Ms Shuttergirl - What camera do you have?

[PrincessInOz]

Hey Shuttergirl. Hoping that you're still lurking here. Can you tell me what camera you have? I've seen your GORGEOUS photos; so I'm assuming that you have a dSLR (and an upmarket one at that). Looking at your site, I would think that you're a proper pro-photographer c.f. a pro-sumer (or a wannabe like me).

I'm in the market for something - I've been lurking in the photography section, which is turning out to be an expensive pastime. Thinking about the new Canon 550D.

We have an old Minolta SLR and have 2 standard compacts, one clicky and the other one a little more up market (I did say we are wannabe's). We've been thinking about upgrading to the dSLR for a while. Because of this link with Minolta, we're also looking at the Sony Alpha (we have an existing 20-80mm lens that would fit).

Nikons are almost out of the picture for us - we had a play with the 5000; and it didn't fit our hands as well as the Canon.

I know I could have PM'd you; but I thought that there may be a couple of other Aussies interested and might want to add their comments and inputs as well.
(Heather - this means you, too, if you're looking at this thread and feel inclined to).

I've also got a thread going with the Pro-sumers on the Photography section. I'm after thoughts on buying via internet vs shops, and this one is more relevant to Aussies.

I know we can buy "grey market" cameras off the internet at a fraction of the cost cf the approved supplies.
Do you know what the performance is of the Canons (any of them) and whether it makes a difference not to have the "official" Canon warranty or not? So I guess the better question is - anyone here have problems with their Canon, which requires them to return to manufacturer for fixing?
Does it matter if the internet provider has a warranty that uses a service company that isn't Canon approved...but would appear that the warranty matches the Canon one?
Am I better off sticking with the Sony Alpha (and I haven't researched the international warranty positioning of the Sony Alpha as much as I have with the Canon's)?

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Hi PrincessinOz, hopefully I can answer some of your questions.

Yes I am a professional photographer and yes I have a rocking camera, , well several of them actually. The one I use for the business is the Canon 5D MkII, big dollars and I'm not all that sure I love it, hehe. My back up camera is the Canon 5D, which I love. I only got the MkII because my 5D started playing up and even though it was still under warranty it was going to take 8 weeks to be repaired so I had no choice but to buy another newer one.

However I did not take either of these to the US. They are too expensive and to be honest, for holiday snaps they are overkill if like me you are dragging around a DH and two kidlets. I decided that whilst I did still want nice photos I didn't want the hassle of having to think every shot through like it was a professional shoot, . So I took my 3rd back up camera, the Canon 30D. Great camera and that baby got banged around on that trip, my husband was horrified at how often I knocked it on doorways, tables, you name it, I banged it on something. Mainly because I had it slung over my arm most of the time, and not in the bag. Another reason I wanted to take it was that it has a built in flash, which my better cameras don't and frankly I just didn't have the energy to lug around a big flash for the few occasions I would need it.

I have some extremely expensive lenses but whilst in the US I ended up using a cheap 28mm prime that cost me around $300. It was great because it meant I didn't have to back up too much to get everything in the shot which was such a bonus esp at crowded places like DL.

I think any of the Canon DSLR's are great and if you are only going to use the auto settings, I'd get the cheapest one you can. You can usually get great deals that include a two lens kit. I wouldn't be scared of buying online, I buy all of my lenses that way, however I usually buy my cameras at a local camera store, they will often lower the price considerably, although they usually can't price match because they are selling authentic warranties etc. I have had to have cameras fixed under warranty before so that is something important to me. If your camera isn't getting much use though, I would probably risk the cheaper online ones.

People often get caught up in wanting a million megapixels and the fun little things a camera will do, but in the end, if you don't put time into learning how to use the camera manually, then I suggest not shelling out too many dollars. You will still get lovely photos on the auto settings with the cheapest DSLR you can find. Maybe even look into purchasing one while in the US. You may find them cheaper buying directly over there.

The other thing I would suggest is spending time really focusing on composition of your images until it becomes second nature. That can take your photography to a whole other level and it's free. I posted some photography tips in the original "aussie thread" that should help anyone who is travelling soon.

Some other photographers might jump on here and completely disagree with me and that's okay. I'm a no muss no fuss kinda gal when it comes to these things and I believe that it's not always about the equipment but what you do with it that matters (I can hear all men snickering at that line ).

Not sure how much help I was, but just my two cents.

Don't stress too much about it, just buy a camera and have fun.

 

[1rocky]

thanks Ms Shuttergirl for the tips.
I am also looking at getting a cannon dslr camera either the 550 or 500 and watching prices at the moment. so will be watching this thread. I am looking at a camera that will take good pics in low light as well. i have an Olympus at the moment so while it is great am looking fo something a bit better.

