I recently went on a once in a lifetime trip to France for two weeks, so hopefully I can provide some helpful advice/insight.

First, and I cannot stress this enough, have enough memory! I'd recommend bringing at least 16GB, if not more.
I brought two 8GB cards to France and transfered them to my computer each night. I never used the second card, however, if I wouldn't have had the luxury of transferring to a laptop each night, I would have quickly exceeded this.
If you are able to bring a computer or other means by which to back up your photos, I'd STRONGLY recommend it. It's great peace of mind to not have to worry about losing pictures or running out of room.

Second, DO NOT use the Auto mode, that just makes your DSLR a big point and shoot. A lot of people recommend using M(anual), but it can be a little overwhelming if you're not used to your camera. The Av (Aperture Priority) mode is great because it allows you to select the aperture value you want (which will effect what's in focus and Depth of Field) while automatically determining the rest. Constipated_Help gave you some very sound advice on exposure, so follow that if you're able.

Third, make sure you have the right accessories. A tripod would be great for landscape shots. The Dolica Proline is a great value at 40$. At least one extra battery would be good to have, especially if you will not be able to recharge during the trip. An Opteka t2i battery can be had for 12$, and works with your Canon charger.

If you can swing it, a new lens would be good to have since the lens is the determining factor of image quality. If you like to "zoom" and isolate subjects, you'll want a telephoto. The Canon 55-250 IS is a great deal at 240$. If you like wide angle, you'll need an ultra wide. These will typically run above 400$. I have a Tokina 11-16 and I am very pleased. As others have recommended, the Canon 50 1.8 is an incredible deal at 100$ and provides creative options with it's wide aperture.
A nice bag is also a good thing to have. You can buy either a messenger style, a holster or a backpack. Filters would also be nice, but they're not a necessity.

I hope this can help. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'd be glad to (try to) help! :)

Since you don't say whether you want to learn how to operate a camera or the field of photography in general and what interests you in photography in particular this is quite a stab in the dark but here are a few suggestions of books I keep coming back to or hold important.

This assumes that you have a basic understanding on how to operate a camera. If you don't, read your camera manual or something like Adam's The Camera and .


Technical advice

• Light, Science and Magic - the best theoretical book there is about understanding how light behaves and how to work with it. Its exercises are quite focused on artificial light and if you are just getting into photography it won't be easy but at the end of it you will know how to work with light artificial or natural and get to your vision or have a better understanding of other people's work.
  
• Studio Anywhere - this is not the most technical book per se (far from it) and the images are not to my taste but what it lacks in pure knowledge it makes up for with motivating you to take images no matter how little you own. This was a fun (if a bit too quick) read and is a good book to jump into when Light, Science and Magic feels like you are a profoto pack and 3 Chimera modifiers short of what you are trying to do.
  
  Theory/Motivational advice
  
  
• The Ongoing Moment by Geoff Dyer - Great book about the history of American photography, its origin and how it flourished. This book is really easy to read and a very good way to start gaining some theoretical knowledge about the wide field of photography.
  
• Understanding a photograph by John Berger - Great collection of essays from one of the greatest art theorist and a fervent believer in photography as a medium pieced together by Geoff Dyer. Super engaging reads on a variety of topics and styles.
  
• Ways of Seeing by John Berger - An absolute must read in my opinion, not focused solely on photography but in the arts in general. The BBC series is also a great watch and its content is still as relevant today as it was when it came out.
  
• On Photography by Susan Sontag - A very important book, if not the most important when it comes to identifying the role of photography in our world. Personally found it quite hard to read but when it finally hit home it was with great impact.

That was an excellent and thoughtful gift, kudos to you. Aside from the lenses, there are a few other things that help a lot when starting out in photography (I'm just figuring this out as I'm pretty new):

• A tripod can help if he wants to take low-light pictures and set up really long shutter times (it basically makes it so that no shaking messes up his pictures) and it can help to take pictures of you guys. I'm planning on bringing one for a trip with my girlfriend and I so we can take cool pictures where there may not be other people to help out.
  
  
• A good bag or backpack would be great, increasingly so as the amount of gear that he has goes up. It's tough to carry around all that crap, and these bags make it pretty easy to fit.
  
  
• a strap, pretty self explanatory. carrying around a DSLR in one hand sucks.
  
  
• Extra memory cards and possibly an external hard drive are nice because RAW camera files take up a toooon of storage and having backups is always nice in the case that a really important picture gets corrupted.
  
  As for lenses:
  
  Nikon 35mm prime (basically allows him to take pretty nice, wide open landscape pictures at great quality)
  
  50mm prime widely regarded as the best starting lens (another no zoom lens that is an all-around all-star that is pretty versatile. good for portraits, landscapes, etc)

Ok. All the recent Canon cameras can take a cheap interval timer, which allows you to do star trails, nightscapes and wide field pictures. It will also be necessary for deep sky images, but that that you'll also want some way to track the movement of the earth. Pentax's K-r and K-5 can take a GPS unit that does this, which is nifty. But you're limited in the focal length and time you can expose for. A more robust solution is a German equatorial mount, like for a telescope, but you wouldn't need a telescope. If you get a sturdy one, that can track for a long time. But it's heavy and requires some setup. The K-5 can also take the cheap inteval timer, but for the K-r, you'll need one of those, and this http://www.gentles.ltd.uk/gentled/trigger.htm, which someone on here just recently told me about. It uses the IR port of the K-r for shooting. It looks cool but I haven't heard about any first hand experience with it.

As far as lenses go, as I said elsewhere, the Canon 18-55 IS is decent. Their 10-22mm is also good for really really wide angles, but expensive. The 50 f/1.8 is cheap and great optically, but at 50mm, you can only image about 12 seconds without trails, unless you point towards the north star(or south celestial pole). Since the stars move less there, you can image longer. You can use many old prime lenses to save money like M42 screw mount, Pentax, Nikon, or Olympus with just a metal adapter. But you can't use old manual focus FD mount Canon lenses, they wont focus to infinity. If you get a Pentax, you can use all old k-mount lenses, and m42 mount lenses with a cheap adapter as well. Old prime lenses are usually much better than the old zoom lenses.

To save money you could also get a used Canon XS better yet an XSi. They are both decent for astro. You definitely want Live view to help in focusing, which they both have it.

Some good concrete advice here: http://www.backyardastronomy.com/Backyard_Astronomy/BAG_Blog/Entries/2009/12/10_I_Want_to_Shoot_Deep-Space_Objects!.html
here http://astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/TOC_AP.HTM . For more stuff. Also have a look at the cloudynights.com forums' astrohphotography section.

Let me know what further questions you have.

I wrote an article on intro DSLR kits on Amazon. I wouldn't bother unless you bundled them with your camera.

They're definitely crappy extra toys, but they may help you learn more about photography (by showing you how things make your image quality worse); but they also were kind of fun at the beginning and encouraged me to get out and shake the bugs off and dig into learning how to shoot good photos (and how extra toys don't really help). Everyone takes shitty photos at the start anyway, so you're not missing much; and it's not a ton of extra money over grabbing a body/kit lens/good SD card; but if you already have your camera kit, you can skip it for sure.

DO NOT USE THOSE TRIPODS!

Those are strong enough for point and shoot cameras at most. Especially with a telephoto lens, the tilt arm is likely to fail and it'll fall on sensitive optical mechanics. Those are in the $10 price range. Spend at the very least closer to $30 on a tripod, and a $100-ish tripod will be a safe, and useful tool to use with your precision imaging equipment.

tl;dr - Sure, it's a waste of a little money, but they can be kind of fun toys. Burn the tripod.

Stuff I'd suggest getting:

• 2-3 nice SD cards: Class 10, 32-64 GB each
  
  
• Another few cheaper (but still fast) SD cards: 4-8 GB
  
  
• Solid tripod. $30 or $100 is well worth the money
  
  
• Rocket blower. Avoid touching the lens, whenever possible and never touch the sensor. A lens cloth should be plenty. Avoid being tempted to use a wet cleaning kit on the lens or the sensor if possible
  
  
• I love my big, cheap camera bag. I have 3 lenses, and a speedlight and this is perfect for me. I wear it across my chest and carry it on my lower back where it's out of the way and easy to deal with 95% of the time.
  
  
• An Intervalometer that matches your camera
  
  
• Manual flash that can tilt & swivel
  
  
• Flash triggers are fun and work great with those cheap $10 tripods. Check Strobist.com for great tutorials and inspiration
  
  
• Flash gels can be fun creative tools too. Can you tell I'm getting into playing with off-camera speedlights?

> I forgot to mention in my comment that I shoot a sports in terrible light a lot of the time.

In that case, a 7D Mark II might be another good option. Its high ISO performance is pretty damn close to the 5D2, bests the 80D, and it boasts a massively improved AF system compared to the old one that the 5D2 has (I believe it's the same AF system as the original 5D which is over a decade old at this point); you won't see a higher ISO improvement until you go another generation up to the 5D Mark III. Even if the 5D2 gave a tiny bit better high ISO performance, you'll likely want the superior AF system and burst rate that the 7D2 has: it's literally built for action and should be able to capture moments that the 5D2 can't.

It would be a great upgrade to what you have and will give much better high ISO performance than your T5, so it could be a nice stopgap while you save up more to upgrade your lenses at a later date. The body alone would be up there close to your budget at ~$1200-1300 used, but you'd have pretty much the best Canon sports body that isn't a 1D-series.

> it would be hard to find a good lens that covers everything from wide angle to a good sharp zoom for sport, like the 24-105

The 24-105 is a good zoom for flexibility, but it has its flaws. Many people experience zoom creep as the lens gets up there in age (if you tilt the lens down, it zooms in) and it's not super sharp wide open. If you're going with such a fast shutter speed for sports as well, you don't really need IS and could probably find a copy of a 70-200mm f2.8 non-IS for ~$1k which will help you keep your ISO down better than a 70-200mm f4L IS or 24-105mm f4L IS would, and you'll save money by not getting the IS which you wouldn't be using much anyways.

> but the 55-250 I simply cannot afford

Are we looking at the same lens? It's $300 new, and $240 refurbished by Canon.

Hello all, Need equipment advice on what to purchase URGENTLY

Requirements: Photos for Website and Print for local magazine start up.
Budget: $500 - $800
Preferably from Amazon as we have an Amazon credit card which will enable us to finance. We will use this subreddits affiliate link!

Background/Why we need:
So while the magazine will have dedicated photographers on staff eventually or hired for certain events, to start up me and my business partner need a DSLR to get us started. Although we will eventually have more experienced photographers on board who will have lots of equipment, we still want something that will grow with us, not something too outdated. Video is not a huge concern for us as we have a 4k camcorder. However we will use the DSLR for some limited video shooting. To ensure there isn't glaring differences if we were doing a two camera shoot, SD video will probably not work.

Experience:
I have taken some college level photography classes, but it was a while ago and I have forgotten most of it. We are both quick learners though but "auto focus" and different "camera modes" will be a must.

Needs/what will be shooting:
Lots of "around town" photo shooting in a sunny beach town.
The ability to shoot sports/fast moving images (i know lenses play into this)
standard photography of people we feature in stories
low light environments (we will be shooting a lot of different things in night, so a built in flash/low light capability will be big)

We would like to find a bundle package that includes at least a two lenses. Please keep this in mind.

While most of it will be going online, we need quality good enough for print (non glossy newspaper)

So that's our needs. Please please offer us some help as we have interviews with some people we are featuring starting next week and we also have some stories that require us to compile some general photos of the area we are writing about.

