Got me a new toy

Pickupman66

Pickupman66

New member
well, so we finally ponied up for a decent camera. got a used nikon d3000 for dirt cheap. it is in brand new condition with all the boxes and everything!!! SWEET.. now I have to learn to use it.

took some tonight just messing around.

polyps.jpg

Silly Urchin
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Buddies
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mhades said:
I'm hoping you were telling the truth when you said "dirt cheap". If not then I hope the lights were off in the room. For a nikon, those images are comparable to the camera on my iphone.
Click to expand...

well you also have to consider the operator behind it. it came with the standard 18-55 lens, so I dont have a macro for it and I am just learning how to shoot with it. instead of stomping on a thread, maybe offer some pointers on setup? also, none of those images have been edited at all. i did read some of the RC articles, but guess they havent helped much.
 
Pickupman66 said:
well you also have to consider the operator behind it. it came with the standard 18-55 lens, so I dont have a macro for it and I am just learning how to shoot with it. instead of stomping on a thread, maybe offer some pointers on setup? also, none of those images have been edited at all. i did read some of the RC articles, but guess they havent helped much.
Click to expand...

seems to be a good few around here love ta stomp on ones threads lin :hmm3: but i think the pics are nice...i'd offer pointers but im not great at shooting pictures my self......tangs look good too man
 
Nice. I thought about getting one of those. Went for a P&S with all it's capabilities (minus interchangable lenses). Your pics aren't bad by any means. while the body was cheap though, be ready to drop some serious coin on lenses.


However, unlike lame *** canon, nikon has been using the same lens mount (F mount) since the advent of SLR cameras, so you can use old (but still very high quality) lenses which can be had for very very good prices since they don't have vibration reduction or auto focus. Once you learn not to lean on those things you will be taking awesome pictures in no time. also, get a tripod. it will improve your images ten fold right away.
 
Yes ..some can be a little harsh with the comments..
you probably just put it on auto settings and started taking pictures..
when you change a few manual settings your images will improve for sure..

here is a fairly cheap lens you could get that will make a HUGE difference on the quality of your pics as well..


http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/247091-GREY/Nikon_2137_Normal_AF_Nikkor_50mm.html

and here's another tip..shoot your pics from the angle of straight across or slightly looking upward (most pics are shot from up looking down) ..it makes the subject matter (especially fish tank pics) seem more interesting to me
 
Adrian, I have no bones about using an old manual lens. so long as the glass is good, i can focus it. I took photo classes in college before the advent of digital (yes, the old FILM days) and I had a manual lens camera. did quite well with it. too bad it is a Ricoh and the old lens wont work on my new body.

as for the tripod, I do have one. just didnt use it as these were just some quickies to play with the new toy.

I was shooting manually. I had it shutter priority so as to try and freeze the fish. it seemed that 1/160 worked good to freeze the tangs. I used some exposure compensation as well.

all in all, I need to re-learn all I forgot in college.

Hey, what about something like this??
http://cgi.ebay.com/42x-Wide-Macro-...era_Lenses&hash=item230fc4a5da#ht_3002wt_1138

or this?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Nikon-Lens-F-28...mera_Lenses&hash=item2eb44ad022#ht_638wt_1138
 
If your ricoh lens is a good lens, you can always get a mount adapter for like 10 bucks on ebay.

that first one is just an adapter that screws onto your lens, like a filter. don't get that.

the second one is alright. I would say get at least a 100mm macro lens though, if you want really close up shots.

Also...Photoshop or a similar program like Gimp (which is free open source software).
 
I am learning GIMP. not the best UI, but im getting better..

yea, I so Want a 200-300 or so Zoom and the macro..

that Ricoh is a standard lens I do believe.. nothing fancy about it.
 
I don't know why the neg comments, pics look great. Those tangs are awesome. I wish I had a tank big enough to have all of those. Great pics...great tank.
 
Nice pickup. I guess that why your pickupman. Lol good shooting also for just out the box. If your iffy about a lens wolf camera rents out lens so you can try it out before shell out $500+ on a lens.
 
lindsay, there is a gimp hack called gimpshop that has all the drop down menus of photoshop. if you are familiar with PS that might be a good option
 
nice ones
few settings u can test.

1. Shutter Speed to 1/60
2. ISO 800
3. USE +-EV if the pic is too light or dark
4. Flash off, try tripod or have the lens touch the glass to stabilizer the camera/lens
5. use the best setting for the pics, largest size, best quality, maybe raw if you want, then you can crop or edit it later.
6. preset color to vivid, maybe +1 to sharpness.
7. You can borrow my 105mm macro if you want to try it
 
chen,

thanks, ill try those settings. I was shooting in RAW+jpeg basic. those posted were the Jpeg basic images with the exception of the first which is a lightened RAW conversion.

I would love to borrow your Macro. Maybe next trip to nashvegas I can drop by.

downloading GImpshop now.
 
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