DSLR / D7000 Newbie with some questions

[bmilcs]

new-76 by bmilcs, on Flickr

new-68 by bmilcs, on Flickr

new-65 by bmilcs, on Flickr

new-63 by bmilcs, on Flickr
my beautiful mug

new-56 by bmilcs, on Flickr

new-27 by bmilcs, on Flickr

new-28 by bmilcs, on Flickr

new-29 by bmilcs, on Flickr

Getting some great shots with my D7000.

I am finding that I REALLY like my 60mm POV and always crop my 35mm pics to fit what the 50mm would've been in the first place.

 

[bmilcs]

new-77 by bmilcs, on Flickr

 

[bmilcs]

new-90 by bmilcs, on Flickr

new-92 by bmilcs, on Flickr

 

[bmilcs]

My pictures scared everyone away I guess .

I need an easy place to sell off my Nikon 40mm 2.8 macro. The 35mm and 60mm will stay; I now think a 50mm f1.4 would be an amazing piece of glass and a 70-300 to fit the action bill. I went to Best Buy and bugged an employee to let me test it out. He went hunting for a screwdriver and came back 15 minutes later. He wasn't confident with swapping lenses so had me remove the kit lens and put on the 70-300. I'm surprised by the weight and focal length of it; I was expecting it to a) weigh more but b) focus further. Best Buy isn't the best place to get a feel for a camera's power - with an anxious fiancee and employee watching my every second.

Anyways, it seemed like a cool lens and will be picking one up whenever I get some extra cash.

 

[aced19]

My pictures scared everyone away I guess .

LOL. Not at all.
Pictures look good and sharp. Since you sell on ebay then look and see what the 40mm is selling for.

 

[Horoscope Fish]

My pictures scared everyone away I guess...

No, I've been keeping an eye on this thread but you weren't asking for feedback or anything so I haven't offered any. Having looked at your shots again, I would like to ask if you're shooting in JPG or RAW and if you've done any post processing on them?

I need an easy place to sell off my Nikon 40mm 2.8 macro. The 35mm and 60mm will stay; I now think a 50mm f1.4 would be an amazing piece of glass and a 70-300 to fit the action bill...

Glass is easy to move. Post it for sale here on the forums, or Craigslist. I've moved tons of stuff on Craigslist and moved it FAST.

...

 

[bmilcs]

No, I've been keeping an eye on this thread but you weren't asking for feedback or anything so I haven't offered any. Having looked at your shots again, I would like to ask if you're shooting in JPG or RAW and if you've done any post processing on them?


Glass is easy to move. Post it for sale here on the forums, or Craigslist. I've moved tons of stuff on Craigslist and moved it FAST.

...

I was shooting in RAW, but I'm very early in the game and decided to swap to JPEG for dumping them on my HD without eating up my available storage. I should pick up another storage device dedicated to photography because right now, I am working with 40 or so gb - and I was filling this up FAST. When I capture shots, I shoot in bursts of 3-5 at a time. I am still developing a steady hand.

As far as post production, I mess around in Lightroom - contrast, shadows, crop, sharpen. I struggle with white balance because I don't use a gray card and simply don't know how to find it otherwise. I would love tips as far as that goes.

Any suggestions or feedback is greatly appreciated.

 

[rwdflynavy]

Shoot in RAW! So much more flexibility for PP. I would get more HD space before anything else if that is keeping you from RAW.

 

[Horoscope Fish]

I was shooting in RAW, but I'm very early in the game and decided to swap to JPEG for dumping them on my HD without eating up my available storage. I should pick up another storage device dedicated to photography because right now, I am working with 40 or so gb - and I was filling this up FAST. When I capture shots, I shoot in bursts of 3-5 at a time. I am still developing a steady hand.

As far as post production, I mess around in Lightroom - contrast, shadows, crop, sharpen. I struggle with white balance because I don't use a gray card and simply don't know how to find it otherwise. I would love tips as far as that goes.

Any suggestions or feedback is greatly appreciated.

Okay, I was looking at your shots and thinking you were either shooting RAW and not doing any, at most very little, post-processing or, you're shooting JPG and your camera needs some menu tweaking.

So... I'm going to suggest a few things.

Set your camera up to shoot RAW + JPG. Send the RAW files to Card 1 and the JPG's to Card 2. I suggest this because I don't see the point in processing shots you know suck. Why bother? Post processing, for me, is spent on those shots that totally make me say, "WOW!" not every shot that comes down the pike. But when I do nail a shot that well, I want the full power that only RAW processing can give me. Shooting RAW + JPG is, to my way of thinking, the best of both worlds. If I could ONLY shoot one format, it would be RAW, of course, no question about that; but JPG's have their place as well, don't forget that.

If you haven't already here's how I suggest you set up your camera for JPG... Go into your Shooting Menu (camera icon) and drop down to "Picture Control". Click right once using the four-way button and highlight "Standard". Click right again and drop down to "Sharpening". Set this slider to 5 or 6. Drop down to "Saturation" and bump that slider one notch higher. Save the settings and exit. In my experience these little tweaks will get you *significantly* better JPG photos.

