 BetterPhoto Member |
Digital Camera for a College Portfolio Hello all, My name is Jason, and I'm not the first to say the search for my first digital camera just ain't working out for me! I'm applying to a few schools for photography and need a strong portfolio. I'm interested in tropical landscapes, action, and especially macro to capture eyes. I'm not sure if I'm asking too much bang for the buck ... I can only spend 500. The camera I was looking at was the FujiFilm Finepix s7000. People mostly complain that the S7000 can only go to F8. I'm not sure what the "F" is used for, or its function. Should I eliminate this camera based on that? Do I need a higher "F"? I would rarely enlarge prints beyond 8X10, so is 6.0 MP too much? I'm lost ... all suggestions appreciated.
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Sandra Harrasser |
Hi Jason, I happen to have that camera, as well as my SLR. It is a great camera for the basics. You can take some great shots. You will need to have greater aperture control(f-stops) at some point in training. It is the size of the opening in which light is let it, and it controls the depth of field. I wouldn't rule it out completely, but I would do your homework as far as what is needed for classes. That camera can perform very well. It could become a great backup as it has for me. Good luck to you.
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Clay Anderson |
Jason, in addition to finding a good digital camera, I would suggest you take a local class (or a class here on BetterPhoto!) or pick up a good book on photographic basics. F-stop (aperture) and shutter speed are essential basics of photographic knowledge, and if you're attempting to get into a photographic program, your lack of knowledge on these topics could hurt your chances. Plus, it may be difficult for you to present an impressive portfolio if you are not able to understand and utilize some basic technical knowledge. In addition, I would recommend that you try to purchase an SLR if it all possible. Unfortunately, the cheapest DSLR on the market is the Canon Digital Rebel, which will run you around $900. But there are things you can do with an SLR that are just not possible with the limitations of a point-and-shoot model. The ability to change lenses is vital, particularly as you want to do landscape, action, and macro shots. These three are best captured by completely different lenses.
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Scott Pedersen |
My understanding is when you take photographic courses is that the camera be capable of manually controlling both shutter speed and apature. In that price range you should be looking for a film camera. I hope they are still teaching real photography instead of photoprograms as it is an art that we shouldnt loose. there, You got my opinon.
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Mark O'Brien |
Jason.. I hate to say this, but if you are looking to go to a photo school and and are thinking if submitting a portfolio, and don't know what an F stop is, you better go to the library and start doing some reading. You have to learn to walk before you run.
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Michael McCullough |
Check out the Kodak 6490 4mp. with a great zoom!!!!
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Victor J. |
Jason, I second what Mark O'Brien said about doing some reading. I would add subcribe to at least 2 photo magazines. Read things even if you don't understand it at first and then read it again, the more you read the more will stay with you./ "Ah that's what that means."; it will finally come to you. But if you really want to be serious about photography you will need an SLR or a DSLR. By a used one. You should know the nuances of photography. Go to any good book store and look over the text they have on the subject. Educate yourself, practise, make mistakes, get experience, then maybe go to a class. Victor J. Pizzolato
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Rhonda |
Hi Jason, looking at the dates, you probably have already bought your camera. I studied photography a few years ago in Australia and bought a Canon EOS 300 (film camera) at the time it was about A$1000 with an extra zoom lense. I have since purchased a Canon 10D (digital) $3500 - body only when I purchased 15months ago. They are both SLR cameras which means you have more creative control. This is a must when learning photography. It is imperative you get an SLR and if purchasing digital go for something more than 4MP. If you are studying photography, starting out with no money is not an option - you have to be willing to spend in this field especially if you are going to go digital as technology changes so quickly. I would up my spending amount if purchasing digital - and get a better camera and remember when learning you will save a packet on film and developing. However if at the end of the day you want to learn more about the developing and printing side buy a film camera. cheers and good luck.
