OT: Photography

[Excalibur]

You don't need a cable release if the camera has a self-timer.
You do want a decent tripod, preferably a Benbo (Google it) if you are going to be setting up outdoors where I think the Milky Way resides. And if you're taking pictures of food, you definitely want a Benbo.
Milford Camera is pretty good too.

For me, dealing with the timer is a pain in the rear end. Releases are pretty inexpensive and don't take up much room in the bag . . .

 

[Catsailor]

You don't need a cable release if the camera has a self-timer.
You do want a decent tripod, preferably a Benbo (Google it) if you are going to be setting up outdoors where I think the Milky Way resides. And if you're taking pictures of food, you definitely want a Benbo.
Milford Camera is pretty good too.

Again not always true. If you are making long exposures (dragging the shutter) and using a tripod you want to eliminate any motion during the exposure including camera shake caused by vibration of the mirror. The best way to do this is using the mirror up function if your camera has that, wait a sec or two for the vibe to dissipate and fire the camera with a remote devise cable/IR so your fingers/hand don't touch the camera. This gives best shot at sharpest image. Critical when the exposure is roughly .5 to 10 seconds. The longer the internal vibration (from mirror) as expressed in % of the overall exposure the more it will effect the image quality. And conversely the longer the exposure the less effect the mirror vibe has on the image.

EG one of my fav subjects is moving water as part of the landscape, usually a 2-4sec exposure. Mirror up very impt. here. Dont forget to consider wind. Tripods often needs a weight hanging from bottom of center column (better tripods have spring loaded hook for this purpose). Camera shake is exaggerated by long lenses.

Camera's self timer will cause internal mirror vibration and it will be noticeable in certain instances.

 

[SubbaBub]

I've been shooting professionally and teaching photography for over 30 years. You've received some good advice here. The decision regarding what's best to buy is certainly subjective. Ask 10 peeps you'll probably get 10 answers. One things certain it all depends on what you what to use it for and how critical you are evaluating thew results. DSLR provides greatest flexibility and highest potential quality. Yes you have to learn how to use it but that goes for anything worthwhile. You had to learn to drive your car and manages that, more or less. Smaller cameras are a tradeoff quality/flexibility for portability and convenience.

Taking a photo class before you buy might be a great way to learn what features are important to you.
There are great online resources to learn and compare eg: www.dpreview.com and www.luminous- landscape.com and others.

If you are in CT and near Far Fetched County I teach class at NCC (first class tonight) in in my studio (starts next week). Otherwise ck out a Community College in your area.

If you go for DSLR I would strongly recommend Canon or Nikon as they are the leaders in the industry, offer the greatest variety of lenses and command highest resale when you want to upgrade.

Don't get sucked into the megapixel marketing scam....# of megapix is overstated and misleading rather its the quality of the pixels, sensor size and quality that are more important. I show students a comparison of12x18 prints made with a 4MP and 12MP. Most cant tell the difference and most would not need to enlarge prints much larger if at all.

If budget permits don't buy kit rather buy body you want with the best lenses you can afford. You'll keep lenses a lot longer than the body since camera body technology improves at a faster rate by far.

You should protect lenses but UV, mentioned above, is a carry over from film and not necessary with DSLR that correct UV digitally with WB. NC or neutral color filter is what you want....it's basically coated optical quality glass.

A "good tripod and head" is a must for landscape photography....caution "good" is not cheap. A cheap tripod is not worth $hi* IMO cause it will loosen up and cease to function with modest use. Regardless of what you spend get one where the head can be removed from the legs for relacement due to breakage or upgrade. Also getting correct tripod height is important. Get one that places viewfinder at eye level with out raising center column or bending over...your back will thank you.

Your choice of remote exposure release will depend on your camera selection. I prefer a simple cable release (w/o timer) you may consider timer depending on what you want to accomplish. Note some cameras won't accept cable release and use IR trigger instead.

Consider full frame sensor which has quality advantages for landscape photographers and those needing the option of large print. Both Canon and Nikon have good choices in the prosumer range.

Also full frame cameras eliminates crop factor which is important consideration in lens selection for landscapes which wide angles dominate.

I also get great use out of my iPhone 6+ it just fulfills a different purpose. And I am severely limited in enlargement size...looks cool on the LCD or online though.

I'd add a polarizing filter to above. Had a mid level Minolta film SLR back in the day and bought one of the first Sony Alpha digital SLRs when they came out (fit Minolta lenses). For an amateur, I found the filtering to make a huge difference.

Now I just use my phone under the rule of the best camera is the one you have with you at the time.

 

[Catsailor]

I'd add a polarizing filter to above. Had a mid level Minolta film SLR back in the day and bought one of the first Sony Alpha digital SLRs when they came out (fit Minolta lenses). For an amateur, I found the filtering to make a huge difference.

Now I just use my phone under the rule of the best camera is the one you have with you at the time.

Polarizing filter is a great investment both for what it was designed to do, reduce reflections as well as darkening the sky. Another benifit is a a ND filter reducing light transmission to facilitate even slower shutter speeds. I use to enhance the motion blur effect in my riverscapes. be sure to get circular polarizing not linear otherwise auto focus won't work.

 

[UConnSwag11]

awesome. thanks guys for all the input

 

[UConnSwag11]

one more question(not related to photography), has anyone rented a car and dropped it off in another state? did they charge you extra and how much? thanks

 

[SubbaBub]

one more question(not related to photography), has anyone rented a car and dropped it off in another state? did they charge you extra and how much? thanks

Depends entirely on the location. You are looking for a 'traveler' car, one that isn't part of the local branch pool. The price will depend entirely on how many travelers they have, if they have any that need to go where you are going, and whatever they think they can get from you.

Shop around is my best advice and stay between major airports. I would think any surcharge would be less from say SD to LA than say New Hampshire to Bradley, boy was that expensive.