Photography topic: hardware, showcases, techniques

What type of camera do you mainly use ?

  • Digital SLR camera

    Votes: 2 28.6%
  • Interchangible Lens Camera (ILC)

    Votes: 3 42.9%
  • Digital camera with irreplaceable lens

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Analog camera

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Cellphone

    Votes: 1 14.3%
  • None, photographic memory y0

    Votes: 1 14.3%

  • Total voters
    7

Phuncz

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I'm be replacing my trusty ol' Canon PowerShot G10 soon with a ILC soon, probably the Sony A6000 or "A6100" that is rumored to be launching next week. And I want to take product photography more seriously, like Aiboh has already shown us in a few examples scattered around this forum.

To bring the knowledge and otherwise offtopic discussion to a collective point of reference, I give you <Voice of Zeus> The Photography Topic !

So it would be nice to have it all come together here. It might be showcases from a trip to Rome, your newest flash or a nice idea for a unique effect.
Since I'm going to need to start doing some sys-admin'ing in a moment, I'll be posting a bit of my crap later :)
 

jeshikat

Jessica. Wayward SFF.n Founder
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Feb 22, 2015
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Rocking a Canon T2i body and my glass of choice is the Canon 60mm Macro. Super sharp, practically no distortion, USM focus motor with full-time manual override. It's a prime lens though so the tripod has to be moved around a lot.

One thing I've found indispensable is a good camera bag. It's very helpful to keeping everything together and organized. Sucks when you have to take some pics and the batteries are low and you can't seem to find the charger :p
 

Phuncz

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The hardware I'm looking to buy if the A6100 is too expensive:

Sony Alpha 6000 body with 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS kit lens (cheap zoom lens)
Sony SEL16F28 - 16mm f2.8 pancake lens (for everyday)
Sony SEL30M35 - 30mm f3.5 macro lens (the only Sony E-mount macro lens)
Samsung SDHC Pro 32GB
Sony Alpha PCK-LM17 LCD glass screen protector
ThinkTank Mirrorless Mover 5

While it might not be the best camera or lenses, I would guess it would still be a hefty upgrade over my current Canon PS G10. And with the 16mm lens, it's small enough to take along everywhere.

I'll also be looking for a few softbox lights and a backdrop in the future.
 

jeshikat

Jessica. Wayward SFF.n Founder
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Feb 22, 2015
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Looks like a pretty solid list. Do you already have memory cards? Can never have too many.
 

Phuncz

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Some crummy 8GB ones, that's why I included the Samsung SDHC Pro 32GB, in my location it's about the best bang for buck for a 32GB card with 80MB/s or higher write speeds.
 

PlayfulPhoenix

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Chimera Industries
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Feb 22, 2015
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I have an Olympus OM-D E-M5 with an Olympus 12-50mm zoom lens, as well as a Panasonic pancake lens (don't recall the aperture, but it's larger than the Olympus, with a slightly narrower field of view).

I got it a few years ago before a trip to Nepal, and I've since fallen in love with it. I consider myself an amateur photographer at best, but the dials/buttons and surprisingly good auto controls have enabled me to take more than a few images that I'm very proud of. Plus, the camera's very small (micro four thirds), has decent battery life, is weather/dustproof, and looks great to boot :D

You can see a bunch of photos I've taken with it on my website (I share galleries of some of the trips and places I go to), but a few of my favorites from Nepal are below:





 
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Phuncz

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Today the Sony SEL30M35 macro lens arrived for my Sony A6000 along with a new Flash card:


(bad focus on the top of the lens, soft corners need to be stopped down I guess)

Comparison with the SELP1650 kit lens (top) and the SEL30M35 (bottom) using low aperture:
(top = 100%, bottom = 50%)

(from an mPCIe WiFi card)

I really need to start learning to use the aperture more for product stills...
 

GuilleAcoustic

Chief Procrastination Officer
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Jun 29, 2015
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I'm a happy owner of an humble Sony Nex-3N, my first step into camera with replacable lenses. I haven't bought any lense for it yet, which one would you advise (I think it uses the e-mount) ?

Here are some humble photographies of my toys, my very first step into non-automatique setup (with default lens):




 
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Phuncz

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Nice pics and nice subjects ! I'm no photography expert, so I can't say with confidence which lens is a good buy for this kind of stuff. It will also depend on your kit lens (how good it is) and what you plan to shoot with it most of the time.

I'm also going to get a 20mm pancake lens with an F/2.8 max aperture so I have a good general usage lens and make the camera small enough for some pockets to carry around everywhere. The macro lens is mainly a personal curiosity, because I like macro photography but mainly for pulling out details in finely crafted items.

You could keep an eye on this forum and see other's experiences. A lot of knowledge and examples are posted every day over there.
 

jeshikat

Jessica. Wayward SFF.n Founder
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Feb 22, 2015
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@Phuncz Macro photography is fun but the narrow depth of field makes things tricky. A good tripod is pretty much required because you'll have to stop down the aperture (higher F/#) to get a decent amount of the subject in focus.

@GuilleAcoustic Nice shots! Is that just natural light from a window?
 

Phuncz

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@GuilleAcoustic Nice shots! Is that just natural light from a window?
I was wondering the same thing, ideal situation for pictures. I also got some great shots with indirect sunlight from atleast 3 sides, it gives those very nice soft highlights.

I'll be posting a casemod soon where I can show off some pictures I did that way with my Canon G10.

@Aibohphobia I was wondering about a tripod. For now, since most shots I do are on a table, I'd need to find one that has a very low minimum height and preferably a quick-release which has an unobtrusive plate so I can leave it on the camera. I need to look into that but any recommendations are welcome ofcourse.
 

Phuncz

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I bought a Velbon EX-Macro tripod, it was only € 35 shipped. With 20-56cm of height, it seems like a nice 'pod for the intended use. When I have the room later for a dedicated table, I'll be looking at something more substantial :)