I have a Nikon D50 and I do photojournalism so I don’t have time to test the exposure of every image. When I use the auto-setting for the camera, the exposure is always too dark and I end up with noise-y images. How can I make my camera automatically meter so that it slightly overexposes the images rather than underexposes them?
Thanks in advance.
The D50 meters pretty good. Perhaps your are shooting in situations where the lighting is difficult when you get dark images.
The easy way is set your camera to Program mode (not Auto mode). You can use the exposure compensation (EV) adjustment to bias your light meter. If your pictures are too dark, then dial in a positive compensation, perhaps +0.7 or +1.0. You will need to experiment to figure out what works for you. Be sure to put your camera on highlight preview mode so you can monitor if you overexposed areas. Exposure compensation will work in program, aperture, and shutter priority modes. It will not work in auto mode. Your camera will remember the exposure compensation setting until you change it.
Warning, in Program mode, the flash will not pop up automatically (a good thing in my book).
You can also try center or spot metering and lock the exposure (press the shutter release half way) on your subject, then compose the shot and press the shutter the rest of the way to take the shot. Matrix metering should be what you’re using, but sometimes the other modes will work better if you have difficult lighting.
If you haven’t already, learn about fill flash. This will improve outdoor shots of people in daylight when they within range of the flash.
I’m looking for a nice digital SLR camera. But my budget is tight, only willing to spend a few hundred.
Prefer anything along these lines:
Pentax K110, K100, K10 Nikon D40 or D50
Canon Rebel XT (saw one on amazon for 450, that’s good right?)
Just if anyone knows anywhere to find these cheap, at a reliable place online, please let me know!
Thanks
The Pentax K110D is out of production and is essentially the K100D without VR. If you can afford the K10D (they’re not too expensive now), it’s the best value for your money. The K10D is an intermediate camera with weather-seals and sensor-shift image stabilization whereas the others you’ve listed are budget entry level DSLRs.
The D50 is kind of obsolete at this point. It’s a great camera but you’ll have a hard time finding one new for a reasonable price. $450 for a XT is not that great of a deal — the D40, Olympus E-410, and K100D all come within this price.
Nathan G: Pentax is not the "new-kid-on-the-block" — it’s an established company dating back to the early 20th century, around the same time as Nikon and before Canon. Saying that shows just how much you know. Just because a company doesn’t own a large percentage of market share doesn’t mean they make sub-par or unreliable cameras. Pentax was a HUGE player back in the days of film and still is in a sense. A little delay set them back on the digital scene but they still manufacture excellent cameras and have a dedicated user base. One of the key advantages of Pentax is that they fully support lenses and other accessories that have since been taken out of production — which should say something about the company.
Where you should buy really depends on the region you live in. Here are trusted retailers for North American buyers (some ship international, some don’t):
http://www.bhphotovideo.com
http://www.adorama.com
http://www.calumetphoto.com
http://www.beachcamera.com / http://www.buydig.com (go here for low prices)
http://www.cameta.com (mainly an eBay seller)
I’m looking into getting a cheap digital SLR. The two I’m looking at are the nikon d70s, d50 and canon rebel xt. Am I going to notice much or a difference between the nikons 6 mp and the canons 8 mp? And does anyone know a place where I can get one of these cameras at a relatively cheap price? Also, if anyone knows of any othere similarly priced cameras other than these two, i would like to hear about them.
Pixels count matters somewhat, but don’t let the difference between 6MP and 8MP sway your decision unless that is the "tie breaker." Get the one that feels best to you. ANY of these cameras is a great choice. My wife has a D50 and I have a D70s and D200, so I can say that there’s not a WHOLE lot to make you choose the D70s over the D50 if cost is important. Buy the D50 and get an "upgrade" lens (Nikon’s 18-70 f/3.5-4.5 DX) instead of the plastic lens that comes in the kit. That’s a smarter choice.
please help me select which one of these…!!! i saw them at cosco and they are pretty cheap:] and i heard that canon and Nikon are some of the best for begginers like me :]
OH by the way what is the differ between the canons i listed up there and the ones that say D30, D40, D50, D60…??? or are any of those i listed one of the D’s?
You would not go wrong buying Canon or Nikon. Both are excellent. Just buy the one which you love to hold.
In Canon, XTi is old camera, XS and XSi are the latest. XSi has more features than anything else, and next is XTi and XS in last.
XS is the lightest DSLR available today. XTi is excellent camera but about 2-3years old. XS has latest processor but it has few features stripped down from XSi.
If you could afford I would buy XSi over XS and XTi.
If you buy Canon couple the kit lens with 55-200mm IS lens, If you buy Nikon couple the kit lens with 55-200mm VR lens, both would make an very versatile and great starter DSLR system.
I’m still a little new to photography equipment but wish to invest in a powerful telescopic lens.
To add to this if the above are not that great could you please recommend a good telescopic lens above 300mm ?
(ideally on ebay
I’m looking to get close up shots from a distance. The shots i take vary, but i’ve found a growing need to be able to get close in on subjects far away. Wild life been one interest.
When you say "nature photography," it makes me think of shooting pictures of animals with a telelphoto lens. If this is what you are talking about, I’d say the longer the lens – the better. I just got a Nikon 70-300 VR lens and I can tell that I will really get some use out of this for nature photography. I’ve just uploaded a couple of pictures to my Flickr site that I took with this lens. See if you think you can use 300 mm. (On the D50, this would be the "equivalent" of a 450 mm lens, exactly as it is on my D200.)
