manual, or aperture priority if you must.
>> Anonymous
>>153993


bullshit

if somebody just wants to make art, why the hell do they need to shoot fucking manual? It'll just frustrate them.

inb4 artfag.
>> Anonymous
I have a good technilogical sense, i just dont know what half the things mean, so i can start by reading about that for specifics.

>>153992
for photogrophy mostly is where i dont know what i am doing, like focus and such, it doesn't have a manual focus (not a physical one at least) so i guess i dot know what to look for when capturing something like a scenery

i think i'm too new at this to even know what im talking about..
>> Anonymous
op, megapixels are generally irrelevant.

unless you plan on making 40'x50' prints, you're good.
>> I||ICIT !!mknjFN/v/49
>>153999
i concur.
you brought an slr, ALL slr's should/do have manual focus.

id agree with the others, lrn2camera before you can lrn2picture.
look around the net, theres lot of good sites explaining how everything works.
also may i suggest if you dont have one, get a 50mm 1.8, theyre cheap, fast and sharp, simply the best way to learn about DOF and low light photography.
dont worry about using full manual, start off with aperture priority and learn what the effects of higher and lower /f numbers do to your pic. that has to be one of the major advantages/features of slr's so flaunt it man!

also simple things like composition, lighting, metering modes and post processing greatly affect how your picture turns out.
>> Anonymous
>>154011
thanks

i dont have a tripod or anything so that may help too... i have messed around with some settings that create a motion blur effect and other things but tehy always look crappy, i jsut need to learn


but thanks for the suggestions
>> Anonymous
ohh well i guess i am strict when it comes to quality, i guess i dont know where it stops to the point where its so high that it doesnt matter for personal use
>> I||ICIT !!mknjFN/v/49
>>154013
you dont need a tripod unless your shooting long exposures or at night with still subjects.

if your trying to take a photo of your cat in a dimly lit room, only a fast lens or high ISO will help cos otherwise the cats gonna move and youll get motion blur, or youll get camera shake which is where IS/VR come in, but thats expensive and only helps camera shake.
>> Anonymous
>>154017
ooh well thats a plus, just seems like mine arent the steadiest looking pictures

i just got the camera here, its a nikon coolpix 8700. any idea if its decent?
8.0mp
35-280mm 8x optical zoom
12 scene modes.
>> I||ICIT !!mknjFN/v/49
>>154021
ah so its not an slr lol.

well, the lens isnt very wide, pretty long though.
scene modes dont count shit sorry.
to put it bluntly, scrap all my advice as its now pretty irrelevant due to its not an slr.

techno time:
because the sensor in my slr is something like an inch across(for you americans) and yours is prob only 1/4 inch, it allows virtually no control over DOF(depth of field) due to the small sensor, i dont exactly know why, im sure someone here does, but it just doesnt work.

example:
the image here is classed as a shallow DOF, and notice how the subject stands out a lot more and the background is blurred. this is one of the advantages of using a fast lens on a larger sensor.

another major advantage is better high iso(whats needed in dark situations) where because i have larger pixels they have more light gathering ability, basically it means each of the individual pixels have a larger area to gather light compared to a lot more smaller pixels figting to recieve the light.

more to come.
>> I||ICIT !!mknjFN/v/49
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shit, sorry heres the pic

Camera-Specific Properties:Equipment MakeCanonCamera ModelCanon EOS 30DCamera SoftwareDigital Photo ProfessionalImage-Specific Properties:Image OrientationTop, Left-HandHorizontal Resolution72 dpiVertical Resolution72 dpiImage Created2007:11:11 11:00:36Exposure Time1/60 secF-Numberf/1.8Exposure ProgramAperture PriorityISO Speed Rating100Lens Aperturef/1.8Exposure Bias-1/3 EVFlashNo Flash, CompulsoryFocal Length30.00 mmColor Space InformationsRGBImage Width700Image Height466RenderingNormalExposure ModeAutoWhite BalanceAutoScene Capture TypeStandard
>> Anonymous
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>>154026
shit well i was told it was an SLR, i guess very close to it? =/

figured modes didnt mean anything just threw that in there

shit makes sense, i guess i wish i knew it wasnt a SLR though

i do see on ebay lens' + lens adaptors, any of those worth looking into?
>> Anonymous
here are a few things that helped me when I first started with my slr. (I jumped right into manual mode)

Aperture: how blurry the background gets compared to the subject you're shooting. The lower the "F" number, the more blur you get and also increases overall brightness. The higher the "F" number, the sharper an darker you get.