External storage is going to be a must for any serious photographer so I'd suggest getting a USB external hard drive. This Western Digital 1TB drive is only $70 and Western Digital is my preferred brand. This would be an excellent investment for you if you're feeling cramped for space.

As for processing your photos let me pull them into PS and play with them. At home they were looking a little soft and I was thinking the contrast and saturation needed some help. I'm at my office now and my opinion may have changed. I'll play with them see what I can do.

....

 

[bmilcs]

Okay, I was looking at your shots and thinking you were either shooting RAW and not doing any, at most very little, post-processing or, you're shooting JPG and your camera needs some menu tweaking.

So... I'm going to suggest a few things.

Set your camera up to shoot RAW + JPG. Send the RAW files to Card 1 and the JPG's to Card 2. I suggest this because I don't see the point in processing shots you know suck. Why bother? Post processing, for me, is spent on those shots that totally make me say, "WOW!" not every shot that comes down the pike. But when I do nail a shot that well, I want the full power that only RAW processing can give me. Shooting RAW + JPG is, to my way of thinking, the best of both worlds. If I could ONLY shoot one format, it would be RAW, of course, no question about that; but JPG's have their place as well, don't forget that.

If you haven't already here's how I suggest you set up your camera for JPG... Go into your Shooting Menu (camera icon) and drop down to "Picture Control". Click right once using the four-way button and highlight "Standard". Click right again and drop down to "Sharpening". Set this slider to 5 or 6. Drop down to "Saturation" and bump that slider one notch higher. Save the settings and exit. In my experience these little tweaks will get you *significantly* better JPG photos.

External storage is going to be a must for any serious photographer so I'd suggest getting a USB external hard drive. This Western Digital 1TB drive is only $70 and Western Digital is my preferred brand. This would be an excellent investment for you if you're feeling cramped for space.

As for processing your photos let me pull them into PS and play with them. At home they were looking a little soft and I was thinking the contrast and saturation needed some help. I'm at my office now and my opinion may have changed. I'll play with them see what I can do.

....

Thanks. I also have two monitors - my main being a 144 hz with horrible graphics. I use it for gaming. I also have an older acer with better graphics but I couldn't figure out how to get the color scheme right within windows using a duplicate screen option. So, all my photos become difficult to edit because I can't tell if I am making them better or worse for most viewing devices.

 

[bmilcs]

Also, I miss usin photoshop. I am much more comfortable using that vs Lightroom. However, photoshop is not good for processing 100+ images at a time. I suppose I can do what you recommend and only edit shots that wow me.

I think I'm going to pick up that hard drive sometime. Gotta sell some stuff first.

Off topic question, but I have two older Vivitar macro / telephoto lenses I picked up at a flea market. Do you think they're worth anything? The glass isn't scratched at all in one - only one is compatible with my d7000.

 

[bmilcs]

Another question: What variable zoom lens would you recommend for around 50-150 or so? I'd like to keep it inexpensive, around $300-400.

 

[Horoscope Fish]

Another question: What variable zoom lens would you recommend for around 50-150 or so? I'd like to keep it inexpensive, around $300-400.

Based on those criteria I'd suggest the Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6; It'll set you back right about $400.

The Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6 is a good choice too for around $250 or so new.

...

 

[bmilcs]

Ah, so even if I don't shoot at max focal range, it's a great lens to have huh? It really does cover a great spectrum.

I wonder if there are people out there that use it near exclusively.

 

[bmilcs]

Based on those criteria I'd suggest the Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6; It'll set you back right about $400.

The Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6 is a good choice too for around $250 or so new.

...

Is the 70-300 considered better optically speaking?

 

[bmilcs]

[h=1]Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR Vibration Reduction Nikkor Lens - Refurbished by Nikon U.S.A.
[/h]I have enough in my paypal right now to pick up a refurbed 70-300. Very tempting!

 

[bmilcs]

I didn't even realize how cheap it was! Adoroma had the 70-300mm VR for $359 free shipping. I had a coupon for $8 as well.

Just pulled the trigger and now have it on the way .

 

[Horoscope Fish]

I didn't even realize how cheap it was! Adoroma had the 70-300mm VR for $359 free shipping. I had a coupon for $8 as well. Just pulled the trigger and now have it on the way .

There are two versions of the Nikon 70-300mm; the 70-300mm f/4-5.6G AF and the 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G AF-S ED IF VR (note the minor difference in maximum aperture and VR).

I'm hoping you got the latter. For that price I'm assuming you did and that you got a refurb...

...

 

[bmilcs]

There are two versions of the Nikon 70-300mm; the 70-300mm f/4-5.6G AF and the 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G AF-S ED IF VR (note the minor difference in maximum aperture and VR).

I'm hoping you got the latter. For that price I'm assuming you did and that you got a refurb...

...

[h=1]Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR Vibration Reduction Nikkor Lens - Refurbished by Nikon U.S.A.[/h]
Is the lens I ordered. Did I do good ?

 

[Horoscope Fish]

Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR Vibration Reduction Nikkor Lens - Refurbished by Nikon U.S.A.


Is the lens I ordered. Did I do good?

Yes, that's an excellent lens. Congrats!

I've been tempted by those refurbs on Adorama myself, but I just don't need a big zoom at the moment... That and I keep toying with the idea of going FX.

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