naviathan Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 I've just found a new passion in photography that I didn't know I had. I purchased a Nikon D40X kit for taking photos out here in the desert and for the upcoming child. My thought was a more expensive camera with exchangeable lenses would take better pictures and give me more options for zoom shots. This limited view of the camera quickly diminished when I began studying the different settings; aperture, shutter speed, ISO levels, lighting filters, RAW imaging, etc... The more I've played with the camera the more intrigued I've become with it and with photography in general. The views you can take in and the colors you can create are incredible to say the least. Then to get into RAW image editing with UFRaw and GIMP is amazing. You can take a blah photo that might eb slightly over or under exposed and make a gorgeous picture from it. I'm so intrigued with it that I'm also looking into buying another Nikon digital SLR, the D80. It's feature set is only slightly better than the D40X with a slight price increase, but it also enables the use of the older auto focus lenses made by Nikkor. I've seen some very nice shots of some of the Z cars on the forum and thought I'd ask if anyone else had a passion for taking photos. For anyone who's thought about getting into photography I highly recommend the D40 series for a starter camera, it's contagious. The camera is perfect for introducing you to the different professional settings and still enables an automatic point and shoot mode. When you start looking or other lenses though the D40 series can be expensive because of the limited auto focus lens type. Hence the reason I'm looking at the D80 now. Does anyone know of any good photography forums? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bezeenu Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Check out http://www.dpreview.com there is tons of info, model specific forums etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tfreer85 Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 I've always enjoyed taking pictures but never really got passoinate about it until around 6 months ago. I went out originally going with a Film Canon Rebel K2, which was fun and great but I use a digital median ALL the time. About 3 months ago I purchased a Canon Rebel XTi 10mp and can't be happier!! Outside of looking finding a Canon Zoom lense I've fallen in love with photography. Glad to see you've been bitten by the bug, be sure to post your results over here http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=116982&highlight=Post+photography Tyson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators RTz Posted December 31, 2007 Administrators Share Posted December 31, 2007 http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=116982&highlight=photography dpgrin.com is a great group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators RTz Posted December 31, 2007 Administrators Share Posted December 31, 2007 Tyson beat me to it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tfreer85 Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Gotta be on your toes Ron...when its halftime its posting time!!! Tyson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 If you've got the Nikon series, the good thing about being able to use any F mount series lense is what I like. Best lense out there right now for personal use in a wide range of applications is the 18-200 VR lense. It costs as much as the camera itself, and saves you the pain of having to switch between 3 lenses, as well as having to buy them. Rent one from your local camera outlet, I'm sure you'll be impressed with it's range and capability in comparison to whatever the Nikon 40 series comes with as a kit, and compared to what you'd have to buy in order to get that flexability. Cheers, and happy photographin' in the new year. Raff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators BRAAP Posted December 31, 2007 Administrators Share Posted December 31, 2007 Naviathan, Welcome to the wonderful world D-SLR. The D-40 is a great starter D-SLR and it will serve you well. As for photographers on here, yeeupsi doodle. There are some very good photographers on here. In fact, there is a HybridZ thread dedicated to just this topic, Photography with some incredible photos that Ron and tfreer85 linked above. When you are ready to step up to the D-80, you wont regret it. The D-80 has the built AutoFocus drive motor which opens up a lot more lens options, (for some reason, Nikon left that out of the D-40 and D-40x which limits what lens, if you want autofocus capability), Looking forward to seeing some of your work… Oh, I almost forgot. There is even a dedicated Z car photo shoot thread as well… Click ME for the Z car Photo Shoot thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naviathan Posted December 31, 2007 Author Share Posted December 31, 2007 Wow my two favorite passions all in one forum. This is great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike C Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I love my camera. One oc the hobbies you can do any where any time! You should be real happy with your D40. Just don't buy a long manual focus lens and hope to use it. Even though it will bayonet, you lose all your metering. This is true with my D70s even. I finally bought a D200 so I can use all my older Nikon stuff. I still take the film cameras out as they somehow just get you to think a little differently. That and it costs out the wazoo to get a lens that will shoot 18mm (in 35mm format) for the digital... My 18-200 vr is supposed to be here the 3rd. Woohoo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Don't bypass the Sigma lenses. Some of their lenses equal or beat the Nikors and Canon L series for about 30-40% less money. The lens is VERY important if you are really trying to get perfection. Here are a bunch of "high-horse" photographers. http://www.photoblink.com/ I learned a lot from that site, although it's a bit snooty sometimes, the photographers are excellent. Digital processing is also highly regarded there, which is my preference. After all, if you shoot digital and you don't process, you are letting the camera do half the work. Here is just a random example of the quality of work at photoblink. PHOTO BY DAVID HEMMINGS PHOTO BY Wim Lassche Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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