Film Speed: The amount of time the camera records what youre shooting. The lower the speed number, the brighter the image since the numbers refer to fractions of a second (IE: 1\10 of a second will be brighter that 1\125th of a second because the camera records longer) Forget the fractions symbols I just typed in because most cameras will only display single numbers. (IE: 10 or 125 in this case)

The trick is to balance the settings using simple math, for example: using a house lamp: Film speed between 8 and 15 with an F' number 4 or lower.
Sunlight outdoors: Film speed 125 and an "f" number of about 11 to 14.

hope I've been helpful?
>> I||ICIT !!mknjFN/v/49
heres the 2nd pic r.e DOF

notice the difference between how the subject doesnt stand out as well, sure you can still see her, but you eye isnt drawn straight to her due to the rather distracting background, she just doesnt "POP" out of the image.

to continue with the whole ISO/pixel deal...
think of it as this:
you have an area of say 1M x 1M and say you cover that area with square buckets with an opening of say 20cm x 20cm means you will have 25 buckets on your area.
now say i reduce the size of those buckets to 5cmx 5cm openings.

now i spray my hose "theoretically" perfectly over the buckets at a rate of 1L/second this should result in each bucket receiving .04L/s
compare this to the smaller buckets which will only receive 0.00025L/s?(maths aint my strong point...) basically it means that the pixels dont receive as much light as the bigger ones and so the camera has to "amplify" the amount of water and sometimes it gets it wrong and this creates the noise you may see in your images.

this also relates to aperture.
the more water i spray onto the buckets is essentially the same as turning the tap on more/opening it up/opening up the aperture. this is equiv to going from say f/8 to f/1.8(ish)

the same applies backwards, i reduce the amount of water im spraying i close the tap or i close the aperture on my lens.

hopefully this all helps, if you want more im bored enough to explain it to ya if ya want lol
>> I||ICIT !!mknjFN/v/49
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>>154031
damn it, heres the other example pic.

Camera-Specific Properties:Equipment MakeCanonCamera ModelCanon EOS 300D DIGITALCamera SoftwareDigital Photo ProfessionalMaximum Lens Aperturef/4.5Sensing MethodOne-Chip Color AreaImage-Specific Properties:Pixel CompositionRGBImage OrientationTop, Left-HandHorizontal Resolution72 dpiVertical Resolution72 dpiImage Created2006:11:05 14:06:04White Point Chromaticity0.3Exposure Time1/200 secF-Numberf/13.0ISO Speed Rating200Lens Aperturef/13.0Exposure Bias0 EVFlashNo FlashFocal Length35.00 mmColor Space InformationUncalibratedImage Width700Image Height466RenderingNormalExposure ModeAutoWhite BalanceAutoScene Capture TypeStandard
>> I||ICIT !!mknjFN/v/49
>>154029
nah, all theyll do is give you a wider or narrower field of view.
theyll also reduce the amount of light getting to your sensor(though admittedly only slightly)
though ill gaurantee theyll reduce the image quality for you too :D
>> Anonymous
>>154030

that would help, i guess, but since my camera is not a SLR does this even apply? i guess i dont even know where to find the statistics you're describing on the camera. does mine even have anything to do with ISO? sorry im just a little lost, but not too far behind yah
>> Anonymous
http://cgi.ebay.com/ORIGINAL-NIKON-WC-E80-COOLPIX-5400-5700-8700-LENS-NICE_W0QQitemZ270225547647QQih
Z017QQcategoryZ50492QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

no clue
>> Anonymous
>>154030
That's not film speed, that's shutter speed that you're describing.
>> Anonymous
>>154043
(slaps forehead)

I stand corrected, I DO mean shutter not film speed. (thats ISO). lol. whoops
>> Anonymous
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meh i've learned plenty i guess, and knowing its not a SLR, i dont care about this thread anymore :) byebye /p/
>> Jeremo !iKGMr61IHM
ummm OP is a lying cunt.

Nikon did not have a 8MP DSLR in 2005 and has NEVER had a 8MP DSLR EVER...

GTFO.
>> Anonymous
>>154107
...
ah fuck, I don't even know where to begin
>> Anonymous
>>154107
if you read on, it was concluded it wasnt a SLR, i was told it was a SLR...
>> Jeremo !iKGMr61IHM
>>154109

It's all good. Success Trolling is Success.

I'm taking a page from Butterfag's book.

All the gear talk is getting to me.
>> Butterfly !xlgRMYva6s
>>154112
<3 you mean pro trolling.
>> Anonymous
>>154112
..like i said i know nothing about cameras

-op