Please let us know what would be best for us to get, remember we want something that will last and grow with us.
What we have looked at so far: although it's all Canon that we are linking, its purely what we have looked at on amazon so far, we are in no way saying we only want canon suggestions

Canon T5i 18-55mm IS STM Lens + Kit Includes, 58mm HD Wide Angle Lens + 2.2x Telephoto Lens + 2Pcs 32GB Commander Card + Battery Grip + Extra Battery + Backpack Case
link here


Canon EOS Rebel T6i DSLR CMOS Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM Lens Bundle (from canon so I imagine all bundle equipment is quality.
link here


Canon T6I EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM Lens + Slave Flash + 58mm Wide Angle and Telephoto Lenses + 32GB Deluxe Accessory Bundle (Are those extra lens' crap?)
link here


Canon EOS Rebel T6i DSLR Video Creator Kit with 18-55mm & 55-250mm Lens + 32GB Accessory Bundle - Another accesorry kit, but shockingly cheaper price for the t6i
link here


Canon EOS Rebel T6 DSLR Camera Bundle with Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II Lens + Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Lens*

• Now the second lens that this kit includes would be good for sports shots right?
  
  
  Another Rebel T6 This one with other bundles but what caught our eye is the wide angle lenses it includes, however are we right in thinking they are not official canon lenses?
  link here
  
  
  Please help us guys! We are needing to be able to start shooting photography for articles already being written and for interviews coming up next week!
  
  All help will be greatly appreciated!

Yeah tripod is an idea, the good ones do cost quite a lot. I've just upgraded to a carbon fibre Manfrotto 190 that I'm happy with, but it cost me a bit over $400 AUD which kinda blows it out! The 055 is probably better for studio work, being bigger and sturdier, but I got mine for on the road.

A flash is a good idea. The more practice you get with the flash, the better - I'm still learning and so I can't really help you with the Yongnuo. I do know that a lot of people use them, and they're the go to off-brand alternative. I use a single 430exii, and looking to get a trigger. I hear that the Cowboy Studio wireless triggers work pretty well, looking to get some myself. Amazon Link. There are packs slightly more expensive (like $28) that come with more than one receiver. Good reviews, really cheap, though I don't have any experience myself. You must manually set the flash.

Anyway, off-camera flash is a good first step in making a pro product, and I imagine takes more practice than using different softboxes and whatnot. You could get him a pretty nice setup for $200 I think.

Here's a good link that someone else linked just today. Seems like a good guide, though note all the links have referral codes for that website in them, if it bothers you. Here

So I have a Canon T3i and a 50mm f/1.8 II. In the near future, I will be purchasing a new lens. I'm still a newbie, so I don't really have a specific style and I just shoot what's in front of me. I've been doing predominantly street photography and auto photography, but i'm also looking to branch out. It's come to my attention that I should have a wide angle lens in my arsenal as I was begging for a wider perspective when I went to my first auto show a couple weeks ago. It made framing weird, and I had to move back which was quite inconvenient in a packed show like that. I also love landscapes and views so I want something wide to capture those as well.
Here are some of the choices I'm considering.
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8

Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM

Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM Lens

Tamron AF 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 SP Di II LD Aspherical (IF) Lens

There are also a couple lenses that I have stumbled upon that are not as wide, but have a longer focal length which may double as more than just a wide-angle.

Tamron SP AF 17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical (IF) Lens (really have my eye on this one!)

Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Standard Zoom Lens

This is all a bit confusing for a noob like me, so any help is appreciated it. If you feel like there is a better option, please do recommend it to me! And also, i'm on a working-class student budget.

One last question, how do you feel about used lenses. Just curious towards your experiences as i feel like they can be bargains. Lenses are built to last a long time if they're taken care of right? Sorry for the long post but thanks in advanced!

I got the 500D last year, Have been happy with it ever since. Have got better as i have learnt the functions and know what to do with them. There is still tons of stuff to learn but i think i have the basics for sure. I jsut look on flickr and sort by camera and i am constantly blown away by what people can do with it.

To be honest 18-55m is okay but i went for this lens first. Nice all rounder, got a bit of a zoom on it for those travel photos, the lens is nice and wide so takes in plenty of light, zooms far enough out so you can get some wider shots. pretty happy with it. get a filter for it though as you will hate to scratch the lens.

but yeah go for it, but save some money for the lens as well. I know a lot of people have liked this lens as well. Fixed but really low f function allowing for great low light shots if need be.

Buy the nicer remote, it's not that much more expensive, and you get backlight, timer, intervalometer, and a shot counter. It'll help you with those night shots, as you easily can do multiple long exposures to stack. In addition, I would recommend something like this wireless remote, they're cheap and much easier to use!

I got these in Coromandel with just single long exposures, but ended up with a ton of noise, so I would highly recommend stacking, and for stacking you need a stable tripod that you don't mind getting sandy.

The gorillapod will be good, since it's light and you can pose your camera on rocks and sand. Though, I would recommend a ball head:

GorillaPod w/ ballhead and spirit level or

GorillaPod w/ ballhead and level Red

I don't own a gorillapod, so I'm not sure what the different between these is, so I don't know why the red one is cheaper, but that's the kind of thing you want. Without the ball head, angling the camera is a pain. I had this shitty extendable travel tripod, and it fell over if I tried to point it straight up, even when I wedged it in the sand.

Your lens should be decent, while not the sharpest, you'll enjoy the long reach. The Tamron doesn't look chunky, so if you don't mind the image quality, it'll be good for climbing around.

Most importantly bring good waterproof hiking boots and a head lamp, they'll make your life significantly easier!

Where all are you planning on traveling?

I'm a portrait photographer primarily. I wouldn't quite say I'm exactly where I want to be, but my photography has improved tenfold in the last 12 months, which I attribute entirely to deliberate effort.

For me, there are two major components- education and practice.

For education, I've proactively worked to educate myself with reading, watching, and asking lots of questions.

Here's a book I found invaluable to understanding light. The main focus is the behavior and characteristics of light, and would be useful for all photographers: https://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0415719402/

Also, following photographers on YouTube/IG/etc. who make work I admire has been greatly helpful. Often, they're available for questions and providing feedback on your own work.

Reading and interacting with the community here has been incredibly useful as well, of course.

For practice, I've worked to establish a feedback loop which enables me to receive critique and evaluation from others I respect. Joe Edelman's TOG Chat group on Facebook provides the most insightful critique I've found and has been invaluable in helping me refine my work.

I also work to be critically honest with myself. This starts with reverse engineering work I admire so I can pick apart the elements which I appreciate.

What does this look like? I focus on the pose, clothing, background, lighting, retouching, sharpness, composition and any other elements of a given image which can be defined and manipulated by the photographer. Once I can understand these variables and how their manipulation changes an image, I can take intentional control of them during the photo-taking process, rather than allowing them to happen incidentally.

I think that these two components- education and practice, are the basis for becoming an "expert" in any field, especially photography.

I'm far from an expert, but I have a 7D, and I can tell you a few things to consider.

• A 7D has a crop (APS-C) sensor, whereas the 5D has a Full Frame Sensor. The difference being that any lens you put on a 7D is going to be zoomed in by 1.6x compared to the 5D. See here. In other words, a 50mm lens on a 7D is going to act like an 80mm lens would on the 5D. Full frame sensors have a more shallow depth of field, too, which may or may no be desirable with video. Shallow DoF looks nice, but you really have to be precise when focusing.
  
  
• Both the 7D and 5D have fixed LCD view screens. The 60D, which is like a cheaper version of the 7D, has a flip out screen, so you can see what you are filming when you are in front of the camera. An alternative would be using a laptop or tablet to as an eternal monitor. Honestly, if video was my focus, I would go with the 60D. 7D is better for still photography, though. Just my opinion.
  
  
• The 7D, 5D and 60D do not have continuous focus for video, like what you are probably used to on a regular video camera. That means you have to manual focus with the focus rings on the lens, as you are filming. It gets easier with a lot of practice. The only Canon dSLR that I know of that has continuous focus on video is the Rebel T4i, which is quite a down grade from either of the previous. Also, the only lens that I know of that is compatible with continuous focus (so far) is the 40mm Pancake lens. That's a good, cheap lens to have in your arsenal, though.
  
  
  
• The 5D does not have a built in flash, but that probably doesn't matter to you, if you are only doing video. Either way, I would get a speedlight if you need a flash. I have used my pop up in a pinch, though. All the other models I mentioned do have a flash.
  
  
• Other people are likely to have different opinions, but some cheap starter lenses I would consider are; Canon 50mm ƒ/1.8 (Nifty Fifty), Canon 40mm ƒ/2.8 (Pancake Lens), and Tamron 17-50mm ƒ/2.8 (great, fast lens for video for the price IMO).
  
  Again, I cannot stress enough, that I am not as experienced as many of the photographers in this subReddit, so if they have differing opinions, you may want to consider theirs over mine. I hope I could help a little, at least.
  
  EDIT: Changed the order of my comments.

The D3300 is a great starter camera. In Ken Rockwell.com's review he describes it as:
>
> The D3300 is for people who want great pictures. More expensive cameras are for people who want fancier cameras.

Obviously it's meant to be tongue in cheek but it's a great camera. I bought mine 3 years ago and still shoot with it. I constantly evaluate upgrading but with what I do there's just no reason to shell out the dough for a new body over some sweet sweet glass.

Check out my Flickr for work exclusively shot on a D3300. It's all about prioritizing investment in lens at this point.

Also if you aren't shooting in manual definitely invest in some material to get you there. I started with Understanding Exposure and I really enjoyed reading through it. You'll learn the most by actually getting out there and shooting though as cliche as it sounds. Also I really enjoy Mango Street Labs for video tutorials; they're short and to the point and quite pleasing from a style standpoint.

Also look to invest in some post processing software. Right off the camera pictures are often pretty flat and while you don't want to completely pervert them in post some small touches can really make a huge difference.

Most of all though just get out there and shoot what you want and how you want. Don't let the hipsters on instagram dictate what you like and don't like.

I am a beginning photographer and have a question regarding returning my first camera.

Around Christmas time I purchased this Canon T6 package as my first camera. I have never owned a DSLR before but I am quite interested in photography.


I have now found this Nikon D3400 package for the same price. It is sold on Ebay by what seems to be a very reputable seller. Doing some research shows the D3400 to be slightly better overall than the T6. Better ISO range, larger sensor, higher resolution, more focal points, battery life, and so on.

Would it be worth it to go through the hassle of returning my Canon T6 and instead purchasing the Nikon D3400. Although it is sold on Ebay it seems like a much much better deal overall and would be the best use of my money as an introductory camera.


Any advice would be appreciated! Considering lenses, use, purpose, or anything else that comes to mind. Thank you!

Tokina 11-16 is a good choice.

You are being downvoted because you make the same mistakes as everyone else starting out. Good move getting the 35mm prime, it's a great lens. Most people would have preferred to get a 17-50 f/2.8 lens instead of the 18-200 zoom you got, however. Superzooms lenses like that one (which can zoom waaay in and out) have horrible image quality. Sure, they're convenient: everything in one package. But spending so much money on a camera to get images that are somewhat blurry isn't the best move.

The 35mm lens is a great lens, made even better at its low price at $200. The 18-200 superzoom is around $650. The Tokina is around $600. You could probably switch out the superzoom for the Tamron 17-50 and a 50mm f/1.8G, which is another great lens.

All the previous lenses mentioned are a great starter kit, very general-usage based, and suitable for everyone. In that senario, instead of buying the Tokina 11-16 now, you have a choice: Get a super wide angle lens (The Tokina 11-16) or get a nice telephoto lens, such as the Nikon 70-300, or lastly, some macro lens. Your choice depends on your style: whether you like to zoom in, take ultrawide shots, or come in close to your subject. Either way, you end up with a nice set of lenses that you will enjoy using.

Here's the deal. Upgrading to a canon g12 is cool but it's still a P&S with a crippple manual mode.

So one of your others option is interchangeable lens cameras like micro four thirds cameras or DSLRs.

Don't be scared of getting an dslr, entry level ones have automatic (P&S style) modes just like your old point & shoots and will take much better photos with the same amount of easiness so why cripple yourself if size isn't issue? You also get access to amazing lens and go manual when you need it, most of the time most photographers are shooting aperture priority/shutter priority anyway.

