Posted on 05/15/2013 6:26:58 PM PDT by usconservative
OK then you’re like me —I used FB for NOTHING other than TheFrugalFilmmaker, I’m serious.
Hey I heard that the neon green paper at OfficeDepot works WAY better than the commercial green screens folks shell out for. You pay $6 and put the sheets together, but it can’t be beat.
Will it work OUTSIDE? Hmm...I doubt it.
But join up there and 100 people will instantly help you for free —experienced hobbyists, pro’s —the works.
It works just like polarized sun glasses, and as with sun glasses, polarization is dependent on angle.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarizing_filter_%28photography%29
Thanks.
I asked because I do have some Mamiya Sekor lenses that are extremely sharp.
I hate to see them languish.
I’m a pure Nikon man through and through. My dad shot Canon though. So we had issues. :)
I really like my Canon t4i. I got it and three lenses from B&H for $750. You might also look at Canon’s website for deals. I bought a refurb Spedlight flash that is awesome.
I will second that.
At that price you are at the top of the non-SLR digital cameras but the bottom end of the DSLRs.
My wife has a Fujifilm FinePix HS30EXR in that price range that has a great manual zoom lens with 30X zoom.
It is worth a look. We took this camera on a trip to Costa Rica and were getting shots that people with DSLRs couldn’t get (changing lenses ha ha).
Check out Adorama
It’s quite a camera. The ONLY thing I don’t like about it is the power zoom.
I prefer manual.
But the power zoom works well in video.
I agree. A bridge camera is probably better suited for the OP’s needs/wants.
The good news is that his budget allows for a very good bridge camera.
And no, I’m not against dslr’s. I own 5 of them and about 40 different lenses. I also make my living with them. I have only 1 lens that has the kind of reach the OP is talking about and it was $3500 (just for the lens).
Great on Costco. They have a 90 day return policy on cameras which gives a really long tryout period. I like the 24+MP on the Nikons so if the 3100 or 3200 is in your price range with 2 kit lenses ? to 55mm and 55 to 200mm plus case, etc, get one, you can’t really go wrong. Canon T3i (avoid the T3) or the T4i’s (18mp’s) are nice cameras. Also very long lenses are pricey, tend to be cumbersome, generally should be used with a tripod. Remember to NEVER consider anything without a viewfinder, optical or digital. LCD screens are useless for focusing and composing in sunlight or when you wear polarized lenses. Remember to bring along your pocket camera for use indoors onboard. Enjoy the shopping and the cruise!
Amid the uncertainty about the camera/lens(es), it is important to remind you of some information that might have gotten buried in the camera talk.
Regardless of what camera solution you settle on — make sure you have (1) extra ‘film’ (memory cards) (2) extra battery and (3) a way to store the photos while you are in AK.
You don’t want to have to ration yourself because you don’t have enough ‘film’. Deleting images in the field is just asking for something bad to happen.
You don’t want to be caught with only 1 battery. While battery life is very good — running out of battery is not something you want to be reminded of (over and over and over again!)
Image storage while in AK — you don’t want to have only 1 copy of your photos. You could backup the images to an internet storage service - bring a portable hard drive - have a laptop with way more storage than you will need. The choice is yours. When I was in AK - I would backup my camera media to a laptop and then get a 2nd backup to a portable HD. Only after I had 2 good copies, would I reformat the camera media for the next day. Was I too careful? Maybe. But I have yet to lose an image due to the failure of camera media - laptop disk or portable HD.
Isn’t taking photos easy? ;)
Lots of great deals craigslist on older DSLR by photographers trading up.
That’s where I got my Canon 7D
Great thoughts.You don't take a photograph,
you make it.
Ansel Adams
[[Freeper Recommendations on Starter Digital SLR Cameras]]
Canon 1DX with a 24-70 IS lens
http://www.costco.com/Panasonic-LUMIX-FZ-Series-Digital-Camera-Bundle.product.100017400.html
An earlier post by a FReeper mentioned this camera which isn’t a DSLR but sounds very nice at $450. it’s only 12+mp’s but has a massive zoom equivalent to a stabilized 600mm lens at 2.8 throughout the zoom, an articulated screen, has a viewfinder of some sort and the Costco package might really fit your needs better than a pricier DSLR.
