Dear all,

I'm new to camera/DSLR, would like to ask what would be a newbie camera/DSLR if

- I like to take landscape pictures
- I would like to have my portraits taken to have good bokeh effect

Thanks!

Hi and welcome to the world of photography. To answer your question... Basically, any dslr will do the job.

Any one. All you have to invest on, is some good piece of glass(lens) and an okay camera body that fits your budget.

I see,

I have some questions

- For DSLR, can I achieve bokeh effect for portrait if i just point-and-shoot? Or must I adjust the settings?
- Where do you recommend to buy DSLR cameras?
- For the lens, does it come included or do I have to pick one?

This post has been edited by wong93: May 22 2018, 07:10 PM

Easy and short answer = YES! but it depends how near you are to the person thay you're shooting. (Which is why during my high school years we love DSLR for the bokeh, however, we never fully understand how to consistently achieve it. I just know that I have to put the camera close to someone's face then I'll get that bokeh)

Now for the long answer.
Bokeh, or shallow depth of field, is achieved by having very LOW aperture. Aperture, which are numbers that you see on the camera like this f/(number) E.g. f/8 , f/16 , etc..etc..

By lowering the f number, you are letting in more light. Thus, creating a shallower depth of field. Which finally, you have the very blur background. Low numbers are such as f/2.0 , f/1.8 etc..etc..


I would recommend you to check online prices for the camera that you want, then walk into your local camera store and get one that suits you budget. Nikon or Canon or Sony you cannot go wrong with either. They're all great cameras and a good way to harness your skill as a photographer.

If recommend first and foremost, check out YouTube videos to learn more about

-Aperture
-Shutter
-ISO

And how they work in correlation with each other. You will have a deeper understanding about how we use them.

I started off photography without any camera gear (except for a simple digital camera with Manual controls that was about 10 years old) heck, this coming Thursday I'm about to purchase my very first camera!

I hope this helps you understand on how to achieve bokeh. I know it can be very confusing at first, but trust me, after watching videos on this 3 stuff, you will have a better idea how a camera functions.

Sorry for the long post and have a good one! Happy shooting.

This post has been edited by Post-Je-Ape-Ape: May 22 2018, 07:57 PM

Yes almost all DSLR comes included with the lens. (Kit lens) while you can also opt to get just the body only and a lens of your choice.

Kit lens = they are simply great if you're learning photography and just starting out. As with all hobbies we have a learning curve. And in most cases, many of us grow out of the kit lens pretty quick.

The kit lens covers many general focal lengths. Which is why it's so great to have and perfect for starting photographers. However, to achieve that bokeh I talked about in my previous post, it's gonna be slightly harder to do so.

This post has been edited by Post-Je-Ape-Ape: May 22 2018, 08:06 PM

Can consider mirrorless too

A5100 with sigma 30mm f1.4 or sony 50mm f1.8. Postprocess with rawtherapee.

Best and expensive solution A7R III with 85mm zeiss and abobe lightroom

But seriously, at least state your budget and expectation. Tinder profile or hollywood mugshot?

This post has been edited by TrialGone: May 23 2018, 11:38 AM

omg another one ask without giving budget.

sony a7iii with 50mm 1.4 for bokeh and portraits with 16-35 f2.8 GM for landscapes.

Newbie can buy entry level DSLR, its significantly cheaper than smaller mirrorless camera. All u need is to improve your skill.

The 18-55mm is good enough for landscape.

The inexpensive 35/50mm is good enough for portrait. u can shoot at F1.8 to get good bokeh effect.

But I don't recommend u to shoot in auto mode.

To get the best out of your DSLR and lens, shoot in Manual mode if possible.

Hi guys thanks for the reply

I just found out that there is one FZ70 at home.

I haven't got chance to play with it yet, but is this a good portrait camera?
Do I have to buy lens in order to achieve good portrait shot?

