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Harry

By Harry,
in Technology, Photography & Video

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Who makes the camera that you shoot transit with?  

26 members have voted

  1. 1. Who makes the camera that you shoot transit with?


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Quill Depot

Quill Depot

Posted
Posted

Just wondering what you prefer?
 

I like film for several reasons:

-Higher dynamic range (usually means more detail in shadows and highlights)
-"Film look"

-Not knowing results until the roll is developed

-More room for experimenting

-Can get expensive

-Limit on exposures (more time put into framing shots)

 

And digital for other reasons:

 

-Better underground due to higher possible ISO's

-Post-processing is fun

-Cheaper in the long run

-Instantaneous results

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SoSpectacular Bus Operator

SoSpectacular

Posted
Posted

I've had to work with film for college classes and it's pretty tedious at times, having to crack open a film canister, getting the film onto the reels and developing it all is a process. It is rewarding at the end though, to see all your exposures on your film strip. I still have my film camera stored away if anything.

 

I currently shoot with a digital SLR.

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realizm

realizm

Posted
Posted (edited)

I'm using a damn point n shoot, nikon S9300 which replaced my S630. I would get an S9700, but we here in the states don't get that beautiful white color.

Been thinkin it's time to get a DSLR...

 

I own a Canon Rebel EOS T3i DSLR. Old news I guess but I can tell you its a time and tested model never failed me yet. Now I believe Canon upgraded to the T5i. Many seriously accomplished photographers on this site uses that line of cameras as well as the hardcore Nikon DSLRs. I would absolutely suggest it, price is right and its performance is great in all sorts of lighting conditions once you get the hang of it.

 

And as one veteran member here one time told me, its not the camera its the man behind the camera that makes the difference. Absolutely I've seen some incredible work posted with point and shoot cameras that looks DSLR quality.

 

Nikon makes some supurb, excellent models as well, as Daniel was alluding to thats another good option in DSLRs to look into.

 

*I voted btw.

Edited by realizm
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Daniel The Cool

Daniel The Cool

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Posted

I own a Canon Rebel EOS T3i DSLR. Old news I guess but I can tell you its a time and tested model never failed me yet. Now I believe Canon upgraded to the T5i. Many seriously accomplished photographers on this site uses that line of cameras as well as the hardcore Nikon DSLRs. I would absolutely suggest it, price is right and its performance is great in all sorts of lighting conditions once you get the hang of it.

 

And as one veteran member here one time told me, its not the camera its the man behind the camera that makes the difference. Absolutely I've seen some incredible work posted with point and shoot cameras that looks DSLR quality.

 

Nikon makes some supurb, excellent models as well, as Daniel was alluding to thats another good option in DSLRs to look into.

 

*I voted btw.

Yep I honestly miss using the Nikon DSLRs. I really loved them

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Daniel The Cool

Daniel The Cool

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At the moment, Nikon makes the best camera/lens combination. The Nikon D80E paired with a Zeiss Distagon T* Otus 1.4/55 ZF.2 scores the highest mark on DxOMark with one of the previous kings knocked down to tenth place: the Sony α7R.

Yep I know. I'm currently using the Sony A560 (Which I had since 2012). I used a Nikon D3000 last year but sold it. My very first DSLR Was the Nikon D40x. Planning on switching back to Nikon soon

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CenSin

CenSin

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Yep I know. I'm currently using the Sony A560 (Which I had since 2012). I used a Nikon D3000 last year but sold it. My very first DSLR Was the Nikon D40x. Planning on switching back to Nikon soon

A Nikon will be my next camera, unless some other company manages to one-up Nikon. Historically, Nikon has been very good. My only concern is that they have a record of not playing nice with third parties like Adobe. They obfuscate their RAW format.

 

See:

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Daniel The Cool

Daniel The Cool

Posted
Posted

 

A Nikon will be my next camera, unless some other company manages to one-up Nikon. Historically, Nikon has been very good. My only concern is that they have a record of not playing nice with third parties like Adobe. They obfuscate their RAW format.

