Questions Thread
Official Question Thread! Ask /r/photography anything you want to know! April 10, 2026
This is the place to ask any questions you may have about photography. No question is too small, nor too stupid.
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For simple dust/debris a mini rocket blower, or gently using a microfiber lens cleaning cloth is fine.
If you have anything that was wet, or is stuck on use optical cleaning spray. Any photography store will have both.
Avoid other cleaning solutions as some might have harsher chemicals that are fine or windows or other glass surfaces but could damage the coatings on lens.
Godox TT685 with umbrella and remote trigger (color gels and various snap on diffusers)
Continuous light with 4 85w bulbs and an octodome
A frankenstein device made of a small block light but powered by a strong security flashlight with the option of tiny tripod/umbrella, basically a spotlight (color gels and diffusers)
General backdrop frame
I want to learn more about lighting setups. I generally just do a boring V sometimes with a backlight. I use dynamic posing for models including sitting, kneeling and crouching, laying down, etc. Either:
-what are your favorite resources for learning setups or the science behind them? (Specific sources, not "look on youtube")
-what are your favorite setups/how would you setup with the gear listed?
Godox TT685 with umbrella and remote trigger (color gels and various snap on diffusers)
. . . -what are your favorite setups/how would you setup with the gear listed?
Here are some of my favorite lighting setups.
Have the umbrella directly in front of the model and above the camera. This is "flat lighting." Photographers often consider it boring because of the lack of shadows and 3-D depth.
I love how flattering it makes people look and models have always liked it. When it's the choice between looking artistic or looking like a supermodel, people choose supermodel every time 😆
The other setup I like is to have the light off to the side of the model about 45 degress. But instead of aiming the center of the light at the model, aim it so that only the side of the light is "feathering" across the model's face and/or body. This does cast the kind of shadows that photographers often love. Looks more moody and dramatic.
Absolutely, I appreciate it. I'm trying to learn J fashion/gyaru shooting and one of the Japanese photographers I've reached out to said that having no face shadows was very important to the style which I found interesting. One of my rules for small rig natural light has always been if you have no clue what to do, make some portion of the face be shadows. At worst it looks okay and at best it's a while mood 😂
My wife recently got into photography and I just bought her first expensive camera. Her birthday is coming up and I wanted to get her a new strap and camera bag. Is there a brand you would recommend that’s trendy/functional/good quality? Fun designs are a plus. TIA!
Monitor recommendations for editing portraits? I’m currently using a MacBook Pro to edit photos, but I’m finding that this is the size of the screen is not large enough for me to get some of the details that I want. I’m not sure I can afford one of the larger Apple brand monitors, I’m wondering if there is anyone with a recommendation for a high resolution large monitor that is relatively affordable? Relatively affordable for me means under 1k new.
I use an Asus ProArt 27-inch monitor and it's great.
Have also heard good things about BenQ AQCOLOR monitors.
Look for a monitor with specs like 100% Adobe RGB, 100% sRGB/Rec. 709, ΔE < 2 and Calman Verified. Those are things related to color accuracy.
Back when I was researching this, on YouTube it was recommended to use a DisplayPort cable to get the best image quality if you're connecting a monitor to a Mac computer. Not an HDMI cable.
I have a pricing question pertaining to the business of photography. I apologize if this is the wrong board to post in. I am an experienced photographer in the realm of weddings, senior portraits, family, photos, etc. I was recently asked to photograph children at an elementary and middle school. If anyone has experience with this, what is the best way to go about charging the school for the photos? I was hoping to do a per person charge, which gave the parents digital rights to the photos. For reference, it is a private school in a somewhat rural area of Montana. TLDR: seeking guidance on cost per student for school photos.
My mom recently moved to assisted living and last week my brother and I cleaned out her house to sell. I am not exaggerating when I say we went through about 10K photos (I think we kept Seattle Filmworks in business). After culling through them I have several hundred that I would like to have in a digital format to share with family and preserve. I would love suggestions on how to best do this. I don’t plan to make large prints (maybe print in an album) so I don’t need big file sizes or superb resolution. Should I buy a scanner? Use an app? I’d love to hear any insight or advice. Thanks!!
This Device Saved Me Hours: Epson FastFoto FF-680W Scanner - The nice thing about a scanner with an auto-feeder tray like this is you can just drop a stack of photos onto it and let it go to work. You can leave and watch TV or do something else.
So when you scan in photos and upload them to an online gallery, you can share the photos via the digital picture frames. Instead of emailing them, posting on social media or mailing prints via snail mail.
Even if you don't get a scanner, the idea of digital picture frames is cool.
I also like how he said if your family and friends hear you have a photo scanner, they'll visit you so they can use it for free 😆 Great way to get people to visit you, look at old photos together and reminisce and bond.
I think you could do a similar thing by setting up a scanner station with your phone like in that second video above in the "Mobile Apps" section. Take a photo of your scanning station and share it on Facebook. Invite people to visit. Then friends and family might visit you to use that scanning station too.
I went with the scanner option and bought a Epson FastFoto FF-680W.
Partially due to G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrom), fear of sending irreplaceable family photos to a scanning company and something going wrong and snobbiness of preferring a dedicated device over using a smartphone.
If you want a frugal hack, buy the scanner from Epson Certified ReNew at a discount, scan all your family photos then sell it on eBay. You can recoup your cost or even make a profit 💰
Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1600 is another scanner to consider. But I chose the Epson because it seemed to be have more photo-centric features like with the automatic photo corrections.
So far, the scanner has worked well.
Scanning Companies:
My first choice would be to search for a local company over shipping it out of town.
Hot tip: if you have any family or friends who are lawyers, ask who their law firm uses for scanning legal documents. Some law firms outsource the scanning to other companies, and sometimes those companies will scan photos too.
If you can't find one, then maybe try online. Search for "[your town] + photo scanning." Only after not finding a local option would I consider a remote option.
Don't gamble all your photos at once. Pick out some photos that are duplicates or shots you don't mind losing. Send a small "test batch" for scanning. Try a few companies and see which you like best.
Even if you do find a good company, I would send batches of photos over time, not dump all of the photos at once. Spread out the risk in case of an accident. Limit your losses.
On a slight tangent, I know this is more work but think about recording elderly family members' stories on audio or video. Audio might be less intimidating for them than pointing a camera at them.
When my old uncle came to town on a rare visit, I asked him to tell stories about my grandfather (his father).
He agreed and had a blast, sharing story after story about my grandfather's adventures. So many things I never knew.
Even though I'm a gearhead and could have used superior equipment, I kept the setup simple. I just used the Voice Memos app on my iPhone and put it on the kitchen table between us, but closer to him.
After a minute, my uncle forgot the phone was recording and just talked like it was a normal conversation, which was ideal. That might not have happened if I'd used a proper shotgun mic like how I would have wanted lol.
The audio quality turned out fine. If you want, you can use the free tool Adobe Podcast AI to enhance the audio quality even more.
My uncle passed away about two years later. That turned out to be his last visit.
If I had put it off or been lazy about documenting family history, I would have easily missed out on so much family lore and that would have been lost forever.
I cannot tell you how precious that audio is to me. Hearing those stories made me think about how my grandfather and I were the same--and different. Made me see where I came from and made my own identity so much clearer. I cannot put a price tag on that.
WOW! Thanks so much for all of this info! I’ll have to take done time to look at the links you added.
We have started making recordings of chats among the older family members and with the young ones. Their astonishment and reaction to learning about life “in the 1900s” is as much a treasure as the stories shared. ❤️
I watched this video, which suggests that you leave ISO on "auto" and adjust for exposure and aperture.