@Trial Gone, just looking to have good bokeh when taking portrait shots, no need to be insanely good

Suggest you start with that camera first. Bokeh ain't going to be great with that camera, given its sensor size. I operate on the philosophy of make good use of what you have first, and upgrade when you have taken some time to understand your actual photography needs. This was advised to me by more experienced photographers.

I owned a Olympus E-PL 7 for 3 years and took it around the world before considering that I need to upgrade my lens now. Weight plays a big big role in deciding if you will use your camera. Go light and easy first. Enjoy photography, not acquiring gears.

Let's start with budget.

Nikon D3000 series has good learning system, ISO, Aperture (f stop) & Shutter Speed, you're good to go with the kit lens. Or, mirrorless system, Sony a6000 + kit lens

Study photography basic at youtube or websites (exposure triangle), see sample pictures and their camera setting.

A5100 with 30mm or 50mm cheapo lens bokeh is ok. Not like insanely good. If your level of bokehness is much lower, then (and Im serious not joking) get a phone with bokeh software. Nowadays they do good job if you don't pixel peep. Also got complaint some say their face too sharp can see pimples, end up using beauty mode more than half time. Lol then whats the point of having high end phone camera or dedicated camera?

Btw fz70 is a bridge camera specilizing in zoom. Probably not gonna get great bokeh. It can produce portrait with bokeh but i have a feeling you need to step very far away to get good result from tele range.

This post has been edited by TrialGone: May 27 2018, 09:32 AM

Around 2.5K Max



Hi all, I have been studying a lot about the settings, aperture, ISO etc. and playing around with all the settings in FZ-70, including standing far and zooming etc. but I still can't achieve bokeh in portraits shot.

I am not sure whether it is due to camera limitation or I have set the wrong settings.

I'm wondering if anyone reading this would like to meet up and guide me on the settings and show me how is it done.

Thanks!

I think second off u need to give example of portrait u looking for. Close headshot? Environmental protrait? Half body shot? Or just good selfie? There are techniques outside of camera and lens than can give great shot if done correctly even with smartphone eg. Lighting, background selection, location location location etc. Youtube camera lighting. Thirdly, lightroom . Cause some lousy portrait turns out triple A with correct adjust.

This post has been edited by TrialGone: May 27 2018, 04:14 PM

Example of portrait I'm looking for is

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GGRV_e.....0.iBhqDaq8MWM


I want everything in the background to be blurred and lights to be round blurry shape.

Currently only taking them using my S8 but it is not blur enough, and sometimes the camera is unable to properly blur the background, sometimes it blur the person as well

Yeah.....that looks like 85mm f1.8 or 50mm f1.2 on 'Full Frame' camera, if you want that consistent big ball bokeh look. But you can replicate some of these looks if you adjust the model distance from the background and a little creative with the christmas light. Some sony stores provide cameras on display and it might have 50mm f1.8 prime on it. You can check it out if the bokehness is ok.

edit* just notice you budget. a5100 with 50mmf1.8 can perhaps just squeeze into RM2.5k.

This post has been edited by TrialGone: May 27 2018, 10:01 PM

Shoot your subject close to the camera, in front of a background far away. That should maximize the blur you can get.

apart from subject & background distance, 2 things count for this blur. 1) sensor size and 2) aperture. bigger = more blur.

Unfortunately, cameras with bigger sensor + lenses with wide aperture = $$$

So yup the Sony A5100 (much larger sensor compared to the FZ-70) paired with 50mm f1.8 lens can create pretty good bokeh. But not as great as a full frame sensor with f/1.2 lens.

The 'blur' from your S8 or any other smartphone is just software effect. That's why it's not perfect, very easy to tell it's fake.

This post has been edited by dvlzplayground: May 27 2018, 10:27 PM

Woah.. those portraits. 85mm
70-200mm
135mm

And the list goes on. With apertures as low as f/1.2.

Maybe medium format, maybe full frame.