I would recommend the Sony SLT series dslr’s. Look up the specs for the slt a57, a58 and the a77’s. There are used alpha 390’s, slt33.37.and 55’s to be had as well. Their lens line ups aren’t as extensive but they are growing but there is a lot of older cheap(as in EBAY or camera shops) but high quality Minolta Maxxum glass that are auto focus and use the same mount as the Sony dslr’s (since SONY bought the Minolta camera line and adopted the alpha mounting ssystems. Also the SONY dslr’s use “in body steady shot stabilization” which means many lenses from differing companies can be had for sone what cheaper prices and are of less complexity(there for more reliable) as opposed to in lense stabilization systems.
Also, SONY DSLR lenses have the same registration distance(from rear lens glass to the sensor) as older high quality screw mount lenses(also known as M42 mounting systems) which means that cheap mounting adaptors can be used on these cameras with-out any corrective glass in them to spoil the focus of these lenses. You focus these lenses manually but man some of that old 50’s thru early 70’s glass can produce fantastic pictures. The slt’s have a focus peaking feature when operating manually which means when the lens is in focus, colored outlines appear in the edges of what is being focused on in addiction to a green square indicator so that you can fire the picture a get a good focused picture. One has to manually adjust the aperture on these lenses but when the camera is in manual settings mode, one adjusts the ISO sensitivity range, then spins a dial on the front of the camera while viewing the electronic view finder or using the live view lcd on the back to fin ones desired exposure and lighting . What you see previewed is what you’ll get.
The SLT’s use a translucent mirror which doesn’t move when firing and the have the fastest frames per second shooting. The older alpha slr’s use a mirror that flips up just before the shutter opens and the camera takes the picture. The advantage of a stationary mirror is that their is no mirror jitter when taking a sensitive shot where (even with steady shot”) even the littlest jolt messes with the focus(such as macro shots).
My recommendation: Start with an slt 57(some are still to be found new) or get the new slt 58(which has a 20 mp sensor cmos apsc 1.5x crop factor(as compare with a full frame type sensor1:1 as compared with old film slides). The slt a57 has a 16 megapixel cmos apsc sensor with a fast 12 fps shooting in jpegs so in some ways the slt a58 is a slight step back as it also has a small rear lcd viewer than the 57. The optical evf on the 58 uses OLED tech and is considerably brighter with more resolution than the slt 57’s evf.
Get the slt a58 with a the new redesigned SAM 18-55 lens bundle and purchase the sam 55-200 tele lens to start. With a careful search you can get the who shebang for your budget. 57’s can still be found new and at a great price. A good sleeper camera would be the a33 which can be found new in box on ebay or the a 37. the 35’s and 55’s can have heating issues if you are shooting movies or shooting many frames...especially in warm weather.
A own the alpha 390(optical view finder, flip up mirror, with optional live view...it doesn’t shoot movies) and the slt a57. I have some great lenses that I have procured cheaply off of ebay including a legendary “Minolta maxxum 70 -210” tele” lens also known as the beer can. I have the Sony 30mm af 2.8 macro lense which gives me fantastic macro shots. My sharpest lense is a MIR1 m42 Russian lens 37mm which takes especially good pictures in the late afternoons.
Go with sony !
If the sekors are pentax screw mount(m42’s) the sony’s will with a threaded to alpha adaptor. There is no need for corrective glass since the registration distance is the same but you will have to adjust focus and apertures manually. The SONY slt’s have phase focus peaking so as you adjust manually, the outlines that come into focus will show a collored out line indicating phase focusing. Some adaptors come with a focus confirm chip and you can get confirm chips that will approximate electrically the mm size of your lens so that as you stop down manually then adjust focus, the adaptor indicates proper focus without the need for focus peaking.
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