 

See:

 

Wow. But yeah I can't wait to switch back to Nikon soon.

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CenSin

CenSin

Posted
Posted

 

 


Definitely considering a Nikon, but I haven't decided which one yet.

 

Every product and its designer has its strengths and weaknesses. I was looking for a camera that could produce excellent photos, geo-tag them, and act as a high-quality camcorder for when a low-quality smartphone recording just wouldn't cut it. I purchased my first DSLR 6 months ago, but before that I spent the prior 6 months researching all the photography essentials, and kept tabs on the companies, their products, and features. That lead to my investment in a Sony α99 camera, Sony G Series 35mm f/1.4 G standard lens, and about half a dozen Samsung memory cards. I'm going to explain why.

 

Sony is a company primarily known in the US for its consumer products such as its game consoles, televisions, audio players, and Blu-Ray technology. But it also researches and manufactures prosumer products such as cameras, audio recorders, camcorders, computers, and the components of such products. Its experience with some of these goes back decades: the G Type audio recorder from 1950; the HVC-F1 video camera from 1981; and the MAVICA camera from 1981. Much of this experience is evident in its more modern products such as the PCM-M10 audio recorder (which I also own), but what Sony does even better is combining its experience in various areas to produce top-notch products.

 

While Sony already had their own digital cameras since 1988, they did not have any involvement with SLRs or DSLRs until their collaboration with camera company Konica Minolta in 2005 and eventual purchase of camera-related assets from them in early 2006. (Konica Minolta itself has a long history with camera technology dating back to 1928 and digital cameras dating back to 1995.) After acquiring Konica Minolta's expertise in SLRs, Sony continued the development of additional cameras under the α brand. The Sony α99 is a culmination of all of Sony and Konica Minolta's expertise and developments.

 

The Sony α99 was released in September 12, 2012. It's a 24-megapixel full-frame "DSLR." And I put DSLR in double-quotes because it's technically not a DSLR (digital single-lens reflex). It's a mirrorless camera with an electronic viewfinder. In place of the mirror is a translucent piece of plastic that redirects a bit of light to the camera's auto-focus system. It also implements image stabilization inside of the camera via a sensor-shift mechanism. These hardware features together let the α99 do things that other DSLRs cannot do (or do very well): the electronic viewfinder reflects the image live with all of the camera settings applied; auto-focus is continuous and operates even while taking pictures or recording video; and high-quality stabilization comes with the camera itself (meaning it works independently of the lens attached). The camera also comes with a GPS unit for geo-tagging photos and videos. And, of course, being one of Sony's area of expertise, the camera records full HD video (AVCHD 2.0) at 60 progressive frames per second with Dolby Digital audio (AC-3)—a distinction, considering that most other cameras record at half the frame rate, at lower resolution, and/or with mono audio.

 

The Sony G Series 35mm f/1.4 G standard lens was released in 2006, predating the camera by 6 years. It's a full-frame prime lens based on the much older Minolta lens from 1980s. It's wide-angle at 35mm, fast at f/1.4, and has excellent light transmission. The lens produces a pleasant boke effect at large apertures. And while it does have issues with sharpness and aberration, for the purpose of taking photos on the move, this lens strikes a nice balance.

 

The Samsung 64GB Pro Extreme Speed SDXC memory card was released in late 2012. Samsung, like Sony, is a company better known in the US for its consumer products such as home appliances, televisions, computers, and mobile devices. Among the tech-savvy, they are also known for high quality solid-state memory products including RAM, SSDs, and memory cards, because unlike much of the memory products on the market, Samsung actually manufactures its own chips. The others are Toshiba, and SanDisk (a close partner of Toshiba). Every other company makes memory cards by putting together scraps that the NAND chip giants throw out, putting to question the quality of the memory inside. Having owned a few prior SanDisk memory cards with plastic parts breaking off under normal use, Samsung was the obvious alternative.

