The "What Are You Doing This Moment" Thread

[Pessimism]

I bought it before reading this, but anyways, everything is in good condition (including the internal mirror/reflexive lens), and the lens is a 35-80mm one. Basically the guy needed money for his car repairs, and he also didn't know the full value of the camera (got it as a gift from his stepdad or something when he was living in Boston).

So, what is a 35-80mm lens good (or bad) for?

Well, I haven't actually heard of the 35-80mm till now Apparently it is a really really old lens.

Judging from it's lot in the Canon lineup, you'll probably get the sharpest photo if you stop down one step, and typically with lenses of this quality you can expect a great deal of softness as you progress towards the end of the lens.

Prob stick it around 40mm at 5.0/5.6 for maximum sharpness; this is a somewhat uneducated guess though, best way to figure it out is to set up an is012233 chart and take some pictures at different apertures.

Use this picture, just print out one and set it up in a well lit area (tripod preferred so you can remain stationary so your pictures don't vary wildly). Focus on a specific section (you don't need to get the whole thing in the picture), and then compare shots.

For example:
Set at 35mm, take picture at lowest aperture, then increase one stop and take picture, then increase one stop and take another picture, repeat.

Set at 40mm, repeat steps

Set at 50mm, repeat steps

You get the point.



This will give you all possible combinations and will show you exactly where your lens strengths lie. Also, don't bother going past f11 on your camera, since I bet that thing would refract like a motherfucker at any stop past that.


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Do you know the basic rules of shooting?

 

[Vimana]

I kind of love this new poster.

 

[Srontgorrth]

Well, I haven't actually heard of the 35-80mm till now Apparently it is a really really old lens.

Judging from it's lot in the Canon lineup, you'll probably get the sharpest photo if you stop down one step, and typically with lenses of this quality you can expect a great deal of softness as you progress towards the end of the lens.

Prob stick it around 40mm at 5.0/5.6 for maximum sharpness; this is a somewhat uneducated guess though, best way to figure it out is to set up an is012233 chart and take some pictures at different apertures.

Use this picture, just print out one and set it up in a well lit area (tripod preferred so you can remain stationary so your pictures don't vary wildly). Focus on a specific section (you don't need to get the whole thing in the picture), and then compare shots.

For example:
Set at 35mm, take picture at lowest aperture, then increase one stop and take picture, then increase one stop and take another picture, repeat.

Set at 40mm, repeat steps

Set at 50mm, repeat steps

You get the point.



This will give you all possible combinations and will show you exactly where your lens strengths lie. Also, don't bother going past f11 on your camera, since I bet that thing would refract like a motherfucker at any stop past that.


---------------------------

Do you know the basic rules of shooting?

Oh reallly? Weird. Maybe I could sell it for the regular 18-55mm or something. I'll print out that picture when I'm at school today though, and then I can take it home and begin, seems like it'll be very helpful. And uh, what's f11?

As for the basic rules, probably not, no. Might pick up a beginners photography book type thing or something in the library. I downloaded the Dummies guide for the Rebel XS and started that, but it seems to be focusing on all the different modes and settings more than anything else.

 

[Sven Pakkanen]

I kind of love this new poster.

Who, me? Or are you referring to a different kind of poster (paper poster etc.)

 

[Pessimism]

Oh reallly? Weird. Maybe I could sell it for the regular 18-55mm or something. I'll print out that picture when I'm at school today though, and then I can take it home and begin, seems like it'll be very helpful. And uh, what's f11?

As for the basic rules, probably not, no. Might pick up a beginners photography book type thing or something in the library. I downloaded the Dummies guide for the Rebel XS and started that, but it seems to be focusing on all the different modes and settings more than anything else.

Man don't even bother with that shit.

Camera's work around three basic thing: Aperture, shutter speed, and ISO

Aperture - The diameter of the lens that opens to collect light. Aperture is expressed in F-stops; the more light that is let in, the smaller the F-stop designation. Likewise, the larger the F-stop designation, the less light you will let in.
Ex: F1.8 would let a lot of light in
F2.8 in would also let a great chunk of light in, but not as much as 1.8)
F11 would be letting barely any light in at all compared to the above two stops.

