Good thread.

Yes, it's true that most of us are using film, but most of us also have very nice digital camers too. However, the biggest reason for that is you will never be able to get a shot with a 35mm camera that you can with a 4x5. I also shoot much of my stuff with a Hasselblad H1, and to get something like that in digital is about $30,000.00. I don't think I could justify buying a camera body that cost the price of a nice 914-6 . I got the D200 because it was easy to do weddings with if the people were looking for something a little less expensive. Shooting weddings with my MF camera I charge almost double as there is soooo much more involved.

What does an average wedding go for in digital?

About the same as they go for in film. You are buying the photographers expertise, the actual materials fee is pretty small.

Zach

so how much is that doller wise?

geez, can I spell? I meant to ask what the average price would be for wedding photography. Not post with cost of prints, just labor.

I depends person to person. Lots of wedding shoots are farmed out for all the print processing, and you pay extra for whatever prints you order. Any post production work (photoshop) is also usually extra.

Zach

I'm seeing $1500 - $2500 with 3 to 6 hours coverage for moderate photography. Sound about right?

It really depends on the package. If it is digital and they are just using your time I only charge 1000 and give them the disk. If they want me to get the prints I charge the price of the printing and 100 more for time. I also use a company that specializes in wedding and portrait printing as they can crank the stuff out and it still be on very nice paper. Film I charge much more for as the package is much more inclusive. In other words, they are getting more of a work of art put together for their special day. My price for those now are around 4000, but I only do three or four a year. I am getting tired of them

Like Zach said. you are paying for the expertise. I started doing weddings for 500 just doing the digital

I got to shoot a few frames with a D3 about a month ago. ISO 4000 on the D3 looks as good as ISO 400 on my D2X. I don't like going past 400 on my D2X.

I'm hoping to buy a D3 before next wedding season. With fast glass and a D3, you could shoot by candle light.

Ditto with the D200. If you really get the exposure close, then it's usually bearable up to 800 if you promise yourself not to view the image full size. I was stuck shooting at high ISO at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Monday and I cringed with each shot. However, the results were pretty good.

You can see for yourself:

http://pixelrandy.zenfolio.com/p229988018/?customize=2




Lucky guy!

Amateur that I am, I am very pleased with this shot. I shot with a $100 digital and used Gimp to put on canvas. I was trying to get a watercolor effect. Had to reduce the pix to get 914world to allow pasting.

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Basically, anyone can take a great photo with any camera if they really try. Compose the scene you would like and then shoot a roll using different fstops. Make numbered notes of each frame. Anyone can learn to do anything anyone else does. It just takes practice.
Don't forget, the 1st cameras were just pin holes that captured the light of all those historical photos you have seen.

Finally have a few minutes at my home computer... here ya go:

Peter Iredale:
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A Bug:
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Another Bug:
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Crater Lake:
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Blue Heron Fledgeling:
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And there's this:

http://www.photografik.net/reno/

Todd

Nice work Todd

You and I have similar taste in photography. I love shooting nature and anything other than people, but people pay more generally

You got that right

I enjoy weddings when everything goes well.

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But when you get a bridezilla or an irate M.O.B. it's not any fun at all. For anyone.

Motorsports are fun too:

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Frogs are fun
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kids are fun too
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Hey Todd, where abouts are ya in Boring? I just moved off Kelso Rd. to Eagle Creek. Was in Boring for 7 years.

.....b

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I'm actually just north of Boring near 282nd and Orient. I tell people Boring because when you say "Gresham" they think "Rockwood"... I'm much closer to Boring than Gresham, but my address is Gresham.

I'm in the wrong county.

Nice shots everyone. Great thread. Lots of fun. Good photos Todd. I love the one with the butterfly. fantastic lighting.

I like your frog. Brer probably does too. LOL

Most interesting photos are those nobody else bothers to shoot and the viewer uses their imagination to capture what the camera actually didn't.

I think Chux Davis (CD), a private member, should have shared a few in this thread too. He takes beautiful photos of nature and inanimate objects.
Lots of talent in all of the photos seen.
Thanks.