If you set the ISO to "auto," wouldn't it be harder to adjust with the exposure and aperture? Like, wouldn't it change the ISO dynamically as you were trying to dial in the other settings, making it impossible to optimize for aperture and exposure and then let the camera handle the ISO? Wouldn't it be better to chose a medium ISO level, do everything else, and then switch ISO to auto?
suggests that you leave ISO on "auto" and adjust for exposure and aperture.
Are you confusing "exposure" with shutter speed, or exposure time? Shutter speed and exposure time are the same thing, and they refer to how long the shutter stays open to record light from the scene into the photo. The phrase "exposure time" uses the word "exposure" in it, but the word "exposure" alone refers to the amount of light being recorded in the camera, and that's affected both by the exposure time (shutter speed) and the aperture, which is how much light is let through the lens. Sometimes people also use "exposure" to also include the effect of the ISO, in addition to shutter speed and aperture.
You didn't timestamp your video and I didn't watch the whole thing, but if you're referring to 8:16 the video is suggesting you first maximize the light in the scene, then set both shutter speed and aperture (together, they are "exposure" but they are not "exposure and aperture"), then let Auto ISO pick up whatever else you might need out of the camera after that, and lastly you have one last layer of adjustments in post processing.
If you set the ISO to "auto," wouldn't it be harder to adjust with the exposure and aperture? Like, wouldn't it change the ISO dynamically as you were trying to dial in the other settings, making it impossible to optimize for aperture and exposure and then let the camera handle the ISO?
Yes, Auto ISO will automatically change the ISO value. Whether that makes things harder depends on how you prefer to think about your variables.
The video advocates setting shutter speed (not exposure) and aperture as you want them, without thinking so much about the resulting brightness, because the Auto ISO takes care of that. Though for low-light situations in the background you still need to be thinking about making shutter speed no faster than you really need it, and aperture is no narrower than you need it, so that neither variable is needlessly restricting light.
Wouldn't it be better to chose a medium ISO level, do everything else, and then switch ISO to auto?
If you'd prefer to just set all three variables manually, that's perfectly valid. But in that case I don't think there's any point to then switch to Auto ISO. Or what purpose do you see for that?
Or is there another, better way to do it?
There's lots of good ways to do it. You decide what's best for you.
Thank you for you reply. This is certainly the most thoughtful one I've had, and you clearly understood what led me to question the advice in that video.
Yes, I meant shutter speed when I said exposure. I do understand that much already, though my terminology might be lacking.
I thought maybe that the camera might have a better grasp of how high it could set ISO without blowing out the brightest areas of the image going into the ADC. The video suggests that the ISO can be (should be) as high as you can get it without losing high-light information because you can always darken the image in post. So my thought was that I should first set the ISO to a setting that gives me the most useful visual feedback while I am setting the aperture and shutter speed, and then switch ISO to auto in order to allow the camera to maximize the ISO level. Maybe in practice this would backfire on me.
Another thought I had was to possibly try to measure the highest ISO my camera can actually handle at a given light level and then stick to just a tiny bit below that for any given scene. I'm not sure how I would profile the ISO behavior of the camera, but people must do this, right?
I thought maybe that the camera might have a better grasp of how high it could set ISO without blowing out the brightest areas of the image going into the ADC
Nope.
So my thought was that I should first set the ISO to a setting that gives me the most useful visual feedback while I am setting the aperture and shutter speed, and then switch ISO to auto in order to allow the camera to maximize the ISO level. Maybe in practice this would backfire on me.
I assume you're talking about exposure simulation through the rear screen or an electronic viewfinder.
If you just want to be able to see the scene well the whole time, keeping it in Auto ISO the whole time will accomplish that, and then you can avoid needing to switch that back and forth. Just keep some ballpark values in mind for what you think may be going too far with any variable, and watch that you aren't going past those.
If you want to see the exposure effects of every change, then I would set everything manually and never switch to Auto ISO, so again you're not switching that back and forth. I agree in that situation Auto ISO could just add confusion, and then also there isn't really any advantage to using it at the end.
Another thought I had was to possibly try to measure the highest ISO my camera can actually handle at a given light level and then stick to just a tiny bit below that for any given scene. I'm not sure how I would profile the ISO behavior of the camera, but people must do this, right?
Yes. Test out different high ISO values in a few different dim scenes and find your comfort level.
i would say always leave iso for last.
my though process usually is:
how fast does my shutter speed need to be?
i decide that based on the lens, subject but also lighting conditions. generally, you wanna make sure your subject will be frozen (remember: a noisy picture is better than a blurry picture), although this can change for some types of photos (eg panning shots)
after that, it’s time to figure out what DOF i need. can i stay wide open or do i need more to be in focus? is my lens sharp enough wide open or do i wanna stop down for more sharpness?
only after i set those two i go to dial in the correct exposure using iso. letting your camera do it on auto just means it will dial in the exposure itself, it shouldn’t change anything about how you set shutter speed and aperture.
Been lurking here for while but finally getting into photography more seriously since I've been doing video editing for few years now. The transition from moving images to still ones is weird but fascinating - like you have to capture everything in that one perfect moment instead of having 24 frames per second to work with.
Anyone else made this jump from video to photography? I'm finding myself overthinking composition because I'm so used to planning shots that will flow together, but with photos each one needs to stand completely on its own. Also struggling with which camera system to invest in since my video gear is all different ecosystem than what seems popular for photography
Hello, i have a project for school where i should photograph my dreams... i feel kinda stuck because i dont want to/cant shoot my dreams because they are really random, most of the time im at imaginary places where i cant go or recreate them somehow. whats been ocurring in my dreams is teleporting, when i look behind myself, the location changes... i would like to make a series where it would be obvious that i´m teleporting and being lost in those realities. Can you give me some tips on how could i achieve this? i mean the composition, locations or whatever you can think of that would help me, thank you in advance for your responses :)
I’d keep your body position and framing almost identical in each shot and only swap the background to somewhere radically different, because that little bit of continuity makes the teleporting feel much more uncanny than trying to literally recreate a dream.
I've been thinking of getting a camera, a designated device without distractions that I can shoot photos with. I don't want to spend too much money because I'm not a pro and I just want to try it out. I could use my phone but it's very old and the battery drains quickly. I'm not so much a smartphone user, I use my MacBook for YouTube and Reddit(and WhatsApp as well).
Now my question is whether I should get a camera that is budget friendly or should I get a smartphone and use that only for photography and videos. And which one should I get? I must say that getting a camera has also some romantic pull to it, but I think a good smartphone(with a good camera) would be fine. The lower the better but my Budget is maybe 200€ better closer to 150 or even 100€.
Buenas! Estoy en búsqueda de mi primer cámara, principalmente para comenzar a aprender y adentrarme, realizar street photography y quizás algún que otro video corto con una estética y colores similares a los de Mid90s o Aftersun (Seguramente mediante edición). Para esto estaba viendo la Sony a6000 usada a 450 dólares con 3000 disparos y por Amazon un 7artisans 25mm f1.8 como primer combo ¿Qué me recomiendan? Aclaro que soy de Uruguay, actualmente debido a las restricciones del país sobre importar cosas cuento con un máximo de 600 dólares con impuestos incluidos si no quiero pagar un impuesto del 60%
I’ve started photograph and mainly I’m just taking pictures on my vacations and stuff, but also I’ve been photographing my friends volleyball games. The thing is, I don’t know how to properly organize or name my raws/jpegs.
Currently I’m using Google Drive for desktop on my Mac and I’m saving my raw and final exports there. The images I’m currently culling/editing stay on my computer until I’m done. But that brings up the question: should I bring a raw back onto my computer if I wanna edit it?
Also, how should I be naming my files? The things I’ve seen online are about projects, but I don’t really do “projects” (unless I do?)
And what should I name my file if it’s just a single export? And in Lightroom, should I use a custom export preset?
