Digital Cameras

[Supe]

Yes, this was the first race (since the 60's anyways) where they ran all four lanes at once. It was a disaster. Neat to feel what 32,000 horsepower feels like, but the tree wasn't working properly, the racers didn't know how to stage, and all the rounds were 4 wide, including eliminations, so people couldn't tell who got lane choice, who they were up against, etc. It was quite the fiasco, and there were a bunch of DQ's.

It'd been over a year since I had been to a national event... almost forgot what nitro smelled like!

 

[roadwreck]

Ever walked through the clouds?

 

[Desert Engineer]

Cool photo. What settings did you use?

I recently purchased the canon t2i kit. I'm starting to look like a Japanese tourist when we go out.

I'm looking to get more lenses. What are your thoughts on used lenses from eBay or craigslist; or gray market or refurbished lenses (Adorama lists the prices for both). I'm nervous about buying new, but I want to get more for my money.

 

[wilheldp_PE]

I don't know about used lenses, but you need to get the sub-$100 50mm fixed power lens from Canon. It's a great lens for the money.

 

[Supe]

I wouldn't hesitate to buy used lenses from a reputable source. The people who actually can afford this stuff and trade it in typically take very good care of their glass. The vendors are usually pretty good with the description of the glass' condition as well.

 

[roadwreck]

Cool photo. What settings did you use?
I recently purchased the canon t2i kit. I'm starting to look like a Japanese tourist when we go out.

I'm looking to get more lenses. What are your thoughts on used lenses from eBay or craigslist; or gray market or refurbished lenses (Adorama lists the prices for both). I'm nervous about buying new, but I want to get more for my money.

Really the only setting of any note for that picture was the exposure length, which was 0.6 seconds. I was standing in some shallow rapids, so the long exposure length caught a lot of water running past my feet and made that frothy white cloud look. I have a few other shots with different exposure lengths. Here are the settings for the shot

Model: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XSi

ISO: 100

Exposure: 0.6 sec

Aperture: 22.0

Focal Length: 21mm

This one is actually my favorite

It's a lot easier to tell I'm standing in water on that one as the other picture except for the exposure time with was 1/4 of a second.

This one had a 0.6 exposure lenght, but a higher ISO (200) and a larger aperture (20)

I don't think I'd have any issue with buying used lenses as long as it was from a reputable source. Like Supe said, people trade in their lenses all the time when they upgrade, buying used is a great way to add to your lens collection with minimal damage to your wallet. And the "nifty 50" by canon is a great value. The autofocus is a little slow and loud and for a camera like mine with a 1.6 times field view crop you end up with an effective focal length of 80mm which can be a little zoomed in at times, but for the price (less than $100) you really can't beat it.

 

[Desert Engineer]

I took some photos on a recent trip to san diego. I uploaded them to flickr (this is my first attempt at uploading). http://www.flickr.com/photos/15920576@N06/...57624056671608/

I had some good results, but they could have been better with a tripod or monopod. Let me know what you think, and how i could have made them better. I plan to go back in a couple of weeks.

 

[roadwreck]

not a shot I took with my DSLR, but I thought it was cool just the same.

 

[Supe]

Took a bunch of pictures of MIAF and junior this past weekend, and was in desperate need of flash fill to get rid of some shadows. Naturally, every built-in camera flash is entirely useless, and looks like a police interrogation before post processing, so I said screw it and ordered a Canon 580EX-ii flash, which is basically the mack-daddy of all flashes on the market today. Ordered a battery grip for the camera too to help give a better hand position when trying to support this monster.

 

[roadwreck]

Took a bunch of pictures of MIAF and junior this past weekend, and was in desperate need of flash fill to get rid of some shadows. Naturally, every built-in camera flash is entirely useless, and looks like a police interrogation before post processing, so I said screw it and ordered a Canon 580EX-ii flash, which is basically the mack-daddy of all flashes on the market today. Ordered a battery grip for the camera too to help give a better hand position when trying to support this monster.

Sweet! Let us know how that works out. I need to look into getting a flash too. I took some pretty cool firework pics over the weekend. No flash necessary.

