This post is highly subjective. Be aware of this information.
What to do with a cool SLR?
Today, the availability of good cameras is simply scary. Amateur tricked-in super camera can practically afford every schoolboy. For a couple of hundred cu You can get just the exorbitant quality of the photo.
A person often does not know why he needs a camera and what to do with it. Often, a very expensive camera is bought with the hope that a good shot make the camera itself without human intervention. This is not true. The camera does nothing by itself, and a good shot requires sweat, blood, ideas, a shooting plan, time and skill. Moreover, you need to be able to realize the potential of a 'cool' camera, but in order to be with the camera on you you need a lot of practice.
Nowadays a lot of people are 'learning' to photograph by sitting their pants on the pages of websites on the Internet, my Radozhiva is no exception. I see a tendency on my website that after buying a camera, the first question is' what lens / trinket / flash / rattle 'to buy for the camera, instead of the question'how to learn to take pictures well'. This is due to the fact that people manic convincedthat it is precisely technique that is the most important decisive factor in creating a good photograph - and they are right, but to be able to handle such a technique takes mountains of experience. And experience can only be obtained in one way - study, go and take pictures. Taking pictures and taking pictures again, this is not the time of the film, you can learn very quickly on unsuccessful bumpy photos.
An example from my personal life: if I buy myself a cool racing car now, I will crash at the first corner. The same applies to photographic equipment, if a novice photographer or an ordinary amateur photographer buys a super-fancy camera, then the very first pictures can be sent to the basket, because fancy cameras do not have fully automatic modes'Me and my pet'.
For more or less decent camera control, an understanding of the principles and fundamentals of photography and photographic equipment, for general development in general, I recommend invest in photo courses, or a printed version of a book from a photograph... I do not advertise any photography school or books, I absolutely do not care what you read or where you study - the only question is what to do with your own education necessary. I emphasize that the book should be in the printed version, for the printed version you will have to give your "hard-earned" money, this will be a good reason to read it. Free photo books in electronic form are suitable only for really interested photo enthusiasts. The same goes for courses. You have to pay for the acquisition of skills, whether it's your own time spent on thoughtful study of some issue, whether it's listening to a lecture in a photography school.
A 'cool' camera needs a 'cool' photographer. And there are no cool ones, there are trained ones :)
Conclusions:
Believe me, good photographic equipment comes only to those who know how to use it. You need to be ready to work with a 'cool' camera, otherwise there will be too few good shots. It is foolish to spend precious time thinking about buying another high-aperture fix - it is better to invest all free energy in personal skillsown development. Instead of buying an expensive camera, it’s better to buy a cheaper camera, and with the money you save, do any kind of development in your photo.
Do not forget to press the buttons ↓↓↓ social networks ↓↓↓ Thank you for attention. Arkady Shapoval.
A lot of confusion in the comments :) I will add my own.
There are different people and different photographers. They have different needs.
Someone has a need for the use of photographic equipment and this is normal in our age.
Someone is warmed by the knowledge that his equipment is the best, even if he does not use it to its full capacity (I myself am no exception and I know many people who are subject to this. But this applies not only to photos! The same with audio or machines). The main thing is that potentially, you are not limited by equipment and if you have not removed a masterpiece, then it is your fault, not technology. No one to blame.
Someone is pleased to hold a quality thing in their hands. You will understand me, you are also more pleased to use a melkhorovoy (or maybe silver) spoon, rather than a plastic one. Because people buy old Leica cameras.
There are no cool cameras. There are cameras for your tasks. Hasselblad is not the best camera for many genres. 1.5-2 frames per second .. The reporter will not appreciate it. Like any other SF cameras.
And if you take a landscape. Landscape photography masters shoot at 8x10 ″ (20x25.5cm). Where is Hassel with his 6x4.5cm.
So the equipment needs to be selected for yourself and all that.
I completely agree about books and courses. But with the proviso that 90% of courses in Russia are money scams. 80% of modern books are the same.
What to do to the poor Indian, you ask ..
And it depends on what you want to study and at what level.
Then you can pick up books and courses and video tutorials.
It’s not necessary to buy books yet. Everything is online.
There is a video too.
Courses .. One must be prepared that good courses are expensive. The cleverest way is to agree on training with a person whose photos you like. It will often be cheaper (no need to search for a freebie everywhere) and you will get exactly what you wanted to get as a result.
