 Cheryl Kolus |
Pet photography Hi there. I'm playing with the idea of eventually trying to do pet/equine photography parttime. I still need better skills, and am in the midst of taking a comprehensive photography correspondence course. Currently, I have an old Yashica SLR. It's all-manual, which I love, except I'm dying for autofocus. I seem to have a hard time focusing quickly, especially on unpredictable animals. I'm considering purchashing the Canon Digital Rebel (which I didn't see in your comparison chart). Opinions on whether this would be a good camera for pet photography? What about shutter lag - will that cause me problems? I suppose I would still need to buy additional lenses other than the one that comes with it, and another flash. I'm not interested in doing studio photography, though...do you think I would be losing clients? I'd prefer to capture pets doing fun and unusual things in their natural environment. Any advice on equipment would be helpful, and on pet/equine photography in general. Also, what about printers? I have an Epson Stylus Photo 925 now, which does okay, but maybe not good enough? And regarding the Rebel - I've read a bit about Err99 (I think) being a problem. Is this still the case? Thanks for any advice you can provide. Any resources re: pet photography you can direct me to would be helpful, too. Oh, one more thing, at the risk of sounding like an idiot - the Rebel's lens' aperture is 3.5 to 5.6 - what's up with that? Wouldn't I want more of a range? Is that why I don't really want this lens? Thanks a bunch for your help! - Cheryl
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Jon Close |
As with other digital SLRs, the Digital Rebel does not have the shutter lag common with digital point & shoots. The "f/3.5-5.6" is the maximum aperture for the EF-S 18-55 zoom. At 18mm the maximum aperture is f/3.5, at 55mm it is f/5.6, and intermediate values inbetween. f/3.5-5.6 is not the limit of available apertures. The lens can be set for any aperture between these and f/22. "Err 99" typically comes from using a Sigma or other non-Canon lens that has not been updated with the proper ROM. It's a fault with the lens, not the Digital Rebel.
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Cheryl Kolus |
Thank you Jon. I knew I must have been missing something there with my aperture question.
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Shauna Linde |
In my opinion, pet photography can end up being a fairly "specialized" field unless you are willing to do studio portraits, or perhaps those with other human family members. I know of several photographers who will happily take pictures of your pet, but usually they are for show dogs, which they want studio type pictures for. I definitely think it's an interesting idea though- I have three dogs and I LOVE getting the natural side of them on film. Just a side note about the automatic focus, I have a Nikon SLR and while I LOVE the option of doing manual or auto focus, I find when I take pictures of moving items, I prefer to use manual focus because sometimes my auto doesn't focus the right part quick enough! I realize this may be an issue to a certain extent with myself, and there are more options on my camera for auto focus on moving objects specifically, but it seems SO technical that I'd just rather do it myself. It seems to work fine.
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Norbert Maile |
I am also getting into pet photography, and do not have a studio. I will however make a portable studio, that I could take to someones home. For outdoor events, it is my opinion (what ever tht's worth) that to go digital you should have nothing less that the Canon 1D. It is really expensive, but the best digital for action. That other option is to start with film, and a regular Rebel will do. In this case, spend the money on a fast lens. A 135mm f2 L would be good, plus any 50mm. If you need a zoom for a special event, you can rent it. An average zoom is ok on a bright day, but we can not control the weather. Use 400 and 800 speed film. The quality nowadays, is very good.
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Cheryl Kolus |
Thank you, everyone, for your advice!
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