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#174059 05/05/04 12:41 PM
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heada Offline OP
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Hello,
I am interested in getting into photography, possibley making a career out of it, or at least a full-time hobby. Of course, I need to purchase a decent camera for this to start with.
I am wondering if I should purchase a digital or a 35 mm???
I have been leaning toward the old-fashioned 35 mm, just because I love the simplicity of it. I would love to also maybe learn how to develop them myself. Am I being foolish for thinking along these lines?
And anyone have any suggestions which brand of camera to buy to begin with?
Thanks! <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

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#174060 05/14/04 12:43 AM
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Of course I'd suggest a digital camera to start with and if possible a digital SLR. But I'm biased because I've never shot anything but digital. (I don't even know how to load film.)

I have a few articles about the advantages of digital cameras. You should probably try: Is a digital camera for me? - http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art19612.asp

Consider this: most professional photographers are moving over to digital. They wouldn't be doing it if it didn't offer some sort of advantage.

Dan

#174061 05/22/04 11:16 PM
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Chipmunk
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Hello Dan and heada, I was just buzzing through and thought I would put my 2 cents worth of idea into this subject. I am not a professional but only an amateur. I just purchased a Olympus C5050 digital with telephoto and wide angle lenses; I also own a 35mm SLR and a smll format Yashica. There are things that can be done with a film camera that you cannot do with a digi cam (i.e. astrophotography or any shooting that requires an extended time, there is also a difference in shadow and shading that cannot be achieved with a digi cam; or so I'm told) the negative side of of film camaras is the expense involved if you want to set up a darkroom to develop your own photos; i.e. cost of making the dark room itself, required equipment and dangerous chemicals, the photo paper and controlled temperature. The positive side is that 35mm SLR's are now very inexpensive to acquire. I am doing a lot of digital work now and the pluses are too numerous to put down here. A digital darkroom is very easy to set up. Although the initial cost of getting the equipment may seem quite high it can be used over and over again and there is no worry about temperature or chemicals. My only advice is to spend a lot of time researching the camera you want; I researched my camera for about 4 months and it was worth every minute. One other plus is that the equivalent of about 15 rolls of 35mm film can be carried in a couple of tiny discs. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />


Robert F. Stachurski
#174062 05/23/04 10:44 PM
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heada Offline OP
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Thank you both so much for your input!
The one other thing I am wondering about is the quality of pictures from a digital camera. Is the quality just as good? Do you need to purchase a top of the line printer and paper to develop high quality prints with a digital?
Thanks
Heada

#174063 05/24/04 01:29 AM
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Chipmunk
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Hello again Heada. As I said in my last post, I have just started into digital photography and have just taken out a subscribtion to a digital photography magazine. If you have the resources than by all means splurge on the best that money can buy but I find that it is best to research any equipment that you buy The question first question to ask yourself is: Do I like this hobby or occupation enough to invest in top of the line equipment? Right now I am using a cheap ole Epson stylus CX5200 and a HP photosmart 145 printer, my pc is an inexpensive HP a330n. With this inexpensive digital darkroom I get photos that are acceptable to my wife, family and friends. There are photographers that use an eye loupe to discern EVERY NUANCE in a photo but I am far from that critical right now. There is probably more information to be known about a printer than a camera. There are ink jet printers (which I use), and there are laser printers which, despite there high initial price, are a far better printer. I have found out that almos every camera, printer, scanner and pc comes with photo editing software and if you really like photography, there is a myriad of programs available to edit your photos into real works of art. Getting back to the camera itself, if you acquire a digital SLR camera the lenses which you must purchase apart may cost as much as the camera itself or more but, the one thing to know is that a 35mm SLR and a digital SLR may support the same lens i.e. the lens or lenses are interchangeable (2 different bodies, 1 lens) that is why I encourge you to do a whole lot of research. The primary requirement of my camera was, NO Properiety batteries, I wanted to have a camera that can use a set of AA batteries. The problem with properiety batteries is that your camera is functional, as long as you are able to buy a properiety battery and which may not be available the day after you buy your digi. I picked the Olympus C5050 because it uses AA batteries. My camera also has a bunch of bells and whistles all of which I probably won't use, but they are there in case I do want to learn and use them.
Photo paper and ink is expensive but for everyday and ordinary printing I use plain ole printer paper unless I have a special photo that I want to give to someone and then I use photo paper. I can always put every photo I have on a DVD disc and run them as a slide show. The one great thing about digital photography is the ability to immediatly discard any shot that i don't like. With a film camera there is the expense of getting a roll of film developed and if there are a few shots that you don,t like the only thing you can do is throw them away and be left with the expense of something you do not like; this never occurs with a digi cam, if you don't like the shot just dump it right then.
I hope this helps some. My rule is: if you get top of the line everything it had better be making money for you or you like it so much that expense is no concern. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />


Robert F. Stachurski
#174064 05/28/04 12:21 PM
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Bob,

You made some excellent points. Thanks for spending the time to write with such detail.

I'll find some time this weekend to respond in kind. I have a lot of articles here about getting started with digital photography. I think I need to write something to tie them all together.

If photography is important to someone, whether as a professional or amateur, the choice in camera is quite a commitment. One thing that is commonly overlooked by people buying D-SLRs is the supporting lenses that camera can use. I chose to go with Canon a few years ago based on a review of the Canon lenses. Just one more thing to make an already difficult decision more so. :-)

You made a good point about the batteries. I definitely need to write an article about that. Many people don't know the difference between NI-CA and NiMH batteries. I would agree that staying away from proprietary batteries is generally a good idea. Especially for point and shoots. If you go on a trip you may have a variety of electronic devices that can use the same batteries which is a bonus. I don't think that's an option on the D-SLR front. I'm not certain but I doubt if any of the D-SLRs use anything but proprietary batteries. That's okay because AAs probably wouldn't last long in one. My Canon D-30 uses Li-ion batteries and I've gone on 4 day hiking trips without running out of juice while taking over 300 photos. (I did use auto-focus sparingly and turned off the auto preview.)

#174065 05/28/04 03:14 PM
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You are right about the batteries Dan and now I hear that large capacity packs with adapters are being developed so that they can be used in place of the proprietry battery. The problem I see is that you are about to take that once in a lifetime and; voila you have just run out of power. That Canon of yours is quite the camera. My 35mm film camera is an old Canon FTb that takes very nice photos and for an aux. lens I use a wide angle Vivitar.
The other thing I consider very important is the use of a UV filter on the front of the lens; I just consider it cheaper and less of a hassle to replace a filter that is scratched then replacing the whole lens system (cheap insurance). I am quite thrilled with my Olympus, it has many features, some of which I may never use but they are there in case I want to make use of them in the future. Right now I am still learning and I may not be an Ansel Adams or one of those people who shoot for National Geographic but I have fun with what I do shoot and now I can set up a modest digital darkroom.
Dan, photography is one of my hobbies and I will drop around to see how your forum is going and will try to give an informed opinion if need be and there will be a lot of your knowledge that I can take to the bank. The one other filter I could highly recommend is a polarizer filter because there is no computer or software made that can do the job of a polarizer. <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />


Robert F. Stachurski
#174066 05/28/04 03:25 PM
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One thing I should add Dan is that those memory card are becoming faster and faster with a whole lot of memory. Sandisc now has one that holds 2 gigabytes of memory. Thats the equivelant of a whole lot of 35mm film (if you use jpeg vice TIFF or Raw format). Advances in digital gear is made every day if not every hour. <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />


Robert F. Stachurski
#174067 12/03/04 03:48 PM
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Heada, why not try both ways, digital and analogue.
You have very good second hand analogue camera's
and fine digital camera's.

I stil prefer analogue thaugh, because the quality I stil
find better. I have three friends from my Art academy time who develloped themselves as professionals,
all three stil use analogue camera's for special ocasions, because the quality of special films is stil better than digital images. But for fast work they also use digital camera's. Just take the direction you like most! Photography makes you look more carefully at things, and the devellopment is a nice process.

I helped organising photoexhibitions a few years back over here in Holland, and so got to know some art photographers and photojournalists.
I collect photoartbooks and always carry a camera with me when I travel. I hope that you can make up your mind, enjoy photography and grow in doing it.

#174068 12/05/04 12:15 PM
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Try this forum below for lots of info about photography. Go to "Just Starting Out" then browse around, my vote is digital, good luck! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

http://ilp.tlcwe.com/forums/index.php


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