Micro four third cameras have much better quality (9 times the sensor size) than P&S they are kinda small but size isn't an issue as you said so the problem is than a capable MFT (micro four thirds) camera like the Panasonic GF2 cost as much as an entry level Canon (T3) which takes pictures just as good as the $1700 Canon 7D only it has slower pictures per second and worse autofocus. And you also get access to the amazing catalog of canon lenses which is much better than MFT lenses currently available, everything I said about Canon also applies to nikon I just simply don't know the model numbers. Remember DSLRs are not harder to use than MFT cameras, and in fact, in manual mode DSLRs are actually easier due to the interfaces used. Also better autofocus=easier

Sony NEX: similar to MFT, a bit better, but pathetic choice of lenses, and overpriced accessories. You can use an adapter to access the Alpha mount lenses by sony/carl zeiss but you lose autofocus and still have to deal with the shitty body. Size isn't an issue to you so something better between MFT and common DSLRs is Sony's Translucent Mirror Technology cameras, they have the same quality of DSLRs but lack an optical viewfinder so whatever you see through the EVF (electronic view finder) is delayed so not good for sports but not a problem for you, also cheaper and offers the 10 frames (photographs) per second shooting found in $1500+ cameras (hell, the $1700 7D has only 8 FPS) for the same or sligthly cheaper price of an MFT camera or an entry level DSLR.

TL;DR Size isn't an issue for you so get an entry level Canon/Nikon/Sony (preferably nikon or canon) DSLR, they have easy-mode shootings so don't worry about that and you can get cheap lenses for screwing around with no worry then upgrade later to better ones. Same quality of a $1700 dslr but less FPS and slower/less accurate autofocusing (though still faster than P&S). $150-200 more than a g12. _If you don't wanna deal with interchangeable lenses stick with P&S and get a Canon SX13IS if you need the zoom or the G12 if you don't.

Any questions please ask and I hope I helped you.

hmmmm since she was looking for superzooms, I don't think she'll appreciate the 50mm as much because she already has that field of view, same goes for the 24mm. The only advantage they have for her would be the wider aperture, helping her with low light situations.

You could get her a fisheye lens like the Rokinon 8mm f3.5 but honestly you take fisheye lenses for maybe once or twice and you get bored with it. You could also get her a macro lens, but again, those are one trick ponies. Unless you see her trying low light photography and/or playing with depth of field, don't think primes would suit her at this moment. Primes generally are better performing, but I think she values versatility more than that little extra performance that you get out of primes.

Sounds like she could like the Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6 lens. There's three versions of this lens (but don't bother with the first one). second one is bit cheaper at 195 new. third one is more expensive at 300 bucks new, but it has quieter autofocus, instant manual focus (meaning you don't have to bother with the AF to MF switch to get manual focus, you just turn the focus ring) and it can focus a bit closer than the second one (second one focuses up to 3.6' or 1.1m, third one focuses up to 2.8', or .85m).
It's not a big difference, but you do get a slight bit more functionality for that extra dough.

Well I hope you look into my suggestion. And tell her the first photo with the trees is fantastic!

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. It's a solid lens for your camera at a very affordable price. There are a few other options like random and sigma but he 55-250 optically surpasses them.

You really can't find a better lens anywhere near that price for that camera. Make sure you shop around for a good deal. Check Adorama. BH photo. Amazon. Ebay.

It's not a very long lens but like I said you have a camera with which you can crop and still get usable images. Take a look at the canon 55-250 on pixel peeper or the flickr pool for it.

That's a couple hundred thousand photos to show you the quality you can achieve.

Remember photography is not about gear as much as skill. This is a great starter lens and if you're unhappy with photos you're making there are plenty of good books to read to improve your skills.

I usually recommend these three to start

Understanding exposure
Learning to see creatively
National Geographic ultimate guide to field photography

Personally the obvious entry-level lens after the kit 18-55mm lens is to pair it with something like a 55-200mm lens. That way you will have most of your necessary range covered, all the way from 18mm ultra-wide to 200mm telephoto. These basic lenses aren't anything too special, but they are surprisingly solid for their cheap price.

-Here is a basic 55-200mm; if you want something with more reach such as for wildlife photography, here is a basic 55-300mm. If you believe that you might someday upgrade to a fullframe camera^([>$1500 at the cheapest]), and want a lens that can upgrade with you, here is an FX 70-300mm. All three of these lenses have vibration reduction, which reduces shake from say your hands.-

After a wide-angle zoom lens and a telephoto zoom lens, the next obvious choice for a budding photographer on a budget I would say is either a 35mm prime or a 50mm prime. as I said previously, both of these lenses are close to the focal range of the human eye, making them good choices for general purpose photography. And when compared to say your 18-55mm kit lens, both of these primes will be far faster and sharper at their given focal length, with a small depth of field that is very fun to play with (here is an example of what a small depth of field can look like).

-Here is a 35mm f1.8 [DX]; here is a 50mm f1.8 [FX]. Both are roughly the same price, both are roughly similar focal lengths; choose the 35mm if you prefer to get closer to your subject, choose the 50mm if you prefer to have a little more reach. (also, the 50mm is an FX and cheap, so if upgrading in the future was something you wanted, it would be the better choice. There is an FX 35mm nikon lens also, but it costs over double the price.)-

So to summarize, a solid starter set of lenses would be an 18-55mm, a 55-200mm(or something similar), and a good general purpose prime lens such as either the 35mm or the 50mm. Any lenses after that will depend widely on your given needs and desires.

All right, since you said you do photograph events and weddings:

The Luminous Portrait: Capture the Beauty of Natural Light for Glowing, Flattering Photographs
by Elizabeth Messina et al.
Link: http://amzn.com/0817400125

Picture Perfect Posing: Practicing the Art of Posing for Photographers and Models (Voices That Matter)
by Roberto Valenzuela
Link: http://amzn.com/0321966465

Picture Perfect Practice: A Self-Training Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Taking World-Class Photographs (Voices That Matter)
by Roberto Valenzuela
Link: http://amzn.com/0321803531

These three are from my wishlist. The Valenzuela one on posing comes highly recommended from some of my wedding photographer friends.

If Jose Villa is your thing, he also put out a book:

Fine Art Wedding Photography: How to Capture Images with Style for the Modern Bride
by Jose Villa et al.
Link: http://amzn.com/0817400028

If you might want to expand into boudoir:

The Art of Boudoir Photography: How to Create Stunning Photographs of Women
by Christa Meola
Link: http://amzn.com/0321862708

Its annoying how this subreddit downvotes everything immediately. I'm gathering you're looking for a quality wide angle lens that's good got filming video with? The problem is that a sharp zoom lens that also is good wide open is going to be expensive. I'm not sure what you're filming, but I would say you may be able to get away with a good 35mm lens. Sticking with a prime will allow you to get a good quality lens with a wide aperture for close to the budget that you want. I know Zeiss makes excellent video lenses, but they are expensive. One that I have used is the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 lens. Its sharp, bright, and can be used in manual focus decently, althought I'm not sure it has image stabilization (which I'm assuming you want for video?). Certainly not an expert, but hope this helps.

Yup, those are good cameras that I would definitely not mind owning.

What is your question exactly?
***
I would personally be going for something like the Panasonic TS5 if I were buying a compact camera. Because I'd want the ruggedness, GPS and WIFI capabilities of the camera.

...but this is because I already own a bigger and better camera for taking really nice photos.

The G1X or RX100 would take better photos than the Panasonic TS5.

Pick the Panasonic TS5 if you want something you can throw in your bag and forget about until needed, and swim with, and have GPS tagged photos which makes sorting a wonderful experience.

Pick the G1X if you want (slightly) better photos and a really functional camera (the viewfinder is neat, and the swivel screen is awesome).

Pick the RX100 and buy a "Gariz" case if you want to look really, really sexy when taking photos.

As av4rice said, this is going to be tough with only one light.

A shoot like this is typically done with 3-5 lights - key and fill on the subject, one to two lights blasting the background, and maybe a hair light behind the subject if you want to get fancy. That's the basic way to do it but there are endless variations - that's what makes good studio photographers great. If you have an iPad, check out Scott Kelby's Lighting Recipes app - it's free and shows a bunch of different lighting setups for different shots.

Are you looking to do more of this type of shoot in the future? Can you afford to buy or rent a bit of gear? I'd suggest at a minimum a cheap wireless trigger so you can fire your flash off-camera. I use the Cowboy Studio NPT-04 which is $22 on Amazon. The build quality is crappy and there's no TTL support, but they're way cheaper than Pocket Wizards or Radio Poppers and work just fine. I use mine with both small battery powered strobes and studio strobes. This will at least allow you to move your flash off camera for a decent key light. If you don't have a second light, a reflector (or piece of foam board) can function as a reflector for some fill.

Keep in mind this is all part of the creativity of shooting - you can probably get decent results with the flash on camera and bounced toward the subject, but most great portrait shots you might look at for inspiration will have been shot with off-camera lighting. Fashion photography tends to lean towards straight on lighting above and/or below the camera. Other types of portraits go for more depth (shadows) with the key light to one side. Look at the eye catchlights in photos you'd like to emulate to figure out how they were lit.

The background is going to be tougher. Maybe others have suggestions on how to do it with one light, but I can't think of how I'd do it. Can you spend $30 or $40 at Home Depot? I'd grab a couple of these clamp lights and pair them with some daylight bulbs (around 6000K temp to match your strobe). Set a few of those bad boys pointing toward the background and you should have no problem blowing it out.

It may seem obvious but setup everything at home and practice before you get to the shoot! Pin a white sheet up on your wall and play around. Figure out how you're going to make the shot work with limited gear. Expensive studio gear makes things easier, but there's no reason you can't get great results with a well-thoughtout barebones kit.

Last, if you really have to you can blow out the background in post, but to do it well will take a while. Getting the background right on site will save you hours in post.

http://www.reddit.com/r/photography/comments/2ay48p/questions_thread_ask_rphotography_anything_you/

http://www.reddit.com/r/photography/wiki/index#wiki_what_type_of_camera_should_i_look_for.3F

http://www.reddit.com/r/photography/wiki/index#wiki_which_dslr_should_i_get.3F

http://www.reddit.com/r/photography/wiki/index#wiki_which_mirrorless_should_i_get.3F

http://www.reddit.com/r/photography/wiki/index#wiki_how_do_i_specify_my_price_range_.2F_budget_when_asking_for_recommendations.3F

> one that will last me a long time

How long? Are you talking about physical longevity before it breaks? Or meeting your needs over a certain period of time? What will your needs be / how do you anticipate they will change over that amount of time?

> I've been thinking about getting this one but there is also this one which would be best to get?

Either is fine but you might as well go with the T3i if you can afford it. It's more feature-rich.

> Does it really matter the Megapixel difference?

Depends what you shoot and what you're trying to accomplish, but probably not. I shot for several years and got good results with fewer pixels than either of those cameras have. People have been able to take great photos with less.

How wide? If you're looking at something in the sub-20mm range you're better off with a zoom lens. There's a number of great prime lenses in the range but really they don't offer anything for a canon user that makes them worth it over a zoom. Two of your best options are the Canon EF-S 10-18mm IS ($300) or for a bit more the Tokina 11-16mm ($490).

If you want something longer (20-50mm) there's an absolute glut of options from a bunch of different lens makers. But, once again, given the quality of some of the zoom lenses in the range it's hard to recommend a fixed lens. Something like the Sigma 18-35 f1.8($800) is expensive but for what you get it's an absolute steal.

But like I said there's a ton of options in the range and this site is a great resource for reviews.

1. Thank you so much for your suggestion! question: I've seen these talked about, what are your thoughts? Also it's cheaper.
   
   
2. Riight, the fujifilm kit lens I have goes down to 2.8f at best, and I kept finding my shots to be grainy, or just not pulling light in Perhaps I was just overcompensating with ISO, and not trusting that it would turn out okay in post production?? Also, are a lot of night sky shots people take composite images? Like one for just the sky and one for the ground/horizon?
   
   
3. Cheers :) The photocritique subreddit just seems to be the same top comment every time 'where is your subject' 'where are the lines pointing to'
   
   4+5. I see. Great. Thank you so much for your answer!

I have a Yanguno YN-560II and a Canon 430EXII that I shoot with Yanguno C-603 wireless triggers. As others here have said, the 560II is manual only, but I find myself using manual modes exclusively on my 430EXII. I should mention that I usually don't use flash from the camera shoe, and the C-603 triggers don't transmit ETTL. The most rounded option imo, is the YN-565EX you linked. Since it has ETTL, it would likely come out to be more useful to you in general.