 

[GrazingGoat1966]

Hi all. For what it's worth, I'm about to upgrade to a Canon 5D Mk 2 through the B&H website out of New York. Camera only is USD$2499 (no tax applicable because I don't live in New York State...Perth actually!). I was quoted bt AUD$4299 and AUD $4999 by shops here in the West. Yes the warranty is an inconvenience but if the you know what hits the fan then I will send it back via my US based in-laws and sort it out that way. Again could be a time problem but for a close to $2000 saving.....I can live with it!!

Have dealt with B&H before....they are brilliant even for international customers

 

[PrincessInOz]

Thanks Ms (Professional) Shuttergirl. Great advice.

We did consider getting a cheaper dSLR; but hubby was a good amateur photographer in his younger days and has been chomping to get a middle tier camera. I think the 550D may suit both of us best. I'm planning on playing with low light and fireworks; and he loves taking scenery shots and moving water and portraits. Post the trip, I plan on taking a photography course. I totally agree with your "it's what you do with the equipment that matters" viewpoint; although I suspect that until I get the hang of f-stops and shutter speed, it will be the equipment that matters . Both hubby and I should be able to do the ISO translation from film to camera. Been boning up heaps on the net as well as the tips on the Photography section of the DisBoard (Mark B tips are great!!) - but nothing beats putting it into practice. Now that I know you posted, I will trawl through the Aussie thread to find your tips as well.

I've also been advised to look at Adorama as an option to B&H in the US. And Digital Camera Warehouse in Oz.

I went down to my favourite camera store in the city this week and had a friendly chat about cameras and the grey market. The guy suggested that I email him to get a quote for the 550D from them. I got the quote back today and would you know it...he's given me a great price. By the time I take GST out of the Aussie price; and add shipping and convert using an exchange rate of 87-88 cents to US pricing, there's about $50 - $75 difference between buying it in Oz vs Adorama/B&H. I'm prepared to pay the $50 - $75 more to buy it now and have the manufacturer warranty; plus local access in the unlikely event that something goes wrong.
NOTE: I didn't add tax to the US pricing because the online sites don't add it into the pricing.
1Rocky - I checked up claiming the GST when departing...you need to buy >$300 (GST inc price) on the same invoice less than 30 days before your overseas trip to qualify to claim.

DCW is still cheaper on the camera - but warranty is important to me so I figured I would purchase the Mack International Diamond warranty. By the time I add this in and shipping, it works out a little bit more than the camera store; which has the manufacturer warranty. (Yes, I know 1 yr vs 3 yrs with the MID is not comparable.)

Canon lenses are significantly cheaper in the US. And unlike the camera bodies, the lenses come with an international warranty. I've looked at the two lens kit, here vs the US. For the 2 lens kit, the equation changes completely and it is much better buying in the US. We can wait for the second lens or hubby can pick it up on another work trip.

 

[1rocky]

The cannon 550d sounds the camera i want to buy , So may have to wait till i can get to some of the larger cities like gold coast before i can buy. In town am looking at $1800 for the 500d cannon. so am expecting the 550d to be much dearer. thanks for a great thread.

 

[PrincessInOz]

1rocky - OUCH!! Where do you live?!! The stated price at Teds catalog for the 550D right now is about $1400 in Melbourne; US$900. My friendly store was lower by about $100. Taking GST out of it brings it down to $1180; making it directly comparable with a US purchase plus shipping converted to about $1120.

The 500 is about $1200; and US$800.

If you're not travelling til later in the year, you're probably going to be able to do better than that - either here or overseas; especially when they start putting the kits together. Or if the warranty thing doesn't bother you, check out DCW.

UPDATE:
I should point out that the price of the 550D includes the 18 - 55 mm lens.

 

[1rocky]

Thanks Princess in OZ. that price is so much cheaper. i will wait till closer to the time of my holiday and check out the prices then. I live country NSW.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

PrincessinOz, sounds like the way for you guys to go then. And yes, the lenses in the US, now that would definitely be a better option. It sounds like a great investment since you and your husband will both get alot of joy from shooting different things with your camera.

I hope what I was trying to say in my post got across in the correct way. I guess I was just saying that for the everyday person (not enthusiasts like you and your hubby), that you don't need a fancy camera, just a few easy tips will make an awesome difference to everyone's end result.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Here are the photograph tips from the original thread:-

PHOTOGRAPHY

Okay everyone, I'm not sure but I think I am the only photographer in our little group so I thought it was time to talk photography whilst at Disneyland.

