Help please from a newbie

[htid]

Wow thanks for all the links. These are very helpful. I'm learning so much from being on here!

I need to purchase a tripod ASAP. Can you recommend a good one for my 650d? There are so many to choose from.

Just as a note, as shaylou said, a tripod won't be as useful for taking your son who you say is moving around all the time. Technique is more important, and with a faster shutter speed, or even a flash (people usually recommend buying a new flash, but I never use it so I can't comment) you'll get much more satisfactory results

 

[shaylou]

Wow thanks for all the links. These are very helpful. I'm learning so much from being on here!

I need to purchase a tripod ASAP. Can you recommend a good one for my 650d? There are so many to choose from.

I honestly think that a flash may be a better purchase for you then a tripod. You see the camera shaking can indeed cause the pic to be blurry so a tripod can be useful in those situation (like landscapes in low light) BUT!!! they are of no use if the subject is moving like your little one for instance.

To stop motion blur you most freeze the motion in the scene and the way to do that is to increase the shutter speed. The lighting conditions may not allow you to raise the shutter speed enough to freeze the motion so that is where a flash comes in. The flash will allow enough light on the scene for you to be able to raise the shutter.

If you do decide to go with a tripod here is my advise on that.
Buy one that you will use, one that you will not mind carrying around. Spend the extra money on the good one because you really do get what you pay for. I payed 250 U.S. for mine and wish now that I would of gone ahead and paid the whopping 650 for the really good one. I can't believe I'm saying this now. :bonk:

 

[Missy1981]

It's in the manual and should be the first thing you check if things appear oof as mine were.

If they are fine then move onto the shutter speeds etc etc etc until you are happy with the results.

Thanks, I'll take a look

 

[tezmed]

if you was planning on getting a tripod- spend a bit more and get a decent one...... i spent have the morning trying to manoveure my cheapy velbon jessops effort and quickly become stressed.....

ive just spent 190 quid on a manfrotto tripod and head and from now on my life is going to be alot less stressful!! have a run into one of the shops and test them out before you commit to buy!!

 

[Missy1981]

Hi Sarah, from one noob to another !!

I was playing around with 2 new lenses I got the other day (I'm on the M4/3 systems, so not the same lenses as yours, but the principle is the same on depth of Field).

Take a look at this set on my Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/81373628@N06/sets/72157631752112593/

Although it's not the most inspiring of subject, it does show the effect of Aperture on DoF as you move from wide open to the smallest aperture (largest f/stop number).

On the Oly 45mm lens you can clearly see the fence coming into focus, and somewhat the foreground; on the Panny 20mm, I was too far from the target object really to show the same as the Oly shots, but can see more here of the foreground tarpaulin & wood coming into focus; but all the time, the garden hand fork is always in focus.

HTH.


Les.

Thanks for this Les. Very helpful. I'm going to try something like this with my camera and see how I get on. Good practice indeed.

 

[Missy1981]

Just as a note, as shaylou said, a tripod won't be as useful for taking your son who you say is moving around all the time. Technique is more important, and with a faster shutter speed, or even a flash (people usually recommend buying a new flash, but I never use it so I can't comment) you'll get much more satisfactory results

Oh yeah sorry, I should have been clearer. Just thought I should invest in a tripod for the future for landscape shots and night scenes.

Thanks for the tip re the flash. I'll have to look into this a little more as not entirely sure which one to go for and why yet. So much to learn

 

[Missy1981]

I honestly think that a flash may be a better purchase for you then a tripod. You see the camera shaking can indeed cause the pic to be blurry so a tripod can be useful in those situation (like landscapes in low light) BUT!!! they are of no use if the subject is moving like your little one for instance.

To stop motion blur you most freeze the motion in the scene and the way to do that is to increase the shutter speed. The lighting conditions may not allow you to raise the shutter speed enough to freeze the motion so that is where a flash comes in. The flash will allow enough light on the scene for you to be able to raise the shutter.

If you do decide to go with a tripod here is my advise on that.
Buy one that you will use, one that you will not mind carrying around. Spend the extra money on the good one because you really do get what you pay for. I payed 250 U.S. for mine and wish now that I would of gone ahead and paid the whopping 650 for the really good one. I can't believe I'm saying this now. :bonk:

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to need to do some research on flashes as I'm not sure what one to go for and the reasons why. My brother in law suggested I get one also (he's into photography) as he said you get a much more natural light. Is this the case?

Will have to save for the tripod I think. I can what I'll be asking for on all my birthday and Christmas lists!

 

[Missy1981]

if you was planning on getting a tripod- spend a bit more and get a decent one...... i spent have the morning trying to manoveure my cheapy velbon jessops effort and quickly become stressed.....

ive just spent 190 quid on a manfrotto tripod and head and from now on my life is going to be alot less stressful!! have a run into one of the shops and test them out before you commit to buy!!

Thank you, sounds like cheap is definitely not the way to go then. Better get saving my pennies.

 

[RJL2005]

Not cheap but affordable!

http://www.redsnapperuk.com/index.html