Camera Techniques When Fishing?

[Volvo]

Poo, a wee bit of info that might help is tosus out variouse Photgraphy Forums eg; dslrusers.com.au australiandigital photography.com.au(as well as kingtins advice) etc and get the feel of what DSLR's people are using and lens..What problems they are having with each brand, read and ask and then make your move towards a purchase..
I previousely owned an MZ50 Film (Pentax )so had a coupla lens from that and budgetwise i found the best camera to suit me and give me the quallity i needed was a Pentax DSLR so first purchased the Pentax istDS and then moved onto the K10D..
Havent regretted either Camera or lens i purchased with both sets as i was and am an amatuer Photgrapher and will always be so due to timespan left in life lol(not that i'm planning on departing in the near future, just a realist)..
But it dont stop me wanting another Camera or more lens if i won Lotto..
Seriousely though its easy to get eager , go buy an outfit and then six months later say "Darn if i had only studied the market a tad more"..
As for extras for you cameras???wouldnt go past ebay or overseas..
Spare battery for instance for my K10D here the going price was $80 odd , ended up $16 from Honkers at my front door fer instance ..
Leave it at that and wish you luck and sure you will get plenty of help on site here..

[Poodroo]

Poo, a wee bit of info that might help is tosus out variouse Photgraphy Forums eg; dslrusers.com.au australiandigital photography.com.au(as well as kingtins advice) etc and get the feel of what DSLR's people are using and lens..What problems they are having with each brand, read and ask and then make your move towards a purchase..
I previousely owned an MZ50 Film (Pentax )so had a coupla lens from that and budgetwise i found the best camera to suit me and give me the quallity i needed was a Pentax DSLR so first purchased the Pentax istDS and then moved onto the K10D..
Havent regretted either Camera or lens i purchased with both sets as i was and am an amatuer Photgrapher and will always be so due to timespan left in life lol(not that i'm planning on departing in the near future, just a realist)..
But it dont stop me wanting another Camera or more lens if i won Lotto..
Seriousely though its easy to get eager , go buy an outfit and then six months later say "Darn if i had only studied the market a tad more"..
As for extras for you cameras???wouldnt go past ebay or overseas..
Spare battery for instance for my K10D here the going price was $80 odd , ended up $16 from Honkers at my front door fer instance ..
Leave it at that and wish you luck and sure you will get plenty of help on site here..

Thanks heaps Volvo. Yeah I have already started to research into dslr cameras and I seem to get more and more confused as I go because each brand that I read about is supposedly "The Best" according to the manufacturer specifications. It becoming more and more apparent to me that it is impossible within a lower budget to get "the perfect" camera. It seems where one brand has short comings another has a strong point and visa versa. Suffice to say I think any dslr camera is going to do more for me than what my compact will allow me to do for example shooting in RAW. I am still liking the Sony range of dslr cameras according to what I am reading in my price range because they will do all I need them to do and even the most basic in their range is still 10.2 mp. The other thing is I can put other brand lenses on the Sony camera and am not restricted to just using Sony lenses. The compact camera I have is an Olympus MJu750 and for what it is I think it performs more than admirably. I wish I could afford to spend $10,000 but alas I am but a poor man.

Poodroo

P.S. I wish the mods didn't move this thread to an area hardly anyone goes to.

[kingtin]

P.S. I wish the mods didn't move this thread to an area hardly anyone goes to.

Yeah, it's difficult to find it without it's own link in the Chat board drop down.

kev

[kingtin]

The other thing is I can put other brand lenses on the Sony camera and am not restricted to just using Sony lenses.

Poodroo

It isn't as simple as that Poo. Using non-sony lenses requires an adaptor and even then, on most non-generic lenses, autofocus or through the lens metering is disabled, and some other brands off er that feature as well so sony's sales blurb is rather suss.

Canon and Nikon aren't the market leaders for nothing, although pentax is a close thirsd and other brands are catching up. When one brand offers you a feature that other brands haven't got, then they seem to skimp in another area.

kev

[Poodroo]

It isn't as simple as that Poo. Using non-sony lenses requires an adaptor and even then, on most non-generic lenses, autofocus or through the lens metering is disabled, and some other brands off er that feature as well so sony's sales blurb is rather suss.

Canon and Nikon aren't the market leaders for nothing, although pentax is a close thirsd and other brands are catching up. When one brand offers you a feature that other brands haven't got, then they seem to skimp in another area.

kev

Thanks Kev. This is becoming one big learning curve for me. It sounds like the Panasonic are a reasonable camera but perhaps out of my price range? If Bridget has her camera with her this weekend I might take a look at it.

