let's say you got 15k... buy one entry level DSLR with kit lens to serve your purpose... and a cheap flash... 3k gone... so remaining 12k will be in your pocket...

if just for that purpose, any camera will do, not necessary DSLR...
small PnS will do the job as well. it's not that you will print it as a big banner or wat.
but for covering event also, any entry level DSLR is good enough for that. since basically no special requirement towards high IQ and etc.

This post has been edited by beelze_gpwk: May 13 2012, 03:24 PM

if i can, i sure buy 3rd hand ones and take the balance go holidays..

we do have plans to use the photos for prints i.e. our own books..

hope i can get clearer picture on why they use telephoto lens and what combo best fit for me...

normally, telephoto is used to isolate the subject away from other things (due to the small field of view).
let's say there's a bunch of girls standing in front of you, and if u use wide angle lens, you wil get the picture of all of them in the frame... because wide angle lens has big field of view, so it captures a lot of thing into the sensor. but if u use telephoto, u can take picture of each of them individually while u and the girls remain at the same spot... you will not be able to take everything into the frame... just like when you use normal PnS, when you zoom in you can only get very little thing into the frame, when you zoom out a lot of thing will be inside your frame.

haha... not sure this is a good example or not. but if you need to isolate a subject, compress the view, or you want to shoot from a further distance, telephoto will help you. normally i will suggest people to go for standard zoom first. when you feel that you can't include all the things u wan in the frame with your kit lens, then get a ultra wide angle. and when you feel that you can't get rid of some unwanted things in the frame with your kit lens, is time to get a telephoto.

Type of camera/lens/accesories : dSLR or semi
Budget: Max 2.5k
Your Location: KL
Preferable brand : Canon and Nikon
Type of photography u want to do : Mostly landscape and macro. Food photography too.
Any specific models in mind? : Canon G12 but pls recommend some other models too
Any specific features u want? : Prefer to have those vari-angle lcd screen

I wanted to invest more and get a dSLR but I realised it's a long term investment because I might go buy more and more and more lens in the future. Pain in the wallet lah so maybe semi is a better choice?

Right now I am.planning to buy s100,but o see it release for quite sometime,I'd there any better portable camera out there that better than s100?

ic ic... coz i asked my friend who is working as a photographer, he said that the reason why they use telephoto is because it can focus more on the subject and blurred/isolate the others...

i think i get what he said.. now waiting for other sifus to suggest whats my weapon..

your fren is correct, but blur background and sharp subject can be achieve in two way: shoot in telephoto, of with aperture wide open. normally when shoot portrait (i mean single portrait) the sweet spot for the face to look noce without distortion is around 50-60mm for upper torso, 85-100mm for head and shoulders, and 125-135mm when you want some compression for fuller figured portraits. (all in 35mm equivalent)

That's why people may choose to use 50mm prime lens/telephoto lens as the portrait lens sometimes.
but let say if you have a 18-55mm kit lens on the APS-C sensor (assume crop factor 1.6x) you will get effective range of 28-88mm, which is already covering most of the range required for portrait. if you desired for sharper image or more compression and details in your shot, then you may need some better lens.

---

Added on May 14, 2012, 10:37 amif you like S100, just buy it... refer a few post back where we got talk about similar camera for S100 in other brand... and you may consider from there

---

Added on May 14, 2012, 10:48 amthink properly whether you are going to be just casual shooting or learn for this hobby...
for me, i shoot casually during travelling and etc, so i go for semi most of the time and that's why i get myself G1X instead of a new DSLR. with your budget you can go for entry level DSLR with kit lens, G1X/G12 or any similar semi pro, and also you may consider is the mirrorless system camera (NEX, M43).
sorry that I seems to blur you more on your choices, but you have to decide whether you will continue to expand n invest in this hobby or you will happy to stay with your semi-pro camera for the next few years.
after you can make things clear, it will be easier to choose which type of camera to go for.

This post has been edited by beelze_gpwk: May 14 2012, 10:48 AM

Type of camera/lens/accesories : compact
Budget : as low as possible
Your Location : Penang
Preferable brand : Any well known branded also can
Type of photography u want to do : simple photos
Any specific models in mind? :
Any specific features u want? : touch screen & easy to navigate menus

what sort of "better" lens in your mind?

between Nikon and Canon, which is better? im thinking of D300 S VS 7D

we have currently owned a D60 with kit lens...

i'm not too familiar with Nikon, the only thing i know is for nikon you need to deal with the focus motor, whether it is in camera or in the lens... something like that. so can't really recommend you better lens as well.
since you already have one nikon, why not just get another nikon so you can share the lens and accessories?

If you find this bag of cash... and its for work related stuff

--> Canon 5D MkIII + 24-105mm L kit

I think it may be possible to squeeze in a speedlite for this as well.

Kau tim... ultimate combo.

Do u really need D300, 51 point AF system else D90 actually has a better sensor OR the newer D7000.

if Canon? what would you suggest?

true, but the camera itself cost half of my budget, or maybe more...

to maintain the pro-ness and to show off?

coz ive used D80, D40x, D90, D60 and some canon... think its time to go full frame line?