If not all secrets will be revealed to you, it does not matter. For those who really want to learn, the main thing is the received impulse. He will get the rest himself. Not a single secret can be hidden from anyone who wants to find out.
Regarding photo blogs, I’m not so categorical. Everything just needs to know the measure. Even if you eat something useful in tons, you can be poisoned. :)
I believe that everything is correctly written in the article.
I will give an example from my own experience.
Relatives bought a d80. All photos taken by them were taken in auto mode. After a few years, they gave me the d80 (which became my first DSLR) and bought the d90. The question is, why do they need a DSLR?
The answer is simple: people wanted high-quality, detailed images and good automation. And yet, yes, both the d80 and the d90 with a whale of 18-135 (and then 105) were able to give them this. Therefore, as already said, the main understanding of why you need it.
Thanks for the helpful article. Arkady You are doing a very useful job. Delema what camera to photograph - the question is far from simple, it seems to me the question rests on the development phase. If a person does not know how to see, the picture will be taken by Nikon D3 or the result will be predictable. All probably took place with assholes of master-builders “professional-repairmen”, give them a cool device in their hands, he will either cause trouble or a neighbor will burst to you for compensation. Until a person understands that he wants to get him an expensive camera will not help and prompt. I am an amateur, I do not consider myself a professional, I really like to photograph and my love for 7 years. I don’t think about what lens the cat was filmed with, it’s easier for me to guess its nickname, but if it was done beautifully, then your friend was your camera-friend. In the practical case, when a person sees the world as flat, his creation will display his world, and the number of clicks on the camera release will not make the cast of the flat world three-dimensional and interesting for everyone. This person can only be helped by the school or the author of this article (Arkady), he will have to change his worldview, but here there is already a desire to change. If not, then maybe you should not buy a cool camera, but a piano or a drum and test yourself there. As my neighbor does, having bought a saxaphone for himself, now I cannot open the window, I began to confuse notes and stopped loving the orchestra.
Unfortunately, the author of the article is right, there is nothing to blame on the technique if he has not yet learned to photograph. And “unfortunately”, because I think that often people want to get an excellent result, while not spending a lot of time and effort, because the hope is that if it is expensive, then the photo will work out. But no, as in any business, you have to learn, try and work. Although yes, sometimes they buy an expensive camera just so that the quality of the photo is better than that of a soap dish and this is enough for people. Their right. And for some, on the contrary, the most interesting thing is to use modes other than the Auto mode and learn how to take really interesting photos. But beginners have a lot of questions, you don't know where to start, there is so much information at once and it is all important, you cannot concentrate on one parameter, you need to take into account everything. Thanks for the advice on books who pointed out in the comments.
as it was said “your first 10.000 shots are the worst” (c). It was very interesting to read the thoughts of the author and "comrades in the shop". Given the number of courses and classes, it is already necessary to filter them out, And Soviet books will be popular because they were written by masters of their craft. As for modern ones, the situation is much more complicated. After all, many write their books precisely on digital photography, and due to their own vision of knowledge passing through a person sometimes changes greatly. Therefore, you must choose the information you really need (refer to photographers above the entry level). I would like to wish all who work in our field successful personnel and a bright mind)
I decided not to get involved in the discussion, I will just add a few books that I think are not superfluous to read: Feldman Ya. D., Kurskiy LD "Technique and technology of photography" 1981, LP Dyko "Fundamentals of composition in photography" 1988, Dyko L .P., Golovnya AD "Photocomposition" 1955 Nappelbaum M.S. “From craft to art The art of photography” 1958 AG Simonov "Photographing with artificial lighting" 1959 That perhaps you can still count quite a few old books, but they liked the ones that they read or leafed through. Maybe someone will be interested.
..for lovers of portraits I recommend Franz Fiedler "Portrait photography" 1960. although the technique is different from that time, the principle has not changed. If anyone is interested in books, I think it's not a problem to find them in digital form, but if I can send something to the mail.
Thank you!
On a photo-training course, I’ve got a crust, moreover, at that time, I was working as a cameraman on a TV-tower.
