<p>Zoom and macro typically don’t mix well. Get a good dedicated macro in the 60 to 100mm range with lots of light. Depth of field is everything with macro.</p>
<p>I did this exercise a year and a half ago and got a Canon 20D, primarily because it used Canon lenses and especially because it could shoot four frames per second (for nearly 5 seconds) Maybe thats 5 per second for four second, but you get the idea. If you are interested in shooting sports, especially football, you’ll like the burst mode. Your Nikon shoots 3 fps, but I don’t think that will make much difference most of the time.</p>
<p>Lens fever will ultimately break your budget. Once you get the idea of how they all work, and what you can do with the various ones, you’ll want the fastest (ie sidest aperture) lenses available. I now have two of the L lenses and several others, and am significantly poorer. When you get to the 2.8 and faster lenses, you can shoot credible indoor sports situations (basketball, etc) with no blur. The lower the number, the more expensive it is. </p>
<p>Look at the Canon Digital photography on the web site, and also fred miranda for ideas and inspiration. There are others, but these are good starting points.
<a href=“http://photography-on-the.net/forum/index.php?[/url]”>http://photography-on-the.net/forum/index.php?</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://www.fredmiranda.com/[/url]”>http://www.fredmiranda.com/</a></p>
<p>Photoshop elements is an inexpensive introduction to editing, and is plenty complicated to learn by itself.</p>
<p>I am spending almost all my time playing with my new toys. </p>
<p>To practice my skills, I put up a birdfeeder in the backyard. At the far end of my 300MM lens, I am getting good picture but I would really like to have a 500mm or 600mm. </p>
<p>Instead of spending another $1000 or more for a new third party lens, could I just get a teleconverter, say Tamron pro 2X or Nikon TC-300?</p>
<p>Quick update here. About two months into this “hobby”, I am at the stage of near “broke”. The first package contained a D80, a Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 and a Nikkor 70-300mm F4.5- 5.6 VR. I have since purchased a 4G Ultra II SDHC card, an OEM spare battery, a Kenko 2.0x converter, both the IR remote and the cord remore, a software package from a yard sale, UV filters and some cleaning supplies. </p>
<p>I have also got a Nikkor 50mm F/1.8 and started on the most expensive road of getting prime lenses. Once you see the sharpness from a fixed lens, you would probably never going to get another zoom lens. I have also learnt to appreciate fast lense. F4 will be as low as I would go from here on. </p>
<p>Tripod, ball head, a 300mm or a 500mm prime and CPL are next in line for DW to approve. It is going to be very expensive very fast. BPSS.</p>
<p>Try taking it underwater if you really want to break the bank. A housing starts around $1200, flash is $800, second flash is desirable, port for each lense at $200 and up, flash cords are $80…You get the picture. Want to upgrade the camera body? Another $1200 for a new housing. If you’re lucky and plan well you can still use your ports and flash. And I love every minute underwater with my Canon 20D.</p>
<p>Photoshop is great, but you may also want to check out [url=<a href=“http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom/]Lightroom[/url”>http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom/]Lightroom[/url</a>], which is cheaper and more “casual user”-friendly.</p>
<p>
I feel your pain. I thought photography would be an interesting little hobby. After closely examining those Sports Illustrated football action pictures with the crisp colors and blurred backgrounds, I am beginning to think the Canon 1D-Mark III is reasonably priced. Where are the subprime lenders when you need them?</p>
<p>laserbrother, my husband has used a teleconverter (3x) with great success on his Nikon 400mm (stabilized) lens. He has shots of African animals from 1/4 mile away that he was able to blow up to huge sizes (2 feet by 3 feet), although at that distance stability became very important. He used multiple beanbags (not a tripod, which actually wasn’t stable enough).</p>
<p>jack, there are some enlarging programs for Nikon RAW format (and I’m sure others) that work by using the pixels already there. My husband has used them to make really enormous enlargements (44 inches by six feet). (Yes, for a while he had a printer with a 44" bed.) I think this is the one he used: <a href=“fixerlabs.com - This website is for sale! - FocusFixer NoiseFixer ShadowFixer FixerBundle SizeFixer TrueBlur Lensfit interpolation Photo resize Resources and Information.”>fixerlabs.com - This website is for sale! - FocusFixer NoiseFixer ShadowFixer FixerBundle SizeFixer TrueBlur Lensfit interpolation Photo resize Resources and Information.;
<p>and bandit: not only does my photography-obsessed husband shoot above water, he also takes it underwater. He uses TWO strobes… but I love the photos he produces. Although as a dive buddy, he leaves something to be desired, since he can spend 15 minutes absolutely still, barely breathing, looking at the same coral head, waiting for exactly the right moment, without looking up at all! (I KNOW he’s not going to notice if I need help, so I just make the assumption I’m actually diving solo.)</p>
<p>Anyone know anything about Olympus digital SLR cameras? All I’ve ever read about is Canon or Nikon. I have an old Olympus OM-1 that I LOVED. Unfortunatly that means all my equipment, lenses, filters, etc. are for the Olympus body & Zuiko lenses. I’d love to re-use them rather than give them away and start over.</p>
<p>We call that “same ocean, same day” buddy diving. Most UW photographers practice it.</p>
<p>kjofkw, we just bought the new Olympus digital camera, the E510. They are selling it in a 2-lens kit, but we decided to buy the body alone and also a zoom that covers 18-180mm (equivalent 36-360 mm). So far we like it.</p>
<p>I also have an OM-1. I assume you’ll need an adapter to use your old lenses, and you’ll loose the auto features when using them with any new digital. The good thing about the Olympus E510 is that the image stabilization is in the body, not the lenses, making use of old lenses more viable.</p>
<p>I’ve been giving a lot of thought lately to getting back into the photography swing of things… but we’ll have to see. I have a Minolta SLR but don’t have a DSLR (yet anyway)… as well as a Nikon Digital Camera (7.1 MP)</p>
<p>I also agree with what your instructor said about white balance. That can save you a ton of time from post production if you adjust it accordingly prior to taking your photos… however I disagree with the filter business. That was one of the first things my B&W insturctor told me - leave that filter on there. If you ever drop your camera, you’ll be thanking yourself for that. I would leave it on there for the sheer purpose of having something to protect your lense.</p>
<p>I’ve thought about maybe taking some more classes at a local place, however I think I just want to go out and take pictures!! I really like my SLR, but no longer have a dark room to develop and print my images.</p>
<p>I got a lot of compliments from somebody new at work the other day on my photos that I have hanging on my desk, so that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. :)</p>