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NeoGAF Camera Equipment Thread | MK II

J

JadedWriter

Member
Futureman said:
Pittsburgh, PA.

That's what I've been charging an event planner that has been hiring me for recent events and she really likes my photos and has never said anything about the price (this is for $50/hour flat, no base fee).

She gave my contact to a local magazine. They contacted me this morning about an urgent need for a photographer tonight. I said I could work the event and said my pricing was $50/hour + $50 base. It's been an hour and no response yet. We'll see I guess.
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Has to be easier to charge that there than in NYC. Too many damn photographers here.
 
F

Futureman

Member
They agreed... I was worried they were taking so long to respond.

I did photos for an event for the magazine a few weeks ago but was actually hired for it by the event planner. The magazine is directly hiring me for the event tonight. They said they really liked the photos from the event a few weeks ago so I guess that's how you get paid what you ask for!

JadedWriter said:
Has to be easier to charge that there than in NYC. Too many damn photographers here.
Click to expand...

that's interesting and kind of crazy considering the difference in cost of living. I split a $850/month mortgage with my GF. I'm guessing a single bedroom in NYC depending on where you live could be like $2,000/month.
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
Futureman said:
They agreed... I was worried they were taking so long to respond.

I did photos for an event for the magazine a few weeks ago but was actually hired for it by the event planner. The magazine is directly hiring me for the event tonight. They said they really liked the photos from the event a few weeks ago so I guess that's how you get paid what you ask for!



that's interesting and kind of crazy considering the difference in cost of living. I split a $850/month mortgage with my GF. I'm guessing a single bedroom in NYC depending on where you live could be like $2,000/month.
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Depending on where you are yes. A lot of the problem is just outright photographer competition. You can throw a rock and hit a photographer and have that same rock ricochet and hit another photographer here. Charge too much clients just figure they can find someone else. Sometimes the comp is better, sometimes they're worse. Other times you have clients not knowing what it is that they're even looking for and don't give you important info like what the most important thing to shoot even is so they take it out on you and opt to not hire you again.
 
X

xkramz

Member
So what's the general consensus on buying refurbished DSLR from an authorized nikon dealer like bhphoto and adorama ?

I'm thinking of picking up my first ever dslr and I'm stuck between t6i Vs nikon D5500
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
xkramz said:
So what's the general consensus on buying refurbished DSLR from an authorized nikon dealer like bhphoto and adorama ?

I'm thinking of picking up my first ever dslr and I'm stuck between t6i Vs nikon D5500
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My D7100 is refurbished from B&H and it's plenty fine so go for it. What's the difference in price between a refurb 5500 and refurb 7200?
 
Peterthumpa

Peterthumpa

Member
So guys, I'm a total beginner but I LOVE photographs, although I really like videos as well. I'm looking for a good photograph and video camera. Not exactly a Black Magic Pocket (which can't shoot good pictures as far as I know anyway), but not too far from it either. Suggestions?

Oh, the cheaper the better, not exactly printing money around here :p
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
xkramz said:
18-55

after that i may just get a 35mm prime lens

then after that down the road get telephoto zoom lens
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The 35 is less than 200 bucks easily. It's the better glass any way. Primes are great as long as they're aimed at the sensor size. I shot a lot of stuff with a 50mm prime, but it was far too narrow on crop sensor, perfectly fine on my FX camera now though and it's accompanied by an 85 for portraits. Find out what the non crap DX lenses are for Nikon, I'd say go Sigma, but they have horrible AF problems to me.
felipepl said:
So guys, I'm a total beginner but I LOVE photographs, although I really like videos as well. I'm looking for a good photograph and video camera. Not exactly a Black Magic Pocket (which can't shoot good pictures as far as I know anyway), but not too far from it either. Suggestions?

Oh, the cheaper the better, not exactly printing money around here :p
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What is your budget? I'd say look for a Panasonic G7.
 
