Impressionable Noob looking for advice & tagged threads

John Narofsky · Jan 29, 2008

Greetings. I'm a noob. I've done the reading, mind you. I researched my options from September of 2007 through til the middle of January 2008. However, I have never shot with an SLR, much less a DSLR.

In the beginning, I came upon the idea of getting into photography because I needed a hobby that fit two bills: technologically detailed and oriented and would get me off my butt and out into the great outdoors. After thinking about it for six months last year, I started looking into cameras. I want to take nice outdoor shots; however, having read this forum, I knew to curb my spending until I was sure of what kind of pictures I'd actually want to take after having actually taken pictures. After some deliberation, I decided I needed a reasonable telephoto, a good portrait lens, and a reasonable walk-around. I had $2300 to play with.

I considered the Olympus e510, the k100, the k10d, Sony's A100, the D40, the D80, the Rebel XTi, and the 40D. The d40 and the XTi were cramped and felt weird in my hand. The 40D and the Sony were alright, but didn't scream "ME ME YOU WANT ME" so they went on the wayside. I wasn't sure about the Olympus. It was going to be either the k10d or the Olympus in the end. After having held all the cameras under consideration, the k10d with grip felt like magic. Kinda a love at first grasp thing... The weather proofing of the k10d was the final decision point.

Once the release date of the k20d came out the decision was pretty clear. I figured it'll take me awhile to outgrow the k10d and I'd be better off getting out there shooting than waiting yet another couple of months to get rolling.

I bought the following: k10d, the kit lens, 50mm 1.4, and 75-300mm Pentax. I bought an extra battery, the grip, a monopod(already had a tripod that'll suffice), a cool ball head(can't remember the name right now), and some cheap filters for all three lenses. I figured I could pick up good filters when the purchase had a specific purpose or some other legitimate motivation.

I also purchased CS3 extended with student discount. I have a coworker whose agreed to babystep me through it. (Disclaimer - I'm a software developer with 10 years experience. I know how to pick up new IDE's, syntax, and tricks.)

After all that, I have a couple of questions.

1. What flash would you recommend? I can spend enough to pick up the Metz-58. I've read a lot about the issues with the 540's locking pin.

2. What bag system would you recommend? I picked up a Lowepro 350. I think it'll do, but I'd love to hear recommendations based on the expectation that I want to carry this all day, but not through an airport.

3. What threads here do you have tagged as being great advice threads?

4. What kind of filter fun would recommend?

5. What books/tutorials would you recommend?

6. Do you have any other kinds of advice?

I've already started playing with the camera, so you can believe I'm having fun with all this. My wife wants to go spend some money just so she can be as happy as I appeared when I was opening all this stuff.

Russell Evans · Jan 30, 2008

John Narofsky said:
After all that, I have a couple of questions.

1. What flash would you recommend? I can spend enough to pick up the
Metz-58. I've read a lot about the issues with the 540's locking pin.

With the exception of the locking pin and the flash manual being poor, most issues aired here are with P-TTL itself. The difference in flashes might be mostly driven by the features you want because of this.

John Narofsky said:
2. What bag system would you recommend? I picked up a Lowepro 350. I
think it'll do, but I'd love to hear recommendations based on the
expectation that I want to carry this all day, but not through an
airport.

If you are looking at bags, this is a good place to start. A lot of bags, a lot of photos of each bag.
http://taschenfreak.de/indexliste.htm

John Narofsky said:
3. What threads here do you have tagged as being great advice threads?

Stuck pin thread
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1036&message=19213554

Things in the manual I think are worth reading, plus some links to other posts and sites.
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1036&thread=26510464

What the meter is really telling you.
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1036&message=25647179

Sortable spreadsheet of current lenses. New Tamron and Pentax lens aren't on included. I'll add them when there are able to be purchased.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pdnWYLuQEp6XS365BWa17Ww&output=xls

John Narofsky said:
4. What kind of filter fun would recommend?

I went with a screw on CPL and step up rings. I think this was a mistake and I should have gone with Cokin filter holder and filter set. This is mostly because I like landscapes and a graduated ND filter comes in handy. I also think it will be easier to use the filters across all lenses I own with the Cokin set up. I find the screw on filters a little hard to use.

John Narofsky said:
5. What books/tutorials would you recommend?