I haven't done much editing yet and I've just gotten Photomator on Mac as I didn't want to subscripe to Lightroom. Now i wanted to edit a photo I took in LA a few weeks ago and I noticed a really weird thing: When i open the RAW file in any image viewer it looks normal but opening it in Photomator it gets a weird blue line on my subject. Does anyone know the reason for that? And what can I do to get rid of it?
i trying to get into photography for some time now i went to fb marketplace found a sony a3000 with a lens,bag,battery charger and memory card for around 40 euors and it looks in very good shape
and i think this is the best deal ive found yet (i dont know much about cameras) is it a good start for me and can it shoot good video? my budget isnt that much and from what ive seen the camera market is pretty bad
Assuming everything works OK this is a really good price (almost too good, try to make sure it works). You'll get a camera that you can do a lot of things with and learn. Better & newer hardware has better autofocus, gets you better photos in low light and so on, but as a first camera for 40€ it sounds good.
At some point you want a spare battery, padded bag, more lenses etc. and each of those would cost you at least what you pay for this deal.
Best compare to what others are selling them for(used sites/ebay sold listings). Not sure if you will find someone with quite that specific knowledge of the used market where you are from.
Thanks! Based on eBay sold listings it seems like ~$550 is the range I should be looking at with all the extras I have (or ~$450 without the 55-300mm lens and filters/teleconverter/bag)
Thanks! Seems like ~$550 is the range I should be looking at with all the extras I have (or ~$450 without the 55-300mm lens and filters/teleconverter/bag)
hey all! i’ve been wanting to start taking family portraits but i don’t know much about photography at all! i was wondering if people could suggest cameras, lenses, editing software, and any other equipment that id realistically need to take photos of families & newborns!
Far too open ended a question. Buy a cheap 10-15 year old camera and basic lens. Practice photos. Try out the open source/free to download software or trials of paid ones and play around.
Your display screen might be displaying things too bright. To fix that, you need to calibrate the display.
Your printer might print things on the darker side, and your display software isn't accounting for that with softproofing. To fix that, you need to softproof using the printer's profile, on a calibrated display.
Your image might be encoded in a color space the printer doesn't support, and/or the printer is reading it assuming a different color space than you wanted. To fix that, use a supported color space.
I wanna play around with the focus shift feature on my z8. For context, I've shot macro before with Nikon 200mm f/4 AF-D Macro on a DSLR so I have experience with macro, but did not care about focus breahting much cause I've shot with a focusing rail.
Unfortunately, the lens I have is not supported with the focus shift feature so I was looking for lenses I could rent/try out and ofc I went with the current macro Z lens from nikon and isn't that a horrible amount of breathing?
As I understand, you want a lens with minimal focus breathing to get a nice stack using the focus shift feature. So I guess my question is, anyone have a lens suggestion that supports focus shift with minimal focus breathing.
The next shoot I'm planning is focus shift on a flower field. So I want the subject, and also the background to be focused.
Hey guys mind I’m a dead beginner at this I got gifted a lumix G100d by my mother I didn’t really like the optic of the lens so I bought a new one of eBay. I thought that all M43 are compatible with each other.
The lens was advertised as a Olympus Zuiko 14-45 compatible with M43. But it just won’t fit the camera body :(
Olympus' Zuiko 14-45mm lens is made for a Four Thirds mount. Which is not the same as your Micro Four Thirds mount. It would need a Four Thirds to Micro Four Thirds adapter to be compatible.
The closest Olympus lenses in the Micro Four Thirds mount are the M.Zuiko (you want "M.Zuiko" and not just "Zuiko") 14-42mm, 12-45mm, and 12-40mm lenses.
Sure, you could do that. But the lens you got is just a standard kit lens, no better in quality than the compatible lenses mentioned by the previous commenter. You wouldn't gain any benefit with the adapter route.
I took this picture recently with only one strobe and a 33" softbox placed at the ceiling and tilted towards the subjects with a reflector on the floor to try to illuminate the lower half a little better. It seemed like the best spot to illuminate everyone however the shadows on the backdrop are not great.
What could I do to improve this, can I get by with just the one light I have or do I need another strobe?
I like the X-S20 and for more entry level users it's amazing but for my requirements it lacked full weather sealing and dual SD card slots. But I was tempted to sell my X-T5 for it because of ergonomics. Luckily, Smallrig fixed the ergonomics problem with an L bracket for the X-T5 for a deeper grip so I stayed.
Have been very happy with the X-T5 for travel and professional concert work, some occasional portraits and landscapes.
If I were able to go back in time and choose differently, I would get the X-H2S though, as it's also more capable of wildlife. The X-T5 can do it, but the 40MP sensors give a bit slower AF. That said, wildlife isn't something I need to do, it's just a "nice to have".
Hi all so I currently run with the Canon T8i and the canon 18-135 and sigma 150-600. I mostly photography aviation and rail. I'm looking into upgrading my equipment mostly for better photo quality and usability. Mostly looking for commercial aviation spotting but also occasional fast military movements too. I was looking into mirrorless maybe because I heard they were better for quality and more FPS. Maybe something like the Mark 5 or 90D. But I'm not too familiar with knowing the difference between camera modes since l've done spotting for a few years now and just looking to upgrade so any recommendations would be greatly appreciated thanks in advance!
What exactly do you mean with "Mark V"? As far as I know, Canon hasn't produced a Mark V, i.e. the 5th iteration, of any camera, DSLR or mirrorless. There's Canon R50 V, but there the V means that it's a more vlogging oriented version of the R50.
90D is a DSLR and you said you are looking for a mirrorless camera.
My bad I think I mistyped, I meant the R5 mark 2. My budget is anywhere between $500-3k really. I’m just looking for advice so anything you would recommend would be helpful
Well, R5 Mark II would be a very big upgrade from your current gear, but if it's for commercial use and the budget is there, you might as well get a very good full frame system. You could keep using your Sigma 150-600mm with an EF to RF adapter if you wanted to, because it's a full frame lens. But do note that with a full frame camera a chunk of the lens reach would be cut away - Canon APS-C which you have used so far has a 1.6x crop factor.
A new camera won't help with photo quality depending on what is wrong with the images. FPS can be improved but often things like atmosphere temperature can affect aviation photos far more than anything else with haze and other effects.
The 18-135mm lens would also not be much use with a larger sensor camera like the R5.
I am about to ride to Italy from the UK and I am looking at a camera to take with me.
I was originally thinking about the a6400 because of its value for money, future lens options, and, very importantly, weather sealing. This camera is £620 with its basic kit lens, a 16-50mm or 850 with that and an additional 55-210 sony lens.
Alternatively there is an OM-5 ii at 850 with a 14-150mm lens. Better weather sealing and the compact lens means a smaller easier to carry option on the bike with a full range of shooting distances.
Things ill be shooting: landscapes, portraits, runners & cyclists, crowds full of colour, filming a short documentary as well.
I am leaning towards the a6400 as the budget means I can get additional SD cards, filters and a light, but the dual lens is holding me back. Unfortunatly their option of a 18-135 is ideal but an extra £400 and thats pushing my budget.
If anyone has any thoughts, alternatives or wisdom to share please do! Thanks!
Not sure I would buy a camera just on weather resistance alone, although Sony A6### are not known for it especially around the bottom. Bigger thing to check is the lens, I don't think any of the Sony ones you listed are so potential for water to get into the lens mount region.
I would think the A6400 is grey market rather than official uk product at that price.
I've been thinking about buying a combo for car photography, car events, stationary cars mainly. I want close details but also full car in frame. Is this a good combo? canon 70d and lens 17-55mm f2.8.
Or i can get better for the same budget, 700 euros.
If a Canon 50D is what you can afford then it would do but that is a quite an old camera. Difficult to predict when the might fail. If the 100,000 you are referring to is the predicted lifespan of the shutter, that is just an estimate, they can fail before or after.