Peterthumpa

Peterthumpa

Member
JadedWriter said:
What is your budget? I'd say look for a Panasonic G7.
Click to expand...

Around 1K. What about lenses? Any REALLY recommended, or am I more or less good to go with the stock ones? Main thing here is street photography and some documentary-like videos or family videos with great depth of field.
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
felipepl said:
Around 1K. What about lenses? Any REALLY recommended, or am I more or less good to go with the stock ones? Main thing here is street photography and some documentary-like videos or family videos with great depth of field.
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I know nothing about lenses needed for actual film making though. Getting your start on a kit lens is perfectly fine though...Panasonic lenses are also pretty expensive depending on what it is. Their 2.8 24-70 equivalent is a grand, but it's at least cheaper than the Nikon and Canon equivalent. If you don't need anything for low light or portraits a standard zoom should be fine I would assume.
Panasonic Lenses.
I'm probably going to get an XT1 for mirrorless though for recreational photography and I use a good amount of Nikon stuff. Stuff is just getting too heavy and cumbersome for commuting...bag is huge.
 
Peterthumpa

Peterthumpa

Member
JadedWriter said:
I know nothing about lenses needed for actual film making though. Getting your start on a kit lens is perfectly fine though...Panasonic lenses are also pretty expensive depending on what it is. Their 2.8 24-70 equivalent is a grand, but it's at least cheaper than the Nikon and Canon equivalent. If you don't need anything for low light or portraits a standard zoom should be fine I would assume.
Panasonic Lenses.
I'm probably going to get an XT1 for mirrorless though for recreational photography and I use a good amount of Nikon stuff. Stuff is just getting too heavy and cumbersome for commuting...bag is huge.
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Awesome, thanks!
 
P

phatmike128

Member
I've had a Fuji X100S for a couple years now. I'm heading on a trip to NYC/Europe in a month and would have loved to upgraded if they had announced and released the followup to the T, but it isn't looking to happen until next year. I think I want to sell my S and get the T just for the trip at least. I think the Wifi and small changes will be worth it, anyone have opinions?
 
J

jongkookie

Member
Well fuck.

USPS lost my camera...

The seller dropped it off Monday and the tracking hasn't been updated ever since the shipping label was created on Sunday. Finally went to my post office today and the package is nowhere to be found... like it never arrived at the sellers post office is what the USPS employee told me. Basically their system can still find out where the package is even if the shipping label was damaged and it'll keep a record of it in their system as long as it got dropped at the post office and got processed through. The problem is, it never got processed through... hence why it's lost.

I want to be pissed off but the seller has been communicating with me every day about it... even going as far as to send me a copy of the shipping label he used so I don't think he's scamming me at all, thus I can't be too mad about it, just a little frustrated. He's promised me a refund at the end of next week if nothing happens, so we'll see.

On the other hand, if he's scamming me... then he's a total idiot for sending a copy of the shipping label with his name and address. He's a college student or something as his address pertains to a specific university in the Northeast that uses their student ID and campus location as the street address. And no, I'm not a creeper... I actually have a friend who goes to the same university as the seller and she told me exactly how it works for them lol.
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
jongkookie said:
Well fuck.

USPS lost my camera...

The seller dropped it off Monday and the tracking hasn't been updated ever since the shipping label was created on Sunday. Finally went to my post office today and the package is nowhere to be found... like it never arrived at the sellers post office is what the USPS employee told me. Basically their system can still find out where the package is even if the shipping label was damaged and it'll keep a record of it in their system as long as it got dropped at the post office and got processed through. The problem is, it never got processed through... hence why it's lost.

I want to be pissed off but the seller has been communicating with me every day about it... even going as far as to send me a copy of the shipping label he used so I don't think he's scamming me at all, thus I can't be too mad about it, just a little frustrated. He's promised me a refund at the end of next week if nothing happens, so we'll see.