 

So with the complete set put together, I went out to take pictures.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/124484291@N05/sets/72157644645840725/

Photostream: https://www.flickr.com/photos/124484291@N05/

 

After many months of using my camera, I'd say that 6 months of homework paid off—more so than just following the advice of others. But a bit more experience would have allowed me to make slightly better choices such as getting the better Carl Zeiss lens. You may have different needs and expectations from your future camera, and you'll hear opinions from many people (including mine), but don't be afraid do a bit of homework or make your own choices. It will guarantee a satisfying photography experience and (depending on your skill) beautiful photos.

 

Here are some essentials that I've found to be must-reads:

 

Good luck.

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Daniel The Cool

Daniel The Cool

Posted
Posted

Every product and its designer has its strengths and weaknesses. I was looking for a camera that could produce excellent photos, geo-tag them, and act as a high-quality camcorder for when a low-quality smartphone recording just wouldn't cut it. I purchased my first DSLR 6 months ago, but before that I spent the prior 6 months researching all the photography essentials, and kept tabs on the companies, their products, and features. That lead to my investment in a Sony α99 camera, Sony G Series 35mm f/1.4 G standard lens, and about half a dozen Samsung memory cards. I'm going to explain why.

 

Sony is a company primarily known in the US for its consumer products such as its game consoles, televisions, audio players, and Blu-Ray technology. But it also researches and manufactures prosumer products such as cameras, audio recorders, camcorders, computers, and the components of such products. Its experience with some of these goes back decades: the G Type audio recorder from 1950; the HVC-F1 video camera from 1981; and the MAVICA camera from 1981. Much of this experience is evident in its more modern products such as the PCM-M10 audio recorder (which I also own), but what Sony does even better is combining its experience in various areas to produce top-notch products.

 

While Sony already had their own digital cameras since 1988, they did not have any involvement with SLRs or DSLRs until their collaboration with camera company Konica Minolta in 2005 and eventual purchase of camera-related assets from them in early 2006. (Konica Minolta itself has a long history with camera technology dating back to 1928 and digital cameras dating back to 1995.) After acquiring Konica Minolta's expertise in SLRs, Sony continued the development of additional cameras under the α brand. The Sony α99 is a culmination of all of Sony and Konica Minolta's expertise and developments.

 

The Sony α99 was released in September 12, 2012. It's a 24-megapixel full-frame "DSLR." And I put DSLR in double-quotes because it's technically not a DSLR (digital single-lens reflex). It's a mirrorless camera with an electronic viewfinder. In place of the mirror is a translucent piece of plastic that redirects a bit of light to the camera's auto-focus system. It also implements image stabilization inside of the camera via a sensor-shift mechanism. These hardware features together let the α99 do things that other DSLRs cannot do (or do very well): the electronic viewfinder reflects the image live with all of the camera settings applied; auto-focus is continuous and operates even while taking pictures or recording video; and high-quality stabilization comes with the camera itself (meaning it works independently of the lens attached). The camera also comes with a GPS unit for geo-tagging photos and videos. And, of course, being one of Sony's area of expertise, the camera records full HD video (AVCHD 2.0) at 60 progressive frames per second with Dolby Digital audio (AC-3)—a distinction, considering that most other cameras record at half the frame rate, at lower resolution, and/or with mono audio.

 

The Sony G Series 35mm f/1.4 G standard lens was released in 2006, predating the camera by 6 years. It's a full-frame prime lens based on the much older Minolta lens from 1980s. It's wide-angle at 35mm, fast at f/1.4, and has excellent light transmission. The lens produces a pleasant boke effect at large apertures. And while it does have issues with sharpness and aberration, for the purpose of taking photos on the move, this lens strikes a nice balance.

