Any other keen photographers out there?

[Alan]

I used to love photographing children especially when they are playing but I am reluctant to do that now. It would look a bit suspicious for a man to be taking pics of kids

[AngelPunks]

I've got a film Pentax SLR camera & a shoot'n'point digi. I am having a blast with the film camera, when I get the films developed it is like a surprise!!!!!!

[{sarah}]

It's sad Alan that the world has come to that Maybe with your midwife services you could add on newborn photography?

[SSmiles]

Me! Me! Me! I LOVE photography and have been into photography for almost 20 years! (gawd I'm old!) I got my first camera - a Ricoh KR10M - when I was a teenager and have upgraded twice, now to a digital SLR (Pentax *istDs).

I always loved taking landscapes, building & animal photos but these days I take more people photos (must be getting sentimental in my old age). Must admit, we took around 3,000 photos on our 5.5 week 'round the world' trip 2 years ago...most people find that hard to believe...

[suse]

I'm a super keen macro photographer, with a Canon EOS 30D (my new baby), with an EFS- 17-85mm zoom and an 100mm EF series macro w/ extender ring (my even newer baby).

For anyone going from compact or consumer digital SLR to the pro digi SLR market, check whether the model you are looking at includes viewfinding through the LCD screen. This is something that is now being addressed, but up until recently, the pro Canon range only used the standard viewfinder, with the LCD screen only being capable of reviewing shots. I'm not sure whether the Nikons were the same. This was not clear in the tech specs, because it was assumed by their marketing dept. that anyone buying pro was coming across from the pro film market and would have known this (or preferred to use a traditional viewfinder). I bought my Canon through a pro camera department and specced it quite thoroughly so was very surprised when I found out about this limitation after purchase (as I had been quite clear about what I was upgrading from). Anyone with glasses, like me, will know that using an LCD compared a traditional viewfinder is much easier so this is something that anyone going from compact or consumer digi SLR to pro should consider.

Canon have just released the 40D and have addressed this issue and the super-huge LCD screen (3 inches!!!) can be used as a viewfinder. I am so, so, so annoyed - and have told partner he's now not allowed to buy beer and plasma screen with baby bonus because I want one... (kidding, really I am!!)

Also, if any Canon users are considering macro lenses, go for the EF series (1x magnification), rather than the MP-E65 1-5x magnification lens. The MP-E65 is an incredibly powerful lens, but is really designed for studio work and is not very suitable for field work. I doubt it could be used without a tripod because of the weight (and extension length at 5x magnification), even with a really fast shutter speed, and at 5x magnification the focal length is about 5mm from the subject. The EF series of macros have autofocus, which makes them a much more flexible lens. And the magnification can be increased using extender rings.

At the moment I do mostly plants/nature/avant objects shots which I retouch in photoshop, and am in the starting stages of setting up a small company doing custom framed art photography and cards to keep me out of trouble / in finances once kiddo arrives.

Can't wait to play with my new camera babies on my real baby when he finally emerges (8 +/- weeks to go). There will probably be lots of macro soft focus arty shots of toes, eyelashes and fingers which will annoy my Mum no end so I'll have to take some shots of the whole baby just to keep her happy. Sigh...

P.S. Alan, I really sympathise - it's now at a point where guys have to be really careful about almost anything they do around kids - a great way to promote good paternal relationships - isn't it?

[~Raven~]

For anyone going from compact or consumer digital SLR to the pro digi SLR market, check whether the model you are looking at includes viewfinding through the LCD screen. This is something that is now being addressed, but up until recently, the pro Canon range only used the standard viewfinder, with the LCD screen only being capable of reviewing shots.

Suse I believe the newer range of Nikon ones coming out at the end of the year are going to have this but TBH I'm not sure if I'd bother to look at a live LCD screen on a DSLR. When I use my HP digi camera I hate how you can barley see the LCD screen in the bright light if you're outside.
I'm not sure if you'd be able to tell if your subject is in focus properly by looking at a little 3 inch screen when you're using the camera in manual focus for a start and if you're going to autofocus all the time then what's the point of having a DSLR anyway! (I'm not being arguementive here I just can't see why anyone would spend thousands on a camera that has manual controls and only use autofocus IYKWIM...)
Also I've read that one reason that they don't have that feature was to save on batteries. I'd hope that you'd be able to turn off the feature if you didn't want it otherwise you'd always have the thing on the charger

Alan it's sad that it's come to be you'd be put off by that. My friend had her kids down the beach once and she was approached by a photographer to take pics of them. She ended up with the most beautiful shots of her littlies for free!