 

[Supe]

The 430EXii is a lot cheaper, but everyone I know who has bought one ended up buying the 580 and using the 430 as a slave. I liked the 580 because I want to take night racing shots, and the 580 has a much higher output, faster recharge so you can get more out of burst mode, and provisions for an external battery pack.

 

[Supe]

Took this picture of MIAF this weekend and did a little Photoshop work with it to make it look "authentic."

Lighting consisted of a halogen work light shone through a $.99 damaged Ikea computer chair mat that works as a perfect light diffuser. Flash was with the 580EXii off the ceiling and a bounce card at the flash itself for some frontal light. There's very little change to the lighting in this from the original photo as it was shot.

 

[Master slacker]

Took this picture of MIAF this weekend and did a little Photoshop work with it to make it look "authentic."

Nose rings are authentic to the 40's and 50's, right?

 

[Supe]

"Vintage with a twist."

Is that better?

 

[Supe]

Well, I've been itching BAD for a Canon 7D with a 17-55 f/2.8 lens. We're now venturing into the $2500 range.

Thing is, I really enjoy shooting, and I'm starting to see the deficiencies of the XSi. Low continuous shooting FPS, poor low-light performance, relatively slow and indecisive auto focus. I've been doing more racing and car photography lately, and have had a few of my shots chosen to be 2011 calendar photos. Also venturing a little deeper into portraiture and pinup photography, where the focus options are critical, and the prints are large enough where 18MP up from 12MP is noticeable. The 7D also has the fastest focus out of any of the Canon line, and can shoot 8FPS, perfect for starting line photography. It's also able to go up to 3200 ISO or better before seeing any degradation in image quality, whereas the XSi starts showing noise around 800. I'd really like to start doing photo shoots as a side gig...

Decisions, decisions...

 

[snickerd3]

Well, I've been itching BAD for a Canon 7D with a 17-55 f/2.8 lens. We're now venturing into the $2500 range.
Thing is, I really enjoy shooting, and I'm starting to see the deficiencies of the XSi. Low continuous shooting FPS, poor low-light performance, relatively slow and indecisive auto focus. I've been doing more racing and car photography lately, and have had a few of my shots chosen to be 2011 calendar photos. Also venturing a little deeper into portraiture and pinup photography, where the focus options are critical, and the prints are large enough where 18MP up from 12MP is noticeable. The 7D also has the fastest focus out of any of the Canon line, and can shoot 8FPS, perfect for starting line photography. It's also able to go up to 3200 ISO or better before seeing any degradation in image quality, whereas the XSi starts showing noise around 800. I'd really like to start doing photo shoots as a side gig...

Decisions, decisions...

then when would you race?

 

[Paul S]

Took this picture of MIAF this weekend and did a little Photoshop work with it to make it look "authentic."
Lighting consisted of a halogen work light shone through a $.99 damaged Ikea computer chair mat that works as a perfect light diffuser. Flash was with the 580EXii off the ceiling and a bounce card at the flash itself for some frontal light. There's very little change to the lighting in this from the original photo as it was shot.

That's Hawt!

 

[Supe]

Well, I've been itching BAD for a Canon 7D with a 17-55 f/2.8 lens. We're now venturing into the $2500 range.
Thing is, I really enjoy shooting, and I'm starting to see the deficiencies of the XSi. Low continuous shooting FPS, poor low-light performance, relatively slow and indecisive auto focus. I've been doing more racing and car photography lately, and have had a few of my shots chosen to be 2011 calendar photos. Also venturing a little deeper into portraiture and pinup photography, where the focus options are critical, and the prints are large enough where 18MP up from 12MP is noticeable. The 7D also has the fastest focus out of any of the Canon line, and can shoot 8FPS, perfect for starting line photography. It's also able to go up to 3200 ISO or better before seeing any degradation in image quality, whereas the XSi starts showing noise around 800. I'd really like to start doing photo shoots as a side gig...

Decisions, decisions...

then when would you race?

Plenty of time between passes when waiting for the engine and trans to cool down. I also attend a lot of Outlaw and National Events where I'm only a spectator.

Besides, it seems like $2300 will buy me about a month's worth of gas for the thing.

 

[roadwreck]

Blue Angels are in town, they just buzzed our office, glad I had the camera ready to go

 

[snickerd3]

cool shot!