 

The Samsung 64GB Pro Extreme Speed SDXC memory card was released in late 2012. Samsung, like Sony, is a company better known in the US for its consumer products such as home appliances, televisions, computers, and mobile devices. Among the tech-savvy, they are also known for high quality solid-state memory products including RAM, SSDs, and memory cards, because unlike much of the memory products on the market, Samsung actually manufactures its own chips. The others are Toshiba, and SanDisk (a close partner of Toshiba). Every other company makes memory cards by putting together scraps that the NAND chip giants throw out, putting to question the quality of the memory inside. Having owned a few prior SanDisk memory cards with plastic parts breaking off under normal use, Samsung was the obvious alternative.

 

So with the complete set put together, I went out to take pictures.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/124484291@N05/sets/72157644645840725/

Photostream: https://www.flickr.com/photos/124484291@N05/

 

After many months of using my camera, I'd say that 6 months of homework paid off—more so than just following the advice of others. But a bit more experience would have allowed me to make slightly better choices such as getting the better Carl Zeiss lens. You may have different needs and expectations from your future camera, and you'll hear opinions from many people (including mine), but don't be afraid do a bit of homework or make your own choices. It will guarantee a satisfying photography experience and (depending on your skill) beautiful photos.

 

Here are some essentials that I've found to be must-reads:

 

Good luck.

Thats actually great advice you gave out. Nice job

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CenSin

CenSin

Posted
Posted

I also want to add that there are cameras that should be avoided due to some new developments in the past few years.

 

If anyone has followed the development of Blu-Ray, there was a nasty format war with HD-DVD that preceded its dominance. Consumers who invested in HD-DVD equipment (players, disc drives, laptops, movies on discs) before the format war was settled got burned.

 

Those familiar with digital camera history will also know that there was a plethora of competing memory formats including (but not limited to): SmartMedia, Multimedia Card, CompactFlash, SecureDigital, MemoryStick, and xD. The different formats, in turn, came in multiple sizes and revisions. Today, most cameras have become limited to 3 winning choices: CompactFlash, the format for professional cameras; SecureDigital (SD), the format for everything else; and its miniature version, MicroSD.

 

Now there are 2 new competing standards which vying to replace the aging and outdated CompactFlash technology. They are CFast and XQD. CFast is based on SATA technology, the same technology that servers, desktops, and laptops use to store data to hard drives and SSDs. XQD is based on PCIe, the same technology that graphics cards and other peripherals use to pump data between the CPU and the attached devices at blazing speeds. It's not clear which format will win since CFast has already established itself in some markets already, but XQD is based on superior technology.

 

There are two things I know for sure though: CFast is established enough that it's easy to find many sources to purchase them (and hence, huge capacity for cheaper prices); but XQD currently only comes from Lexar and Sony (meaning smaller capacity and higher prices).

 

The only camera that currently supports XQD is the Nikon D4, and oddly enough, it has one XQD slot and one CompactFlash slot rendering one slot useless in the future should the XQD format become a flop and the cards stop being produced. On the other hand, despite being out for many years, I know of no camera that accept CFast.

 

So be wary of any camera that has a CFast of XQD slot until the format war settles. You want all of your camera's features to be useful to you for a long time.

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CenSin

CenSin

Posted
Posted

I'm a skeptic of camera that claim to be high quality and sensitive (high-ISO), but this video offers a very compelling reason to keep an eye on what Sony has in store for the future. It's a short clip showing the output from the camera at different ISO levels. This was shot during the night with light from only the fire, but you'll see that at 409600, it's no different from shooting in daylight…

 

Den Lennie explains how the video was shot:

 

You know it's a notable breakthrough in camera technology when commentators claim the video has been faked.

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Daniel The Cool

Daniel The Cool

Posted
Posted

I'm a skeptic of camera that claim to be high quality and sensitive (high-ISO), but this video offers a very compelling reason to keep an eye on what Sony has in store for the future. It's a short clip showing the output from the camera at different ISO levels. This was shot during the night with light from only the fire, but you'll see that at 409600, it's no different from shooting in daylight…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgbUgNiHfXM

 

Den Lennie explains how the video was shot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq3rlPju_Ic

 

You know it's a notable breakthrough in camera technology when commentators claim the video has been faked.

Thanks for sharing

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