Here are a few of my favorites. I've had a Canon Digital Rebel for about 4 years now and have enjoyed every minute of it. I'm thinking of stepping up to the XTi before too long as it has some really nice features that mine doesn't.

Lens is either the 18-55 kit lens or a Sigma 75-300mm that I got cheap off of ebay.

You guys posted some great pictures. Very interesting subjects and composition.

This thread started just as I began looking for a DSLR. My first SLR was a Pentax K1000 back in 1980, I moved up to a Canon AE-1 and then to a A-1. Until recently I haven't look for a DSLR I just took the A-1 when a wanted to use something better than my wife's Sony digital point and shoot. I started reading reviews about the Nikon D40X, Canon Rebel XTI, Pentax K10D and Olympus E-510. All these cameras had their good points and some negatives. I was leaning toward the Canon hope my manual focus lens would work with the Rebel, they won't. But after talking with the local camera shop about the type of photos I was after, I decided on the Olympus E-510. It seems like its built good and will be a easy to use camera.

My background in photography is very casual, I had a couple photography classes in highschool and was a yearbook photographer. I diffinitely will enjoy having the instant feedback on how the picture looks instead of waiting for the film to be developed.

That was my first camera too. Do you remember what you paid for it? I got the full kit for around $125 way back in the late 70's.

.......b

The Olympus E-510 is a great camera for the price. I shoot with the 410 every day. Shooting sports at night games is challenging with these cameras as they don't do as well in low light but I still get the job done. You get the in-camera stability control with the 510. Although I must say that shooting with the e series cameras feels slightly unbalanced when shooting with a larger lens because the bodys are so light. I like the cameras and am going to get the E-3 when the Christmas rush is over. I hope to find someone with an overstock so I can shave a couple of hundred off of the price.

These were shot last night at the CCS Championship game with an Olympus E-410 at 1600 ISO and flash. The E-3 would have had dramatically better photos as it goes up to 3200 ISO. With 3200 I could have shot this game without a flash.

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some from last year

the one of the guy on the bus was caught in the middle of the street, pulling focus as it went by at about 30mph. tough trick but sometimes you get lucky.



BE A PART OF HISTORY

i'm an architecture nut as well.

Blue Hair
morning on the top of St. Pauls
and the infamous Rupert Clervaux

O!

Shot these on an assignment today. It was a dreary day so the colors are a bit muted on the cats.
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Those Kitties sure look huggable!

.......b

Great photo's & great advise. I learned a lot & will try your suggestions. The only thing I would add "use a tripod". I know it looks dorky, but you will like the results. Here's a few photo's taken on my NIKON D-50 camera (without tripod) during my Santa Rosa Beach, FL vacation a few weeks ago.

Tom

One more post from my NIKON D-50 camera.

When I go to the beach, I play with big toys (trucks & planes)

Tom

Love the pics of the trees Tom. Reminds me of one of my pieces of art I did.

Just when you thought this thread was dead...... Got this one today.

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My trip in the USA in 1999. Theese places are just magic...

My advice will be, no matter the Camera.

What you need is :
1 Your eyes
2 Your brain
3 Good light

Camera is a Canon EOS 300 (not digital)
Slides Velvia 50 ISO

I sold this camera and bought a Canon 350D. Same qualty as the old one.

Great capture!

It's been 10 years since I packed up my Nikon FG and put it on the shelf. Recently, I've been thinking about getting a DSLR. I already have a Canon point and shoot (which I hate), as well as a 'tween' camera Canon S2IS (which I love), but it's still no SLR. Speed and flexibility are the main things I miss. A DSLR would not replace those, but rather supplement them depending on conditions.

I noticed that Nikon has retained compability with their old F-mount lens system, so Nikon would be a natural choice for me because I could use my 50mm and 70-210 Nikon lenses (all manual focus).

I looked at the D40x and the D80 the other day. I actually preferred the D40X due to it's smaller size & weight & simplicity. The D80 was simply overwhelming - and truthfully, the D40X was a bit overwhelming too. Neither of these cameras was intuitive and both would take a thorough reading of the owners manual to begin to understand.

Then I looked online. I was very surprised at the price differences. I mean, a D80 with Nikon 28-80 and 70-300 lenses for just over $600??