I'd look into the Yanguno wireless triggers that I linked as well. They become highly useful if you want to get a little more creative with your flash placement, or if you want to quickly adjust angle. I found that the marginal cost increase of the wireless triggers like the 603C's is worth every penny.

I'd say get the Canon t2i kit with the 18-135mm and a nifty fifty.

That's $970 so far, but he'll probably want a bag that can hold the camera and extra lens. Tamrac makes great bags.

So you've got a great kit with a lot of range and a sharp prime that rocks at low light.

Additional recommended purchases would be the book Understanding Exposure and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.

Edit: To be fair, maybe have him check out a Nikon DSLR (D5100 would be a comparable choice) along with a Canon to determine which one feels better. Both companies make great cameras of similar quality and performance—it really does come down to personal preference. And as a side note, I personally shoot a Nikon.

Lol my bad, I totally misinterpreted your original question.

Doing it with a camera is a bit more complex, but it isn't hard! Any basic DSLR would work. I'm most familiar with Canon, so like a used Canon t2i or something would work for you. Someone else can maybe chime in with other suggestions. Hopefully any camera you would get would come with a lens. Prices might be all over on this. You just need any camera with an auxiliary shutter port.

You'll also need something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Neewer-Shutter-Release-Remote-Control/dp/B003Q9RERY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537801810&sr=8-1&keywords=neewer+intervalometer

That device is called an intervalometer and it lets you take pictures repeatedly and at set intervals.

Finally, you'll just need a tripod for the camera. You probably don't need a super fancy one and can get one for less than 30 bucks on Amazon.

Put the camera under an umbrella or get a water cover for it, again, less than 20 bucks.

You'll need an SD card to store your photos on too.

Finally, once you have all of your photos taken, you need software to put the time lapse together. There is a ton of time lapse specific software out there, and you can snag that, or you can use Lightroom and some of the available plugins for it to create your final video. I've always used Lightroom in the past and it works pretty well but if you find yourself doing this on a regular basis you might wanna invest in the specialized software.

Hope this helps!

Yeah those are great options to get done what you want to do, However there are cheaper options if price is your driving factor. This guy is a bare bones basic flash trigger, which means that you won't get any ETTL capabilities and will have to manually set flash power. With the unit you pointed out, you will get ETTL metering, however, with the 430EX II it is my understanding that you still do have to manually change all other parameters (unlike some of the other flashes the unit you picked out supports, you can't change things like curtain sync or flash group from the camera with the transceiver IIRC).

The 622c is quite a good little unit, for the price. It will give you a bunch of ways to expand, with 7 channels you can set up multiple flash banks in the future by adding transceivers and flashes. It's also better made and will give you better range than the simple Cowboy Studio trigger. Though what it comes down to is, how much do you want to spend and what features do you think are necessary?

The Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 (version 1) might just be a hair outside your budget, but it's easily one of the best wide-angle landscape lenses there is. If you really can't make that price point work, the Rokinon 14 mm f/2.8 works just as well, except it's manual focus and doesn't take filters. If you don't care about the f/2.8 aperture, the Canon 10-18 is another option.

A good wildlife lens could be the Canon 55-250 STM, only $150 for a certified refurbished version. Not all landscape photos need wide angle lenses (in fact, many of the best photos are taken with telephotos like the 55-250), but sometimes it is a little hard to get used to searching for landscape compositions in a telephoto manner.

In terms of "waterproof" bags, there isn't going to be something that withstands being tossed into the ocean other than perhaps an adaptive dry bag that you can somehow throw all of your gear in. The Peak Design Everyday Backpack gets recommended a lot - it is water resistant so it can withstand a rain shower. For added protection, just buy a raincover for your backpack. I generally don't like bags that scream "camera bag! steal me!", so a lot options over at Lowepro don't appeal to me, but they may to you. I use an Arc'teryx Brize 32 backpack for hiking - it's fairly water resistant.

• 5.11 Tactical MOAB 6
  
  Sony A6000
  
  Four Lens(18-55, 55-210, 28mm 2.8, 55mm 1.7)
  
  Charger, Portable battery pack
  
  Sharpie, Pen
  
  2 Extra SD Cards
  
  Flashlight Energizer Hardcase this is a lil beast and puts out a surprising amount of light
  
  Oh and a Makeup brush my buddies gave me a lot of shit buying those haha(seriously if you dont have one in the bag youre wrong, theyre cheaper than a "Camera Brush" Ive found them to be higher quality than a lot Ive come across for the price and you can get so many shapes and sizes. Ive Got a small brush it says its a concealer brush on the side and was well worth the couple bucks.)
  
  
• Maxpedition Jumbo Versipack
  
  Canon T3i
  
  3 Lens (Kit lens, 70-300, Nifty Fifty)
  
  Extra batteries(3 I think because Im terrible at remembering to charge)
  
  Gorilla Pod(tripod)
  
  Extra SD
  
  Pen/Pencil
  
  The Bottle holder on this bag is perfect as a holster when I have the 70-300 on the camera
  
  
  
  
  Those are my two main bags as of right now, and if I want I can throw the A6k in with the canon or vice versa so if I want both on me I have the ability. That ability to holster the canon gives the Versipack a slight lead in capability if I want to carry both. Oh and I carry an instax printer in one or the other most the time just because its a fun item to have and be able to print from.
  
  
  
  
  I like to roadtrip and hike a lot so these bags being as small as they are, are perfect to grab throw in the car and go. Both are water resistant(versipack has an add. water protection flap) so Im not worried to much about rain and I just cut some foam to put in the bottom of the main pouches for a lil extra protection against bumps.
  
  When I say I hike I mean if I see a spot I think would be good for a snap and its on top of this ridge/hill Ive now become an amateur mountain climber and Im getting up there so I need something I can quickly sling over my back and start scrambling.
  
  I really like the sling bag style because lets say Im halfway up and realize that where Im at right then would be a cool shot I can hang on with one hand and then with one free hand i can swing the bag to my front grab the camera and have it back on my back without ever taking the bag off or any possibility of dropping the bag and watching it tumble 100ft down. Then I get home and realize all I got a picture of was a trees leaves. Plus the sling bags give you a bit of leeway when youre out and about and a place doesnt allow backpacks but if you keep it over one shoulder the places Ive been in havent batted an eye. (Hahah if a woman can carry a purse right?)
  
  TLDR; 5.11 Tactical MOAB 6(sony A600), and a Maxpedition Jumbo Versipack(Canon T3i). I hike a lot.

I was thinking about getting my dad a "nice" camera for Christmas. Neither of us really knows anything about cameras or photography. Lately, my dad has been into taking nature photos using his phone camera. I really want to encourage it as a hobby because he has a lot of mental health issues and issues with alcoholism. Getting him outside and in the world and away from his demons will be better for him than sitting in his apartment by himself.

I have no idea what to get though. I came across [this] (https://www.amazon.com/Canon-T6-Digital-Telephoto-Accessory/dp/B01D93Z89W/ref=sr_1_7?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1511138171&sr=8-7&keywords=canon+60d) bundle, but I'm not sure if it's worth it or if there is something better I could get for the price.

He won't need anything top of the line, but I'd like it to be a 'photographers' camera, not just a nice one for taking pictures of the family. He is very cognizant of the 'image' of things, and I think having a camera that projects the 'image' of a photographer will cement the hobby a little bit more.

Any words of advice are welcome, I have no idea what I'm doing. Ideally, I'd like to stay in the $500 or below range.

>ask ppl to cluck like a chicken

I'm gonna hafta try that one!

Check out Picture Perfect Posing by Picture Perfect Posing by Roberto Valenzuela.

I first saw it recommended here in /r/Photography. It was a great read that, instead of giving you poses to imitate, it gives you the theory behind why you'd want the arm or fingers at one angle or another, or why you'd tilt the chin this way or that- and what effects it'll have on how your subject is perceived.

Yeah. I bought my canon xsi off cregslit complete with a canon 18-55mm and a 55-250mm with 3 SD's a tripod and a case for $450 and i have never had any complaints with that gear.

also if your looking for a nice lens but don't have the dough you can pick up one of these for pretty cheap and get 40 year old nikon lenses that are just as sharp as new ones for much much less.

or if you go nikon you don't have to use the ring. :P

also I would like to see your work! I haven't read the whole thread to see if you posted a link of some kind, but i would love to see some of ur stuff!

Stupid question, I'm very new to photography. I know my way around my Canon Rebel T3, but that's about it.

That being said, will this lens be compatible with my camera? I'm pretty sure it is, I just want to be certain before I place my order. Thanks in advance guys :)

Links:

lens: http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Professional-Definition-Olympus-others/dp/B00LAXEEC6/ref=sr_1_3?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1407697863&sr=1-3

my camera: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Rebel-Digital-18-55mm-Movie/dp/B004J3Y9U6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407698242&sr=8-1&keywords=canon+rebel+t3

That camera has a 1/2.5" small noisy sensor. It is pretty much useless over ISO 200. The optics are also nothing spectacular. It hasn't happened to mine, but that camera seems to be pretty prone to lens error faults that render the camera unfixable and unusable.

For what it is, it is fine, an 8mp superzoom advanced point and shoot from 2007-2008.

Adding a tube to put a UV filter over the lens is not going to really be worth the effort. Any optics that you add are going to be adding to the distortion the built in optics already have, so I'd say that's not worth it either.

Here's one thing you could do. Get yourself a canon external flash and a off camera flash cord. That camera has the standard canon hot shoe and having a flash that can be taken off the camera is going to do a lot more for any pictures you take than any crazy lens tube adapters.

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Speedlite-II-Digital-Cameras/dp/B001CCAISE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292870603&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Opteka-Off-Camera-Cameras-Speedlite-Equivalent/dp/B002B8ZYPK/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1292870658&sr=1-1

Something like those will actually be useful when you get rid of the S5 and move to something else in the future.

The great thing about photography is that things like SLR lenses and flashes can outlive camera bodies and be useful for a long time.

A Pentax camera is a pretty good choice. They're not as popular as their Canon/Nikon counterparts, but they're always loaded with tons of features, especially for the price. The K70 is their newest midrange body (came out just 2 or 3 months ago) and the reviews have been decent so far.

As for the point and shoot you linked, I would say the G9x is one of the best point and shoots out there. I would certainly pick it over anything sub-$300 and I think it's well worth the extra $200. It's competition would be the Sony RX100, however for the same price I think the G9x is a bit of a better choice.

Hey guys.

I'm a camera-newbie that's been shooting a bunch of pictures on my phone for the past year to learn the non technical aspects of photography. I think it's finally time I make the leap and get a DSLR.

My budget is around $500-$1000. I primarily want to use it for photos but somewhere down the line I would also want to shoot video with it. More specifically vlog-like stuff so having a microphone would be a huge plus. However I probably won't be buying anything until around black Friday for the good deals, just wanted to get a head start on research.

I was looking at this and it seems like a pretty good place to start.

Thoughts and recommendations?

While everyone suggests a 35 or 50mm f/1.8 lens, let me suggest a flash that isn't on top of your camera. I'd get at least the 430EX flash (http://amzn.com/B001CCAISE) so you can swivel and tilt the head of it. Pair that up with a good diffuser (http://amzn.com/B000CLNHXY) and you can take some great portraits. Flashes are great to have even in bright sunlight to soften shadows and add catch-lights to eyes, and are invaluable in other types of photography and situations.

Also, a RapidStrap is nice to have (http://amzn.com/B002WR7VSS), as it will get your camera off your neck and onto your shoulder. It's a hell of a lot more comfortable to carry it around during hikes like this.

I'm looking to buy a camera for my girlfriend, but know very little about what's good and what isn't. She's not a photographer so beginner gear is fine and I'd like to spend around $500 but could go higher if it makes a significant difference in quality. A second lense may be a cool addition but that would push the budget up so a nicer camera is higher priority.