Nikon 70-300 mm VR lens:
300 mm (450 mm equivalent): http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/536590467/
300 mm (450 mm equivalent): http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/535497558/
Nikon 18-200 mm VR lens:
200 mm (300 mm equivalent): http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/489450858/
200 mm (300 mm equivalent):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/487852172/
200 mm (300 mm equivalent):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/409564893/
200 mm (300 mm equivalent):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/409564897/
200 mm (300 mm equivalent):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/408446616/
I finally jumped on the wagon and got the digital SLR that I have wanted for a while now. The package I got comes with a 28-90 mm F/3.3-5.6 lens.
I don’t need a whole lot of lens, just looking for what I would need to round out the camera. I figure the one that comes with it will do for general stuff. I just want to cover the range, especially to help capture my wedding and honeymoon in Jamacia, the big reason I bought this camera.
What would be a good quality lens or two that would compliment what I already have?
You could add a lens for long range shots, something like the Nikon 70-210mm or the 70-300mm, UV filters to protect your lenses against the sand & spray and perhaps dorky sun shades to cut down on flare and preserve contrast in the bright sun light. Oh, and plenty of storage for the trip – do you have enough memory cards?
After that, you’re looking at expansions and upgrades that might not be worth the investment. Things like a tripod, a wider lens (with 28mm as your current widest, you might find yourself backing up a lot), a low light lens such as the 50mm F1.8, a flash, and so forth.
Best wishes, and have a great trip!
I am not going to do this, I do not want to ruin my camera body and/or lens, but I was just wondering. I have a Nikon D50 and Nikon N65. The D50 came with an 18-55 mm 3.5-5.6 DX lens. All my other lenses I can use on both my cameras, but this one I cannot. I was just wondering.
The Nikon DX digital lenses can be used with no harm on most recent Nikon 35mm SLRs (don’t try on an older manual focus camera).
The downside is that you may lose some features, such as VR , AF-S autofocusing, ability to meter, or ability select aperture (G lenses with no aperture ring) depending on the camera. The N65 should be able to use any recent autofocus lens, see here for details:
Given that, however, most DX lenses have a smaller image for the digital sensor, so you will see vignetting or dark corners in your images. Put the lens on your camera and you should see this in the viewfinder. So, the lenses are usable, but you may or may not like the effect!
One exception, however, is the 12-24 f/4 DX, this wide angle is usable without vignetting from about 18 mm to 24 mm on a film camera. It doesn’t damage the camera, and it’s very useful when I need a wide angle, but only happen to have the DX lens around!
I was going to buy a beginner level d-slr camera ( nikon d50) but then I decided that I will need a movie mode, live preview etc. so now I am struggling to decide which slr-like or super zoom camera I should buy. Could you help me if you use one of these cameras?
canon s5 is
fujifilm finepix s9600
and
panasonic dmc fz8
I looked at these cameras on dpreview.com. They all look good.
Canon makes good glassware for their cameras. It’s an 8mp camera with 12x zoom. It can take AA batteries which is nice if you are out and need fresh power fast.
Fugi is also a good camera. I have a Fugi 602z and it’s great. it only has 10x zoom so the canon edges it out. I could not find closeup specs on the Canon. The Fugi has an equivalent of 28mm which is ok.
Panasonic is a 7mp camera with a 12x zoom but on the wide end, it only has 36mm. No external flash. Major bummer. I just don’t see much in the Panasonic specs that appeals to me over Canon or Fugi.
I have a Nikon d-70s and I must says that the speed of the camera to focus and capture the moment has been awesome. I can use the Fugi for the preview and movie modes but that’s not important to me. But if it is to you and you’ve narrowed your choices to these, I’d go with the Canon because it edges out Fugi in zoom and Canon has good glassware.
Good luck. Look at dpreview.com if you have not already done so.
I’m looking to buy myself my first digital SLR camera, but i’ve got a couple of points it needs to fulfill;
* Not to expensive, around 350-400 euros (~$500)
* Lots of changeable settings, unlike other easy dslr camera’s.
* Not too small. I really like to have a firm sized camera, instead of a very small camera. Rather some bigger size like a nikon d50 or nikon d70 than the other cheaper ones like the d40.
* Preferably a Nikon model, but other brands are possible.
I did a bit of research, and was thinking about a Nikon d70s, but I’d really like some extra tips. The most important point is the size point, it must not be too small.
You seem to have done all your research on this.
I have a colleague that still uses a D70s to shoot outdoor fashion when using flash. It can do things that his D300 cannot, like flash sync at higher shutter speeds. The D300 has a CMOS sensor so cannot shoot at shutter speeds higher than 1/250th when using his flash system
Here is a review on the D70s…Keep in mind that the D80 cannot sync at shutter speeds higher than 1/250th second
I have a budget of between £500-£600 and want a digital SLR that will be easy to use (as I am a beginner). I have a shortlist of Nikon D50, Canon EOS 350 or 400 but am also open to other suggestions. Please help??
You’re getting a good sense from the answers above me. On your short list, even though I am a Nikon fan, I would choose the Canon D400. I only wish it had a real spot meter instead of no better than a center-weighted meter – a 10% "spot" instead of a true 2-3% spot meter. Other than that, I’d say that the newer technology and higher pixel count makes it worth considering over the D50 or the newer D40.
If you had just a wee bit more in the budget, I’d suggest (like Petra) that you look at the D80. It is a bit more advanced to use than the 400D, but it DOES have that all-purpose "automatic everything" setting to get you through 90% of the time until you learn a bit more as you get into SLR photography.
From your list, though, I’d agree with most above me. I am still quite happy to recommend the D50 when budget dictates that as the best choice, but I just don’t think it’s up to the level of the 400D.
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