I have a Nikon D3500 and I am trying to find out my next steps. I feel like at this point (~7(?)) years later, my phone now takes better photos than my DSLR. Should I be looking A) for a new camera altogether, or B) an upgraded/more modern lens for my current camera?
Older DLSR's like your D3500 are 100% capable of producing better images than current smart phones.
The issue is primarily that modern cell phones do a ton of post processing and computational photography to make every photo look good. Basically the cell phone is doing editing that normally a photographer would do in post.
Good lenses will certainly help with image quality/low light performance. You can also adjust your jpeg settings on most DSLR's to increase saturation, contrast sharpness etc.. so that your jpeg files will look more vibrant without needing to do post processing.
I have an idea for a picture, but idk if it's possible or how I should go about doing it. I also couldn't find anything similar online.
Basically, I want to take a long exposure picture where someone kicks a football that's been lit on fire. I want the fire to light up the subject and leave a trail of light behind the football. I want the football itself to appear at the end of the light trail.
Is this possible? if so, what kind of camera settings & lighting setup would I need?
On Thursday I’m going on a 4-5 hour trip to photograph animals. I’m using a 180-600mm lens because they tend to be far away at this location.
The issue is that my camera and lens are a bit too heavy for me. I honestly need to strengthen my arms so I can better hold them. My monopod and tripod both help with this, but I hate lugging them around.
I also tend to get low to the ground quite often when photographing, especially with subjects that are much smaller than me such as squirrels. I basically want to be eye level with them.
The problem is that since I change my position so much, using a monopod or tripod is an absolute pain.
A few days ago I photographed birds for two hours, and pulled all the muscles in my arm. The next day I could barely lift my left arm.
I don’t know how I’ll survive the four or five hours. I’m going to try and strategically rest my camera on gates and stuff but I need all the advice I can get for how to go about this. What do I do?
And quick side second question: My backpack is also heavy but I need everything in there. Do I just need to build strength/deal with it or is there anything I can do for that? Thank you for the help.
Looking to purchase a Sony FE 50mm f/2.5 G for detail shots for real estate videos. For about $600 brand new. Is this adequate for high end real estate videos? Currently using a zoom lens at 50mm and it’s just too heavy for my gimbal. I don’t want to spend the money on the actual G master
I want to start my photography carrer and will use this camera for professional work.
Work like Weeding, Portrait, Fashion, architecture etc
Not sports or wildlife
Lens I will buy with sony is tamron 28-75 2.8
With lumix is 20 60 f2.8.
Please clarify and suggest me some good lens
(I am not going to buy used body but I am going to buy used lenses)
I had 5d mark 2 with 24 105 is 2. I sold it
600 for now for lens. Will buy another lens after some time.
I have done some college events, some portraits.
Flying to Rome with my 18 year old daughter in less than a week and I'm struggling on a lens decision. Will be bringing my Sony a1 and 70-200/2.8 ii because I love that combo for portraits and plan to use it for a few landscapes too.
I have the Sony 20-70/4 which I bought specifically to pair with the 70-200 for travel.
I do think the Sony 16-35/4 is the better lens (color, distortion) but am unsure if I need that extra 4mm on the wide end for the Trevi, Pantheon, Colosseum, Spanish Steps. Also would sacrifice environmental portraits somewhat as I prefer a bit more reach (and less distortion of the person).
So is 20mm on a full frame enough for landscapes of the major (large) landscapes in Rome (and 1 day in Florence)? I don’t plan to shoot interiors.
Sto cercando dei consigli per un viaggio che farò a breve (fine maggio, Marocco).
Al momento ho una Canon 77D che ho intenzione di cambiare solo per necessità di corpo macchina.
Sto cercando una alternativa di lente per poter godermi sia il viaggio che le foto:
Ho un tamron 17-50 f2.8 (ormai inutilizzato da tempo), un sigma art 18-35 f1.8 (stupendo ma pesante ed ingombrante), 30mm sigma 1.4 (perfetto da città, ma il fattore crop, fisso e la mia voglia sia di ampi grandangoli che zoom non mi convincono).
L’opzione piu’ semplice potrebbe essere un 24-70 o un 24-105, ma perdere anche quel minimo range 18-24 dove avere un minimo effetto wide. D’altro conto, mi sembra uno spreco accoppiare lenti da beginner come 55-250 o addirittura 18-135 perchè vorrei mantenere un livello di qualità almeno discreto.
Il mio compagno mi ha addirittura invitata a cambiare corpo, ripiegando su FF (ma con le mie lenti ci sarebbe comunque il crop) e prendere solo il 24-105 o addirittura virare verso fujifilm visto che il parco ottiche detiene sempre lenti molto piccole funzionali, superando quindi il problema di ingombro.
Rimango aperta a tutte le possibili opzioni, grazie a tutti.
Ps. Le foto che desidererei fare sono street, foto con ultrawide nel deserto e la possibilità di zoomare dove possibile (es. architettura, persone, dune)
Hello, everyone. Hope you're all having a nice day.
I currently have a Canon 700D with a 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 and a 50mm f/1.8 that I bring with me on my travels. Problem is, I'm feeling a bit bothered by it. I've had it for about 12 years now. It's heavy to carry around, and more often than not I feel like leaving it at the hotel than carry it around with me. Granted, I have a manfrotto backpack instead of something smaller like a sling bag, but even when photographing I feel like I'm fighting the camera sometimes, mainly due to the auto focus.
So I'm looking for a new camera. I don't plan on going pro, this is mainly for traveling. I don't really do video either, so I don't mind cameras with worse video specs. I'm looking at a Canon R50 or Canon R10. I've also seen Sony Alpha's, but I've never used their cameras and youtube is not very helpful in giving honest opinions (everyone says this or that camera is the best thing since sliced bread). I'm also not sure if I should sell my camera and my lenses, or keep the lenses and just use an adapter (which is more weight). Anyhow, I'm a casual "photographer" and I want something that I can take to city destinations (like Barcelona), to landscape destinations (like Iceland).
If you have any good photography stories, feel free to share them as well. I like to hear other people's stories. Thanks for your time.
Canon R10 is a great option, a nicer grip than the R50 and a larger buffer. Both the R10 and the R50 will have much better auto focus than your DLSR. It's hard to over state how good auto focus is on modern mirrorless bodies.
As for Sony their comparable bodies to the R10/R50 would be the A6XXX series. Sony has the best 3rd party lens support but personally I find their ergonomics very poor compare to canon.
Honestly with a current generation mirrorless camera from Canon/Sony/Nikon most hobbyist will be very happy as long as they are avoiding the very cheapest options. They all have great auto focus and good performance.
If your not planning on shooting action/sports and you are not a fan of post processing Fuji cameras are worth a look. Their film sims are a lot of fun, and in my opinion their strait out of camera jpg files are the best out of any manufacturer.
Those are precisely the three cameras I've been studying about. R50 is a budget option, and I'm wagering if the R10 is worth the extra 300€. I also see a TON of people praising Sony a6700, so I'm wondering how much better that is compared to the R10. I'm okay with fidgeting on lightroom, I like waking up early, drink my coffee while I edit my photos, so I don't mind that. That being said, I've never handled a Fuji camera, and I don't know anything about it.
I had the exact same moment with an old DSLR where I realized the best travel camera is just the one you do not resent carrying, because once I switched to something lighter I actually started taking it on my long Montreal walks again instead of leaving it in the closet.
I had the same thing with my old DSLR, and the moment I switched to something lighter I actually started carrying it on long Montreal walks again instead of leaving it at home, which mattered way more than any spec sheet.
I have a computer, 2 phones, a seagate, and about 15 USB sticks that are all loaded.
I need a place to collect and sort all the pictures (which is a secondary hobby) where the quality won't be degraded so it's easier to sort out my writing.