[suse]

Totally right on all points Sammi!! (And, no, not argumentative at all!)

The LCDs are almost indecipherable in really bright light, even with brightness adjustment. In the previous Canon I owned (powershot G5), the screen was a swivel screen which helped the problem most, but not all of the time. You could also turn the LCD viewfinding off to save batteries (and it had a screen shutdown mode after about 1min activity, like a video camera) - but on the larger screens, you would definitely want a spare battery or a very, very long power cord (LOL) if you couldn't switch it off!!

But it can be an amazingly handy feature when you are taking a shot where you have to get your lens somewhere where it's not possible for your head to follow without being a gymnast!

My main problem is that having glasses, it is uncomfortable when they're squashed against the viewfinder and the edges of the frame end up obscured anyway. Even with a dioptric adjuster I found it annoying taking glasses on and off every time I need to look through a viewfinder, and I've not yet found a dioptric adjuster that even comes close to my script. (I can't wear contacts, which would make life a lot easier!!).

Because of this, I've always found manual focusing easier and more accurate on a screen than through a view-finder, and have found myself resorting to autofocus from time to time since buying the 30D, which is quite frustrating - like having a ferrari and only using it to drive up to the shops! Although I'm still getting the benefits of a fully manual camera, just not of a fully manual lens. Oh the joys of being a half blind photographer! Is there anyone out there with similar problems or am I just weird?

It's all just what you're comfortable with though, isn't it! I've seen people get the most amazing results out of a $100 compact camera, so it really doesn't matter what you use and how you use it, as long as you get the results you want!

P.S. Aren’t kids wonderful to shoot (I mean photograph – oops) when you can catch them unawares. My mum was very much of the “stand over here and smile... and here we go... click” school of photography, so every photo of me as a kid features exactly the same expression – the “Aw mum, do I have to look”! I like to be a bit sneakier. Being caught by surprise really annoys the heck out of grownups though until they see how good they look!

[~Raven~]

Suse that would be very frustrating

I adore shots of my kids that are more candid and when they don't realise that I'm taking one. My boys get a bit silly and pull funny faces. Mason went through a phase of putting his hand over his mouth which was no end of fun

I went looking at lenses yesterday and for a bit of fun did some haggling. I HATE how the camera stores in the city don't display prices and they go consult the book..."no it's the cheapest price we can do". So then I go up the road to the next shop and they drop the price. It's an annoying game but I'll be playing it one day ROFL. I can't wait to go in all loaded up with cash so I can play them

Has anyone ever bought off those stores on Ebay? I've heard baaaad things about them, especially the Hong Kong based ones.

[suse]

Ah, you know, it can be frustrating but I've learned to compensate and this in itself can sometimes get interesting results! I'm also a half deaf audio engineer/muso/dj (no, really, I'm totally serious), which is completely nuts when you think about it!

Re: lenses - do you have a Teds in Melbourne? I've always got really good prices from them. When I lived in Melbourne I got all of my camera gear from Michaels in the city, but that was yonks ago. Myself, I'd be really nervous about buying lenses from e-Bay - regardless of the seller's credentials, but then I like to be able to trial a lens before I buy it. People with more lens experience than me probably wouldn't need to worry so much.

I found this with the first macro lens I trialled - super powerful, but really designed as a studio lens. On paper I thought it looked ideal but for what I use it for at the moment it would have been really impractical. The shop wanted me to buy it sight unseen but then agreed to order it in and let me try it, and I was sooooo glad that I did!

Hope you get to play your lens shopping game soon and have lots of fun!! How exciting!!

[kayla_b]

Hehe, Suse - love your current occupation in your footer of "Human Jumping Castle" - Sounds very similar to me at the moment, bub can't get enough of jumping around!

I bought a Canon EOS 300D only to realise afterwards that you could only use the viewfinder to see your shot rather than the LCD screen. At first i was annoyed but I have come to get used to it, even with wearing glasses. Thanks for the tips re: macro lenses.