I am a firm believer that photos are one of the most important elements of a great holiday, in the sense that, once it's over, all you have are your memories and your photos (and the thousands of dollars of souveneirs ). Your memory will eventually fade but the photos won't and it's the photos that will reactivate your memory in the long run.

So I guess I just wanted to remind you all of a few key things to getting great images whilst at Disneyland (keep in mind I haven't been there yet, )

1. Make sure to fill the frame when you are taking photos of people. If the focus is on say a character and your little ones, shoot with the camera veritcal rather than horizontal to make sure to get as much of them in as possible. Keep their heads in the top third of the frame. Many times I have seen people's images where they put the heads in the centre of the shot, having a ton of sky or useless stuff above and miss out of tons of detail down the bottom.

2. Horizontal images are great for fitting in lots of detail, like the castle, etc. but vertical works best for people (unless shooting a large group) because you often don't need all of that space at the sides of the image.

3. Remember, often the sweetest things are the little details. Try to capture small details in your images that will bring those memories flooding back. It seems to me that Disneyland is a place filled with colours and textures and amazing details and it would be wonderful to capture that also.

4. Try to be a little creative with your images. It doesn't take any extra time to shoot something from a different angle or place. This is especially great if you have been to Disneyland a few times, why keep taking the same photos, try for something different. Get down low and shoot upwards, get up high and shoot down, angles are great too. Again, fill the frame with what you are shooting, don't have lots of blank sky, etc.

5. If like me you are always the designated photographer, consider using Photopass. I plan to work the Photopass thing until the photographers can't stand me anymore. I am tired of going on holiday and not having one image of me in it. I definitely think Photopass is worth the money to capture your whole family in some great locations.

6. If you have a small camera, make sure to hold it out in front of you and take some photos of yourself and whoever you are riding with, mid ride. Imagine how cool a self portrait of you on dumbo at night would look, etc. Often those in motion blurry less than perfect images are real faves in the end.

7. If you are going to take a photo of one of the most popular things at DL, like the castle, always plop one of your family members into the image. It gives it more relevance than just another shot of the castle. Let's face it, you could've just bought a postcard of the image done with a better photographer than yourself if you aren't going to have family in the shot.

8. If you are like me and love love love food and can't wait to go on an eating odyssey, make sure to take photos of your food before digging in, you'll get a real kick out of looking back on those.

9. Take a photo of each sign of your favourite rides or locations. When looking through the photos, you want your images to tell the story, even if you aren't there to explain what was happening. Taking images of Ride signs, outside of shows and restaurants and storefronts really helps set the mood for people who may enjoy looking at your trip photos with you.

10. Spend some time in the photography section of the DIS boards. We spend so much time researching the best prices, what to take, what to see, etc., why not spend some time thinking about how we want to capture the memories while we are there which brings me back to my original comment about the photos being one of the only things you are truly left with in the end.

11. Most of all, capture your children's faces, zoom in, don't be afraid to fill the frame with their sweet smiles. Because frankly, that's what it is all about. IT'S ALL ABOUT SMILES ON FACES!

12. It's great to take a moment to compose a shot that will be treasured, but it's also okay to capture a blurry child in motion having fun. Not everything has to be technically perfect, but if the time allows, stop, brace your elbows to your sides to prevent camera shake, take a breath, press the shutter, then breath out.

I hope some of those tips can help you on your trips. I can't wait to see everyone's images. Looking at other's holiday photos makes me happy and tides me over until I finally get there (fingers crossed Dec 2010).

For myself, I have tossed up whether to lug my heavy expensive camera and lenses around with me. Part of me would love to just take a tiny point and shoot for convenience. But in my heart, I know I would be disappointed when I got home. I know I want to be able to take a photographic journey as well as a fun one, so I will just suck it up, lug the stuff and in the end I know I will be happier. And I will chant to myself "it is okay for a photographer to take crappy blurry snaps when she is having fun with her kids and it doesn't matter" over and over

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

This photography tip post kind of makes me giggle a bit now. I wrote this back in May, saying that we weren't going to be going until Dec 2010. Within 3 weeks of writing it we had booked a trip for September 2009 .