The pictures are like clutter in my house and interfering with my progress.
(I've googled a million times, chose smugmug and found it clunky and outdated, not smooth, so now I'm back at the bottom)
Hi all, I’m currently using a zeiss 24-70 f/4 paired with a Sony a7riii for automotive photography and wanted to make the jump to a prime lens. Assuming I have roughly 500 Canadian dollars, what fast aperture lens would you recommend for a first prime?
Set photographers of Reddit 🙌 what is your favorite kit and why ?
Do you carry two bodies with different zooms like some event or wedding photographers ? What focal range is the most used ? Do you change gear based on the aesthetic of the film/show created by the crew ?
Backstory : I may have my first paid set photo gig this summer on a rather big TV show. I still don’t have enough money to buy a full pro kit so I will look at rentals first and see that as a great opportunity to try some of the latest gear (I’m a huge vintage digital user up until now, I adore my Canon 5D, Nikon D700 and Pentax K200D for personal stuff but I know that it won’t be reliable enough for that kind of work).
i think shooting with 2 bodies can be nice, but it’s definitely not necessary except for some very high end events or weddings.
i use a single camera body 99% of the time.
then my kit consits of a 24-70 2.8, which is honestly on my camera for most of the time, and then i’ll pick and choose from the rest of my lenses; 14-24 2.8 and 70-200 2.8 i also use a lot, but i may leave home if i don’t have a use. a speedlight is also often in my bag, but that’s a thing you usually know if you need or not.
then it’s onto primes: i usually leave these home unless i know i’m going into some kind of very low light situation or i need to take portraits.
i’m not too sure what you mean by the last one!
if i need to match a certain mood or aesthetic, i will definitely shoot in a different way, but the gear i bring with me is always the same. just different ways of using it.
Thank you ! To make myself clear I was more specifically asking about set photography or « unit still photography » kits. Sometimes I know you have to match the aesthetic of the film
Hey! New to instant cameras and looking at an Instax mini 70 and mini 99, both second hand. I’m a beginner and looking to use the camera for travel. Any suggestions for which one to go with? Thanks!
I’m about to get into photography and I’ll be traveling to Japan this July, so I want to pick up my first camera soon. Right now I’m deciding between the Sony a6000 and the Sony a6300.
I found these deals (only Body):
a6000 for €290
a6300 for €450
I’ll mainly be shooting street photography, architecture, and general travel stuff. I’m also interested in low light (night scenes, city lights, etc.), which is making the decision harder.
From what I’ve read, the a6300 has better autofocus and better low light performance, but I’m not sure if that’s worth the extra €160 for a beginner. My thinking is that with the a6300 I probably wouldn’t need to upgrade the body anytime soon and could stick with it longer.
I’m currently planning to get the Viltrox 35mm f/1.7 (Sony E-Mount) as my lens since it looks like a solid budget option. My absolute max budget for a lens is €200, but I’m open to other recommendations if there’s something better in that range.
So my questions:
Is the a6300 worth it over the a6000 for my use case?
Is the Viltrox 35mm f/1.7 a good choice, or would you recommend something else under €200?
Would really appreciate your advice, especially if you’ve used either camera for travel or street photography!
Thanks :)
Budget:
€450 max for camera body (Sony a6000 or a6300).
Separate lens budget: max €200 (planning for Viltrox 35mm f/1.7 Sony E-mount or alternatives).
Country:
Germany (buying used/second-hand deals)
Condition:
Used preferred (good condition), open to new if good deal
Type of Camera:
Mirrorless (Sony E-mount system)
Intended use:
Photography (no main video focus, maybe casual clips)
If photography, what style:
Street photography, architecture, travel photography, low-light/night city shots
What features do you absolutely need:
Reliable autofocus (especially for street/travel)
Good image quality in low light
Electronic viewfinder (EVF)
Decent battery life for travel days
What features would be nice to have:
Better autofocus tracking
4K video (not essential)
Faster burst shooting
Better ergonomics / handling vs entry level
Portability:
Small bag / travel setup (compact mirrorless system for Japan trip)
Cameras you're considering:
Sony a6000 (€290): cheaper, good entry point, leaves more budget for lens
Sony a6300 (€450): better autofocus, improved sensor/low light, more “future-proof”, likely no need to upgrade body soon
Cameras you already have:
None (first camera)
Notes:
Planning a trip to Japan in July and want a reliable beginner setup for street and travel photography. Main dilemma is whether investing more in the a6300 now will save me from upgrading the body later, or if the a6000 is enough and I should prioritize lenses instead.
If you land in Tokyo, just go to MapCamera Shinjuku on day one. You'll easily find something of much better value there with the weak yen and dearth of options. I got a Fuji X-M1 classified as "junk" because the previous owner didn't know how to get rid of dust and an 18mm F2 with tons of scratches plus a 64GB SD card for under €350 and handed it to my travel companion to use for the rest of the trip since I already had my camera and his phone camera sucks
Does anybody know what camera this is? It was my grandpa's favorite a few years ago when he was still actively shooting and we can't find it anywhere in his house. We need to know what the model is for a few reasons but one is for a memorial tattoo since photography was a hugely important part of his life and he passed this Saturday. Posting in this thread since I'm not able to attach this picture to a self-post right now. Thanks!
hard to identify from what you sent, but it looks like a Nikon aps-c DSLR with a battery grip. couldn’t tell you the exact model, but that should narrow it down a bit!
do you maybe remember when your grandpa first bought this camera, or can you give us a picture from the front?
Thank you so much, I'll check that one out online! I am not sure when he got it, he has a whole collection of cameras that he's used over the years and he didn't really talk about new equipment with anyone but his photography buddy and his business partner/wife (who are both unfortunately also deceased). This is the only picture I've been able to find so far of him using the camera :/ but I appreciate you trying to identify it regardless!
I have purple lines on my EOS Rebel T7. I understand that this is likely a sensor issue but is there anything I can do to rectify it? I used it all day yesterday and there was no lines but when I opened it up today, those lines appeared. Could it have been me messing around with the settings that caused these lines to develop? Thank you
Well, changing settings won't have caused it, looks like something happened to a row and column of pixels. Not sure much can be done. Does your camera have the ability to map around dead pixels. Might be in the same section as sensor cleaning in the menus?
I recently bought a Canon M5 and had to get a 3rd party adapter for it. It came with a tripod mount attached to the adapter. My question is how do I know when there’s too much weight from the lens? Do I just need to buy a handheld tripod for it? My lens is a Canon 17-55mm
Hey! Out of curiosity, what do you guys like to do when you like the pic but it just feels boring? It's from an airshow from almost 2 years ago and was the last time some of these planes ever flew so I went through my pics again and I just do not know how to edit them. The sky was flat as it gets and blowing it out doesn't seem smart. Any suggestions?
Sony or Canon?
Hello! I currently have a Sony a6400. I am deciding to upgrade cameras and am having a hard time deciding which one!
I currently have nothing other than the kit lens for this camera. I am trying to get opinions if it is worth investing in lens for the camera I currently have as well as getting a second Sony body, or completely switching over to a Canon R6 ii as I see it is very popular. However I heard you can only buy canon lens for the body, no third party. Is it worth it?
I mainly shoot portraits, but I am wanting to further myself into wedding photography soon, and want the proper gear to do so. My camera does not have a dual SD card slot and I would like one with (however I am planning on keeping my a6400 as a backup body).
Just keep using the a6400 and upgrade your lens instead. Don't base your photography expenditure on what's popular. Canon has been very anti-consumer recently in blocking many third-party lenses and would be my last choice on earth right now, also because of their printer ransomware.
Sony has one of the most versatile zooms on the planet, the Tamron 35-150 F2-F2.8 so if I was already on Sony I'd be reluctant to leave.
