Buying an SLR camera and need advice

[Mat]

Contra, after you have tamed the beast, we'd like to see some photos

[Contratrombone64]

Mat - I took some remarkably nice photos of some not so typical Sydney scenes on the weekend ... including a photo of a statue of a cat named "Trim". Mathew Flinder's cat (one of our early explorers). Once I get my act together with downloading, I'll post them.

[greatcyber]

CT,
Glad you got your camera. We have a Canon Rebel Digital 340 with SLR. It takes beautiful pictures. We added a telephoto lens and the filter you spoke of a couple of years ago when we were in Toronto on holiday. We still have a 35mm that Joe has had for about 20 years and he took incredible pics with that. But it is soooo nice not to have to pay to develop and photos. Playing around with the software can be a bit trying, but it is well worth learning. Then you will become a master at making edits and airbrushing. Just think of the "flipper-boy" pics you can come up with!

We also have a Canon Mini DV that takes beautiful vids.

Just a tidbit...both of these digitals were one of the prizes I got from Sony when I was on the Wheel of Fortune 3 years ago. Together the cameras are valued at around $3500 USD. I wasn't the big winner on the show, but did come away with $10K, which more than covered the expenses for the trip out to LA.

Look forward to hearing how you are getting on with your new toy and seeing some pics.

Stephen

[Contratrombone64]

here are my photos at least three of them. Enjoy

Obviously the Opera House with Harbour Bridge behind (taken from a very unusual vantage point, one of the pathways in the Botanical Gardens). A statue of a founding father, with the eastern side of the city in the background. Saint Andrew's Anglican Cathedral.

[Contratrombone64]

Here are some more photos (that's enough).

Eastern side of the city (my favourite) from the Botanical Gardens. A fountain in Hyde Park (near St. Mary's Cathedral). The Queen Victoria Building.

[Krummhorn]

Stunning photos, CT64 ... absolutely beautiful and so full of colour and detail.
You truly live in a beautiful place.

[Contratrombone64]

Sydney is a stunning beautiful city. And thanks, I enjoy photography, and now I've got a half decent camera my enjoyment is manifold.

My tip: if it's overcast, don't bother taking photos, blue sky: perfect.

[methodistgirl]

Nice pictures contra. I got one of those cheep cameras that leaves my
images a bit cloudy.
judy tooley

[Krummhorn]

CT64,

Great to hear that you enjoy photography ... I've shot lots of color transparency film over the years (many years ago at that). Always had fun doing that and creating different effects, "framing" picturesque spots with branches and leaves of a bush.
One can be as creative as they want ... and these days we no longer have to wait the week for development time. Pretty cool ...

I've picked the DSLR I want ... and can afford ... Nikon D40 with 18-55mm lens and adding the 55-200mm lens too. That one will suit my needs fairly well ... and it has great reviews ... But I'll certainly check out the Olympus line, too.

[Contratrombone64]

I went Olympus because it's the most compact SLR to date. Meaning you don't need to lug around a midget sized monster. Simple. Also, being SLR and Olympus I can, later add on lenses up to super zoom, "capturing the nipple on a supermodel a mile away" will be no problem.

[Krummhorn]

Ya better get an expensive tripod for that ...

I don't mind lugging around monsters ... whenever I go on vacation trips or scenic ventures, I always take my 35mm (film) camera, my Sony Hi8 Handycam, my tall tripod, extra film, extra blank vid tape, batteries and such. Hell, before I had the Sony Handycam, I used a full sized VHS Vid cam with two lenses.

Soon enough, I'll add a DSLR to the mix - probably will dispense with the 35mm film unit then, although the shooting of color transparencies of long distance scenery is hard to beat when projected on a large screen. Something about that "depth of field" that's missing in a two dimensional print, although viewing photos on my PC's 19" Flat panel LCD screen is pretty terrific, too.

[marval]

Hi CT

Some lovely photos there, well done.

A good camera and a beautiful place.


Margaret

[greatcyber]

CT,
The clarity is amazing! Can't wait to see more as time goes by.

I took a 30 minute video of South Korea's fireworks exhibit on Saturday but since we were so close, there is too much flare at the ground level. I'm trying to see if I can use digital filtering to clean it up and post a link to it. This Saturday I'll use the filter on the lens. If that doesn't work out well then next week we'll try from farther away.

Stephen

[Contratrombone64]

Margaret and Stephen - glad you enjoyed them. I'll post some more

[Contratrombone64]

As promised, some more photos, including "Trim" my favourite bronze statue of Matthew Flinder's cat, poor thing got left behind and (as the legend goes) died of sadness at his master's absence ...

1) a gorgeous little bridge in the Botanical Gardens 2) "Trim" and 3) Sydney Tower peeking through some trees in Hyde Park