I spent time going through the manual and usually took a series of photo of my desk exploring whatever was being discussed. I think I've taken about 5000 photos of the things on my desk and about 2000 photos of the light switch across the room.

John Narofsky said:
6. Do you have any other kinds of advice?

I've never owned a SLR camera before so everything was new to me. I had trouble with the shooting modes as I couldn't keep track of what the camera changing in relation to my changing settings. It wasn't until I started using manual mode that I became comfortable with the camera and even the other modes. Understanding the triangle of ISO/Shutter Speed/Aperture, to me is easier to understand in M mode. I think this is how photography classes are taught, cameras in manual mode.

Thank you
Russell

Russell Evans · Jan 30, 2008

I would have thought your post would have generated a few more replies. There have been a number of posts about books in the past and I wasn't much help there, if I was any help at all.

Mostly people are pretty helpful, but sometimes you've got to bump your thread to get attention.

Thank you
Russell

osv · Jan 30, 2008

i would not buy a filter or any books at this point; photoshop is your friend, and using the camera strictly in manual mode, as mentioned above, is the way to learn photography.

set the camera up so that you are previewing the image in the lcd, with the histogram, so that you can check the exposure... learn what a correct histogram looks like first, of course, luminous landscape has some great tutorials on the subject.

get somebody to pose for you; learn how to shoot with natural light and the 50mm, using bounce cards... then start in with the flash.

--
dan

BWG · Jan 30, 2008

You sound like you are on the right track. This forum is a treasure trove of good information. Even though I was already familiar with the concepts of exposure (aperature/shutter speed/sensitivity) I thought this book was a lot of help.

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Photographs-Digital-Updated/dp/0817463003/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201753184&sr=8-1

--
BWG
Be sure to enter the January challenge
'Animal Planet'
http://www.pbase.com/pentaxchallenge/challenge_30

http://s86.photobucket.com/albums/k97/bwg12079/

Mark Prinz · Jan 30, 2008

I agree with most of this (although I never forced myself to use manual mode to learn by, I just paid attention to what the camera chose and took lots and lots of shots).

However, I wouldn't blow off filters altogether. While I don't see any need for colored filters any more these days (as you say, photoshop is your friend), I could recommend a few that can definitely help:

a good circular polarizer for deepening the blue of the sky and cutting reflections off of water or glass

a graduated neutral density filter for high contrast scenes. The Cokin P-series square filters are good for this because you can not only rotate the filter but also slide it up and down depending on where you put the horizon. I have a tendency (perhaps a bad tendency) to just hold the filter up in front of the lens, so I rarely actually use the P-Series holder, just the filter. You don't have to buy them together so you can always pick up the filter first and if you don't like holding it up to the lens or if you notice a loss in quality from the filter shaking or anything then you can pick up the holder later on, and you can get different adapters so the same filter will work on the rest of your lenses

lastly, maybe a set of stackable non-graduated neutral densities for taking long exposures of waterfalls or rivers to give that silky look to the water. I say stackable because sometimes you need more darkening then others so having two medium strength neutral density filters might be better than having one strong neutral density filter (as long as you don't catch the edges of the filters in the frame when stacking them)

I wouldn't recommend the ubiquitous clear UV filters unless your highly accident prone. They don't really do anything to cut UV with a digital camera and the front lens element isn't nearly as soft and in need of protection as the old manual focus lenses used to be. You're just adding an unnecessary piece of glass in front of your lens that could (depending on the quality of the filter) mar your image quality or create more flare.

Also, if you go with threaded screw on filters, unless you have the money to get a filter for each lens, it's best to buy the filters to fit your largest diameter lens and then buy step-up rings for your smaller lenses. For example, my largest lens right now is a 58mm, so I have filters that fit that, but the 18-55 kit lens is a 49mm lens so I bought a 49-58mm step-up ring (for about $10, maybe less) and use the same filters on both lenses. The only downside to using step-up rings is that you might not be able to use the lens hood with it. The kit lens hood still fits with the 49-58 ring on, but the hood has to go on first and it's a pain trying to screw the ring onto the lens with the hood on, and once it's setup you can't take the hood off without removing the step-up ring! At least the hood has a window to allow you to rotate the filter, so I don't have to remove the hood that often.

osv said:
i would not buy a filter or any books at this point; photoshop is
your friend, and using the camera strictly in manual mode, as
mentioned above, is the way to learn photography.

set the camera up so that you are previewing the image in the lcd,
with the histogram, so that you can check the exposure... learn what
a correct histogram looks like first, of course, luminous landscape
has some great tutorials on the subject.

get somebody to pose for you; learn how to shoot with natural light
and the 50mm, using bounce cards... then start in with the flash.