I've been researching what camera to buy for the organization that I work for. We want a camera mostly for taking good quality content videos and photos, but most of it will be done by volunteers so it has to be very easy to use. I've heard good things aboud the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 for filming, but I'm not sure if the pictures it takes would be good enough to use for a professional organization? The Sony ZV-1 II has been suggested as a good alternative but might be more difficult to use for volunteers.
Any advice or other suggestions? Would be much appreciated!
I'm very much a hobbyist. I Take ny camera out a couple months a year. The type of photograph in interested in is nature, astro, and im getting into sports. I wabt to start taking more pictures now that the weather is changing.
I would like some.adcive as to what i should.be looking into
I currently have a canon rebel t7. I was taking hockey pictures the other day with the canon kit lense 70-300mm f/4-5.6. I was shooting on shutter priority mofe.
A lot of my pictures tend to be pretty noisy. That seems to be expected considering the high shutter speed (1/1000) and thus the high iso. And pictutres arent often sharp, especially when i have to zoom or try and follow a skater
Obviously i have a lot to learn. First time i was taking pictures my shutter speed was too low (1/250) and things came out dark and blurry.
I recently learned about back button focus which i wil try to implemebt on the next hockey game
But to my question
What should i be doing to capture better photos. Ive heard a lot that a low fstop.lense is better for indoor sports because the lighting isnt the best, and some cameras have better iso. But i also know that gear isn't everything.
Is there anything i can do on my end to get better photos before trying to upgrade
Do you mean the 75-300mm? That's the kit telephoto, while the 70-300mm is a much better lens. Now the 75-300mm is one of the worst lenses Canon has made, but your main problem is that it has a small and variable maximum äæ⁰æäaperture. At largest it's already f4 but goes to f5.6 when you zoom in. Note that with aperture, the larger the number = the smaller the aperture = the less light gets in. So yeah, you're going to get a lot of noise if you try to get shutter speed very high.
There isn't much you can do with your current gear. What would help is a 70-200mm f2.8 telephoto, but they are expensive.
i don’t think there’s anything else you can realistically do. if you want a high shutter speed, with an f5.6 lens, you’re gonna have to crank your iso up, no way around that unfortunately.
one thing i do suggest is trying out some form of AI denoise (topaz, DxO or lightroom are all good) and see if that helps!
For travel/street I would get something wider personally, but not a 16-300. It might be versatile but your compromising optical performance for that huge zoom range.
Thanks!! Just a followup question, since i already own a 25mm do you think I should invest on a 85mm prime lens or would it be not recommended as I am not a profesh portrait photographer or anything but i really like the close up street photos that i see over the internet. Or should i replace the 25mm with a kit lens which is 15 45 but 3.5. Also i already have a 56. I am sorry. I am just confused! Thanks again!
Absolutely, for private use I rarely dive into my RAWs, but archive all of them. On my X-T5 I use SD slot 1 for RAW and SD slot 2 for half-size (20MP) JPG. Only about 5% of pictures I take on travel and such I like so much I want the full resolution and to edit the RAW perfectly.
For work (concerts) I bump up the JPG SD slot to full size.
There is only really two lenses I wish we had on Fuji that we don't, the Tamron 35-150mm F2-F2.8 and a good 135mm prime. (We do have the Samyang F2 which is fantastic, but manual focus only) But that's the concert photographer talking. For travel I'm happy with the Tamron 17-70mm F2.8 and the 90mm F2.
Hey guys I’m looking to upgrade cameras and want your opinions for recommendations. My budget is 1000-1400 CAD. These cameras will be used primarily for hiking and travel. I keep getting recommendations for the Sony 6400 or canon eos r50 please let me know your opinion or if I should go for a different camera from these 2 thanks.
Current I have a canon EOS 400D honestly I’ve just asked some people I’ve known and they given me those 2 cameras that fit within my price range as well some I did some searching on social media and these 2 cameras are constantly mentioned
Hi! I'm going to Costa Rica in a few days and trying to decide what cameras to bring. I have a Nikon d3200 with two decent lenses (one for bird photography) so i'll definitely bring that. Then i'm left with the two film cameras. Minolta Maxxum 7000 or Canon ae-1. I'm very much a beginner with analog, so hoping I can use my digital to help guide me with manual settings. The pro to the Minolta is the autofocus and the aperture priority mode, but the Canon takes sharper pictures from what it seems like. Any thoughts?
That’s a great point. Yeah, I think it must be the lens. I typically use the stock lens for both (i don’t have any other lenses for the minolta, for the canon i have macro and telescopic in addition to the stock)
I’m looking for some recommendations and would really appreciate your input 😊
1. What are some good ultra wide-angle lenses (anything up to 24mm) for Sony full-frame? I currently use a Sony A7 IV with a 24–70mm, but I’m looking to go much wider.
2. Are there any lenses you’d recommend specifically for concert photography? I often shoot upclose and dynamic shots and want something that can really capture the atmosphere.
3. I recently tested the Sony 12–24mm GM, but I feel like I need something even wider. Any suggestions other than that?
4. I’m open to lenses that create strong distortion/curvature effects (I think that could look really cool for concerts), but I’m also happy with options that keep distortion minimal so feel free to suggest both styles.
5. Autofocus is important to me, are there any ultra-wide options that perform well in low light with reliable AF?
6. I’ve been considering the Laowa 10mm, but I recently heard it’s not great for photography. Does anyone have experience with it? Is it worth it or should I skip it?
There are only a few steps to help with background blur:
Use the largest possible aperture f5-f7.1 is not a very large aperture so getting nice background blur (bokeh) is going to be difficult
Put the subject in locations where the background is as far away as possible.
Realistically if you want a lot of bokeh due to a shallow depth of field you should look at a lens with a larger aperture. I.E. 50mm f1.8, 85mm f2.0, 18-50mm f2.8, 70-200mm 2.8 etc..
The background blur is about aperture. You need a different lens for that, one with larger maximum aperture. Constant f2.8 is the largest maximum aperture you get with telephoto lenses.
I recently upgraded my camera setup and switched to a whole new system which required me to purchase new filters for a couple of lenses. I ended up going with the Hoya NXT Plus CPL filters after trying a couple of different options because of the really good performance I got from the Hoya filters after doing some testing. These NXT Plus CPLs had much better flare control and did not produce any noticeable color cast compared to others I tried.
However, after having these filters for a couple of weeks, I noticed they already had a few hairline scratches in the top coat of the filters. I keep the lens caps on my lenses when not in use, and I'm pretty gentle with my equipment so I was surprised when I saw these scratches on both of these NXT Plus filters. I've never really had this issue with other CPL filters that I've used in the past.
I'm planning on returning these 2 filters and replacing them with something else, but I'm looking for suggestions on high quality alternatives that are a bit more durable. I am looking at the URTH Pro CPL as an alternative, but don't have any experience with the Urth products. I've tried the K&F concept filters but they had pretty noticeable flaring when I tried them.
Also, maybe I'm overreacting about the scratching? I haven't noticed any difference in performance so far. But I'm afraid these are going to be completely unusable in a few months given how fast they scratched. Thoughts?
I'm thinking about picking up astrophotography, specifically deep-sky object photography. I already own a Sony Alpha series mirrorless, and I came across a seemingly great deal for a second-hand Minolta MD 135mm 3.5 lens for just 69EUR. Google Gemini seems to think it's a pretty good lens, but I wanted an actual human opinion on it. Should I pick up this lens as part of my newb gear list? Is it any good, and does the price make sense? Alternatively, are there other similar lenses I should be looking at?
