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best SLR for an exotic car dealer

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jharonis

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Hi All,

I am an exotic car dealer

Usually take about 100 pics per vehicle

Mid day…sunny in Southern California

Using a canon G9 currently – tripod setup

I was thinking of purchasing a Canon 40D (or wait for the 50D) or the new Nikon D90

(would love to have a slr that had the 4:3 ratio but i believe i am limited to olympus at that point...would love it if I did not have to crop each photo...we need to post pics on the web @ 640x480 so each pic would need to be cropped from 3:2 to 4:3)

Must haves: Live preview on the LCD

What do you recommend regarding switching from the G9 to the DSLR’s

What would be the best lens for me…Wide angle shots…need vibrant, eye popping shots

I certainly appreciate any advice you may have for us
 
For the small sized photos you are talking about, the camera you are already using should work just fine. If you need to sharpen or add oomph to your pics, just use google picasa (which can crop and resize also).

For such small web pics, I would not recommend spending more money on a camera unless you are using for other means also.

--
justin

jusphotos.com
 
im Using CS2

works fast and well for cropping and resizing for web...

just thinking a DSLR with a kickass piece of Glass will give me the oomph im looking for??

thanks
 
You'd probably have to add a fair amount of post processing to a dslr image to get the pop you have straight from the camera you have now. Most dlsr's are geared to less snap right from the camera compared to the point and shoot equipment out there. The capabilities are there, but you have to make it happen.
 
the one thing the G9 offers that a dslr does not offer is DOF, lot's of it!

If you shoot with the dslr you will immediately notice that parts of the car are oof and closer parts are sharp. This would be a no-no in car photography as you have described your needs. More "arty" with dslr? Yes, but your description of your needs says the G9 is probably more appropriate. And the "vibrant, eye popping" shots that you are looking for are more readily available in the G9.
I'd stick with it and quit looking for the magic bullet in cameras!
Regards, jim
jharonis said:
--
Hi All,

I am an exotic car dealer

Usually take about 100 pics per vehicle

Mid day…sunny in Southern California

Using a canon G9 currently – tripod setup

I was thinking of purchasing a Canon 40D (or wait for the 50D) or the
new Nikon D90

(would love to have a slr that had the 4:3 ratio but i believe i am
limited to olympus at that point...would love it if I did not have to
crop each photo...we need to post pics on the web @ 640x480 so each
pic would need to be cropped from 3:2 to 4:3)

Must haves: Live preview on the LCD

What do you recommend regarding switching from the G9 to the DSLR’s

What would be the best lens for me…Wide angle shots…need vibrant, eye
popping shots

I certainly appreciate any advice you may have for us
Click to expand...
--



Odds N' Ends album here:
http://www.pbase.com/jimh/inbox&page=all
Z album here: http://www.pbase.com/jimh/marilyn_the_car&page=all
 
If you do switch, I think your choice of lens's will be more paramount than the SLR. There are several great Nikon and Canon SLR bodies available, but the lens will be what does the trick for what you are shooting, and I would think that something really wide would be what you would need? Something like Nikon's 12-24. Tokina also makes a great 12-24 at half the price of the Nikon, and interestingly the Tokina 12-24 is considered by many as having better optics than the Nikon.
 
The Olympus E-520 with the 14-42mm kit lens will give you great dof and very sharp vibrant jpegs straight out of the camera with the right aspect ratio you are looking for. Alternatively the E-510 with the same lens is excellent value for money and they both have live view, That kit lens is probably the best you can get in its class. You won't go far wrong with either camera and they both have in body image stabilisation.
--
667....Neighbour of the beast
 
Today now in this moment, I would go Canon 5d full frame cheap and great selection of glass good and bad. Unless you are after a super wide peice of glass go with the 5d. Nikon does beat Canon in the ultra wide glass. But shoting cars you want 50mm. Just thoughts. The 5d is the best bang for buck today and will get cheaper soon. I have d2x d70s and soon d3. But if you must go dslr the 5d is good. But also a learning curve involved.
--
Davespix
 
Why not Olympus, most complaints I read in that forum are regarding high iso noise and af in lower light etc, they would be great for what you want.

Nice output in good light, more DoF, stabilised bodies (so any lens has IS) and decent glass, plus the 4:3 ratio you want.

Don't know there gear well but if you have the dollars an E3 and 12-60 would be great I think, but the E520 with kit do the job also.

Try a post on the Oly forum.

--
Gerry,
http://gerryd.smugmug.com/ discount code on homepage

 
jharonis said:
--
Hi All,

I am an exotic car dealer

Usually take about 100 pics per vehicle

Mid day…sunny in Southern California

Using a canon G9 currently – tripod setup
Click to expand...
Instead of taking pictures of the car Mid Day, try early morning or later afternoon. The Sun is quite harsh at 12 noon.

Don't go too early to too late either, might be too dark for the camera. You will know when the light is just right, as the car will look pleasing to the eye for you, and you won't be squinting at it.

If the picture turns out too bright or too dark, try changing the exposure compensation on the camera and retake the picture. (To take a picture of a black car, you'll need a little negative exposure compensation. And a little positive compensation for a white car).

Jimmy
 
Apart from the great camera ideas given to the original question - would excellent HDR software be a good thing?

I was noticing in the sample pictures of the exterior car shots that the contrast of bright sun and shadows could present a problem if these are typical shooting conditions for the poster. Yesturday I happened a across a beautiful old car hit by a splash of bright sun on the corner of the front hood and wish I had my tripod with me to bracket the exposure and fix that area later in post. I would know how to combine these exposures in CS2. Maybe other software packages are better for this?

Mike
 
Sorry for the correction on that last part. It should read: I don't know how to correct and combine a bracketed exposure in CS2. Are there better software packages that do this better than CS2?

I couldn't help but notice the huge contrast of the poster's car shots in those sunny conditions and the problems they present.

Mike
 
Question...

I understand that using a DSLR there will be quite a bit of time invested into the Post Processing of the shots because these shots come out flatter than using a simple p&s

the question i have...is there not a custom user shooting mode...or vivid setting in the canon or nikon (or any big time DSLR for that matter)...if I preset this mode or use the VIVID shooting mode will these shots still requir a good amount of PP...or again am I better off sticking with my G9 or another real good P&S

thanks
 
Question...

I understand that using a DSLR there will be quite a bit of time invested into the Post Processing of the shots because these shots come out flatter than using a simple p&s

the question i have...is there not a custom user shooting mode...or vivid setting in the canon or nikon (or any big time DSLR for that matter)...if I preset this mode or use the VIVID shooting mode will these shots still requir a good amount of PP...or again am I better off sticking with my G9 or another real good P&S

thanks
 
Question...

I understand that using a DSLR there will be quite a bit of time invested into the Post Processing of the shots because these shots come out flatter than using a simple p&s

the question i have...is there not a custom user shooting mode...or vivid setting in the canon or nikon (or any big time DSLR for that matter)...if I preset this mode or use the VIVID shooting mode will these shots still requir a good amount of PP...or again am I better off sticking with my G9 or another real good P&S

thanks
 
Question...

I understand that using a DSLR there will be quite a bit of time invested into the Post Processing of the shots because these shots come out flatter than using a simple p&s

the question i have...is there not a custom user shooting mode...or vivid setting in the canon or nikon (or any big time DSLR for that matter)...if I preset this mode or use the VIVID shooting mode will these shots still requir a good amount of PP...or again am I better off sticking with my G9 or another real good P&S

thanks
 
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