Looking for a camera for car photography.
Mainly my own car, not looking to make it a career.
I don't think my phone (Note 8) takes good enough photos.
Budget $1000? Maybe 1.5?
Still a beginner, so maybe not ones with a $1000 lens for it to work?
Best Camera for Car Photography?
LCaptain Stooge on 23/07/2019 - 23:03
Comments
camry
Ahhh yes, the Camry. What a beauty.
Add girl in bikini….bingo ..photo is a winner
I used to be a professional photographer. I agree with Spackbace here, do you want to be a photographer or do you want pictures of your car?
If you want to be a photographer and you are using your car as a way of practicing your photography, fine. If you just want pictures of your car, then hire somoene to do it. It takes months of learning to even become proficient enough to take decent photos. There's plenty of theory to learn about how to set up the camera, then there's also composition, harmony, balance…etc. It's not just a matter of clicking the shutter button. Then you've got to learn to use Lightroom and Photoshop. You've got to learn how to use the clone tool to edit out blemishes, how to fix lighting…etc.
I'm not trying to deter you, but realise that you're not going to take better pictures of your car with a more expensive camera. You can spend $1000 and your pictures will look exactly the same as what they do on your Note 8.
You can spend $1000 and your pictures will look exactly the same as what they do on your Note 8
Just even from a tech perspective (ie user skill is irrelevant), I find this hard to believe
I have a Note 8 and unless its in a sunny outdoor setting or indoors with a bright lighting, the pictures taken by the Note 8 are quite mehThat's not because of the tech, it's the photography skills. The Note 8 has a smaller sensor, it needs more exposure time to get clean images. Get an app which allows you to have direct control over the aperture and shutter settings. Get a tripod for your Note 8 and do a 5 second exposure if you're trying to get nice pictures of a car (which is not a moving object).
I'm not saying there's not a need for more expensive camera equipment. When I was a working pro, I had easily over $10k worth of photography equipment which I've mostly since sold. However, the key is that you have to have the skills to use that equipment. My point is that so many people get roped into buying expensive cameras, but they end up disappointed with their pictures. If OP just wants photos of his car, someone will do it for next to nothing.
There are plenty of "car and coffee" meets with plenty of photographers around which I used to go to. Just ask nicely and someone there will be more than happy to send you shots of your car after the enent.
You could hire a professional photographer and challenge them to take great car photos with Note 8. I bet you they will able to nail it. Taking photos is way more than just the camera and lens. In fact, camera and lens is a rather small part of it. The professional photographer would spend more time in managing the lights and the subject before finally pulling out a camera to take a snap.
Btw, dark photo does not always mean bad photo. If you know how to properly light a subject you can take great picture regardless of night/day time.
It really depends how much you want to get into it. I currently have a Nikon D3400 DSLR. 24MP and you can get them from around $500, it takes good photos, get a tripod and do some research on photography and you'll get results you will be happy with. An equivalent canon would be fine as well.
Then if you really get into it, upgrade later.
Is it really the Note 8 camera that's the issue or your skills? If you do nothing different is using a DSLR really going to produce the results you're after? A lot of what makes a good photo is lighting, composition, background and post processing.
You need to read basic photography book first.
Photography is the art, application and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film.
If in property it's all about location, in photography it's all about light.
Get an app with HDR and try with the note 8 again.
Hi Captain, as a suggestion, any decent SLR type of digital camera will give you a good result - a zoom of 28 to 150mm will give you a decent range of options depending on exactly how you want your vehicle to look. Just try to avoid lots of wide angle shots. I liked around 85mm as a general focal length. Also use a pola filter to kill too much reflection from the hood and front screen, it helps to look through the filter off camera and observe the reflections better and then align the filter in the same plane on camera.
Just also remember, sunrise and sunset is often the sweet spot for taking automotive shots, I also used to like a firm sandy beach area at the former times. Remember think of a car as a mirror, it will reflect the surrounds, look at the reflections and in particular the side of the vehicle!!. But also look for the likes of poles behind the vehicle as unwanted inclusions in the final photo, but at least these days there is Photoshop to sort that out. I often turned the wheels slightly INWARD to allow a decent visible arc of the wheel, just a little quirk of mine.
Take lots of angles and exposures, then a good cull of those images on return to base.
Also, google automotive photography, have a good look at how the pro style shots are set up, they should stand out. I was a Pro Automotive photographer for 33 years before retirement, there is quite a lot to learn, but you should get some decent photos if you follow some of the advice in this thread …good luck with it.
$1000-1500 to photoshoot your own car and nothing else? Jees ask around mates if they have 1 or pay someone to do it.
The editing is everything and will make all the difference, it's not just the camera & lens
Pay for a pro to shoot and edit it
Side note, what's the car?