Oppohelp: Automotive Phtography Edition

"ViperGuy21" (viperguy21) 11/28/2014 at 23:59 • Filed to: Oppohelp, photography, automotive photography

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So I've been thinking about getting into photography for a while now, and have decided I will jump in head first. I've spent the last two days researching cameras and some camera stufff and have decided to ask my parents for a Canon Rebel EOS T5 for Christmas with a 75-300mm lens and a .43x 58mm macro lens attachment. I will primarily be doing auto photography(at least I imagine that will be the bulk of my shooting) with some general other stuff as well. All I've done before is a decent amount of iPotato shooting and a little with my parents little digital camera and would love some tips on how to start off, any extra gear to get(besides bag and SD card), or anything else you can think of to help me. Just try and keep the gear real cheap because I feel like I might already be going past my parents' fiscal roof for Christmas gifts, especially since we just took a vacation. Thanks so much for all the input! I really appreciate any advice you can give!

Have a sweet 302 like the one I saw not long ago:

twinturbobmw > ViperGuy21 11/29/2014 at 00:05

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As far as automotive photography, I'm not sure those lenses are the best options. 75-300 is going to be very hard to shoot with unless you're taking photos from far away, and a macro, although good for detail shots, won't have the quality of a normal prime lens. I would recommend the 50mm F1.8, since it's a favorite of pretty much every photographer ever, plus it's one of the cheapest lenses you can buy.

CounterTorqueSteer > twinturbobmw 11/29/2014 at 00:08

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Absolutely 100% correct.

Denver Is Stuck In The 90s > ViperGuy21 11/29/2014 at 00:12

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Tripod, you need a tripod. Also a few filters. I always keep a UV, circular polarizer and a few macro attachments handy. You dont need to go crazy with filters though.

Anon > ViperGuy21 11/29/2014 at 00:12

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A 75-300 isn't a good choice in lens. I would go with canon's 28mm 1.8 or sigma's 17-35 1.8 zoom (though much more).

Anon > twinturbobmw 11/29/2014 at 00:14

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I would say the 28 1.8 since it works out to around a 45 mm view.

 V8 Rustler > ViperGuy21 11/29/2014 at 00:14

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>2015-1, the year of our lord and savior Jesus Christ above.

>Not buying a mirrorless camera.

They are better in my opinion. They have the same sensor as a DSLR, just in a compact body. I would recommend a Sony NEX. (I'm biased)

twinturbobmw > Anon 11/29/2014 at 00:17

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Those are pretty expensive though, right?

Anon > twinturbobmw 11/29/2014 at 00:23

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Oh, I read that as 50mm 1.4. Yeah it is but its well worth it if you can afford it.

ViperGuy21 > twinturbobmw 11/29/2014 at 00:49

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I'm planning on probably buying one of those myself later down the line, but I found a package on Amazon that has the body, kit lens, 75-300, bag, and SD for $450. All that without the 75-300 is $400. I doubt my parents would want to spend another $125 on top of the $400 so I figure that will be a self addition. Plus, I think the 75-300 will be good for vacation, general pics. Now the wide angle/macro attachment is only $10 and I hope I can play around with it to get some neat pics(even if they aren't pics of cars). Thanks for the input and confirmation that I will want a 50 1.8 later!!!

ViperGuy21 >  V8 Rustler 11/29/2014 at 00:57

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Thanks for the input first of all!

Secondly, I've just heard that they aren't really up to par with some of the things I really like about dslrs

ViperGuy21 > Anon 11/29/2014 at 00:59

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Like I said to twinturbobmw, I'm probably going to buy one myself later on. Just, the 75-300 is basically $50 more when you get the body with the kit lens on Amazon right now. Thanks for the input!

ViperGuy21 > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s 11/29/2014 at 01:01

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How often will I really use a tripod though? I don't think I will be lugging that to car meets and auto shows so what would it be really useful for?

Denver Is Stuck In The 90s > ViperGuy21 11/29/2014 at 01:02

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For long exposures and panning shots its near necessary

ViperGuy21 > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s 11/29/2014 at 01:10

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Thanks! Now forgive my incompetence, but I've yet to research exposure. Can you please explain what long exposure is? I really, honestly appreciate you taking the time to help an inexperienced amateur!