--
dan

--
http://www.photobird.com/prinz/
http://mutedphotos.deviantart.com/

sammysamiam · Jan 30, 2008

I could use this info also.
Thanks for asking the questions.

Leuf · Jan 30, 2008

John Narofsky said:
In the beginning, I came upon the idea of getting into photography
because I needed a hobby that fit two bills: technologically detailed
and oriented and would get me off my butt and out into the great
outdoors. After thinking about it for six months last year, I started
looking into cameras. I want to take nice outdoor shots; however,
having read this forum, I knew to curb my spending until I was sure
of what kind of pictures I'd actually want to take after having
actually taken pictures.

I'm not sure whether you mean going out hiking or just driving/walking around.

Of the 3 lenses I started with one got sold, one is sitting in the closet, and the other I use all the time. So yeah, you don't know what you're getting yourself into at the start

John Narofsky said:
I bought the following: k10d, the kit lens, 50mm 1.4, and 75-300mm
Pentax. I bought an extra battery, the grip, a monopod(already had a
tripod that'll suffice), a cool ball head(can't remember the name
right now), and some cheap filters for all three lenses. I figured I
could pick up good filters when the purchase had a specific purpose
or some other legitimate motivation.

1. What flash would you recommend? I can spend enough to pick up the
Metz-58. I've read a lot about the issues with the 540's locking pin.

I went for the Sigma 530 Super but haven't used it enough or are competent enough with flash photography to speak on the subject.

John Narofsky said:
2. What bag system would you recommend? I picked up a Lowepro 350. I
think it'll do, but I'd love to hear recommendations based on the
expectation that I want to carry this all day, but not through an
airport.

I have tried numerous things, especially for hiking. I really like a small sling bag (tamrac 7x) which will fit the K10D and I think those 3 lenses, not sure how long the 75-300, but not with the grip. I use it by itself or in combination with other bags. If you find something that works really well for you on the first try you are a blessed man, most of us are still trying to figure it out

John Narofsky said:
4. What kind of filter fun would recommend?

I wouldn't worry about filters too much at this point. And don't put a cheap filter on that FA 50, but do get a hood for it. There's a nice metal screw in hood that works well with it available at bhphoto, but I'll have to dig out a link for it. You can put a 58mm lens cap right on the end of it so it's easy to get off.

John Narofsky said:
5. What books/tutorials would you recommend?

As long as you understand the basics of what effect shutter and aperture have and know what the rule of thirds is you aren't going to get too much out of a book. Get out there and take lots of pictures. The best tutorial is to look at images you like and try to figure out what it is you like about them.

John Narofsky said:
6. Do you have any other kinds of advice?

Take your time out there. Really look around. There's no signs out there that say "Stand here, point camera over there." There are times when my spidey sense tingles that there is a good shot somewhere around here, but finding it and getting it to come out the way you envisioned it... well, that's the hard part. Most of my good shots aren't taken just standing straight up either.

John Narofsky said:
I've already started playing with the camera, so you can believe I'm
having fun with all this. My wife wants to go spend some money just
so she can be as happy as I appeared when I was opening all this
stuff.

Uh oh. Don't compound it by letting her see any unflattering pictures of herself!

GossCTP · Jan 30, 2008

John Narofsky said:
1. What flash would you recommend? I can spend enough to pick up the
Metz-58. I've read a lot about the issues with the 540's locking pin.

I have the AF360 unit, which has the same locking pin. I never lock it down and it is plenty tight.

John Narofsky said:
2. What bag system would you recommend? I picked up a Lowepro 350. I
think it'll do, but I'd love to hear recommendations based on the
expectation that I want to carry this all day, but not through an
airport.

I've started using a backpack since going more into the great outdoors. Sometimes snacks and water are more important than taking all your lenses.

John Narofsky said:
3. What threads here do you have tagged as being great advice threads?

If I tagged them, they are buried too deep for me to find.

John Narofsky said:
4. What kind of filter fun would recommend?

I've been impressed by the Raynox macro adapter that Mighty Mike is using. It should turn up in a search. Also, a polarizer is a must have. Don't go cheap on filters - at least no cheaper than you go on the lenses. Go for a multi-coating.