On the other hand, if he's scamming me... then he's a total idiot for sending a copy of the shipping label with his name and address. He's a college student or something as his address pertains to a specific university in the Northeast that uses their student ID and campus location as the street address. And no, I'm not a creeper... I actually have a friend who goes to the same university as the seller and she told me exactly how it works for them lol.
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Well that fucking sucks. I usually try to go through the feedback and seller history to see how often they sell camera equipment. Hope you get the refund.
 
J

jongkookie

Member
JadedWriter said:
Well that fucking sucks. I usually try to go through the feedback and seller history to see how often they sell camera equipment. Hope you get the refund.
Click to expand...

Yeah the guy was more of a buyer than seller but he's got a decent feedback history, plus he's also been helpful in getting it right so I guess you could say I have a sense of trust for him? Idk lol.

But yeah, I'd love for it to show up and move on. But at the same time, if I get the refund... I've got a couple of freelance gigs coming up that can cover me upgrading to an A7ii so I'm kinda conflicted about it lolol.

Eh, we'll see at the end of next week. Thankfully this was an eBay purchase so buyer protection is maximum as fnck and I really have nothing to worry about, except of course the sad feeling that my Nikon F to E mount adapter and extra batteries will remain unused for another week or so lol.
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
jongkookie said:
Yeah the guy was more of a buyer than seller but he's got a decent feedback history, plus he's also been helpful in getting it right so I guess you could say I have a sense of trust for him? Idk lol.

But yeah, I'd love for it to show up and move on. But at the same time, if I get the refund... I've got a couple of freelance gigs coming up that can cover me upgrading to an A7ii so I'm kinda conflicted about it lolol.

Eh, we'll see at the end of next week. Thankfully this was an eBay purchase so buyer protection is maximum as fnck and I really have nothing to worry about, except of course the sad feeling that my Nikon F to E mount adapter and extra batteries will remain unused for another week or so lol.
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That's cool. Oddly enough nothing Sony excites me. I might get like a cheap XT1 and an adapter and manual focus for a bit.
 
R

RebornYeti

Member
Wanting to take a whack at photography as a hobby, so here goes...

1. What is your budget?

$500-$600

2. Main purpose of the camera?

To take photos of whatever I find interesting... not really sure at the moment lol

3. What form factor is most appealing to you?

I literally don't know anything right now, so not sure what this means. If it helps, I just want to start photography as a new hobby.

4. Will you be investing in the camera? (buying more stuff for it later)

This is unknown at the moment.

5. Any cameras you've used before or liked?

None.

Only camera I've really looked at and read reviews for is the Canon EOS Rebel T5. Seems like a good entry level camera, but I would like GAF's opinion. :)
 
Rentahamster

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
RebornYeti said:
To take photos of whatever I find interesting... not really sure at the moment lol

I literally don't know anything right now, so not sure what this means. If it helps, I just want to start photography as a new hobby.
Click to expand...

If you're at this level of uncertainty, you might want to go see if there's a local place that rents out cameras and lenses.

Alternatively, Costco has those Canon Rebel kits for a bout $600, so you could actually buy one, try it out, then return it.

It sounds like you need some hands on experience. It's much different than reading about it. Maybe you could sign up for a local photography meetup to see some cameras in action and ask people about their opinions and perhaps even ask to hold them.
 
Rentahamster

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
This is impressive

http://petapixel.com/2016/11/07/olympus-e-m1-mark-ii-can-capture-sharp-5-second-exposures-hand-held/

Olympus has said the only thing standing between the OM-D E-M1 Mark II and better stabilization is the rotation of the Earth—and so far, the camera’s bite is living up to the bark. In fact, the 6.5-stop stabilization is so powerful, it looks like you can capture sharp hand-held 5 second exposures!

If that sounds too amazing to be true, join the club. Even the photographer who captured the shots we’re about to show you can hardly believe it. Robin Wong, an Olympus Malaysia employee, posted these shots on his blog. Hand-held photos he says were turning out sharp at a whopping 5 seconds.

Of course, there’s some “stabilization” used for these shots—meaning you’re not going to be able to stand on your own without leaning on something and get these results.