Denver Is Stuck In The 90s > ViperGuy21 11/29/2014 at 01:17

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A long exposure is when you go into manual mode on your DSLR and set the Aperture to be open for an extended period of time. Usually no more than 30 seconds, depending on how dark it is. It lets more light hit the sensor. You can also do some interesting light painting effects like this one I did:

ViperGuy21 > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s 11/29/2014 at 01:26

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So long exposure is like when the motion is blurred. Like when a fountain is crisp, but the water is all blurred and sheet like instead of beady? If that makes any sense?

Denver Is Stuck In The 90s > ViperGuy21 11/29/2014 at 01:30

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No Thats shutter speed, but you wouldnt use that at night. If you were to use aperture setting in daylight, your image would be a complete white out

ttyymmnn > ViperGuy21 11/29/2014 at 01:33

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I'm going to chime in with those voting against the 75-300. I use a 70-200 f/2.8, but I take lots of pictures of things that are far away ( planes and planes ) and I need the reach. I also shoot a lot at my sons' school, and the speed is necessary for low light situations. You will find yourself in a great big gap between that long lens and the short one. I would vote for some sort of 50mm prime that is very fast (1.8 or so) and a mid-range zoom for longer things. My kit consists of that 70-200 and a 17-50 f/2.8, both Tamron and both excellent lenses. I'm just afraid that if you don't shoot races, the long lens will be too long and you won't use it much. The zooms give you good flexibility, and both are very fast. My mantra has always been that it's best to save money on the body but spend your money on good glass. The 17-50 is $500 new, but you can find it cheaper, or even buy used. I would encourage you to find something that is flexible and useful in many different situations as you start out, then look for lenses later that fit the specific situations you find yourself shooting in most. I would also encourage you to consider a used body, something like a Canon 50D or 70D. I think you'll find the ergonomics to be superior to the T5, and the 70D will do video.

ViperGuy21 > Denver Is Stuck In The 90s 11/29/2014 at 01:41

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Thanks! I'll make sure to do some extra research on that then

ViperGuy21 > ttyymmnn 11/29/2014 at 01:48

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I like planes. And boats. And military stuff. So I think I will use the 75-300, and its effectively $50 with the bundle I'm looking at. I will most likely buy a 50 1.8 soon, but it would be too expensive to ask for in addition. And the T5 does do 1080p video for at least 30mins I believe(not that it's a huge need for me). And wouldn't the long lens with the .45x wide angle(part of the wide angle/macro attachment)attachment cover the 55-75 area from 125ish-175ish on the long lens? If my quick head math is correct, that is...

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > ViperGuy21 11/29/2014 at 04:13

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You CAN get a decent photo from the 75-300. The the f stop max and lack od IS leve you with a lens that will not excel in low light.

A good zoom for cheap is the 55-250. As others have stated, look into the 50 1.8 and the 28 1.8 as well. Invest in some good CPL filters as well.

ViperGuy21 > V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! 11/29/2014 at 13:32

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Why is the 55-250 better than the 75-300? The 75-300 has a bigger range. And the .45x wide angle attachment should cover the 55-75 range right?

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > ViperGuy21 11/29/2014 at 15:08

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1. The 55-250 has Image Stabilization

2. It's sharper — I've used both.

3. The newest version of the 55-250 has the STM motor (silent AF for video)

4. Personally, I'm not a fan of the attachments.

5. You'd be surprised just how little you'd need that extra 50mm reach on the crop sensor DSLR. Unless you're shooting aerial photography or wildlife, you probably won't miss it. If you are shooting those subjects, I would definitely step up to something more.

If you have a camera place nearby ask to see both if there are demo models. Usually they'll let you test them right there at the counter. I'm lucky in that Cameta Camera is 10 minutes from my house. http://www.cameta.com/

I'm pretty sure I took this one with my 75-300

Yes, I have one. I got it very early on when I started out. I don't think I've used it in 2 years. I'm also fairly certain I was nowhere near the wide end of the focal length with this photo either and I KNOW this was a tripod shot. Over the years I've collected a few primes and 2 L lens zooms. The 75-300 stays for the track events I go to.

