6 17 10 : DSLR

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
jcardona1;4340739; said:
speedlight. we wont over this a long time ago :) that is, if you like shooting fish of course!
yep honestly the only thing holding me back is the price, but we'll see, what lenses would u reccommend?
 
devder1;4340870;4340870 said:
yep honestly the only thing holding me back is the price, but we'll see, what lenses would u reccommend?
well that depends on what you shoot most, what youre trying to achieve, and what your budget is. if a speedlight seems to expensive, then the lens prices will make you vomit!
 
Improve the lighting first, then start saving for a lens, lol. A speedlight works much better on camera that the onboard flash. So it's not like you would only use it for fish. Then you'd be able to bounce your flash when shooting portraits. Huge difference in photo quality.
 
jcardona1;4340888; said:
well that depends on what you shoot most, what youre trying to achieve, and what your budget is. if a speedlight seems to expensive, then the lens prices will make you vomit!
hehe yep right now im looking at a 55-200 vr and theyre like 150 on ebay and 600 is like 220
 
Chaitika;4340924; said:
Improve the lighting first, then start saving for a lens, lol. A speedlight works much better on camera that the onboard flash. So it's not like you would only use it for fish. Then you'd be able to bounce your flash when shooting portraits. Huge difference in photo quality.
mmm i was watching a guy shooting a wedding on the beach and i was like how is he shooting on that angle hes gonna get terrible shadows and then he whipped out his huge flash and im like :(
but really i am just looking for
1. a lens with some zoom
2. another lens so i can take reverse lens macros
 
the 55-200 VR is a good cheap lens. but you have NO IDEA what a difference a speedlight will make. here's an example:

in this shot here, i metered off the tank and exposed only for the tank. since the tank is very bright in relation to the room, the exposure results in the rest of the room looking very dark. because of the big differences in lighting between the tank and the room, you CANNOT expose for both correctly. if you expose for the tank, the room will be very dark. if you expose for the room, the tank will be blown out and will appear almost white.





now look at this shot. i used the same exposure as i metered for the tank (the shot above). i then took my speedlight and bounced it off the ceiling. the result is a good exposure for the tank AND the rest of the room. good luck getting that withouth a speedlight ;)



speedlights are also great when youre shooting a portrait or subject indoors thats next to a window. notice how when you do this the outdoor detail is completely blown out, and looks solid white? this is because you cant balance the exposure indoors and out. but with a speedlight, you can take care of this. you expose for the light outdoors, then bounce your speedlight somewhere off an indoor surface. now you can see all the detail outside, and your subject inside is properly lit.

in case youre still pondering, GET A FRIGGIN SPEEDLIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;)
 
and for reverse macro, stick with the 18-55. it's probably the best lens for this. when doing reverse, 18mm will be 'zoomed in', while 55mm is 'zoomed out'
 
those pictures make me see the light lol not joking as much as i want a zoom, you are totally right
and lol but to reverse it i need 2 lenses only one of which i have
 
devder1;4340989;4340989 said:
those pictures make me see the light lol not joking as much as i want a zoom, you are totally right
and lol but to reverse it i need 2 lenses only one of which i have
yeah man, you wont be disappointed. lighting is the MOST important thing in photography. and most of the time natural lighting is not good enough. even if you think it is, it can be vastly improved with a speedlights.

as for reverse lens, nope, you only need one! i use only one lens. you can get a $10 extension tube to make the magnification even stronger. and get a cheap $5 reverse ring. i got all this on ebay. but you wont get good shots w/o a speedlight, since your pictures will be almost pitch black unless youre shooting in extremely bright conditions
 
Agreed 100% with Jcar and Cha. Speed light Is the way to go. Fish, Portraits, indoor and outdoor, speed light/s are the POO.
 
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