These camera + accessory kits on Amazon look pretty appealling but again I'm uncertain about the camera quality.

Any recommendations?

Thanks! I just searched Amazon and found the Sigma 30mm, and yeah, it's about twice my current budget, but I'll start saving. The good news is it's an f/1.4, which is better than my current prime (50mm f/1.8), which itself was leaps and bounds better than my 17-85mm f/4-5.6.

Seriously, I know everyone here intuitively grasps f-stops, but for me to make the jump to that 50mm prime, and see just how much more light it lets in was... well, a revelation!

I have two Yongnuo transceivers

They work very well. Sometimes I bump the buttons, so the channels get changed, but otherwise they're reliable and it's about $75 for a pair. You can get more and add to it.

They're pretty easy to use, and is great for getting started on ocf

My first DSLR was a Canon 350D (with a similar crop sensor to yours). After coming to the conclusion that I wanted a wide angle (and doing some research), I scraped money together for the Sigma 10-20mm f/4
I LOVED it. It was cheaper than the canon equivalent and held up to years of faithful service.
Years later I'm shooting with a 5DII and knowing myself, dove back into research to get myself a worthy wide angle that would work on a full-frame.
I had this same dilemma, and in the end, the Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 won out for very basic reasons.
If you're a working professional, and you're going to upgrade, get something worth your money- this meant going from f/4 to f/2.8.
The sigma was and is lovely, dependable and easy on the wallet, but it does me very little good now.

Your lenses are slow, but I wouldn't bother buying new lenses. Buy the 430EX, and learn how to bounce it, sync it, adjust it, etc. You're going to need an off camera flash eventually.

Don't bother with that package, just buy the straight flash from Amazon for cheaper and pick up batteries locally.

Eventually, I'd pick up the 50 1.8 lens. It's a very sharp, decently fast lens for $100. I have $1400 lenses and I still love this lens.

Please don't go buy $300 lenses right now. Your situation will be best served by getting a flash and learning to use it.

You are right, lenses are definitely more important, especially because it seems like most of your shots will be landscapes, and you'll have plenty of time to set up the composition. You won't need expensive bodies.

Get a Canon Rebel; they're good cameras and will give you as much functionality as you'll be able to use - as this is your first DSLR.

As lenses go, I would recommend a Tamron 17-50 non-VC, which is on par with the Canon 17-40 L lens. Also, you might want to consider a telephoto; my suggestion for this would be the Canon 55-250 IS, which is also a great lens.

I just got my first ultra wide angle lens, and I'm hoping somebody can clear up a little confusion I'm having.

A couple of days ago, I purchased this Sigma 10-20mm lens. The person was selling it dirt cheap since it has a minor cosmetic knick on it, so I figured why not.

I was in a hurry and I didn't do the amount of research I usually would. I just used Amazon's little "Will this lens work with my camera?" tool. I input my camera - a full frame Canon 6D, and the tool said yes, it'll work.

Now that I have the lens, I've been doing more research on it, and it looks like while it will fit on a full frame body, it was developed specifically for crop sensors?

I get this large black circle around the border at 10mm. Here's an example I just shot:

http://i.imgur.com/F2sVCzc.jpg

At 20mm, the picture looks perfectly normal through the viewfinder, however when you go to review it, there's still significant blackness around the edges, as seen here:

http://i.imgur.com/6xsIYC6.jpg

Is this just the normal result of putting a lens designed for a crop sensor onto a full frame body?

Thank you!

It’s her first camera (besides her phone) and so I’m not sure of size preference.

Also, thanks for the links! I only Reddit on mobile, and never see the sidebar. I really like the chart showing options per budget.

You mentioned the 600d, which I had heard before in my other post. What do you think about the T3? I found one w/ lens for under $200. Since it’s fulfilled by Amazon, I get free shipping, and if there are any defects, Amazon takes care of it.


Canon EOS Rebel T3 Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens (discontinued by manufacturer) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004J3Y9U6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_GRLUDbV4J77VF

Might I suggest the Tamron 18-55 as a nice lens upgrade? This has a constant f/2.8 aperture, lovely bokeh, and marvelous colour.

I've used mine for 4 years now and loved it on an older Rebel XTi.

I just got the 17-50 non-VC a couple days ago. Autofocus is loud, it really surprised me. I have used other Tamron lenses before and have the 28-75, but the 17-50 is definitely noticeable. This may actually play to your favor, subtly causing your baby to look at the camera.

FYI, Even though its noisy I'm keeping mine. Oh and its $400 on Amazon right now (as opposed to $460).

Amazon &
Rebate

55-250 should be more than good enough for most of outdoor shooting. But it won't give you wide angle shots and it won't perform that well indoors (too slow and too tight). You can grab yourself a fast wide prime lens like Canon 28mm f/1.8, Sigma 30mm f/1.4 to complement your telephoto zoom. Lens like these will give you wider angle and allow low-light shooting indoors. As a bonus you will also get nice and smooth bokeh.

I strongly recommend a book called Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1607748509/

It's fun and easy to read and you'll know SO MUCH about this sort of thing when you're done. :-)

BTW, a good thing you could do for this photo is wait for a different time of day when the shadows aren't so harsh or during cloud cover.

Let's see, there was Understanding Exposure, which is especially helpful for people who have only ever shot digital b/c it explains so much of the basic functions of the camera that most people take per granted and can improve your pictures dramatically, another one of Peterson's books, Learning to See Creatively is also really good, I also like The Photographer's Eye. Another really good book if you're into B&W is Black & White: Photographic Printing Workshop, which was written for using enlargers in a darkroom but can equally be used with basic Photoshop technique, shows how to convert blah pictures into really amazing imagery using basic dodging and burning techniques. I'll post some examples of his later when I get home.

The Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM Lens is very well liked for wide angle landscape shots. Though it's an ultra wide - so maybe the Canon EF-S 55-250mm F4-5.6 IS STM Lens is better for you. Both of these lenses are very sharp for the price, and the STM autofocus will make it nice and quiet.

Take a look at sample images for both. And check out Keh.com for used copies of the lenses. They have an excellent reputation.

Best lens for the money? Or some other AF telephoto completely?

Tamron 70-300mm

Nikon 55-300mm

Leaning towards the Nikon as I've heard better things, but I have the Tamron 28-75 and absolutely love it so there's that as well.

You can get a screw on wide angle filter but you need to know which lens(es) she has first and they aren't all that great for optical quality. Actually, they're horrible on optical quality. Many amateurs do like them for the novelty.

If she wants a REALLY wide angle lens you're going to have to pay quite a bit, and I'd probably suggest going third party. Maybe this? Sigma is a pretty decent brand and I've seen good reviews for this lens before, but still a rather expensive gift.

The main difference between screw on or legit will be big differences in sharpness and contrast as well as a "real" lens having no fishbowl effect like we often see in these corny photos.

Get yourself the Sigma 30mm f/1.4. I have the same camera as you, and trust me, the extra light that 1.4 can let in will blow your mind the first time you try it in less than perfect lighting conditions. It's truly awesome. A 50mm, I find, is far too restrictive to really be my "walkaround" lens.

Are you asking about other speedlites (small flash guns)? Or are you looking to upgrade to monolights?

If you're sticking with small flashes, it might depend on your camera system. Probability suggests you're either shooting Canon or Nikon.

With Canon people really like the 430EX

With Nikon, the SB800 gets a lot of love.

These are not the top of the line flash for either system, but they appear to have a balance of cost and features that people like. Buying on-brand flashes also means you benefit from the full functionality the system. e.g. I have a bunch of YongNuo flashes and a Nikon D610, which means I can't use the camera menu to group and control the flashes. As for the power you're looking for - these are as powerful as you might ever need a small flash to be.

Both of these will work on rechargeable batteries, and your request that your power lasts "all day" really depends on what you're shooting. Just buy and carry a few few extra cases of batteries. (I have 48 Eneloops the last time I counted)

If you're thinking the solution to your power problem involves an upgrade to a monolight, and money isn't really an issue, then you should look at something like the Profoto B1 500 AirTTL

These are fast becoming the go-to flash for professional photographers on the move. They're powered by battery packs that slide right into the body, so there are no cables to deal with. The consistent quality of the light and the feature set in general are hard to beat when you the portability in account.

Looking for a somewhat cheap TTL Transmitter.

So I'm a nightlife photographer although it's somewhat more of a hobby. Anyway, I'm getting more into photographing bands and I'd like to buy a TTL Trigger so I can take my camera off flash and be more creative with my lightning.

I'm looking at these alternatives:

• Cactus V6
  
• Yongnuo YN622C + (maybe) Yongnuo YN622C-TX
  
  I always shoot using the following setup:
  
  
• Canon EOS 60D
  
• Canon 430EXII Flash
  
• Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6
  
  Are these triggers any good? Should I be looking at any alternatives? Can they take a little bump (my camera does get hit occasionally). I am honestly more tempted towards the Yongnuo ones since they seem more compact.
  
  Thanks in advance!
  

Hello /r/photography !

My sister is looking to buy her first camera for Photography AND Video. She has a budget of 600$ CAD, is there anything good at this price?

I was looking on Amazon Canada and I found some Best Selling camera and I was wondering if those were good for Photo and Video:

• Canon EOS Rebel T6 Bundle
  
• Nikon D3400 Bundle
  
  If those are not really good, do you guys have any suggestions?
  
  Thank you very much!

Hello r/photography!
I recently saved up enough money to buy my first serious camera. This Cannon EOS Rebel T3 caught my attention and I keep reading in the reviews that it is an excellent entry level camera. Is that a true statement? I would be willing to shell out some extra money for this T3i if it would be a better buy.
This Cannon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 or this Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 seem like good lenses to go along with them, but are they too much to soon?
Again, this would be my first major camera purchase. Would this be a solid purchase or is there another cheaper camera that would be just as good?

Does anyone know of a fast 90mm lens designed for APS-C sensors?

I'm hoping to buy a macro lens for my APS-C camera, but I'm finding that there's not a lot of selection. The only EF-S lens I can find that seems to be made for macro is the Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM. I'd much rather get a lens in the 90mm range. I currently use the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM, and I can get decent macro results with a macro ring. But at f/4 max aperture, the bokeh isn't that great. I'd also like to use the macro lens for portraits as well, which would really benefit from a fast aperture. I could get a 60mm EF lens, and it would behave like a 96mm with the 1.6x crop factor, but it would also slow the aperture by 60% for depth-of-field.

Thanks for some solid recommendations. So you are recommending something like t2i or t3i What do I get jumping up to the t3i? Also at $830, is there a better camera to upgrade to for another couple hundred dollars that would be worth the price increase?

If you positively cannot wait to get into a dedicated camera with manual controls and interchangeable lenses, you can get a used Canon Rebel T3 with a couple lenses on Amazon for $200. It's not the latest and greatest and your phone might actually give better results in some cases. There are some other suggestions in the buying guide too.

The T2i is an excellent camera, I bought mine shortly after it was released and I still love it.

The image quality is on par with a 7D or 60D but it's much cheaper. The auto-focus system isn't on par with pro-level cameras and it has a mediocre continuous shooting frame rate, but that shouldn't be a deal breaker. I've used my camera to shoot college sports (baseball and basketball), wildlife, landscapes, portraits, etc. and it has always proved to be a capable camera. If you get it, I would suggest getting a vertical grip and then saving up for some nice glass.

While the kit lens is fairly capable for outdoor shooting, you might eventually consider upgrading it to Tamron's 17-50mm lens or Canon's 17-55mm lens.

Consider the 70-300mm or 55-300mm or 300mm f/4 instead. The first is a very good quality zoom lens that will allow you to change zoom for framing, the second is a cheaper version of the same, and the third is a very good prime. I have the 55-300mm and I found that I use it for birds and such, almost 99% of the time at 300mm. I think if I were to reconsider the purchase I would go for the 300mm f/4, epecially because it allows the use of teleconverters. If you go for the 18-300mm, you sacrifice a large amount of quality in all focal lengths. It isn't worth it. With the budget you have for the 18-300mm, you can get the 70-300mm and gain quite a lot of quality or the 300mm prime and find yourself with an amazing birding/wildlife lens. If you stick a 2x teleconverter on there, you have 960mm f/8 lens on an APS-C body - basically a telescope, but also amazing for birds (but a little lacking in low light).