Thank you Arkady for everything you do. I have d60 and a bunch of gifts from the SOVDEP and I can be happy grandchildren
mine will rake my tons of gigs and understand that my grandfather was a genius is a joke but seriously on the net a sea of information for FREE turn on the brains the world is beautiful take pictures and all descendants will understand
Anecdote in the topic:
“A photographer came to a lady for dinner. She looked at his photographs and exclaimed:
- What wonderful photos you have! Probably you have a very good camera?
The photographer was silent. But, leaving, he said:
- Thank you, the dinner was delicious. You probably have very good pans. ”
I agree. So I did. I have been studying photos in ESHKO for half a year and the result is obvious. Even from my simple Canon PowerShot sx150is I manage to squeeze excellent shots. And choosing a DSLR is already easier ... I decided for myself: either the new Canon 700d or Nikon d5200. I think to me that's enough.
A very correct and relevant topic (article). I completely agree with everything written in the article and with many comments. Personally, I similarly bought my first SLR, purely by accident, unconsciously, I just wanted a good SLR, I won’t take a professional picture, I just want beautiful shots. I read a day or two on the Internet and chose the most optimal rational Nikon D3100 solution from 18-55. But the frames that I expected to see, I did not see and my desire cooled for several months. Then a familiar photographer helped set up the camera and a few words said that why, the photos began to turn out much more contrast and better. Then I came across the site of Radozhiv, believed in the word Arkady, that Soviet glass still has the right to exist in our time. He began his acquaintance with Helios 81n. Here I got what I bought a DSLR for. After that I had a lot of lenses and great shots. Now I have Nikon D90, 18-70, Nik 50 1.8, Jupit 135 / 3.5, macro Mikkar. Thank you very much for this site Radozhiva!
For myself, as for an amateur, I do not earn money from photography, but only enjoy it - I decided that this set with my head is enough. The transition to full frame will not be entirely justified, because expensive for photography without earning money.
Soon I will have a wedding, there was a question of finding a photographer, because I already understand something in photography, then the choice is more picky. The first requirement was that I really like the examples of photography, both in terms of the idea and the photo itself, and in the quality and professionalism of processing. The second requirement was a good full frame camera and good glasses. The third is an unknown photographer :). The fourth is personal affection for the photographer. Fifth - a sane budget. Look like that's it)
We decided on the choice of a photographer in a few days (fortunately there are a lot of proposals), met and agreed on everything. I liked the photographer, communications were easily found, the control technique passed :)) Canon 5dm3, 85 1.2, zooms, widths, flashes ...)
Forgive me for the many letters, for which I wrote this, maybe in too much detail)) For an amateur, the choice of technique must correspond to the conscious requirements and pocket. For a professional, you need experience, when you have it, you need full-frame equipment, but in the last place - a pocket. Because this is work and if you do it professionally, you cannot save on it. IMHO, thanks if you read it :)
Books, books and more books for teaching. One of the amazing human capabilities is the ability to self-organize and self-study. No one will teach you how to photograph until you independently go through this process from simple to complex, through trial and error. Our brain is arranged in an amazing way - the accumulated (and supported by experience) knowledge reflexively allows us to act in the future “according to the situation”. Thus, everything that has been accumulated in any studied area (in this case, in the art of photography) will not necessarily be useful to us tomorrow, but it will certainly become a component of a single whole. To the question "How to take pictures?" you need to look for the answer within yourself. Start at least with a constant analysis of the illumination around us in everyday life, see how light falls from a window, from the sun, how shadow and light relate. And that's all - when you start unraveling the tangle, the brain itself will issue a request for this or that missing information. And when you yourself become a “camera”, then any system (Nikon, Canon ...) will produce a vision of your brain, all this will be intuitive. You yourself will become a system, a single system with your camera.
I love my D60 and am not going to change it until it crumbles. :-)
Arkady, as always to the point. Thanks.
Dedicated to “clever fellows” with spread fingers and fixed ideas: good photographic equipment (hardware) is good, possessing good technical skills is even better, but all this is nothing compared to an IDEA, a vision. Photography is LIGHTING, not “camera capability”. We have all seen expensive systems gathering dust from such “spread out” and wonderful photos taken with relatively inexpensive cameras. Differences in speed / performance of cheaper cameras / lenses from more expensive ones are still much less than the “high-speed” differences in the abilities of different photographers. Photos are taken by PEOPLE. People with ideas.
