New to photography help needed

[Deano3]

Hi all been a member for a while and still battling algae but some of the pics on here are breath taking and my images are rubbish lol I only have a Nikon Coolpix and impossible to get close ups of algae to show on the forums so think I may have to upgrade don't have huge amount of money at the min but will soon so asking questions, don't have a clue what best brand is cannon or Nikon and heard a lot of people saying the cannon 600d is good, I just want to be able to take decent close ups in nice detail, just started looking at photography as seems to come hand in hand on the forums so any general info would be great and is it worth buying second hand to save some moneys, maybe in the wanted section on here

Thanks Dean

 

[ceg4048]

I can sell you some used Nikon gear. You really need to invest in some kind of image program though. Digital photography really requires it.

Cheers,

 

[Deano3]

I can sell you some used Nikon gear. You really need to invest in some kind of image program though. Digital photography really requires it.

Cheers,

Cheers ceg is that what you use Nikon ? Also what is best starter camera and have you just upgraded ?

Also done the oh test on my journal so have a look when you get a chance mate

 

[BigTom]

Second hand camera gear is often a good way of saving money. If you're in the UK then have a peruse of the for sale forum at talkphotography (you may need to register to see it). I buy and sell loads of stuff on there and never had a dud deal.

As for which brand to go for; it probably doesn't matter. Pretty much all modern DSLR systems are very good, the biggest difference will be in ergonomics so go have a play with a few cameras on the high street and see which you prefer to hold and use. Then identify which models for that brand have the major features that you think you need and start lookign for deals/second hand gear. Inevitably, your choice of lenses will be more important than which camera body you end up with.

And yes, some sort of software is absolutely essential, and can be just as important as camera technique in producing good looking images. There are various free options (Gimp springs to mind) but you really can't beat Photoshop.

 

[Deano3]

Thanks for that lengthy response Tom very helpful, on way to town now so will have a quick look and feel of the cameras , what would you say is the minimum mega pixels ? Also I usually just take pic and upload what sort of features can you do on photoshop etc remove reflections and things like that ? And any info on lenses would be great as dont have a clue what I would need, I will be mainly taking pics of the tank and close ups and also maybe holiday and scenes when out and about

Thanks dean

 

[BigTom]

Thanks for that lengthy response Tom very helpful, on way to town now so will have a quick look and feel of the cameras , what would you say is the minimum mega pixels ? Also I usually just take pic and upload what sort of features can you do on photoshop etc remove reflections and things like that ? And any info on lenses would be great as dont have a clue what I would need, I will be mainly taking pics of the tank and close ups and also maybe holiday and scenes when out and about

Thanks dean

Mega pixels is probably the least important specification. Anything on sale at the moment will have more than enough. For aquarium use, good high-ISO performance is a priority (ISO = how sensitive the sensor is to light... increasing the ISO will give you brighter images, at the expense of more noise (grain)). As for lenses, most cameras will come with a reasonable entry level 'all-round' lens, which should do you intitally for walking around, holiday snaps etc. For shots of the tank you might want a lens with a nice large maximum aperture (these will have a small f-number of about 1.8-2.8 in the lens name/description). This means they can let lots of light in, which is often beneficial for aquarium photography. If you want to do super close-up shots of fish you'll need a lens with a macro function that lets you focus on things very close to the lens, but these are very light demanding so again ideally you want a macro lens with a low f-number, which tend to be very expensive! The alternative solution is to invest in a off-camera flash system so you're not light limited, but again this can be expensive and is probably something you'll want to investigate over the longer term once you've got to grips with the basics.

What you can do in photoshop is pretty much endless, but typically you might improve contrast, recover detail from under exposed areas, correct the colour balance, remove noise and sharpen the images so that they look nice and crisp after resizing.

 

[Deano3]

thanks again tom and clive pm me with what camera you have for sale and I will have a look, sure I will have many more questions to come

thanks mate