sandt38

Sure, if I want to spend 2 grand for glass. Not worth it to me at all. Even if Carmen Electra, Kate Upton, et al offered to give me 30 minutes to take all the nude photos in any pose I wanted to I still couldn't justify that kind of money.

Steering clear of the Tamrons. I have read bad reviews from customers. I looked at the kits on Amazon and decided that is not really the type of kit I want. Most include a shit ton of extras, but according to the reviews the stuff is junk. Tamrons seem to be common in these kits. What I am looking at are with factory lenses. Sure, I get that I will need to get better lenses eventually. Playing with my aperture and F-stops are kind of what I want to learn. I am not totally ignorant to photography, but I know enough to know that I need to play to figure it all out. I don't even know enough to be dangerous, yet. I am not rushing into this. I am taking my time before jumping in. So please, offer insight. I am listening.

Sean, while I appreciate it, I struggle to buy used stuff that I am not familiar with. Perhaps if I choose to continue with the hobby and I understand the tools better I would be willing to invest in used gear. But for now doing so is outside of my comfort zone.

That is the 3300. What about the 5300?

See, right now I don't really know. That would simplify things, I know. I don't really foresee using this for family gatherings or other quick shooting events. I have a point and shoot for that, and I would really rather enjoy the event than nurse a camera. I can see using it for travel, or bigger events like my youngest son's upcoming graduation... maybe some nature shots. More like a colorful Ansel Adams, landscapes and such being the focus. I love that type of photography and living in NC I have worlds of nature and landscape to play with. But I don't really know, as I have never picked up a camera to start shooting. It runs in my family, though. My father was a photographer, my sister loves photography and both her kids are good at it. I see a lot of romance in photography. I like the more artsy side of it. The reality is, it will fall to Canon or Nikon. I refuse to own a product from Sony anymore. Reliability and implementation of their products' feature sets have been a weak point for the once amazing company. My goal is to spend under $1000, ideally under $750 for a body and a couple lenses. The D5300 is the front runner for me at this juncture. I can grab it with 2 Nikor lenses for under a grand easily. The Canon T5i will put me, with similar spec'd glass, at over a grand. I don't think it is fair to compare it to the T5, as everything I have seen about this comparison the Nikon trounces it in every category except cost. I'm not opposed to just snagging a D3300 just to save some cash and see if I'll really enjoy it. A better comparison to the T5 is the D3300 and here again the D3300 simply lays the wood to the Canon.

See, I keep reading this, but keep seeing compares like this: Nikon/Canon 100 iso And honestly as ISO increases the clarity, color, and dynamics all lean more to the Nikon with almost double the effective ISO and 20% better color depth and dynamic range. I am still looking, but stock glass with the kit looks a lot better on the Nikon. I like the built in Wi-Fi for instant photo transfer to tablet/phone/PC for sharing on the go on the Nikon and I can see where the GPS could be helpful when traveling.

Oh, and Polish girls are fuckin hot...

Ironically I lived in a Polish suburb of Buffalo for a few years, South Cheektowaga. I still have a lot of Polish friends from up there. I loved eating at their houses... Polish food kicks ass. Never had Polish beer though.

I know some photographers and most use Nikon as well. I am researching Canon just based on Matt and Sean's obvious preference for Canon. The majority of my research is leading me to Nikon, admittedly. As far as crop consumer units, this year's offerings by Nikon is supposedly worlds ahead of Canon. Where Canon opted for appearance upgrades, Nikon went with usable feature sets.

Never tried Polish beer. Or is that... brewski?

Interesting how much the price climbs from a 50mm 1.8 to a similar 50mm 1.4. The price is almost double!

This is just an experiment. I am sticking with a crop for the time being. While I would love a full frame rig, it is just not something I see myself investing in. I have enough expensive hobbies. That may change in the future though.

I rarely purchase Sony products any more. I own a Playstation and a killer Sony BluRay player... I will not own anything else with a Sony moniker. Do you grab used glass locally? Where does one really find good used glass? The prospect piques my interest, as it looks like good glass is pricey.

I figure with digital media, I will try to use the viewfinder. Fuck ups are not going to cost me any processing fees like film, so I am OK with learning and trying manipulation a little blindly.

I used to ride in the 80s. All we really had were Mongoose and GT. Haro came around in the mid-late 80s, and Redline had their Pros, but I never really rode one as nobody had one... then there was Huffy... hehehe... Goosenecks were a big new thing. I had a $400 Mongoose in ~81. I was the badass on the block. I bought my youngest a Mongoose about 10 years ago. That is NOT the same bike. Everything about it was super cheap. Mongoose is an embarrassment now. My son never really got much into it, so I can't say much about the scene now. I can't say much about GT, Haro or Redline. But honestly, I think BMX is dead.

I am going to grab 2 lenses to start, so I can dabble and learn from them. Keeping average F stops so I can play with Bokeh and more detailed backgrounds. After I figure out what I like and how I will be shooting, I plan on grabbing more glass. Not looking at uber high end at this point, just trying to see if I want to continue with the hobby.

Planning on buying a new DSLR. 24.2MP 6000X4000Px images. Burst speed of 5 images/sec. Media compatibility of SD, SDHC, SDXC. I'm leaving names and models out of it. If you need more info, I will provide it. I have it narrowed down to 2. What card, and why? Name brand, model, size, etc.

They are all blown...

LOL...

Blaspheme!

M8 with ATT kicked my M9 with Verizons ass

Best song ever.

I agree with everything except the internet. For me the 4GLTE is the fastest I have ever seen... and yeah, fuck their CS.

Irony. How hard we work to get the home loan, and how easily they snag from our equity to try to keep us buried in it....

I've heard nightmare stories about that deck over. From wood rot to huge chunks flaking off and looking like shit and leaving it scattered all over your yard like snow. I was going to use some last year, but decided I will just redo my deck next summer when I re-line the pool and go salt water with it. My deck is pretty big (46X16) so I am dreading it...