Type of camera/lens/accesories : Compact
Budget : RM1500
Your Location : KL
Preferable brand : Any
Type of photography u want to do : Landscape
Any specific models in mind? : Canon S100, Olympus XZ-1, Panasonic LX5, Nikon P310
Any specific features u want? : Low light, where my phone camera sucks.

Opinion on each so far:
S100: small, its a canon, color seems dull

XZ-1: colors seems the nicest out of all camera, worried about the smearing that a lot of users complain about, in jpeg.

LX5: the oldest of the bunch

P310: small sensor, but nice F1.8

So hard to choose!

Type of camera/lens/accesories : DSLR camera or maybe Sony NEX
Budget : RM4000 include kitlens
Your Location : KL
Preferable brand : Canon or sony (NEX)
Type of photography u want to do : Landscape or maybe sports (sometimes)
Any specific models in mind? : 60D, 7D or just NEX5N
Any specific features u want? : none

This post has been edited by Naskah: May 14 2012, 11:41 AM

Well...

FF-ness --> checked
Pro-ness --> checked
Tahap dewa dewi low light performance --> checked
AF speed for speedy CEO's --> checked
Red ring, useable focal length, image stabilization --> checked

Apa lagi lu mau?

With camera like this.. if photo don't turn out nice also must jump down from twin towers di.

If the above still not convincing enough, then consider that Pete Souza (official White House photographer) photographs Obama, world leaders and historically significant events using the 5D Mk II.

If its good enough for the White House, its good enough for any company

http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/71.../in/photostream


Do homework for you

Enthuasiast compact focal length vs aperture table.


Don't just look at the widest... see the max aperture throughout common focal length.

All these sensor sweet spot less than ISO200 and more or less tops out (imo) at around ISO400 +/- 1/2 stops... everything else is noise vs details.

Example... If I wanna shoot a portrait of bini/gf/mother/mistress indoors in a restaurant.

XZ-1 - 50mm focal length, f2.0, ISO200.
S100 - 50mm focal length, max aperture f4 means my ISO have to go up to ISO800 to get same shutter speed.
LX5 - 50mm focal length, max aperture f2.7 means my ISO have to go up to ISO400 to get same shutter speed.

About the smearing.. depend on how you look at it. Yes, the XZ-1 jpeg smears but the girls like it as it blurs out blemishes ... and most compact smears (my Sony HX9V smears even more).. S90 smears less but the details is not there in the beginning. You can always shoot raw... and if you don't like/use Lightroom.. you can always run that awful bundled raw-editor... turn off Noise Reduction as a preset and then just apply to all your pics = kau tim.



This post has been edited by sniper on the roof: May 14 2012, 01:05 PM

+1
if canon, you can consider 5D as you wan FF and Pro... either MkII or MkIII... with the kit lens or with 24-70 2.8 L is a nice combination.

---

Added on May 14, 2012, 12:26 pmfor sports 7D is slightly better, but 60D can do the job as well. If you do not need the articulated screen, i would suggest you go for 7D.
if size is your concern, go for NEX 5N. although i was planning to recommend you NEX 7 initially, but it will slightly off your budget

---

Added on May 14, 2012, 12:30 pmsniper has done a good comparison for you. if technical aspect is what you will consider the most, then you can see XZ-1 always has the fastest lens in the "compact" range... personal preference: S100 (if you shoot more in jpeg) or XZ-1 (if you shoot more in raw).

This post has been edited by beelze_gpwk: May 14 2012, 12:30 PM

Wow, thanks a lot Sniper! Your comparison really made me understand slightly more about how the two min and max F-number works out. For F2.0 and F1.8 seems a small difference but when zoomed out it seems like a big difference. Your replies made me went to read (and still reading) about why we should shoot portraits at 50mm also.

So what this means is that, when zoomed in, we can't really compare the cameras only based on the ISO where the zx1 and lx5 will be using a lower iso than the canon. And when the camera is not zoomed in, the iso will be around the same?

Why the jpeg smearing thing got stuck in my head is because I will be shooting jpeg 99% of the time. I run Ubuntu at home, so I do not have access to lightroom or the bundled raw editor.

how about 7D? basically, it is slightly cheaper but performs well though.. coz ive checked the price at canon, 5D cost RM8k for body only...

7D cost cheaper and can boost the lens line-up more with varieties..

no Nikon suggestion ka?

If you're interested... read up "exposure triangle"

Anyways, all cameras also have pro's and con's... from the cheapest to the most expensive.

Too bad I don't have my S90 anymore to compare but I just took these shots.. out of camera jpeg with everything on default. P mode and auto ISO summore in case you wanna see how it looked like.... we aim to please.

Industry standard furry bear office indoor test.


Industry standard office rooftop ciggie area landscape test


Hmm...I think I underexposed by -1/3 here.

RM8K body only must be the previous 5D Mk II di.... compared with the Mk III, the Mk II's AF is not gooding and high ISO is good but not tahap dewa dewi.

7D no fullframe goodness and low light is only as good as a 550D.

If I stumble upon a bag of cash.... straightaway take taxi go buy 5D MkIII.