I have owned the Canon S90 (most recently replaced by S120), Sony RX100, and Ricoh GR. My personal favorite is the Ricoh GR due to its large sensor and superior all-around performance. However, my recommendation would go to the Sony RX100 since the Ricoh GR has a fixed lens (28mm equiv). If price is more of an issue, the Canon S110 is a great pocket camera and going for only $250 now, which is half the price of the RX100.

You will need a flash, and most likely your on camera flash will not be enough.

You will need an E-TTL flash so that you can take pictures on the fly without having to adjust the power of your flash. You can buy a 3rd party one or a Canon version, or rent one if you want.

You will also want something to diffuse the light. There are simple caps, on-flash soft boxes, and another that seems to be popular is the Gary Fong Lightsphere. I personally use an on-camera softbox as it offers the largest light source, though the lightsphere seems to work pretty well too and isn't as bulky and fragile. These things also should be used in close range, over about 10ft the diffusion quality diminishes and they require too much power to light the subject.

Ok, ok. What do you mean exactly with kit lens? Is it just a regular lens? And why not just buying the body + the kit lens all in one?

Here's what I found:
For example if I choose the canon 1200D camera, here it's the body + 18-55mm: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Rebel-EF-S-18-55mm-Digital/dp/B00IB1BTWI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1405024144&sr=8-2&keywords=Canon+1200D

Then I would buy the 50mm f/1.8 lens additionally: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-50mm-Standard-AutoFocus-Lens/dp/B00005K47X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405024183&sr=8-1&keywords=+50+f1.8

Or do you mean I should just buy the body: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-EOS-T5-Digital-Camera/dp/B00J9SH1ZG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405024439&sr=8-1&keywords=Canon+1200D


Can you explain me what you mean with shooting in raw?


I would be very thankful if you could check the canon 1200D out :)

I actually read two books, that I found pretty interesting:

"Picture Perfect Posing: Practicing the Art of Posing for Photographers and Models" - Which takes on the rather technical side, almost drawing charts about where to put which body parts and what it signals. (Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Picture-Perfect-Posing-Practicing-Photographers/dp/0321966465)

"Psychologie der Fotografie: Kopf oder Bauch?", which is a German book about the psychological aspects. Here the focus is not about the perfect focus point, but telling stories with the pictures. I'm not sure whether there is an English version of the book, but I bet there are similar titles or articles if you google.

What I've learned: just start doing something. Just shoot some models. While during that, try out some weird and creative stuff. If you like the not-so-posed pictures, do stuff with them and document them in the meantime. Personally, I find that more fun than just posing, too. But it's all down to just getting started, learning to see, learning to communicate and direct, and then start exploring while using the experience.

Newbie here. Looking for a good camera I can also take when I travel. Should I get the Sony Alpha a5000 or Sony DSC-RX100M III?

I was originally oogaling the DSC-RX100/B but the M III has the flip-up display which I want. It's also +$300 more than the /B. This Black Friday Ad shows the /B on sale for $50 off, which is a pretty piss-poor sale. But it shows the Alpha a5000 for $100 off, which is more appealing. Should I grab the a5000 or is the /B or M III much better?

I would recommend Syl Arena's Lighting for Digital Photography and Neil van Nierkerk's Direction and Quality of Light (his website is where I primarily send flash newbs to learn the baby steps of on-camera flash and bouncing before throwing them to the Strobist's Lighting 101 or his Lynda courses for off-camera flash; my public library gives me free access to lynda.com). Also, just for the fun of it and to start thinking about studio lighting, I'd also recommend taking a spin through Zack Arias's white seamless tutorial on youtube.

The basic college textbook on lighting is Light, Science & Magic.

Make sure you research it before you buy it. Reviews on B&H and Amazon are a great place to start reading up on it. Check out Flickr for some work created with it, here are some results for a search of that lens and photos tagged with that model.

A brand new copy of the lens will go for as much as $770.

They go for around $650 for a used copy, sometimes as low as $600. The local camera shops around me have used copies for about $670. I'll probably be selling it for somewhere in between.

There's a chance that you could get it for under $600 used.

Get on Craigslist, eBay and Amazon to check used prices for that lens. I'm in the U.S. and I only sell locally. Send me a private message if you like.

Thanks for the pointers. I meant to ask earlier, how can I tell if the flash is TTL? I assume the Canon 430EX is but I don't see TTL anywhere in the product name or description.

Thanks for the pointers - I'm already having a lot of fun!!

Hey guys...I recently bought THIS Canon EOS Rebel and I need help!
Here is the downlow! (Humble brag) My son is a Freshman and he started wrestling in December. In January they promoted him to varsity! (OMG, I know, this mom is gross.) Anyhow, he is now going to VARSITY sectionals. I used my Bday money to buy this camera, because the boy wants Mom to take pics of him. I'm so lost. I'm trying the "action" shot photo option, but when I travel to sectionals on Friday, he's going to be about 300 ft away on a mat, moving his ass off.

What are the best settings to do his awesomeness justice with what little resources (and zero experience) I have?

(PS - I've watched hours of youtube videos and I'm just not a photographer, so DUMB IT DOWN FOR ME.)

I have a small budget at work for improving how we take macro photos of circuit boards. I'm looking into finding a good small tripod like a gorillapod. I have no experience with macro, so I don't know how good a choice this is given all of the joints and the ball head. Would it be worth it to add something like this platform ? Or would we be able to get away with just a small tripod to get some decent shots? I don't need to do any focus stacking or things like that. We are using a 100mm macro lens on an eos rebel.

Really need help buying a camera...so many different options. Originally I was hoping to stay under $500, but that can be extended if necessary (i.e. if the camera/kit is significantly better). Absolutely no more than $800.

Currently looking at this kit. But I'm not too sure if that's the best way to go. Refurbished sounds great to me because of the lower price and little to no risk of a bad product, but the camera itself is worrying me. Is 18MP really enough? Also not all reviews of the camera seem to be spectacular. I'm a beginner so I don't need something absurd, but I'd really like to be able to take profession-looking shots. Touchscreen and a movable screen would be nice too.
Mainly planing to do landscapes, cityscapes, sunsets, and the occasional portrait/closer range stuff.

Advice/thoughts? Thanks!

Hey all,

Years ago I purchased a Rebel T2i that came with a 18-55mm IS lens. I then added on a 55-250mm IS II and a 55mm.

I haven't shot with them as much as I should have, but i'm now getting back into it. I'm about to add hood lenses to all of them (tip from a Youtube video I saw) and I will get out and start shooting more. My interest range from landscape, structures, portrait and anything really. I do have two questions though!

1. I'm thinking about adding a wide lense, specifically thing one Canon EF 35mm f/2 IS What do you guys think about that one? Looking at this as a general "do-all" lens for normal shooting.
   
2. Any other tips/hints for me?
   
   Thanks!
   

>Do i buy a better flash or triggers?

Yes. Yongnuo HSS capable trigger and Yongnuo HSS capable flash.

Giving direction comes with time and practice and is on the basis you know the foundation of a good pose and what things to avoid.

Read the book Picture Perfect Posing. It teaches you how to make a good pose, and what things to look out for.

What would be the best camera for someone who's just breaking into photography and need something for great shots up close, far away, and has most of the options to edit?

Edit: How's this bundle and camera?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D93Z89W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_0sXazbDBGFPQC

Canon T3

There it is on Amazon. As you can see, a little over your price range. But a quick search on eBay...

Canon T3

That's a pretty damn good deal. As a Canon fanboy, the T3 is what I think you should upgrade to for your first DSLR. Great camera and decent kit lens for that price.

I am looking to buy an ultra wide lens for my Canon 6D, so that I can photograph buildings, especially in places like Europe, where there may not be a whole lot of room to move back to capture the entire building. I am considering getting a Sigma, but I am debating between the Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 and the Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6. Is the 10-20mm f/3.5 worth it to get over the f/4-5.6 for shooting buildings or should I save my money and stick with f/4-5.6? Anything else that I should consider?

Photographer friends! I'm finally going to buy some lighting equipment, so I was looking for any recommendations. My budget is around $500 for a two light setup. I usually shoot costume photography (at conventions and outside of them) and portraits.


I would like to go with Yongnuo for the triggers (YN622) and flashes themselves (probably 1 565EX and 1 560).


I have no idea what to go with for the stands (Maybe Manfrotto Nano or Lumopro Compact?), swivels, and umbrellas, except that I'd love for them to be small and light (I'm weak!).


I'm also not sure what modifiers to pick up for using an on-camera flash, like a softbox (LumiQuest Softbox or Lastolite Ezybox?), the Gary Fong Lightsphere that everyone has, or something else (LumiQuest Quik Bounce?).


I will put some good rechargeable batteries (Eneloops?) into my budget, but is there anything else that I'm missing?


Also, I'm not in a hurry to pick any of this up, so are there any sites to keep an eye on for sales?


Thanks!

Someone else mentioned to try taking a shot directly looking at the softbox and see what happened. The flash DEFINITELY fired, but the picture was completely black, leading me to believe that you guys are right about the flash/shutter being out of sync. I really hope it isn't the triggers...but they are a pretty cheap brand I got for Xmas a few years ago.

Here are the Triggers I'm using.

I have a single 430EX II and a softbox from CowboyStudio. When deciding on the softbox I read many reviews deriding CowboyStudio's continuous lighting equipment. I cannot attest to the quality of the continuous equipment but I can say that the softbox is a good value. If your camera does not have a built-in wireless trigger, I recommend FlashZebra for TTL cords.

Also, check out Speedlighter's Handbook by Syl Arena for more tips to master flash photograhy.

You should check out this book called understanding exposure, it's a really great intro to photography. I took 4 years of photo in high school and still found it to be worthwhile to read.

https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541943482&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=understanding+exposure&dpPl=1&dpID=517WrWTQypL&ref=plSrch

Don't be afraid to buy used gear if youre on a budget, and like others have said don't focus too much on having the newest gear either. People were taking incredible pictures with new cameras 10 years ago. Those cameras take the same pictures today that they did then

For this type of photography, my guess is that the elements of success are:

Camera choice: 10%

Lens choice: 15%

Food prep skills: 25%

Mastery of lighting techniques for glass containers and liquids: 50%

A good book is Light, Science, and Magic

and the Strobist website mentioned in another comment is also very good to study.

For the camera, it might be important to pick one hat you can shoot tethered (connected to a computer) so you can use a big computer monitor or TV screen to preview the shot in the studio.

If you know what to look for, you can get a good older dedicated macro lens for less than a hundred.

The oldest Nikon "F" lenses do not work on most any modern Nikon camera. So, they tend to be some of the cheapest good quality lenses.

http://www.keh.com/camera/Nikon-Manual-Focus-Fixed-Focal-Length-Lenses/1/sku-NK060090331510?r=FE

Pick up one, plus a $10-$30 F-to-EOS filter, and you're all set.

http://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-07LAnkeos-Mount-Adapter-Camera/dp/B001G4QXLE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1371055469&sr=8-2&keywords=f-to-eos+adapter

I'm pretty sure he was meaning the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 which is a fantastic lens. It will likely stay on your camera way more than the 50mm ever would. However, nothing is remotely in the range of the Canon 50 1.8 in terms of price.

I can recommend something like this. Great starter camera. Just be warned, try not to get discouraged. There's a steep learning curve where you'll wonder why anyone bothers with dslrs at all and why they don't just stick with their phone camera all the time.

But once you get over that hurdle, you have greater flexibility and capabilities

I have an entry level Canon DSLR. Want to buy a new lens which would be better than the kit lens for night/low light photography as well as general use. I have found 2 possible choices, I understand the 18-55mm has image stabilisation so would that be the way to go? Any other suggestions appreciated.

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM Zoom Lens

Canon EF 50 mm f/1.8 II Lens

The canon t2i (or the newer [t3i] (http://www.amazon.com/Canon-T3i-Digital-Imaging-18-55mm/dp/B004J3V90Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1321728959&sr=1-1) ) is awesome. I own it myself and it's a great camera for beginners and more serious photographers. (A bit expensive though!)