Shoot in RAW when possible. Learn the Canon DPP software as it's great for RAW conversions AND comes with the camera. Upgrade/spend for lenses before the camera body. Have fun. Learn from your photos and grow.

Hope this helps ;)

ViperGuy21 > V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! 11/29/2014 at 16:02

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Thanks!

My problem is that the package with the 75-300 is $450, and the 55-250 is $500. And I know my parents have already been spending a huge amount of money on me lately and I don't think I will actually even be able to get either. They do a ton for me and have been even spending more on me lately so I imagine I will just be saving up for a long while myself. Thanks for the advice though!

Stephen the Canuck > ViperGuy21 11/30/2014 at 00:07

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I'm going to correct Denver on this. Long exposure does in fact mean that the shutter is open for a long time. Long exposures in a dark environment can be up to several hours long (using bulb timer shutter speed). Aperture adjusts the diameter of the opening inside the lens, lower number (1.8) is larger than a higher number (16). Bigger opening allows more light through aperture also dictates depth of field.

Stephen the Canuck > ViperGuy21 11/30/2014 at 00:26

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Awesome. Photography is a very fun addiction. Get into a forum to learn. Check out Photography on the Net and Photography Kinja. There's so much info out there.

Onto the equipment. I would skip the wide angle attachment thing, they are usually pretty poor optics and will mess up the photos. I saw in another comment that it's a lot from Amazon that you're looking at. I would bet said kit wil come with the 18-55mm kit lens. That will work. the 75-300 lens is decent enough, it's worth it. I like and use mine a lot. Get a bag (i think you said the kit comes with one). it's better to have two smaller SD cards than one big one (in case it corrupts/goes missing you won't lose as much). Get a cheap tripod and a shutter release cable. Maybe some uv filters for each lens (protects the front element).

Forget Photoshop for now, it will just overwhelm you. Get Google's Picasa software. It's free, easy and basic, and will get you started.

Get a Flickr account, it's good for hosting pictures. The app for it means you can show off your photos from your phone.

Take pictures of everything you can and as often as you can. Practice and learn. Have fun.

Stephen the Canuck > Anon 11/30/2014 at 00:28

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the new ef-s 24mm f2.8 works put to a 38mm field of view, and is $150ish.

Anon > Stephen the Canuck 11/30/2014 at 00:30

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Yeah, my only problem with it is the slower aperture. Also not as much of that sweet BOKEH.

Stephen the Canuck > Anon 11/30/2014 at 00:37

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I do agree that the slower aperture sucks, but it's hard to complain at that price point, especially on a budget.

Stephen the Canuck > ViperGuy21 11/30/2014 at 04:13

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You say it comes with the body, kit lens (18-55), and the 75-300. That's perfect. Same combo I got except mine was the T3i.

Hobbes.drives.an.A5 > ViperGuy21 12/01/2014 at 19:11

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I know I'm late posting to this (only just read it!), but I would seriously recommend that you DON'T get Photoshop (yet).

It's a hugely powerful tool, but it is also really complicated for a beginner. Instead, I would strongly recommend Lightroom for collating and editing your shots. If you shoot in RAW (please shoot in RAW!), you can do a huge amount of work in post production really easily. It means you can easily rescue pics that are a little over or under-exposed, and there are lots of cool presets to play around with for cool effects. You can always get Photoshop later, but Lightroom is, IMHO, the ideal photo editing and management software especially if you're just starting out.

Also, do get the 50mm prime when you can. The prime will have a much better quality lens than the kit zoom and it's kind of fun working with the discipline of a prime lens too. Oh, and also do what others have suggested and get a basic tripod - that way you can play around with low light conditions like this!

Most of all, enjoy!

ViperGuy21 > Hobbes.drives.an.A5 12/01/2014 at 19:26

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Thanks a ton! I don't care when I get the advice, as long as it's before I screw something up! I really appreciate the advice, especially since I can understand it(not as good with photography as cars. That's a few years off at least haha)!