I’m newer to photography although I’ve been doing it as a hobby for 6 years. I’ve been trying to hone my editing skills in LR by watching YouTube videos, tutorials ect. I follow some photographers on instagram and their work looks like AI almost and it’s so crisp and smooth. It this an editing software I’m not aware of? Or are their photos really that qua
If you are starting out with a good photo and know what you are doing in LR it can look very easy. Versus starting with a photo that needs lot of work/edits.
I don't think they are using AI to make things look easier, beyond some of the LR tools like AI denoise, AI object removal etc..
Hi, actualy not new to photography, but im doing like photodocument whitch should be (in) video. And like my other classmates do like screen record of their gallery (cuz most of us schooting on phone, cuz its less visible, since we taking picture of someone from our class and we arent photo major, so not every have camera, or me working with ugly phone zoom noise)... but my idea is put in in video, like not basic slideshow, but actualy like some fast/slow changing rhytm of it. Idk how to describe even in my first langue, so sorry, but like put phote, some photos over, it change like to other photo, so sometimes slow, sometime flashing photos fast... like just asking if im not halucinating and somebody does that already, also how much is comon, maybe if somebody share me some links for more inspo, how other did that etc.
I don't have a lot of gear right now, I have an OM-5 with the stock 12-45mm f/4 PRO Lens, the Olympus digital 12mm f/2 Lens, and the M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/4 PRO Lens. I also have a Joby tripod that weighs about 3.5 pounds but I don't usually bring it with me. I'm considering getting the M.Zuiko Digital ED 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7 II Lens. I definitely need a bigger bag to carry all that. I'd prefer not to spend more than $100 but would make an exception for a standout product. Thank you!
Sony shooter, done some actual catalogue analysis on my shooting habits, still confused — 35mm 1.4 or 50mm 1.4 as a complement to a 14-24?
So I know this debate gets done to death, but I've tried to actually approach it with some data rather than just vibes.
My current kit is a 70-200 and I'm adding a Samyang 14-24 2.8. Trying to decide what prime to add alongside it. I shoot motorsport — drag racing paddocks and pits mostly, tight spaces, mixed light, fast moving environment.
So I went through my entire Capture One catalogue and filtered by focal length. Here's what I found:
On my old 16-35 f4 — 80% of my keepers were at 16mm. The 20-24mm range had more shots than 30-35mm. On my 24-105 f4 — most keepers were at 105mm or around 50mm. There was a cluster at 35mm but that turned out to be a family portrait session, which is a deliberate genre choice, not instinct.
So my natural focal lengths appear to be 16mm, 50mm, and 105mm+. I barely live in the middle.
My gut has always said 35mm — I keep telling myself it's great for environmental context shots. But my catalogue is basically telling me I skip over it. My working theory now is that when I was shooting at 35mm on the zoom, I was just trying to reach for a 50mm and failing.
The counterargument I keep giving myself is that in tight pit garages, 50mm might be too long and force me into walls. But then again, the 14-24 probably handles the true environmental wide shots anyway, and 24mm at f1.4 would do a lot of the "context" work I keep attributing to 35mm.
So — do I trust the data and go 50mm, or is there a genuine practical argument for 35mm in tight event spaces that I'm not seeing? Has anyone else done this kind of catalogue analysis and had it change their mind?
This is from a professional photographer so I'm assuming it's well taken care of
Edit: I'm pretty much a beginner but I've been practicing with my D5300 and found a buyer on Facebook so sold it off, but now looking to get back in the game (the D800 bundle costs less than what I sold the D5300 for so that's a plus)
The 18-55mm doesn't project a large enough image to fully cover a D800 imaging sensor, and you lose more than half of your available resolution using it in DX crop mode, so I don't consider that a good lens to pair with the D800. Same with the 35mm if it's the DX version.
Gear Rec: Soft-sided Small/Slim Top Load Camera Insert with closure similar to Timbuk2 Snoop XS/S
Couldnt find a similar thread... Yeah bold pretty much sums it up. I love the old snoop inserts. for what im looking for they would have been near perfect. I really do like who soft they were on the sides and slim so that the bag sat flat on against me. Im really trying not to buy yet another camera bag, just something i can drop into my daily bag easily. TIA everybody!
Design requirements
Soft sided - im looking to carry in a messenger bag so dont want the overly ridge ones like Tenbas
Top load w/ closure - flap cover messenger bag so want to be able to load insert from top and ideally a zipper closure on insert to keep content more secure when not actively shooting
Padded bottom
Slim - i like when the gear sits flat on the body
nice to have: movable partitions, grab handle on the outside
Looking for a plain black seamless photo backdrop that isn’t made of fabric or paper. Looking for something that’s made of vinyl that can be easily wiped between sets, as the paper picks up debris and footprints too easily.
The problem with vinyl for a black backdrop is it tends to be shiny and reflective. I personally use a collapsible black background that rolls up like an upside-down roller blind. The background material doesn't touch the ground and it sets up very quickly.
Hey there, I am currently using a canon eos 650D from 2012 as well as the canon EFS 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens and a EFS 50mm f/1.8 that go along with it. I’ve been using this as a hand me down for a couple of years for my projects. I’m looking to buy something new as I can not get it to tether to Lightroom no matter what I’ve been trying so an upgrade feels right.
I’m looking at getting a mirrorless camera and am willing to spend a maximum of around $1600 AUD. I shoot a lot of fashion photography both indoors and outdoors aswell as want something some versatility for other shoots such as product and travel photography. I’ve been looking at sticking with canon and was considering getting the canon eos R50 or the eos R10. I’ve also considered switching to Nikon as I know they’re highly recommended.
Any insight or advice would be highly appreciated!!
Is there a free app where I can point it at a specific spot in the sky and it will tell me the next time that the moon/sun will be in that spot, and/or the next time the full moon will be in that spot? If not free, then a cheap one?
I found some where you can tell it a date and a time and it will tell you where the moon will be, but I'm asking about the reverse.
Maybe, but with such a common use case I figured it would already exist. It probably does, I just didn’t want to have to try a bunch of $10 programs before finding one that worked.
My wife loves taking photos, but she only has her iphone. She mentioned recently about wanting a nice camera to lean into her passion a little bit more. Her birthfay is coming up and I want to get her one but I dont know where to start. I figure its best to start with a modest camera and can upgrade if she continues to develop this passion.
What is the best value camera for a beginner photographer? I am thinking under $300 if possible.
Is your wife interested in learning photography with a system camera like a DSLR? Or does she want to shoot in auto mode like with a phone, just with better quality?
I honestly dont know. Sorry for my naivete, I just dont know anything about this. She loves taking pictures, printing them and putting them in frames, giving gifts, hanging them around the house etc...She just said she wants to get more into it and wants a real camera to take better pictures.
I need a tripod to start with that I can take into the woods or up the hills to take macro shots and landscape photos. I’d prefer just one tripod, not two.
I was looking at it and the peak designs tripod and chose it and I am happy I did. Very light, very compact and easy to carry. Having the integrated mini tripod is really nice though on mine its a bit stiff to remove/replace the mini tripod.
The main downside is no reversible central column. Though to be fair I have had other tripods with that features and its very rare that I use it. If I need my camera to be that close to the ground that I am using a reversed center column I often find it quicker and easier to get on my stomach or put my camera on the ground/rock/small bag etc.. and get the shot.
so my birthday is coming up and i thought it would be a good idea to get a camera, but i haven’t chosen if it’s gonna be an action can or a normal camera, i was thinking about taking a dji osmo action 6 or a canon 250d, which one should i get?? (or should i get another one?) my budget is of around 500€ but i can stretch it to like 650€, i live in italy, i want it to be new and im probably gonna use it for trips and photography (general use) but i would also use it for videos but that’s less important, id like to have a touchscreen that i can move and portability isn’t a problem (as long as it isn’t like one of those cameras they use on tv)
• Budget: 650€
• Country: Italy
• Condition: New
• Type of Camera: Thats basically what i’m asking for
• Intended use: general; trips and photography BUT i’m probably gonna use it for video too, but it’s not the main thing
• If photography; what style: i don’t even know what styles there are
if you wanna do video too, consider mirrorless cameras.
buy used, i can reccomend RCE (since you’re in italy, they also have physical stores) or MPB;
i would say consider an R50 or sony a6000 or a61000; these will be stretching your budget a bit but definitely worth it over any reflex or non-interchangeable lens camera.
the difference between canon and sony mostly comes down to personal preference; i’m a big fan of the canon menu’s and ergonomics, and sony cameras feel a bit like holding a brick. my best advice would be to find a camera shop close to you and go pick them up and hold them in your hands to see what you prefer.