Reddit suggested this book to me, and it's amazing.

It also is structured to be used for students, self learners, pros, or a teacher. It would be a great text book. or a resource you can just use and teach from.
https://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0415719402/ref=pd_cp_14_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=SE0J882QNS0W5BE7XZW1

I have the T2i and its great. If you feel like spending a couple hundred more, you could look at the T3i. Its basically the same as the T2i with an updated movie mode and an adjustable screen.

Shopping list.

Canon T3i

Canon T2i - You can get used on Amazon for under $600.

Nifty Fifty

Canon Speedlite 430EX II

A dedicated radio trigger will help you do things like trigger flashes that aren't in the same room as your camera (for things like real estate shots), or if the flash is in such a position that the pop up flash doesn't reach the sensor on the flash. For things like portraits or still lives, the pop up flash can change the exposure of the image, and will show up as a source of light if not configured properly.

For as cheap as radio triggers are, just grab one like the [Cowboy Studio] (http://www.amazon.com/CowboyStudio-NPT-04-Channel-Wireless-Receiver/dp/B002W3IXZW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394476818&sr=8-1&keywords=cowboy+studio+flash+trigger) I use. Super cheap and gets the job done. Maybe not the best option at crowded places where other photographers might be using similar frequencies, but at home or in your own studio it will suffice.

i was thinking of picking up one of these: link

it isn't chipped, but it would work fine for the pc lenses i would think? I already have a nifty 50 for the canon, and it works well enough that i don't think i'd be hopping to use the 50 1.4 for much since it is manual focus.

This.



This.



And this.


If you don't foresee yourself getting into videos, save some cash and go back to the t2i. The articulating screen is honestly the only advantage with the t3i, especially if you throw magic lantern on an sd card.

I am interested in getting into photography and recently ordered my first camera. I bought a Canon T5i w/ EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM Lens and a EF 75-300mm F/4-5.6 III Autofocus Telephoto Zoom Lens.

I am mainly interested in taking portraits, landscape and event photos. The events I work at are in everything from hotel ballrooms, private homes to convention spaces, almost always indoors with fairly dim lighting.

I've been trying to do some research on different equipment and gear that I would need, and came up with the following list. Is there anything that I don't need or a better alternative than I have listed? Is there anything I'm missing?

Thanks

"Nifty Fifty" Lens - https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00X8MRBCW

Bag - https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00CF5OGP8

Memory Card - https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B007NDL54C

Battery Grip - https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0039VYN1Y

Speedlite 430 - https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B010W2MAOO

Lightsphere - https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01JPY41RO

Book 1 - https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1446302172

Book 2 - https://smile.amazon.com/dp/0134007913

GorillaPod - https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B002FGTWOC

Battery Charger - https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00JHKSMJU

Extra Batteries - https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00JHKSL28

I am looking for some input on a cheap umbrella lighting kit versus a decent add-on flash for my DSLR. I was looking at getting a lighting kit like this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003WLY24O/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3BEPADCNG466L&coliid=I3QAC42G79T1CA&psc=1

However, I saw some comments saying I would be happier with the more versatile add-on flash that costs a fair amount more.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001CCAISE/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3BEPADCNG466L&coliid=I2T75QSPRHX8UX

Hello! I am looking into getting a camera for my wife and myself. I haven't had the time to fully research cameras and look though all the guides available here since we are preparing a baby. We would be using this camera for baby photos and family photos, a general/casual use. I wanted to get a camera that is worth the investment with a budget around ~$500.

Ive been looking at bundles such as this Camera and accessories bundle Is it worth it to bundle though? I'd say that this is on the high end of my budget but its not unreasonable if it is worth the bundle. I don't have anything for a camera right now and if I buy a stand alone camera, I need to buy all the accessories as well.

Are there any other Cameras/ bundles that you would recommend?

These really are great skills to have as a photographer, and applicable to so many situations!

I'd really recommend Light: Science and magic to anyone who wants to learn about this.

Sony Alpha a6000 ($750) vs Sony DSC-RX100/B ($500) vs Olympus OM-D E-M10 ($550)?

I'm a total noob and looking to get my first decent camera. Mostly just need a camera for when I travel - nothing fancy.
In order of importance: Durability > Ease of use > Portability.

Amazon links: Sony-RX-100, Olympus OM-D E-M10 and Sony a6000

Is the price difference to the a6000 worth it?

Could anyone explain to me the differences between these two lens? Could someone also tell me which would be better and why? The more detail the better! If which camera they will be used on matters... It'll be a Nikon D5200.

Lens 1: Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S VR

Lens 2: Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR AF-S DX

If your wife loves books I recommend this bookhttps://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509 it really gets down the basics, has lots of examples and it's all in a complete package. The thing about trying to learn stuff online is sometimes people online may not explain it as well

Also there is a Sony Alpha subreddit /r/sonyalpha

re: reflections the best money you could spend is a copy of this book ---> https://www.amazon.ca/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0415719402/

Also google "copy stand lighting", your leaves aren't perfectly flat so it might not be perfect but should help a lot.

re: camera pointing straight down I know for the cooking shows on TV they actually shoot those overhead stove shots with a 45 degree mirror above the stove and the camera in a normal shooting position.

Did you see the article posted a couple days ago about the outdoor macro studio, they talked about backlighting and showed some setups and got some nice results.

The Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 is "only" $429 FYI. Just in case you're thinking you have to spend thousands, this is really great glass for the price!

Canon T2i

and its predecessor the T1i.

Amazon still has steep pricing, even used, but I buy and sell camera gear daily. Look for Canon T2i, T1i, T3, XSi - NikonD40x, D60, D3000, D3100, D5000

I've purchased all of the above at just about your price range, and all are great starter cams. You may have to look for a while, but they are out there at these prices.

Get a good book on posing, try can learn a ton about how best to direct people. Also, might help to link inexperienced models to YouTube posing tutorials.

To me it's a tie between this one and the Canon Nifty Fifty. I've seen so many good shots and amazing video from the Canon and it has a 4.5 star rating on over 1,700 reviews.

The Sigma only gets 4 stars.

Thanks for this GREAT advice on looking for a T3 instead of a T3i. This immediately knocks out $200 or so in price and saves me alot!

I have some questions:

buying used lens does it have any issue vs. new ones?

I looked at T3 just for a quick browse and came across these two T3s. I don't understand exactly what is the difference between the two, could you help me?

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Rebel-Digital-Camera-Imaging/dp/B005LW580O/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1396368727&sr=1-2&keywords=canon+t3

vs


http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Rebel-T3-Digital-18-55mm/dp/B004J3Y9U6/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1396368727&sr=1-1&keywords=canon+t3

I'd recommend the new Canon EOS Rebel T2i. I think it has all of the features you are looking for.

Canon page:
http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/slr_cameras/eos_rebel_t2i_ef_s_18_55mm_is_kit#Features

Review:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/1002/10020806canoneos550d.asp

On Amazon w/ kit:
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-T2i-Digital-3-0-Inch-18-55mm/dp/B0035FZJHQ


Yea, it's a little more than your budget, but it is an excellent camera.

You REALLY need two lenses for landscape photography. Unless you want to buy a mediocre super zoom lens. You need wide for the vistas, and you need long for the more intimate shots. I would argue you can't leave out one.

Since you have a 18-55, you could add a longer lens. Canon makes an EFS 55-250mm that is pretty decent, for around $300. This would, of course, be useless whenever you plan to upgrade to a full frame.

https://www.amazon.com/Canon-EF-S-55-250mm-F4-5-6-Cameras/dp/B00EFILVQU

The other option is a 70-200mm, but you'd have a sizeable gap from 55-70.

You could upgrade the kit lens too, but I think you'll gain a lot more by going with a telephoto lens at this point. (upgrade the kit lens later)

So something like this is probably what I'm looking for if all I want is a good zoom lens?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nikon-AF-S-NIKKOR-55-300mm-4-5-5-6G/dp/B003ZSHNCC/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1396194765&sr=1-1&keywords=lenses+for+nikon

You could probably have afforded the tokina, £403 on Amazon. Second hand or grey market on ebay you could get it even less. Not dismissing the 10-22, just saying the tokina is affordable these days. Especially for Canon as the older version without the in-lens AF motor is just as useful as the newer one.

> Point to where in the FAQ it says if what I am asking is a good deal?

I linked the specific sections that relate exactly to what you're asking.

I mean if you can't do the math to understand that the T7i retails for $749, the EF-S 55-250 retails for $299, the bundle you linked is $899 and the FAQ tells you about bundles, what else could you possibly be asking?

You have also not specified a budget for "other options," which both the FAQ and rules say to do. The FAQ also tells you how to decide what kind of camera you should get regarding mirrorless vs. DSLR.

So yes, the FAQ fully answers your questions.

The Sigma 30mm f/1.4 (both old and new "Art" versions) are crop-sensor only. They DO work with full-frame in the sense that they attach and communicate with the camera and take pictures, but they exhibit heavy vingetting.

The Sigma 35mm f/1.4, however, is full-frame compatible, and is apparently an amazing lens. But it's a little bit on the expensive side.

JOBY GorillaPod SLR Zoom. Flexible Tripod with Ballhead Bundle for DSLR and Mirrorless Cameras Up To 3kg. (6.6lbs). https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002FGTWOC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_gulzzb6FACBXX
.
Joby Gorillapod SLR Zoom with Ballhead
.
It's 20% off at checkout, bringing the total before tax to $37.43. This is the best price I've seen yet on this model.

I currently have a Canon 1000D (EOS Rebel XS) with the 18-55 IS kit lens, a 55-200mm telephoto and a 50mm f/1.8 prime. The new mirrorless cameras (e.g. Sony A6000) have caught my eye. Will they provide a noticeable increase in image quality or other substantive benefits beyond their smaller size?

If I pick up the A6000, what lenses are recommended? My potential budget for camera and lense(s) is around $1000.

Any recommendations for a higher tier wide angle lens? I have the Sigma 10-20mm f/4 but I'd like something sharper. Prepared for anything under $1500 and needs to be least 14mm (low range) or 18mm (high range).

First step is to stop trying to bang all your female friends. It'll make them feel creeped out, especially during a photo shoot.

If you're willing to go into this enough to buy a book, Picture Perfect Posing: Practicing the Art of Posing for Photographers and Models (Voices That Matter) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0321966465/ is good.

Thanks so much...
I was looking at this flash . I assume this is an on-camera flash, why did you suggest an off camera flash. Thanks

Unanswered question from the previous megathread

Author /u/sunofsomething - (Permalink)

I'm looking into getting Canon's 55-250 IS STM lens. But I've noticed there's discrepancies between the prices that some companies are asking.

B & H has it for $299 USD, whereas it can be found on amazon for as little as $200 CAD. Henry's and Bestbuy have it on sale for $229. Though I noticed there they're marking them as almost 170 off.

Is this related to the 'best in glass' sale that canon is having right now?

I'm looking into getting Canon's 55-250 IS STM lens. But I've noticed there's discrepancies between the prices that some companies are asking.

B & H has it for $299 USD, whereas it can be found on amazon for as little as $200 CAD. Henry's and Bestbuy have it on sale for $229. Though I noticed there they're marking them as almost 170 off.

Is this related to the 'best in glass' sale that canon is having right now?

So my follow up question is when you are looking at a lens like Canon EF-S 55-250mm it lists what the lens would be size wise on a full frame camera not a APSC. On a APSC camera it would be a 88-400mm.

In the case where a lens would not be compatible with a full frame camera, why do camera companies list the lens size as the equivalent of what it is on a full frame camera?

Great suggestion. It makes the camera look a lot smaller too. If you need an even faster lens, I can highly recommend the Sigma 30 mm f/1.4 <http://www.amazon.com/Sigma-30mm-Canon-Digital-Cameras/dp/B0007U0GZM>

Set the camera in aperture priority mode and set it to lowest aperture number (wide open), manually set your ISO, starting around 400 and adjust upwards to get yourself the needed shutter speed to eliminate blur. It will all depend on how much light is in the room and what aperture you have.