Anyway, I did most of what I wrote about there:-

- I made sure to jump into as many images as possible
- I gave my DH and DD a little photography lesson before we went so they
could take better photos
- I took lots of photos, 6000 to be exact
- I took photos of every meal, I'm really glad we did this, as foodies, we still
look at the photos and reminisce about some of those yummy meals
- I took lots of photos of signs before hopping on rides
- I snuck in a few flash photography shots on rides, naughty naughty
- I got the blurry riding on Dumbo shots and they are some of my faves
- We have put the images on a disc and on the weekends when the family is
buzzing around, sometimes we pop the disc into the DVD player and have a
running slideshow of our trip. I find eventually we all stop and find
ourselves snuggled on the couch laughing about different parts of the trip

So now that I have been there, I definitely think most of my tips apply to the most experienced or inexperienced of photographers. Again, I can't stress enough to just capture the moment, don't worry about perfection, enjoy your children's faces, and snap snap snap

 

[PrincessInOz]

Thanks Shuttergirl. Yes, you did come across correctly in your post. Thanks for all your tips...saves me going back to the Aussie thread and looking

I'm definitely planning on shooting EVERYTHING that we eat and will be reading and re-reading your tips till we go. I'm going to try low light photography on the rides....

Just one other thing - when you use the Photopass, have you ever bought the CD version? or do you just pay for the pics you want? We've previously just bought the pics online and added it to the collection (yes, we're Mac tragics and put our own CD with music together as well)...

I believe that the CD is about US$120 at WDW cf US$60 at DL. If you've bought the CD, what's the quality/resolution of the pictures like? They state that you get HD res via the CD and I was curious to know what they turn out like...

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Thanks Shuttergirl. Yes, you did come across correctly in your post. Thanks for all your tips...saves me going back to the Aussie thread and looking

I'm definitely planning on shooting EVERYTHING that we eat and will be reading and re-reading your tips till we go. I'm going to try low light photography on the rides....

Just one other thing - when you use the Photopass, have you ever bought the CD version? or do you just pay for the pics you want? We've previously just bought the pics online and added it to the collection (yes, we're Mac tragics and put our own CD with music together as well)...

I believe that the CD is about US$120 at WDW cf US$60 at DL. If you've bought the CD, what's the quality/resolution of the pictures like? They state that you get HD res via the CD and I was curious to know what they turn out like...

I did buy the Photopass CD from DL, I haven't had the pics printed yet but the quality looks pretty good on my monitor. When I say quality, I don't mean the photographers were very good at getting sharp pics, haha but yeah I think they are ok. And I like that the whole family is in them, so that makes them priceless, blurry or not . I would definitely always buy it and having the ability to add all of the cute borders and stuff beforehand ended up being lots of fun.

 

[1rocky]

Shuttergirl great tips.
What size memory card do you take.
While on a Alaska cruise i took a small photography shore excursion was only about two hours but this has helped alot.
When on my last trip i took over 2000 shots but next time around plan to take lots more thanks

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Shuttergirl great tips.
What size memory card do you take.
While on a Alaska cruise i took a small photography shore excursion was only about two hours but this has helped alot.
When on my last trip i took over 2000 shots but next time around plan to take lots more thanks

1Rocky, I took several different size memory cards. Because I was using my 30D and it didn't use as much memory as my larger 5D mkII to store every photo, I mostly got by with two 4gb memory cards, and a couple of 2gb's. I had my laptop with me so I loaded the photos on there every night religiously, but also still kept them on the memory card. I wanted to make sure I had two copies of everything in was either I lost a memory card or my laptop.

Remember everyone not to keep adding and adding onto a memory card everyday with no other back up because it is sooooo easy to lose a little memory card and how disappointing to lose all of those beautiful memories of your holiday.

 

[shushh]

Another newbie here! DH and I got a half day photography course for our birthdays and we had a blast in Hyde Park today. DH borrowed my dad's G10 and the instructor lent me a Nikon because I'm little and he thought it would be lighter and easier for me to use. It was so helpful because we could compare the 2 side by side with the functions explained and demonstrated! And at the moment, we're probably only going to be enthusiasts although we think we've bitten by the bug already...

Anyway, sorry for the waffle, just wanted to say thanks for all your input! And loved reading about the tips. Am planning to buy the 18-200mm Nikon lens as we want to take travel shots and not have to carry too much else around. Now have to go and source it.

 

[queenie82]

Given the interest in photography I thought I would just post this.
I have little use for photopass as I'm designated photographer of most things...and when I get taken photos of me there is always someone else to do that. We aren't really into the 'everybody in the shot' thing.

BUT I know lots of people like it...
________________________________________
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[lovintheland]

Have to say we used the Photopass for the first time last year (got it free technically cause it was DH's birthday when we were there and they were giving away gift cards or free days on your birthday). Absolutely loved the fact that for the first time in nearly 16 years we have lots of "whole family" photos. Usually its me or DH on the end of the camera. I printed the shots off and have them in a special Disney album. I just love looking at them. Just a tip for others, "take off your sunnies!" . Some of our photos Dh & I still have ours on and some the photographer reminded us to take them off. It such a habit to wear them but much better to see five pairs of eyes.