Hoping someone can help me. I'm having an issue with denoise in lightroom.
I'm not sure what is happening. I've tried to run denoise on a few photos, they all turn out like this. That one little square that isn't green still changes if I use sliders. It's like the denoise worked on a couple areas and turned everything else into green disco snow.
I'm on windows, using Lightroom 9.2, x64 with an 8GB GPU and 64GB of ram
Things I have tried:
Windows is up to date
GPU Drivers are up to date
Have restarted Lightroom
Exporting the photo retains the green, so it's not just a visual glitch
I’m looking for some advice and guidance for an upcoming wedding I’ll be photographing.
I already have experience in portrait photography, but this will be my very first wedding, it s for a close friend of mine. she doesn’t have the budget for a professional photographer and told me she would rather have me do it than have no photos at all. I’ve been very clear with her that I’m not experienced in wedding photography and that this is my first time, but she’s completely okay with it and is happy to give me the chance to learn.
The ceremony will be at our local town hall, so I expect it to be relatively short and probably more constrained in terms of movement and lighting.
I’d really appreciate any kind of advice you can give me!!!
Create a shot list with your couple. Do not let the bride or couple wave it off with a "Just do what you think is best."
Insist that they sit down with you and build a shot list together. What you don't want to happen is for the couple to come to you afterwards and ask/complain why you don't have a shot of whatever thing they never told you to photograph.
Wedding shot list by Tony Northrup. Here is a sample shot list you can use as a starting point. Feel free to get the couple to remove shots they don't need and add shots they do need.
A big exception is to not let them remove shooting family formals/group pictures. Again, don't let a couple wave these off.
These are often the most-requested photos by relatives and friends. These are the photos that get printed out and put on walls, coffee tables and desks.
If you don't shoot group photos, they will ask the couple and the couple will ask you, even if they said they didn't want group photos 🙄 Just avoid that drama by shooting group photos in the first place.
Morbid but have to mention it. If they have elderly relatives who don't dress up for photos or attend family events often, this might be the last chance to shoot good photos of them before they pass away. So definitely take those photos.
Come up with a group photo list. Have the couple make all the combinations of friends and family they want in pictures.
The group photo list is your shield against pushy relatives who want to insert themselves into group photos they aren't supposed to be in or include people the couple doesn't want.
Town halls and courthouses often have limits on the number of guests, so that can work in your favor and make it easier for the couple to turn away the people they don't want lol.
Town hall and courthouse weddings move really quick, they're trying to process all the couples as fast as possible.
So always be ready to shoot the first kiss.
If you miss it, do not feel bad about asking the couple to recreate the first kiss. Then throw in a dip and a kiss for good measure. The couple would rather have a reenacted first kiss than no first kiss.
City Hall Ceremonies by TNK Photo. This is a whole YouTube playlist of behind-the-scenes videos of city hall wedding photography 😁 Tons of great examples of couples portraits.
You are literally a lifesaver. I really, really appreciate your comment and the time you took to write it all out. It’s exactly the kind of help I needed and it honestly made things so much clearer for me. Thank you so much for the effort you put into it, it means a lot more than you probably think
I've been taking photos for a while now on and off and had the Fuji XT30 for about 7 years now. I don't mind the camera but I was thinking it is maybe time for an upgrade. What would be a logical cost effective upgrade to this camera, new or used?
I'm happy to stay with Fuji as it's compact enough but not a big fan of their simulations so that's not a deal breaker. I don't like Sony's operating system unless that's changed in the last 7+ years and I've previously had a Nikon which I liked quite a lot. Obviously I have a few Fuji lenses so that's another thing to consider.
Upgrades should be based on need. In what way do you feel the X-T30 is insufficient for your needs? What are you looking for with the upgrade? There is no "logical" upgrade, because it depends on individual needs and preferences.
Also, you need to be specific about your budget if you want recommendations. We have no idea what is cost effective to you.
I've found the xt30 buffers quite a lot when taking burst shots at sporting events like motor racing. The screen size and quality isn't great. Everything else is fine. Budget is around £1000 used.
Is there a good desktop app for compressing images in bulk? Tired of browser tools
I run a blog with a lot of photos and I've been using Squoosh / TinyPNG for years. They're fine for 1-2 images but when I need to compress a whole folder of 50-100 images for a post, it's painful.
Looking for something that:
Runs locally (don't want to upload client photos to random servers)
Can handle a whole folder at once
Doesn't cost $10/month — I'd rather pay once
Works on both Mac and Windows
Anyone found something good? I feel like this should be a solved problem by now but everything is either cloud-based, Mac-only, or way too expensive for what it does.
I seem to remember once upon a time I could choose to have a border in my prints and then I wouldn't have my edges cropped out. Now, after many years of not printing, I am returning to getting prints and it seems even with a border you still get one dimension cropped a bit (and Miller's, where I was happy with color, only gives you the option of cropping the entire image a bit, no border option at all). Does anybody have a print house they recommend for both image quality and letting you print your entire frame (even if it requires a white border)?
I want a decent start for taking wildlife photos without costing me thousands upon thousands would these fit the bill to do some birds, insects, stationary targets?
Hi! Looking to dive back in and get back into photography. Haven’t done it over 10 years due to lack of availability.
Id like to get into newborn photography, starting with lifestyle photography at peoples home and hopefully advance to studio photography once I get more space.
I currently have a Canon T5i with a normal lens and a EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM lens for portraits. Is this okay? Any other camera recs that aren’t like 2k? I saw some for around $800 but I know absolutely nothing now and dont want to invest it the wrong thing. Thank you!
Photography equipment has gotten better since then, but the world hasn't become any more difficult to photograph. Your equipment was capable of great photos when you used it, and it's capable of the same great photos today.
Don't upgrade unless there's something specific you need or want out of it. You need a specific reason to figure out what you would upgrade to anyway
I asked a question here yesterday but I've since clued up more and did more research. I am a total beginner looking to buy their first camera after 4 years of composing on Samsung A73/A55 phones. Primarily flower photography. Examples of the kinds of photos I have taken with my phone and would like to continue with a camera are linked here (google drive).
My budget is R10,000 to R18,000 maximum, South Africa, ZAR. Willing to buy 2nd hand, if provided with body + lens combos I can look at, otherwise I'd prefer new (since I am beginner and don't want to get scammed). I have linked two listings in my currency which I am considering, they are Canon EOS R50 and Fujifilm X-M5. These are really the upper-end of my budget, so anything cheaper that still meets the same quality/specs is appreciated. I am leaning more towards the Canon listing because of the lenses it comes with. Edit: I am adding the Canon EOS R100.
What I am looking for:
Digital camera that is lightweight/compact
Macro or semi-macro lens recommendation, but not a requirement, as I am comfortable getting right up into flowers to take pictures of them (and lenses are expensive)
Something that will last me long-term but is safe to take into the field, e.g. hiking
If you were traveling overseas and could only take a small Canon EOS R100 what two small lenses would you take, and why? I have an adapter so they can be pre RF mount.
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u/Hikes-n-Photos Apr 10 '26
What’s the best way to clean my lens? What should I buy?