Cheers,

Poodroo

[MattChew]

Hey Andrew, I think if you wanted to get a entry level DSLR the Canon or Nikon might be the go ... the Canon 400D (10.1MP) is going for about $770 with a standard lens (18-55) and the Nikon D40 (6.1MP) for about $550. The only reason I say the Canon or Nikon is that Lenses and Accessories are readily available and all existing Canon EF lenses work with their digital siblings. When I bought my 300D they were nearly $2000 so a better one for $770 is a steal. Definitely buy the brand you have most faith in. This is pretty useful for amateurs like me ... http://digital-photography-school.co...for-beginners/

Thanks
Matt

[kingtin]

Tip for the day:...................... USE YER FLASH!

"What!!!!!!.....................it's always bloody sunny in QLD" I hear you say. ............but that's why you should use your flash.

Unless it is early morning or late afternoon, the Qld sun is often high in the sky which casts unsightly shadows under the eyes, nose and chin. If the subject is wearing a cap, their face is often unrecognisable.....................how many pics of lovely fish and the surroundings have you seen on Ausfish, where the ausfisher's face is in total shadow?

Most cameras nowadays have a fill-in flash facility whereby you can give a small burst of flash to fill in the shadows, as opposed to a full burst that sometimes gives a washed-out look. Even if your camera doesn't have fill in flash, a full burst is preferable to not recognising your subject. even on a dull day when there are no shadows, you can still give a burst of flash to put attractive highlights into the eyes such as you see in studio portraiture.

Familiarise yourself fully with the flash section in your instruction manual and think on this............ever watched the news and seen a pollie or celebrity outdoors on a sunny day surrounded by pro photographers, all with flashes firing?..........speaks volumes.

Also, as in all photography, remember that the camera doesn't lie. When you look at your subject on a sunny day, you may not see the shadows because your brain has compensated. you have made a subconscious effort to look into those shadows for the detail.......the camera can't do this which is why you get burned out highlights which are pure white, and deep blacks with no detail at all. Ever noticed biminis or lamp posts growing out of your subjects head in your pics, or perhaps a beautiful landscape with a truck chugging along in the background or your mate giving you the finger off to one side Look hard and try and over-ride that which your brain is not seeking but which the camera will find............the crooked horizon is a typical............ you can straighten this, but in doing so you will have to crop out some of your pic so try and get it right in the first place.

Just a couple of snapshots but spot the pic here that didn't have flash............actually it did, but the deckie was out of range so the flash didn't reach.................just like all those poor souls who pay hundreds to go to a kylie concert and think their compact flash will reach the stage

Take a good look at the sign



Notice the attractive highlights in the eyes on the one with flash, even though it's only a quick grabbed snapshot, the flash makes all the difference.

[Poodroo]

First thing I picked was the sign with Ausfish.com.au. Good one Kev. Yes I have my camera flash on all the time too. Something I did learn a while ago about sun position casting shadows. Good tip. I have noticed since this thread was moved there are very few viewings. What a shame. I think a lot of fellow members would have got lots out of this.

Poodroo

[Poodroo]

On a different note I do own a Ricoh SLR camera which has to be at least 25 years old now ... would that be worth anything these days or just a relic that is destined to gather dust for the rest of mt days? It still has a film in it that I never finished off and never had developed. Perhaps I should to see what is on there.

Poodroo

[PinHead]

taking pics is a great pastime but as to the original topic..how much time do you spend taking pics when you are on a fishing trip???

[Poodroo]

taking pics is a great pastime but as to the original topic..how much time do you spend taking pics when you are on a fishing trip???

To be honest I don't take a lot of time at all with the photography when fishing but the intent of this thread was to originally give some helpful tips on taking a good photo which really doesn't take any more time than taking a happy snap. Making sure the horizon is straight and using the fill in flash are just a couple of helpful hints that can make a world of difference without cutting into fishing time any more than a happy snap would.

Poodroo

[PinHead]

Poodroo..I just set the bloody thing on auto..take the pic and go back to what i was doing...I do that wth everything these days...took 98 pics on Saturday morning...that drove me nuts.

I tried for over 5 years to get a pic of one thing..using an slr with motor drive..the works and could not get it...just one pic of a tomonage...LOL
and that was using film..cost me a fortune on developing.

[kingtin]

On a different note I do own a Ricoh SLR camera which has to be at least 25 years old now ... would that be worth anything these days or just a relic that is destined to gather dust for the rest of mt days? It still has a film in it that I never finished off and never had developed. Perhaps I should to see what is on there.

Poodroo

Collectors often want old cameras as spares.........ebay would probably be the only way to see it's worth. Don't forget with the brand leaders such as canon, nikon and pentax, many of the old lenses work with digis and, for example, many of the old canon film cameras that go cheaply on ebay, have perfectly good lenses that would go on a digi.

kev

[Poodroo]

Might have to set up an ebay account I think. Would not have a clue what to do but I guess I will figure it out.

Poodroo

[MattChew]

Might have to set up an ebay account I think. Would not have a clue what to do but I guess I will figure it out.

Poodroo

If you need to mate you are welcome to use my account, have Paypal set up too!

Ta
Matt