D80 package

This seems unbelieveably cheap. But the store is highly rated, says everything is new with full US warranties, etc, etc. The D40X actually costs more at this store, so it makes it awfully hard to justify buying the D40X over the D80. Actually, the D40 might be a possibilty since I'm not sold on the concept that more megapixels is always better.

I know my limitations when it comes to photography. I don't need a high-end camera. My SLR's have always been 'entry level' and that has always met my needs. I prefer simplicity over tons of features I will never use. If I could buy a digital version of my old FG, I would do it in a second. So simple to use, yet still flexible.

Any thoughts?

Hi Demick,

I agree that something seems very fishy about that D80 deal. I think that it's so cheap because it's likely a gray market product. They say it's offered with a "USA Warranty", but they don't specify that it's a Nikon Warranty. I'd slowly walk away, and then run to a more reputable store.

I bought my Nikon D200 through Cameta Camera. They're an east coast retailer who sells most of their product online through their eBay store. They're completely legit, and are one of the only eBay sellers that's actually an authorized Nikon dealer. Check out their "About" page: http://stores.ebay.com/Cameta-Camera/About-Me.html

It's rare that I'll find a legit deal online that's cheaper than Cameta. You can usually negotiate with them a bit too. What I do is find the item I want in their store, get the auction ID, and then call 'em up and made modifications. For example, the kit I wanted had the 17-50 lens and I wanted the 18-70. I also had them throw in the shipping for free. I've heard you can usually have them send it express too (I HATED waiting).

The D40X is a great little camera and you don't need to worry about it being too complicated. Both it and the D80 have "P" (auto) modes, just like your point and shoot. However, they'll both give you something to grow into in case you decide you want to start tweaking with settings. My only small gripe with the D40X is that you're stuck using Nikon's dedicated digital lenses if you want auto focus, you have to make sure the lens you're buying has a focus drive motor built-in, as the camera body doesn't have a drive motor. That's not a big deal as there as there are a LOT of compatible lenses still.

Here's the kit I think you should buy:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Nikon-D40x-Digital-SLR...oQQcmdZViewItem

One last recommendation if you do decide to get into the DSLR world and plan on doing any indoor photography - Get yourself a real speedlight (nikon's word for flash). Built-in flashes are very week and create "Mug Shots", not photographs. A real speedlight will allow you to tilt and rotate the head of the flash so that it's pointing away from the subject. This allows you to bounce the light off the wall or ceiling (or bounce card, etc) giving you a lot of lovely indirect light to work with. Here's a photo I took last night at a party using that method:



I'm using a Nikon SB-600. They're $184 everywhere online. I bought mine from Samy's:
http://www.samys.com/product_detail.php?item=6961

Let me know if you have any questions, and you'll never regret buying a DSLR, especially if you enjoyed your film SLR.

Randy, what did you shoot that last photo at (ISO, shutter, F-stop) Perfect exposure. Did you use a card?

I have the Olympus E-series 410. I like it. I shoot daily for a local paper (sports, news and A and E) and it is very light, fast focus and not too expensive. I'm going to go with the E3 as my upgrade as the 4/5 format works well for me and I can keep my expensive glass.

Sports:
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Can you believe the quality of fotos from such an inexpensive camera?

I just bounced off wall and ceiling. The building has a lot of angles, so the light was doing some fun stuff.

Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/2.5
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Nice sports shot! I shot one college football game for fun over the summer and got a few good shots. They let us right onto the field because we were "photographers", so that was a lot of fun. Your shot is awesome!

Thanks for the info Randy. I will definitely also need a new flash, as my old Nikon Speedlight is barely better than a built-in flash.

Demick

Nikon has some cool flash systems too. You can make a very nice umbrella arrangement that is all cordless with them. I think they start at 300 for the low end ones and 600 for the better ones. I bought one of the 300 ones and then the rest I bought the 600 as they can do more. I love Nikon.

I've never shot with the Nikon products. I should rent one for a day. I do like their frame rate and ISO range. I was a Minolta man from childhood. (Dad got me into it) Then just went with the features of Olympus. The E3 is the fastest focus DSLR made. (11 points too) And Zuiko makes a damn good lens for the money.