“I also must be honest that, if I were standing freely, without any support, [not] bracing myself against anything, I can only shoot at about 1 to 2 seconds shutter speed,” explains Wong. “Anything longer than 2 seconds, my legs started to wobble!”
Click to expand...
 
R

RebornYeti

Member
Rentahamster said:
If you're at this level of uncertainty, you might want to go see if there's a local place that rents out cameras and lenses.

Alternatively, Costco has those Canon Rebel kits for a bout $600, so you could actually buy one, try it out, then return it.

It sounds like you need some hands on experience. It's much different than reading about it. Maybe you could sign up for a local photography meetup to see some cameras in action and ask people about their opinions and perhaps even ask to hold them.
Click to expand...

Ah, ok thanks for the tips. I had a feeling it wouldn't be as easy as "I want to start taking good looking pictures, so what do I need?" lol.

I like that meetup idea. Wouldn't hurt to get a hands-on impression before I make the plunge.

Again, thank you. :)
 
Q

QualityPixel

Banned
RebornYeti said:
Ah, ok thanks for the tips. I had a feeling it wouldn't be as easy as "I want to start taking good looking pictures, so what do I need?" lol.

I like that meetup idea. Wouldn't hurt to get a hands-on impression before I make the plunge.

Again, thank you. :)
Click to expand...

Some good first cameras to look at:
Nikon D3300, D3400. Canon T5, T6. Pentax K-S1, K-S2. Olympus Pen models or Panasonic GF models.

All these cameras use interchangeable lenses, and take amazing photos. I feel Nikon is the easiest to use, Canon has the most options for lenses (but not that big of an advantage). Pentax lately has been doing great. Consider Olympus or Pana "micro 4/3's" if you want something more compact.

If you want to learn how to properly use ISO/aperture/shutter-speed and have the ability to elevate your photography beyond auto mode then I would suggest the Nikon/Canon/Pentax route. Perhaps even consider an older used camera for dirt cheap off ebay like a Nikon D40x/D60/D80/D90/D3000/D5000/D5100 and use the rest of the budget for a specialty lens when you find what niche you like.
 
S

Sec0nd

Member
How do you guys organise all your photos?

Currently doing Year -> Month -> Subject. Pretty straight forward. But the thing is that I don't really do projects or anything. I take loads of analog pictures but I'm all over the place. Sometimes a roll can have 10 different places, subjesct, etc. So I'll end up with loads of different subject folders with just one picture. Which doesn't seem like an optimal way of organising everything. Any tips or recommendations?
 
F

Fusebox

Banned
I store everything in Google Photos and use their search technology when I want to find a photo.

It's pretty incredible, you can search terms like bike or lego or a location or a persons name if you tag them in the system. No more meta-tagging for me.
 
R

RuGalz

Member
Sec0nd said:
How do you guys organise all your photos?

Currently doing Year -> Month -> Subject. Pretty straight forward. But the thing is that I don't really do projects or anything. I take loads of analog pictures but I'm all over the place. Sometimes a roll can have 10 different places, subjesct, etc. So I'll end up with loads of different subject folders with just one picture. Which doesn't seem like an optimal way of organising everything. Any tips or recommendations?
Click to expand...

Year, month and subject. Then I geo tag everything. Geo tagging doesn't need to be absolutely accurate, like I would just put all photos on a single spot in this one park instead of their exact locations in the park. It's the fastest way for me to find relevant pictures. Keyword and all that crap in lightroom simply takes way too much work and consistency for me.
 
E

enewtabie

Member
Need some camera help please. Is there a camera in the $200 or less that is point and shoot and can do high quality video for youtube? I have a iphone 6plus,but it's not great for pictures. I would like a camera we can take pics of our family that's compact,but I could use also for some vloggin/youtube.
 