IMHO, a 50 mm will not be wide enough for you.

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson is hands down the best book on photography I have read.

https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=GZTPJGDWJWPRPXX8VBNP

Sigma's 30mm 1.4 sounds like a good choice for what you're doing.

http://www.amazon.com/Sigma-30mm-Canon-Digital-Cameras/dp/B0007U0GZM

canon 55-250 STM. It's one of canon's gems, sharper than lenses 3x its price. it would make that 75-300 look like a potato. for only $100 more, you get a lens that's 12434645x better.

1. Set your drive mode to burst.
   
2. Set your exposure mode to manual.
   
3. Set the shutter speed to 5 seconds as a test (Looks like 5" in the LCD)
   
4. Leave the lens cap on.
   
5. Hold down the shutter button and see what happens.
   
   Now pretend you had selected 30 seconds in step 5. That's all there is to it. You can hold the button down forever and it will take one 30 second shot every 30 seconds.
   
   The question is: How do you hold the button down for so long without having to actually hold the button down? That's what a remote release is for. Most of them have a mechanism to hold the button down for you. Usually you hold the button down then slide a switch up while still holding it down. The switch locks it into place.
   
   I don't know if the IR remote you have as a "Hold" feature. It might not. But a wired remote release is very cheap. Here's one for under $7. Notice that the plate surrounding the button is actually a switch that locks the button down if you slide it upward.
   
   However, if you're going to spend money, you may as well get a fancy one! That one is programmable, and will still work like I said above, even with no batteries. When programmed, you can do all sorts of things with it: time lapse, delayed shots, timed bulb shots. Even repeated, timed bulb shots, so you can take repeated exposures longer than 30 seconds, if you wish.

Yes, that would be a good start. Although the price is a little suspect. You can buy this from Amazon.com:

• $589: Canon EOS Rebel T2i, EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens
  
• $199: Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS
  
  So $88 for New Vs. Used, plus maybe better warranty on the new stuff? Interestingly the bundle cost more on Amazon than buying the two separately.
  
  PS - As a completely random note: When shopping look out for two "tricks:"
  
  
• Camera bundled with an "off-brand" lens (e.g. Sigma, Tamron, etc). While there is nothing wrong with off-brand lenses, you really need to be able to spot the jewels from the duds. Canon lenses typically cost more but are generally all at least reasonable (excluding the 75-300, which is just trash).
  
• "Accessories packs." No exceptions, these are all trash. Don't buy an accessories pack along with your camera. If you want the contents buy it all individually (E.g. SD Cards, Batteries, Cloths, etc).

Lighting is key. Go get this flash for your camera while this sale is still going on; set it up as a bounce flash (aim up at the ceiling). You might need 1-4 total depending on the venue (scout it out and test gear in advance). You should do ok with the gear you currently have (although a fast 50 would be nice).

In terms of posing watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmi9TPQ57Mo
Also checkout this book from your local library: https://www.amazon.com/Picture-Perfect-Posing-Practicing-Photographers/dp/0321966465
Most people expect to be posed by the photographer. Practice by doing multiple engagement shots with this couple.

Light Science & Magic: http://amzn.com/0415719402
The Moment It Clicks: http://amzn.com/0321544080
Best Business Practices for Photographers: http://amzn.com/1435454294

I just bought these and they work perfectly at around 1/10 the cost of Pocket Wizards (no TTL though). Just starting to experiment with off-camera lighting myself.

I replaced a 24-70mm f/2.8L with a Tamron 17-50 f/2.8. I know it's a bit out of your price range, but I like the lens and it does a good job for the price:

http://www.amazon.com/Tamron-17-50mm-Aspherical-Digital-Cameras/dp/B000EXR0SI/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1334387378&sr=1-1

Pros: good image quality, sharp at f/2.8

Cons: bad flare even with hood, aberrations are a lot more obvious than on an L lens, the AF motor is noisy and AF is not all that fast

It's in stock at Amazon (3rd party seller) and Adorama.

In fact, I think it was always available at Amazon the past 3-4 months (I was checking them once or twice a week).

I used a Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 when I first got my SLR. Absolutely amazing lens for the crop sensor in the XS. Superwide too. In fact, I don't think they get any wider without getting into fisheyes.

EDIT: Link Costs < $480.

As a portrait photographer I would go back in time and give these to past-me sooner than I actually found them:

• Studio Anywhere
  
  
• Picture Perfect Posing
  
  
• Mastering the Model Shoot

Hi guys, I am not sure whether this is a good place to post this, so please feel free to delete if it violates the rules.

I am looking to upgrade from a Canon T3 to a smaller, potentially mirrorless, camera. I would like to sell my T3 + gear and use that cash toward the new camera.

What is a reasonable price to ask for this stuff:

Canon EOS Rebel T3 Digital SLR Camera DS126291
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Digital-18-55mm-discontinued-manufacturer/dp/B004J3Y9U6

Canon Zoom Lens EF-S 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS II
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-EF-S-18-55mm-3-5-5-6-Lens/dp/B000V5K3FG

Tiffen 58mm UV Protection Filter
http://www.amazon.com/Tiffen-58mm-UV-Protection-Filter/dp/B00004ZCJI

Case Logic SLRC-201 SLR Zoom Holster (Black)
http://www.amazon.com/Case-Logic-SLRC-201-Holster-Black/dp/B001TZUS98

AmazonBasics Backpack for SLR/DSLR Cameras and Accessories - Black
http://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Backpack-DSLR-Cameras-Accessories/dp/B002VPE1WK

Generic 58mm Hood

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens - Fixed
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-50mm-1-8-Camera-Lens/dp/B00007E7JU

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS II Telephoto Zoom Lens
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-55-250mm-Telephoto-discontinued-manufacturer/dp/B0011NVMO8


Thanks!

Thanks, do you know of any cheap wireless transmitter+receiver that can trigger through the hot shoe?

Or can this cowboy studio one trigger through hot shoe? or does it only trigger through the PC Sync?

my fiance maintains a blog for her cooking and baking. she uses my old canon rebel and a couple of these lowel ego lights for her photographs, but they can be a pain to set up in our tiny nyc apartment with ridiculously limited counter space. i was wondering if this speedlite 430EX would be a good gift, something that could replace those ego lights. it's probably important to note that we don't have space for a proper light box, she takes all her photos right on the counter. thanks!

Picture Perfect Posing

Sony RX100 is an excellent compact from reviews.

This book is fantastic and will change your life. http://www.amazon.com/Picture-Perfect-Posing-Practicing-Photographers/dp/0321966465/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405100634&sr=8-1&keywords=picture+perfect+posing

Amazon has a few left. It's always been a bit short-supplied. Fantastic lens, BTW.

I'm having trouble choosing the correct camera for me. I am a student who travels a lot and want something powerful, yet portable. My choices so far:

-Sony DSC RX100 MI
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-DSC-RX100-Sensor-Digital-Camera/dp/B00889ST2G/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1411839797&sr=1-1&keywords=dsc-rx100

-Sony DSC HX300/B
http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00BEHRQB4/switctrave08-20

-Sony alpha a5000
http://www.amazon.ca/Sony-Alpha-Interchangeable-Camera-16-50mm/dp/B00HNJWU3G/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

Which one should I get?
Thank you in advance!

I havent personally had a chance yet to purchase this book but Light Science & Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting came highly recommend to me. It covers fundamentals rather than being a guide/tutorial on how to do stuff without making you understand why.

Looking for a camera with great video and photography capabilities in low light while still being small and not too expensive. My question is: does anyone have any experience with insert one of the camera's listed below both with video and photography? I'm very interested in the Sony A6000 but I'm open for other suggestions.

Sony DSC-RX100 (Able to get it for € 385,00)

Sony Alpha a6000 (Able to get it for € 594.00 with lens)

Canon EOS M3 (Able to get it for € 459,00 with lens)

>...if you really really want to be able to use those 1960s lenses, and just want to manually meter and manually focus everything, sure Nikon gives you more options.

I've never actually used one of these things, but in theory, at least, all that funky old Nikon glass will work on an EOS body with the aid of a cheap no-optics adapter. And the metering will more-or-less work, too. Olympus-to-EF, Pentax-to-EF, and M42-to-EF adapters are available as well.

A Gorillapod could probably fit in your bag and it's just about your budget. The one I'm looking at on Amazon costs about $50 with a ballhead. A little bit short though at ~12 in tall.

https://www.amazon.com/Canon-T6-Digital-Telephoto-Accessory/dp/B01D93Z89W/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1511284854&sr=1-1&keywords=canon+camera Would this be a good starter pack for me I want to start shooting some good looking pictures

I have the 6D and it focuses amazingly well, both for single shots and in AI Servo. If it's really dark, and I mean difficulty seeing your hand in front of your face, buy one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Yongnuo-YN-622C-Wireless-Trigger-580EXII/dp/B0090BSSZO and it will focus in pitch dark.

These are the two in particular. The extra zoom of the sigma would be nice if they're both comparable otherwise.

Sigma 18-250mm f3.5-6.3 DC MACRO OS HSM for Canon Digital SLR Cameras http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008B48AAE/ref=cm_sw_r_an_am_at_ws_us?ie=UTF8

Canon EF-S 55-250mm F4-5.6 IS STM Lens for Canon SLR Cameras http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFILVQU/ref=cm_sw_r_an_am_at_ws_us?ie=UTF8

Understanding Exposure Probably the most helpful resource I had understanding photography.

I'm looking to get a travel tripod in addition to my main aluminium Manfrotto - I'm looking at a Gorilla pod (this one) but £70 seems excessive.

Could I get this without the head (and save £30) and just attach my Manfrotto one?

Or should I just avoid it altogether and get a different brand?

I highly recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0415719402/


It covers a lot of information on lighting and reflections, including how to light a scene without reflecting yourself or your lights on shiny surfaces. What you're looking to accomplish is sufficiently diffuse the light, blocking the the family of angles/reflections.

Amazon currently has some decent deals on the T2i and T3i with 18-55 kit lens - both about $80 or so off from other retailers at the moment.

Well, most others; B&H seems to have the same deals: T2i and T3i

Here's a cheap one. I got the same thing for my camera just the one for sony instead. It does the job nothing really to say other than that lol.

The $20 Neewer intervalometer on Amazon is pretty hard to beat. It has several program modes and will work without batteries as a simple wired remote.

Just find the version that has the plug you need.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003Q9RERY/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1503934437&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=neewer+intervalometer&dpPl=1&dpID=41QMUZcPaLL&ref=plSrch

If you want to do automated HDR, look at a Pluto Trigger. It's pricey at $124 with a cable, but it works via Bluetooth and an app on your phone. 19 different trigger modes and extensible via ports.

https://plutotrigger.com/products/pluto-trigger?variant=26846149447

Do you shoot nikon or canon or etc? What camera?

For mac, Sofortbild is pretty cool. For nikons.
http://www.sofortbildapp.com/



If you shoot canon, consider checking out Canon's EOS utility.


Both of these should let you do timelapsing. My cameras have a built in interval timer, so I just used that for convenience.


If you shoot canon, you can also use a remote control unit that acts as the timelapse controller.
http://www.amazon.com/Timer-Remote-Control-RS-60E3-Canon/dp/B003Q9RERY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1323590140&sr=8-2

Hope this helps.

I'd recommend any of Bryan Peterson's books; Understanding Exposure and Learning to See Creatively are the ones that really got me into photography a few years ago. He has one on portraiture if that's what you're looking for.

Something like this?

Get some CowboyStudio Wireless Flash Triggers and any manually adjustable flashes you can find. Play around with diffusers (a Chinese restaurant soup container works)

Since you are pushing $1000 with the t3i I would say this winning combo is in your price range:

t2i body only |
best lens for the money

The T3i is ever so slightly better for video, if that is your priority. I like the 50mm 1.8 for video on either camera.

EDIT: I have both the 18-55mm and the 55-250mm. Both are decent, but you will outgrow them in 30 days.
The T2i is one of my cameras.