John Narofsky said:
5. What books/tutorials would you recommend?

Luminous landscape has some good info. For technical stuff I like Bob Atkins' site, though most of his info is for Canon.

John Narofsky said:
6. Do you have any other kinds of advice?

Ignore K20d threads, get a set of hiking poles if you want to hike in the mountains, learn the implications of the sunny 16 rule and have fun.

--

Judging a photographer on the basis of equipment is like speculating one's physique from a gym pass.

_timo_ · Jan 30, 2008

The K10D was also my first SLR. I've been shooting with it since April of last year.

John Narofsky said:
1. What flash would you recommend? I can spend enough to pick up the
Metz-58. I've read a lot about the issues with the 540's locking pin.

No opinion about the flash. I have had a real adventure with low light and available light shooting -- this is one way that dSLRs distinguish themselves from point and shoot cameras. Try it out!

John Narofsky said:
2. What bag system would you recommend? I picked up a Lowepro 350. I
think it'll do, but I'd love to hear recommendations based on the
expectation that I want to carry this all day, but not through an
airport.

Really happy with my Crumpler bag. I like bags that don't necessarily look like camera bags.

John Narofsky said:
3. What threads here do you have tagged as being great advice threads?

There are a lot of good suggestions already.

John Narofsky said:
4. What kind of filter fun would recommend?

FIlters? Seems to me you might want to get to know the camera and the relationship between aperture, shutter speed and ISO intimately before adding more to the mix.

I did buy a circular polarizer.

John Narofsky said:
5. What books/tutorials would you recommend?

I really liked Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure."

John Narofsky said:
6. Do you have any other kinds of advice?

Yes! Shoot lots of pictures with the same lens. Get to know the lens. Get to know the e-dials. I find the TAV setting to be the most interesting. The green button next to the shutter release toggles the "correct" exposure, so if you wildly dial out the shutter speed or aperture you can quickly reset these (great for when you've got to take the picture, not plan for it).

There are many helpful threads about focussing here -- try a search. The red dots in the viewfinder are focus points, the green hexagon in the menu bar comes on when you are in focus. Learn the differences between the AF-S and AF-C. Shooting manual (including manual focus) can be rewarding.

I have gravitated toward primes and taken to heart the advice that one should seek out your vantage, not just stay in one place and zoom from it. Crouching, stretching, resting the camera on a rock for a slow shutter speed shot -- taking pictures with a SLR has been exercise for the body and mind.

It's a lot of fun. Remember to take a lot of shots and to experiment with a purpose -- "what am I trying to capture with this photograph?" Even a few keepers per month can be very satisfying.

Good luck, and congratulations on you new K10D.

MR The Guy · Jan 31, 2008

http://www.pbase.com/pnd1/root
Circular polarizer that is so expensive when you see the price you pass out (B+W). Don't bother with any other filters.
Until you've mastered the body and 50mm 1.4, don't use the zooms (the 50mm 1.4 is rather hard to use though). Understand why by studying dofmaster.com. Take 100 pictures of one subject with all the possible combos of speed/aperture with that one lens and study them.
Post-processing only fixes mistakes you should have not made. A perfectly taken photo can be converted from RAW to a 16-bit tif and printed. Don't spend ANY money on software, use free Linux software, or the stuff that came with the camera. If you're sitting behind a computer, you're not off your lazy a** which you said was a major motivation.
Go to the library once a week and look at all the photography books. Not the technical ones so much as the ones full of pictures by famous photographers.
Practice, practice, practice.
Recognize that in your life, if you're lucky, you'll take only one really good picture.
The advice here is worth what you paid for it, my comments included.

Amit Bidaye · Jan 31, 2008

I have the 540 flash and to be honest, I find that it works well most of the time if used properly. I find bouncing an ext. flash off the ceiling sometimes takes a little trial and error depending on the height of the ceiling (that is what I use my flash for most of the time indoors) but I agree with most of the replies, try indoor shots with natural light, I have the 50mm 1.4 and let me tell you, it's a gem indoors.

I bought the Magic Lantern's guide to the K10 and find it very helpful, and like someone else said here, take tons of shots and analyze them as to why some worked and some did not.

I use the Sig. 18-50mm EX as my walk around lens.

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Impressionable Noob looking for advice & tagged threads

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