Conducted a small opinion poll at work.
))). He himself had fun.
2 years ago a DSLR appeared in my house. Co-workers liked her look, liked the photos (even those that I didn’t like :)). My advice was simple: if you don’t go to shoot like I do, day and night, and from the very “shit” (this is “good” for my son: he has plenty of time, but I don’t have enough time for anything), if you will even try to understand how the aperture differs from the shutter speed and how they relate to the exposure, if you do not plan to spend decent money on decent optics, etc., then it is for you - this is some kind of compact. The choice is huge!
Not. No, no, no. The council is gone like a liter of water in the desert sand. Only geniuses learn from the mistakes of others, and I have never met such people.
Three bought a DSLR. (One is glad that Nikon :), as I have :). )
Here is their fate. Cameras, in the sense of:
-1th sold immediately, without loss of money. After his wife was horrified by the pictures of her face. :). What color, what wrinkles, etc.
The 2nd bought and takes off in AUTOMATIC only. I tried to affectionately (so as not to offend) point out errors (tiny-tiny), explain the difference in aperture / shutter priority. At least so that removed !!!!! Not. But what is it, stupid does not understand what I want to shoot !! ???? The answer to this question has not yet been born with me.
3rd shoots. Sometimes. Once a month or two. More precisely, he does not shoot, but as he himself said, Clicks. So it turns out that I bought a “nut-lye” for $ 700. How it clicks, I do not know, because it clicks how it "stands", but how it "stands" there and what it "stands" does not know. Clicks. And all business.
The question is to those who advocated starting D7000 at least: do you think that 600-700 cu is it not enough to realize the fact of the worthlessness and uselessness of the SLR in the house? And you need to try to get people to spend more?
I studied photography in the era of black and white film. I will not argue that then the grass was greener, the sun was brighter and the girls were prettier, but in terms of mastering photo art 20-30 years ago a certain system was present, there was a strict natural selection. And that was right.
Usually, the one who wanted to master the wisdom of photo-making started with the simplest devices in which all the settings had to be done manually.
Every novice photographer was forced to first figure out how to calculate the correct exposure pair, accurately determine the area of sharpness and much more. If, in the course of mastering the basics, the desire to engage in photography did not disappear, the person moved on, and only after reaching a certain level of technical literacy, he thought about buying a more expensive camera. The crown of dreams was the mirror "Zenith" or "Kiev" - it was believed that they could successfully shoot any scenes. Serious cameras were expensive - at least one month's salary for an engineer, and some three to five times that. Interchangeable lenses for "DSLRs" also "bite", and it was very difficult to buy them, with some exceptions.
Due to the necessity of spending large expenditures of money and time (film development and printing of photographs was carried out manually, in our own bathroom), only those who knew exactly how to squeeze everything that they could from an accessible camera could seriously take photographs. Well, a good command of technology simply obliged to develop creativity.
Where am I leading? I believe that in order to learn how to photograph, you must first learn how to ask questions correctly.
And where to look for the answer to them - on the Internet, in courses or from books, this is a secondary matter. It helps to understand what kind of knowledge is missing, setting the camera to manual mode and turning off the lens autofocus.
.... If you are not a loser, learn to think faster than you press the shutter release button. Very educates character.
http://radikal.ua/data/upload/0fccf/4efc3/80904e8abf.jpg
Already in the heart they hooked Arkadia all ci “'what lens / trinket / flash / rattle' to buy for the camera,”. I want it to be very sensible, people go to jokes in Yandex, and Google will see on their own banal food (:
Actually, people who ask a lot of questions and don’t want to understand anything I send to courses :) the address of this page really reflects the real situation of my mood from reading some comments on Radozhiva :)
I do not want such people to roam, like buying a SLR camera and don’t want to read anything else. Ace tse silently mother rіch і nvmіti her correctly browning (:
Actually, I ask people who ask a lot of questions and don’t want to understand anything and send them to courses
—————————————————————————————————-
The courses won't help them either. They own, maybe even outrageous cameras and want to be convinced of the benefits of photography. Treat majors from majors? What for? )) PS I don't want to offend anyone. One master told me “As long as you call your photos“ photos ”, you will never learn to take pictures.”
