 BetterPhoto Member |
How Should I Start? Hi, I am very interested in becoming a professional photographer. However, among the people I know, they have no clue how I should start off and especially what type of manual camera I should buy. I can just afford one within the range of $300-500, please give me some ideas what I should do. As I have a serious interest in photography, I would prefer to learn from the basics, such as operating a manual SLR instead of a automatic one. Please help me out. Thank you very very much. Chi Tran
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Sean Depuydt |
Hi, I own a Nikon F3hp and a Nikon 90s. I started out using a Olympus OM-1, which was nice. I then bought the Nikons. The F3hp is a "tank" of a camera it has very well laid out controls; except for the weight and it being an old design, it is a great camera to learn the ropes with.
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Esther Mishkowitz |
If you havent bought a camera yet, Canon is very user friendly (I've found). When my Canon was stolen, I switched to Nikon. (I am sorry... I had the Canon EOS 10s, if I remember correctly.) Now I have the Nikon 90s. As far as I know, you need to use their attachments only. When I had my Canon I picked a different flash and battery pack, etc... and was much happier. New York Institute for Photography is a home study course that taught me a lot... good luck.
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Morgan W. Bird |
I own a Nikon FE and have just ordered the new N80. Not sure what was meant in the last response by "you need to use their attachments only" but to my knowledge, you can find just about any of the products that Nikon makes for their cameras in other brands. For example, Nikon's top of the line flash is the SB-28; Sigma makes the EF430 (or something like that) which can be Pentax, Canon, or Nikon-dedicated.
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Brent |
Don't be scared to use an automatic camera. I learned everything I know about photography by using one, and when you are ready to shoot fast action, you will be very glad that you have autofocus etc. I would recommend the Canon EOS Elan II/IIE. Buy the Magic Lantern Guide to using it, and you will be well on your way. The best advice I could give is Read, Read, and then Read. Also Shoot, Shoot, and Shoot. The Elan II and A2 are very good choices, because they carry many of the features that you will want as you progress as a photographer. These cameras can be used from fully automatic to fully manual, it is up to you.
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Jeff K. Files |
Hi, After using manual and auto cameras for years I would say that you can take great photos with either. Of course auto focus and auto exposure can be handy at times but it is rarely a must-have feature. As a matter of fact, photographers that rely heavily on auto exposure can often be disappointed with the results. Only until exposure is fully understood can you get consistantly good results and when proper exposure is understood, it is easy to obtain with manual cameras. A lot of learning and great photos can be had with a manual camera and once you are very proficient with that camera, then you will know what features you will need on your next camera. The thing I like best about the newer auto cameras is their ability to produce fill flash that is more versatile and consistant than a manual camera.
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John A. Lind |
Many professionals still use manual focus and manual exposure cameras. Even if it has AE or AF feature, they frequently turn it *off* unless the level of action is so high that manual operation gets too tiresome. Even so, the great action photographers up through the 1960's did it all manually. Why do they run manually? They have a thorough understanding of depth of field, light and exposure, and have developed a mental vision of what they want the photograph to look like. The only way they can achieve this with certainty is with absolute control over all the focus and exposure settings. Running anything automatically lets the camera decide what to do which may differ from what the photographer has in mind. Does this mean you need to buy a completely manual camera? No, but you will want one that lets you take manual control of everything when you want to. As you gain experience, you will find situations in which you want to override what the camera would do automatically and do something different. -- John
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