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Tommy Luca |
Hi Jason, for just a hundred fifty nine dollars more, that's $659.00 you can buy a really awesome digital slr, a "Nikon D100", "6.1MP" to find out more go here http://royalcamera.com/nikd1digcam.html if it's good enough for the pro's it's good enough for you at college Jason. Hope this helped. Tommy
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Clay Anderson |
Tommy -- Please do some research before recommending Royal Camera, or any of the other dozens of scam shops online. These shops are almost always based in Manhattan, and offer too-good-to-believe prices on photographic equipment. They stay ahead of the law by offering grey market products imported from Asia, which often don't carry a US warranty or are missing important accessories. Plus, after placing your order, you'll generally receive a phone call from an employee giving a hard upsell to buy memory cards, lenses, flashes, etc. that are overpriced. You'll be told your item is out-of-stock until you agree to be upsold, and then magically your item is back in-stock. Then, after agreeing to an inflated upsell, you get to sit back and pray that your item arrives. Before you shop at these shops, check sites like ResellerRatings.com (see http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1895.html for the Royal Camera rating of 2.07 out of 10). But be warned: the scam photo shops have also put together their OWN ratings websites to offer good ratings on their own e-commerce sites. (The most trustworthy ratings sites are probably ResellerRatings, PriceGrabber and Epinions; beware of others.) So please avoid recommending these scam shops to other people. These shops need to be put out of business, which means we all need to spread the word.
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Bunny Snow |
'F' as in f/stop is a point at which rays (as of light, heat, or sound) converge or from which they diverge or appear to diverge; specifically, the point where the geometrical lines or their prolongations conforming to the rays diverging from or converging toward another point intersect and give rise to an image after reflection by a mirror or refraction by a lens or optical system. [Source: Merriam Webster Online Dictionary]
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Bunny Snow |
Jason, In photography, the aperture (the size of the lens opening) controls the brightness of the light that reaches the film. (I don't know the terminology for digital, as that is still foreign to me). But, the aperture works like the pupil of an eye: it can be enlarged or contracted to admit more light or less. The size of an aperture is indicated by its f-number or f-stop. To learn more about the aperture and light, get the book, Photography, (I have the sixth edition) by Barbara London and John Upton. It may be available in better libraries. Or, you can buy a later but used edition, for around $40. http://tinyurl.com/7ompa Most basic cameras today, have built in meters which measure the light. However, the camera I used when I first studied photography in 1960, had no light meter. It was totally manual. I needed a separate light meter to measure the light. For me, that very basic manual twin lens reflex camera then, cost me $35.00. You can get a basic single lens reflex (SLR) manual camera today for under $600. The following, alike the cameras I've always used are not digital cameras. They are film cameras. The NIKON FM10 35mm Camera Kit which includes the camera body, 35 to 70mm zoom Nikkor lens, carrying case, strap, batteries is available for $259.99. http://tinyurl.com/afo52 And that's enough to get you started. After all, you know nothing about photography, if you don't understand the need for an f/stop or aperture. Almost three years ago, I spent $1000 on a new film body for an old Nikon that wore out after 30 years of use. I wanted a basic camera body that would have no learning curve because I was right in the middle of an advanced classical portraiture class and did not have time to learn a new camera. That same camera body that I bought then, the Nikon FM3A, is now selling for $589.88 from Amazon.com. http://tinyurl.com/76mg5 And, if you find that you like Nikon, there are a whole lot of Nikon F lenses which I believe will fit Nikon’s digital cameras, including the Nikon D100. Nikon (and Canon) make the most lenses to fit their own cameras as any company anywhere. So, you can keep the good Nikon lenses, and later when you know more about photography and have more money, buy a good entry level digital to go with those lenses. Back to that basic Twin Lens Reflex, with which I started learning in 1960: When a prominant commercial photographer looked at my work which I had produced with that basic camera, he remarked that it looked like I was shooting with a Hasselblad. A "Blad" is an excellent, but extremely expensive SLR camera. One that I could not afford then, and cannot afford to maintain now. It is held in high esteem by most older photographers. But, at the same time, I’ve been told repeatedly that it’s the photographer that does the creating, and to do that creativity, you must first learn and understand the manual capability of a basic manual camera that has the capability of interchangeable lenses. You must crawl before you can walk, and learning the basics are that important! That's why I would recommend a relatively inexpensive manual film SLR camera on which to learn. You can go digital later when money and your acquired education allows.