“Fancy cameras do not have fully automatic 'Me and My Pet' modes.
http://demotivators.to/p/5372/ya-i-moya-sranaya-koshka.htm
Forgive me, maybe someone has already said, but there is too much water in the comments ... There is an old book, you can find it in any small library: DO Starodub “The ABC of Photography”. There is about everything, the most important thing (but half is about development and printing - it is so, for the sake of interest, you can scroll through)
To learn, you need to have something to learn. So the technique plays an important role. In my opinion, you need to get a flash (so far simpler) to the camera, several filters (protective, polarizing, neutral variable density, gradient), a tripod, and probably an extension cord for the flash. In the future, as experience grows, you can buy additional flashes and update the main one (here everyone decides for himself). Now there is room for a beginner lover to roam. Experiment, combine.
Forgot to add. It will also be useful to have a remote control (wired or IR) for working on a tripod with long shutter speeds. A little later, you can think about acquiring a fast aperture and / or a stronger zoom.
She also studies well on manual glasses without any dandelions on entry-level cameras like d3000-d5100 :)
It is interesting that the overwhelming majority of “teaching” photography say that it is unnecessary to have a good and expensive camera complete with an expensive lens for shooting, although they themselves defiantly shoot on FX cameras with high-quality glasses. I strongly disagree with this. You need a serious camera and a lens as well. Not to mention the setting of the light ... And in general there is no limit to study and perfection (photography in this case), as soon as you have mastered something, new horizons open up for you to “move up”. There are no photographers who have already “unlearned”, all learn whatever level and result they have achieved. No matter how professional the photographer is, there is always someone “stronger and faster”. You just have to go forward, fall, make mistakes, get up and walk again (with a good camera-lens system around your neck).
it looks like a budding photographer really needs to read a ton of good photography books before buying a DSLR. otherwise the kind sellers and "pros" will advise him some kind of d3100 and 18-55. and they themselves will shoot with FX on high-aperture optics. a poor beginner will not understand for a very long time why his pictures are unimportant: the quality is wrong and a blurry background cannot be achieved. It's one thing to read about the effect of aperture and focal length on blur, and another thing to take a few shots with a fast fix! awareness comes instantly! I shot with the whale zoom for quite a long time. and really began to shoot, only after buying fifty dollars. eh, before someone would have advised him ... better recommend to a beginner such a combination of camera-lens, which will give an opportunity to his creative abilities to open up, and not make him throw a photo. better to spend a hundred thousand wisely than to throw thirty on a trinket!
The fact of the matter is that the d3000 with the cheapest fifty-fifty fix can give a much more interesting result than the D800 with Nikkor AF-S 18-300mm VR. Although the costs will vary by an order.
—
Therefore, kind sellers and “pros” will be absolutely right if they advise WHAT DOES BUYER'S LEVEL AND TASKS MEAN.
—
My personal conviction is that those who came for D800 or D4 do not need the help of consultants, and those who came for the first camera in their life do not need either D4 or D800.
On the D3100 there is a sea of excellent shots, as it seems to me the question is not even in the glasses. but in how you shoot and in your hands too.
on fixes even d3100 comes to life
http://rutracker.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1497221 book of books
It is interesting how KZ-800 lenses behave on the D135.3.5. Takumar-55.1.4. Porst-35-2.8. Maybe someone tried these and the like? Or will you have to get rid of them? Is the game worth the candle? I ripen (and ripen) myself to purchase the D800 and the recommended travel lens 24-120 4.0 to it. Respectfully to the entire photo community.
I think the old fixes will behave normally on the 24 - the matrix resolution is enough for everyone. I'm not sure about 120-22, because it is too heavy and according to DXOmark it scored only 40 points out of 2013 maximum (is it necessary), although it was included in the list of recommendations. here are the best for eight hundred - i-hero-in.narod.ru/news/04-20-43-XNUMX. fixes rule!
Thank you for the answer. The matrix resolution is enough, but is there enough lens for such a matrix? Here: http://photokaravan.com/Blogs/Mymr/739 24-120 is in fourth place…. (go figure it out). The fact that it is heavy, this plus, suggests that it is metal and glass, maybe a plastic case and glass! So, as light lenses suggest that plastic aspherical glasses appeared there…. unfortunately, do we need it? Over time, they have fluidity, as well as the temperature difference and the picture is disturbed (distortions appear).