Fashion & Natural Light

[snapdog]

I shoot fashion (studio lighting), and natural light erotic work. I'm thinking of adding a D30 to my EOS equipment. While I read with interest a number of comments regarding shooting portraits, does any have experienced how fast and well does a D30 do in extreme lighting conditions?
Thanks,
Joe
snapdog.com

[jpbeale]

When you say extreme conditions I assume you mean dim lighting.

I'm no D30 expert but I think you'll find a consensus among owners that the autofocus in low light is not on a par with professional bodies like the EOS 1V, or (I would assume) the new EOS 1D. If you use manual focus, you ought to be fine.

If you're shooting at any ISO setting above 100 then you may find special noise-reduction processing to be useful; see for example
http://www.fredmiranda.com/Action_profilesPage/index.html

[kameraguy]

I shoot a lot of fashion with the D30. Especially with studio strobe mixed with ambient light. The camera works great. Both when using EX balanced fill and non-dedcated lighting equipment.

As far as long exposure photography, the image quality fluctuates depending on the details in the scene. ISO 100 at 30 secs in moderately low light looks quite good. and with 1600 is pretty bad, but when using fred miranda's and similar noise actions, the results are quite acceptable. However, if this is your intention, then the D30 would be great as a real-time preview...followed up by a film-based camera to finalize the scene.

As the D30 does pretty poorly with exposues longer than 30 secs (not uncommon for digital cameras in this range), I have found overlaying several exposures of the same scene into one quite effective. For example, if I intend to lightpaint a scene, I will paint one half...then paint the other half on a different exposure, and overlay and combine the two with PS6. It works quite well.

[snapdog]

Thanks for the responses. One questions is, I use dramatic lighting and shoot moving models mostly dancers. How's the speed on recycling for the next shot, and results from high contrast lit subjects. You can see samples of what I mean at:

http://www.snapdog.com
Thanks,
Joe

[Roger_Cavanagh]

Joe,

Don't know anything about lighting, but just wanted to say I really enjoyed your site both the images and the look of the pages - simple and elegant.

Can I ask two questions:

1. What is the font you have used for the major headings?

2. Please can you fix the typo "CATAGORIES"? Things like that really bug me (yes, I realise it probably means I'm anal retentive :) ).

Regards,

Roger
www.rogercavanagh.com

[snapdog]

Thanks for the complement on my Web site. (http://www.snapdog.com) I'm excited to try to move to a digital format for my art, especially in my abstractions. Also, thanks for the typo catch, PhotoShop does not do spell checking. The font I use is "haman", very retro/elegant.
Regards,
Joe

[kameraguy]

Hi snapdog, since you refer to dramatic lighting a lot, I am assuming you are concerned with how well the D30 handles contrasty lighting situations. If this is so, I would not worry about it too much as the camera is VERY capable of recording such scenes, as long as you utilize the histogram tool to make sure your lighting is correct and within the camera's contrast ability. Easily done and from what i've experienced is just about identical in sensitivity as film. So you shouldn't have to modify your technique when it comes to lighting.

"recycling" time? I am guessing you mean how fast the camera can buffer and process images when using the motordrive. If this is what you mean, the D30 is NOT the best camera for motordrive sequences IMHO. At least if 3fps doesn't turn you on. Coming from a 1N-RS, I am used to extremely fast sequences. The D30 doesn't even come close to the original EOS 1. Literally think of it as a Canon Rebel in this department with about a 12 frame window of opportunity (I am guessing as i don't shoot burst this long with the D30). You will find the D30 will lock you out after a MD seq as it processes the images. You can keep the camera in ready mode by continuously holding the shutter halfway in between shots. If you let go it's over because the camera will start the image processing.


Hope this helps. If you are using the camera as a tool for your career, you should consider the 1D if these limitations are of a concern. The D30 is a SPECTACULAR camera in it's price range, but not perfect. However, if you are not concerned about MD and AF capability, and you don't need to do multiple exposures, then the D30 is wonderful.

[seattle chronic]

You show the most beautiful side erotica that there is......Your lighting is amazing!