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Karthik M. Siddhun |
Hi Jason, Even if it a bit costlier for your budget, donot hesitate to go for DSLR. That is a great choice. As it looks, you are a beginner and obvious to commit mistakes,that is the best choice. Don't spent money on digital-point & shoot. Learn more on Aperture controls(F stops) and Shutter speeds (seconds). Both are Essentials in photography. Best of luck, Siddhun.M.Karthik
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John Rhodes |
Jason, My advice echos what others have said. Do a Google search for f-stops and read. I also recommend Bryan Peterson's book "Understanding Exposure" for an excellent treatment of the subject. Please don't buy from Royal Camera (there are too many scammer to mention here). Go to Amazon.Com and they willoffer the best shopping, often from great on-line dealers like Adorama and other reputable dealers. Read, read, read. There's a ton of good material available. John
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Andrew Laverghetta |
Hey, I realize this thread is a little older and seems to have been brought back after just a few months. My opinion is that you shouldn't look for digital in the higher price range to put together a portfolio for college or whatever it is. I'm in college now doing a second major in studio art which I designed myself (yay) which weighs heavily in photography. I don't believe there are any photography courses at my university that include the use of digital SLR's (DSLR's). They are all film and the classes I know of include the use of slide film(no darkroom), black and white darkroom photo 1 & 2, followed by 300 and 400 level classes that get into developing and printing color prints and getting into medium format photography and more detailed lighting. None of these classes will allow you to use digital. I would suggest getting a pretty good film camera with a good, but not kit quality, average range zoom lens. Possibly a 50mm fixed, wide aperture lens. Something that I might suggest is checking out bhphotovideo.com and going to their used department. Right now they have a Canon EOS 5 35mm film camera that is $209 and the condition is marked as 8+ which means it shows moderate wear or finish marks. Nothing to hinder the functioning of the camera. You could also buy a film camera similar to the Canon EOS Rebel G/GII or I think maybe the Nikon N55 or N75. These will be around $200 and just under. I have the Rebel GII and it was great for my class that I had last semester along with my 50mm f/1.8 lens. Again, I suggest a 35mm SLR (film, not digital) because most college classes will require 35mm format film especially in the earlier stages, not digital.
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Karthik M. Siddhun |
Hi Andrew, Sorry, I never knew that DSLR's are not allowed in photography corse in university as I haven't studied photography course. I hope so, I gave wrong suggestion to Mr.Jason. About 35mm SLR, I too have CanonEOS Rebel GII/3000N/66. I truly like it's performance and it's 28mm-80mm zoom lens. It is a good idea to spent money on this camera. I agree with you. Thanks,
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Andrew Laverghetta |
It's fine Siddhun, I could be wrong myself. Just from my experience, I've seen that the classes are al 35mm. Perhaps some schools with larger art or photography programs would use digital as their medium. If the costs weren't so hi, we would probably have used DSLR's (having to buy our own) for my most recent photo class. We didn't have the time to use darkroom because it was a "non-major" photo class so each class was only 50 minutes long. We used slides because we could get them developed at the University for under $10 or near the University for around $8 in about 5 hours or overnight. That was amazing being able to get slides back that fast because they do it all themselves. Jason, if you still get the responses for this in your email (if you checked that box) email the undergrad academic advisor for the School of Fine Arts(I'm assuming your just starting college?) and ask them if they have a good path in digital photography. Otherwise, it's probably definitly safe to get an inexpensive 35mm camera like the ones I stated and then just change your camera body if you need to. Make sure to get a good lens though as soon as possible. 28-135 IS is great for Canon.
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