You may ask yourself why people do not just keep there lenses wide open (smallest number designation), and the answer is simple: depth of field


Shutter speed: Pretty obvious, this is the speed of the shutter, which therefore means it is the control for how much light you want to pass through the aperture lens to the sensor.
Depending on the lens, you can actually handhold shots as low as 1/5 second. For your lens I would try to see if you can take a steady shot around 1/30sec - you should only be able to do this in moderately well lit conditions though.

ISO - Denotes is how sensitive the image sensor is to the amount of light present. The higher the ISO, the more sensitive the image sensor becomes. The reason to increase ISO is to make it easier to function in low-light situations, but the downside is that a higher ISO increases the noise you'll find in your pictures. Click here for an example of noise and ISO.

--------------
To do a quick summation:
Aperture is the size of the hole in which light passes through. You can increase or decrease this size depending on what F-stop you settle on.

Shutter speed: The gateway/controls how much light at a given time enters through the aperture and how long it will illuminate the sensor.

ISO: How sensitive the sensor is to light; the larger the number the more sensitive it is (ex: 1600 is waaaaaay more sensitive than 100).

 

[Pessimism]

As for your camera modes, fuck every one of the "portrait" or "night photography" settings. These are the only settings you will really need to start off with:

Av - Camera lets you select the aperture, auto compensates for everything else.
Tv - Camera lets you select what shutter speed you want, auto compensates for aperture
M - Manual... ind of obvious (you control everything!)
Auto - For when you get lazy and want to see what a picture should look like (assuming it is correctly auto-exposing everything)


The one thing I recommend you read through is the manual for the camera body, as it will cover each of these modes more in depth, cover metering options, and a lot of other stuff (and you'll prob want to know about auto ISO adjustment). The other book that is recommended is [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Photographs-Camera/dp/0817439390/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296669968&sr=8-1"]Understanding Exposure[/ame].





Edit: I got to be honest, I am not a fan of the 18-55mm. I think the 50mm 1.8 prime is a perfect entry level lens, and it is way cheaper too. Frankly if you plan on doing any concerts, you are going to want this lens anyway for your budget. Fuck, for my budget I still want this lens (I am replacing it with a 16-35mm L lens however)

 

[sevag00]

Who, me? Or are you referring to a different kind of poster (paper poster etc.)

I think he's referring to the female poster.

 

[Sven Pakkanen]

Ah you mean krampus? Yeah I'm starting to as well. Pretty sad that I have 2 years on her and she has me beat by over 4000 posts.

 

[SentinelSlain]

English girls aren't really that hot, especially when compared to maybe romanian or finnish girls.

 

[Srontgorrth]

[stuff]

Seems like a lot to digest, but I hope I'll be able to get the hang of it. Thanks for all of the info though, it's much appreciated.

 

[The Butt]

No. It's Christmas year round in Krampusland.

Fuck yeah.

Right now I'm talking to my aunt (not the one who's batshit crazy. We're in the clear, guys). She asked to see my resume and she's gonna make it look half-decent. Sweet deal.

 

[mutantllama]

Time to get up at fucking 5:20 again. Fucking mornings.

 

[optionthree]

Woke up yesterday after 90 minutes of sleep and just now after 4 or 5 hours. What the fuck?

 

[sevag00]

Ah you mean krampus? Yeah I'm starting to as well. Pretty sad that I have 2 years on her and she has me beat by over 4000 posts.

No, not her. the Romanian chick. Forgot her name.

 

[waif]

Neurotica.

 

[A1a23]

Just woke up, gotta love having classes canceled. However, I can't really go anywhere due to my car still being snowed in from this apocalyptic thunderstorm blizzard we had a few days ago.

 

[SentinelSlain]

Neurotica.

That's not her and Neurotica is Ukranian anyway.

 

[Vimana]

Who, me? Or are you referring to a different kind of poster (paper poster etc.)

Yes.

 

[damnromulans]

Wearing a badass plaid shirt because it's FRIDAY. TGIF TGIF TGIF. Playing music and going to an enchilada cook-off potluck dinner tomorrow.

 

[ASD]

lolz silly japanese don't know its thursday...