R

RuGalz

Member
enewtabie said:
Need some camera help please. Is there a camera in the $200 or less that is point and shoot and can do high quality video for youtube? I have a iphone 6plus,but it's not great for pictures. I would like a camera we can take pics of our family that's compact,but I could use also for some vloggin/youtube.
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You probably won't find anything really better than iPhone 6+ at that price range.
 
J

jongkookie

Member
JadedWriter said:
Welp found Tamron's 2.8 24-70 for less than $650...had to snatch that one up....
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Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu. I hate you lol.

In other news, there might actually be hope for my A7. Tracking says it's at a nearby processing center but with Veteran's Day being tomorrow, it'll be delivered Saturday instead. :(
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
jongkookie said:
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu. I hate you lol.

In other news, there might actually be hope for my A7. Tracking says it's at a nearby processing center but with Veteran's Day being tomorrow, it'll be delivered Saturday instead. :(
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What camera would you even use the lens on? I Ebay stalk so if I can and I spot a deal I get it as long as the paypal credit money is in place.
 
J

jongkookie

Member
JadedWriter said:
What camera would you even use the lens on? I Ebay stalk so if I can and I spot a deal I get it as long as the paypal credit money is in place.
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I can't remember which company it was but somebody developed a lens adapter for the Nikon G lens to E mount, giving full access to not only EXIF data but autofocus and electronic aperture control as well.

IIRC the adapter was somewhere north of $300 so $650+$300 = $950. That's about $1200 worth of savings compared to the Sony 24-70 2.8 which retails for $2200.

Rentahamster said:
One year of Photoshop and Lightroom for 90 bucks

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00O66FYRS/?tag=neogaf0e-20

12 hours left.
Click to expand...

Debated about doing this and dropping my $30/month CC subscription, especially since I don't really use PP or AE that much these days, but I like having them so eh lol.
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
jongkookie said:
I can't remember which company it was but somebody developed a lens adapter for the Nikon G lens to E mount, giving full access to not only EXIF data but autofocus and electronic aperture control as well.

IIRC the adapter was somewhere north of $300 so $650+$300 = $950. That's about $1200 worth of savings compared to the Sony 24-70 2.8 which retails for $2200.
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I think it was some Chinese company and you can only buy them from Amazon. I'd personally just wait till someone more known makes one. Get something messed up and you have to break the damn thing off the lens. With their lens prices I just said "fuck Sony" and have no real interest in their cameras, period. Their customer service is supposed to be horrid as well. Just checked and a 1.8 85mm should not cost $1200 motherfucking God damn motherfucking dollars. I bought the Nikon one for $360.
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
Fucking assholes sent me the wrong motherfucking lens in the wrong motherfucking mount and I can't even get what I originally god damn fucking ordered fuck fuck fucking fucking fucking fuck AHHHHHH!!!
 
K

komplanen

Member
JadedWriter said:
Get a lens in the mail today, it's actually a 2.8 90mm macro lens in Canon mount. Fucking bullshit.
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Can't you just return it and get your money back? Or exchange it for the right product?

I don't want to sound like a dick, but you sound a little tense. It's just a lens. It's just a wrong product. Two weeks from now you'll be alive, happy and shooting pictures with the right lens.

EDIT: Maybe this will calm you down:
DD said:
6mCEbJ3.gif
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J

JadedWriter

Member
komplanen said:
Can't you just return it and get your money back? Or exchange it for the right product?

I don't want to sound like a dick, but you sound a little tense. It's just a lens. It's just a wrong product. Two weeks from now you'll be alive, happy and shooting pictures with the right lens.

EDIT: Maybe this will calm you down:
Click to expand...
I can get a refund but they most likely never had the damn things in stock at that price to begin with so no exchange. I'm annoyed but I have enough of a life not to be annoyed for too long. Will probably buy that or the Nikon version with the money I'm getting for a seasonal job I'm doing.
 
F

Fireblend

Banned
I just got a Rokinon 12mm lens for my A6000, in anticipation for a trip to Japan next month. Super excited to try this out on some landscapes!
 
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