Wouldbe newbee

[Clavain]

Hello Everyone,

I am thinking of buying a Canon D60 and trying to get into photography for pleasure.

Of course I have been doing all my reseach on the web, and found it all great fun, reading all those technical papers, and reviews and stumbling across sites like this one, (which is just fantastic).

That is until I started reading about the digital darkroom. Dear me there seems an awful lot of stuff to understand before you can take a decent picture. The stuff about colour profiling has really depressed me. I have a pretty good LCD display (Eizo Flexscan L675) which I am more than happy with. Now it appears I can't really trust my eyes and should calibrate it.

I was just about ready to accept this until I stumbled across a web page which said I should also colour profile the D60 itself? ;-)

This is all very daunting.

Am I missing something here?
Is this a classic case of, turn off the computer and get a life?

Would be grateful for any advice.

Clavain

PS love you pictures and your site

[Todd]

Clavain-
If you want to get into photography for pleasure then get into it! As you grow into the hobby some of these things you mentioned may become important, maybe not. I guess the most important advice I could give is buy the absolute best glass you can, for it will be with you always and camera bodies will be upgraded at some point. If this means one new lens every 2 years it is still better than a host of cheaper glass. These are just rules that I live by, not fact, and I'm sure to draw a little fire for them!

Good luck
Todd Asher
www.motorsport-photo.com
todd@motorsport-photo.com

[Pekka]

Todd gave a good answer.

On the internet: put a filter on - not all you read is
a) something you should do now
b) true
c) important

Only one advice I think is a good and correct one: shoot in RAW format and backup every single RAW you take. RAW is a great format for people who a year later see things in different light.

Photography is in the end art. Your personal way to do and understand art is your own thing and no one else's business. For some doing by the heart is fun, for some exact rules and regulations rule, for some something else matters. There is no such thing like "right colors" or "correct exposure" in art. So if you want to do it for pleasure the just drop all the info from your head and go for pleasure and fun. Maybe later you'll get interested to know more, or you know more and tell us some new angles - who knows! :)

[Clavain]

Todd-

Thank you for the reply.

I intend now to concentrate on the pleasure side of things and see what happens :-)

You mention, "buy the absolute best glass". I have been looking at the EF 28-70mm f/2.8 L USM as my first lens, and have now discovered that it has been upgraded to the EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM. Everyone appears to be raving on about this lens, however it does cost a vulgar amount of money (long live VISA). I would like to photograph people’s faces since this fascinates me (I could watch people all day) would this lens be an appropriate choice?

Clavain.

[Clavain]

Pekka,

Thank you very much for your answer. You seem to have hit the nail exactly on the head.

I am an engineer by profession and work all day (long days too) with large computer systems. My life is full of logic and technical things :-) I wanted to get into photography to develop and promote some art in my life. Rather than look at something with an engineer’s eye, to try and look at it and interpret it as an artist might. To involve myself with the beauty of things rather than the underlying structure.

A digital camera is a very complex thing with lots of technical issues. I was being drawn to this complexity (despite my misgivings) and that is actually not what I wanted to achieve.

You wrote "So if you want to do it for pleasure then just drop all the info from your head and go for pleasure and fun". That is very good advice and I am going to take it to heart (which is exactly the area I want to develop).

You have a wonderful site and it is a real pleasure to have met you.


Clavain

[Todd]

Clavain-
I'm not up to date on this lens, it is possibly replacing the 28-70 which is one that I'm very glad to have. I would highly recommend this lens type(28-70 if you can still get them, or 24-70), it was the first lens that I bought and is without a doubt the best general use lens that I have, and I would imagine it spends more time on the camera that any other. So to answer your question, this lens should do what you want it to do and I do not believe you would be disappointed with it. Let us know what you go with!

Todd Asher
todd@motorsport-photo.com

[redbutt]

I have been looking at the EF 28-70mm f/2.8 L USM as my first lens,...

Maybe look into a lens that is a little longer...you might find it nice to have a little more zoom on your lens. Possibly the EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6...granted having the f/2.8 is attractive, but the extra zoom of the 28-135 might suit you better an an all around lens.

This is just personal opinion, but I like the extra zoom especially when I'm out and about. It's easier to get a candid shot of a person if you are not right in front of them.

[50/1.4]

I agree with Redbutt. Why not buy a 135/2L if you want great glass and shoot people's faces? About $600 cheaper, too.

[Pekka]

28-70 in D60 does not seem too wide in scale but in 1.3X or 1.0X models it will have a very different field of view which will make a very useful city walkabout lens. Field of view differences in wide angle are much more pronounced than in 50-100 area.

Based on recent experiences I recommend 35/2 as the basic walkabout lens for D60. It's very easy to hold, small, very sharp and has good geometry. Looks like crap, sounds like crap but is one of the best lenses I have. If you have as first lenses that and e.g. 135/2 you have good coverage, exceptional quality and light sensitivity with quite small amount of foot zoom.

[Clavain]

I will take your advice seriously, and look into these alternatives.

I was in 3 camera shops today in Cologne, Germany hoping to have a look at some lens, but to my disappointment none of these shops has a D60. Nor could then tell if they were going to get in any more.

Could this be the drying up of supply before the new model comes out?

[Clavain]

-Todd

While researching some of the suggestions by Pekka and friends, I stumbled across this review of the 24-70mm f/2.8 L which you might find interesting.

http://luminous-landscape.com/reviews/lenses/24-70-review.shtml


Clavain

[GenEOS]

I would only lend a single comment. Buy lenses that are f2.8 or better, if you can afford them.

As Pekka stated a 35mm f2.8 is a good lens choice for all around shooting.

I really like my D60 and I am looking for a good deal on a 35mm f2.8.