Help me find the right camera (done the right way)

*Pow2ThePeople

*Pow2ThePeople

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so as mentioned in the sticky in this forum, im copying and pasting the list of questions and my answers to get everyone started:

any advice is greatly appreciated

1) What is your budget? How much money can you spend right away, and do

you think you can get more money to invest in the future?

my dad agreed to get me a nice camera for graduation. i was hoping to keep this around 500-600 range if that is possible, if not i may be able to go higher. (this is just for the camera, not for tripod, other lenses etc)

2) What experience do you already have with cameras? Have you ever even

used one before? Have you helped your friend out with his camera? Have

you owned your own?

i have had minimal exposure (see what i did there?) to DSLRs, ive owned a pretty solid point and shoot for a while now and i have experience with some mid range video cameras.

2) What gear, if any, do you currently have? (tripod, old camera lenses, mics, etc)

i have a decent tripod, one old lens which may or may not work (canon, from an SLR right before everything went over to digital)

4) What are you planning to shoot and how do you want to use your

camera? Are you going to use this with the sole purpose of shooting

skiing? or do you think you might try other stuff as well (movies,

documentaries, short films, etc)

id love to be able to shoot skiing, but also scenery, time lapse and i may make some short films as well.

5) Do you want a camera that you can hand to your friends, that could or

could not have film experience, and let them shoot you? or will you be

doing all the filming?

not necessarily, but something with simpler options for that rare case where i may give up my camera some someone can get a shot of me.

6) When filming skiing, how do you tend to shoot? (follow cams, leave it

on record on a tripod and hike, film from a tripod, etc)

ive done a follow cam once, but mostly just post up next to a jump/rail/urban and shoot from there (keep in mind this has only been with my tiny point and shoot camera)

7) What computer do you currently have/use to edit (if not currently

editing, what would you most likely use)? If you can provide specifics,

such as hard drive space, RAM, processor size, that would be great.

i have a laptop running windows 7 (2gb ram, and dual 1.74 processors... i know its low, but ill have to get a new one for college anyway). the computer isnt really an issue at the moment. also, i have a 1tb external hard drive so storage isnt an issue.

7) What program do you currently edit on? How familiar are you with it

(1- just learning; 10- I can make tutorials and know the keyboard

layout)

photo editing with photoshop; no video editing at the moment.

---------------------------Optional Section, for those seeking a more intensive upgrade/purchase------------------------

1) Do you think you might consider using a DSLR?

i would like to get a DSLR

2) Do you have any knowledge about the HDSLRS?

no

3) Do you know the limitations to using HDSLRS?

no

4) Are you willing to take the time to learn about a DSLR, and how to shoot with manual lenses?

yes, thats why i want a DSLR

5) Again, do you want a camera that you can hand to your friends, that

could or could not have film experience, and let them shoot you? or will

you be doing all the filming?

see answer above

i hope that answering those questions helped

and again, thanks to anyone who takes the time to share their knowledge!
 
if ur not looking to spend a ton of money on lenses and shit, then look into the panasonic TM700, i have not filmed with it, but have heard great things. probably a ton easier to film with also.
 
that would work if i was only planning on filming. im def looking for a good DSLR tho, so i can take still pic of skiing and various other subjects.
 
T2i is a little (a lot) out of your price range but it seems like that's kind of what you're looking for. Maybe split it with your dad or something haha cause you're gonna need more than just a body and I doubt that old canon lens will work, sounds like an FD which can't really be adapted easily.
 
well with the kit lens (the 18-55mm) that it comes with its still fine. ive found it for about $700 which i think is reasonable for both camera and lens.

ill have to look at the lens, im really not sure what it is... i also have a hunch that it might be broken. also, my dad has a bunch of old lenses from his old SLR (i believe that it was an old nikon or pentax, ill check on that too). is there any way i could get adapters to use those?

 
just looked, its a ricoh camera, with a ricoh 50mm and a vivitar 70-200mm. Pentax K mounts on those (got all of this info from my dad since it means very little to me)

so could i use any of that?
 
i know there are Nikon to Canon lens adapters, im not sure if it will work for an old lens. you seem like youre looking for a t2i, the 18-55 isnt that great, if you can get just the body and a 50mm 1.8 for less $, go with that. you are gunna want to save for more lens latter on. a t2i is pretty simple to figure out, just play around with the settings.
 
yeah you can get adapters on eBay for those for cheap. If I was you I would not get the kit lens and buy a wide angle of some kind. also you should think about stabilization, idk what tripod you have but you might want to think about getting a fluid head for video
 
okay so new question: everyone has been hating on the kit lens for this camera so i need another suggestion (relatively low price) for a lens to get.

im planning on getting one of the old 50mm (like a helios 44-2 or something like that) but im going to need one other. what does everyone suggest?
 
look through that thread at some of those old ones.

You can get k-mount to canon adapters, so that's good for those ricoh lenses.

the kit lens is pretty bad, but for your purposes you won't outgrow it for a while. especially for video, it's at least versatile.

if you were thinking about getting another lens for it, what sort of shot would you be looking for? something that's wide, standard viewing angle, or telephoto?

If you wanted to get in on the fisheye look, you can get one of those rokinon fisheyes for less than 300, probably more like 220 on ebay for a used one.
 
is it the ricoh 50mm f2?

you probably don't need to get a canon 50 if you are just adapting that 50- although you'll have to read into it, you might not be able to infinity focus with an adapter.
 
ive looked at some and it seems like infinity focus will work with certain adapters - ill have to do more research.

i dont need anything that has too much telephoto (i think)

any ideas for a cheap (like around 100 maybe?) fisheye?
 
the cheapest fisheye worth buying is the rokinon/pro-optic/bower fisheye. It's the same lens with three different names, I think the pro-optic one is generally cheapest. It's pretty damn sharp, it's a true fisheye and renders a pretty decent image for a little less than 300.
 
that one looks great, although i dont think i need something with that intense of a fisheye. are there any other lenses that u would suggest?
 
honestly, I don't know what sort of shots you are looking for, and being new to this thing you probably don't have a great idea yourself.

shooting primes makes you get creative which makes you better at composition, you also learn the advantages to having different focal lengths in different situations (you can frame the same subject with an 100 mm lens as you can with an 18mm, but the perspective is different - learning when to choose which lens with perspective in mind is important).

A lot of people will tell you the kit lens is garbage. It is, but it won't be as important to you for a while, and it will be some time before you outgrow it. It's a lot of range. I would probably suggest getting the t2i with the kit lens, and then using those old lenses you have whenever you can. Framing different shots with the 50 will teach you a lot.
 
k mount focuses to infinity. only problem ive had is some adapters have a little bit of play when twisting. thats not an issue for photos, but when pulling focus on video its a pain sometimes.
 
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