DSLR - advice needed

• 

  ausdday on 06/01/2021 - 11:43

  +15

  Am I the only one who finds it weird to ask this? It's like saying I am planning to open up a restaurant and which knife/pan I should get.

  If she has no interest in photography (I got this impression from her lack of knowledge in camera), can she manage a photography business? Perhaps hire a photographer will be better.

  • 

    POSITIVEVIBESONLY on 06/01/2021 - 11:46

    +4

    I was just about to comment this but deleted it cos it sound too negative. I feel the exact same way, someone who is planning to start a business in photography shouldn't need to ask these questions.

    • 

      topppbloke on 06/01/2021 - 11:53

      Thank you.
      Positive is what we're looking for.
      She's simply giving business a crack. She's starting a very low cost, low risk business here.

      • 

        conan2000 on 06/01/2021 - 12:08

        +5

        It won't be low cost to start a photography business. You need to invest some decent cash into a DSLR and lenses. I have about $5k worth of camera equipment and I wouldn't consider it good enough for professional photography. Most professionals would have at least a couple of high end DSLRs and professional grade lenses can be in the thousands. I wouldn't risk starting the business with lower quality/cheaper, as word of mouth is important, and if she starts off with producing lower quality photography due to cheaper equipment, it could be a difficult hole to dig herself out of.

        Best investment right now for her would be to find some online courses, which can be very cheap to start learning about the different aspects of a camera/composition etc. Having a good eye is the most important thing, but I wouldn't be risking the business by starting off cheap on equipment.

        Second hand will be the best bet to keep costs down, I'd stick with Nikon and Canon, and a mixture of prime lenses at different focal lengths. I'm not that familiar with Nikon, but for Canon, the L series lenses are the one to go for for professional use.

      • 

        brendanm on 06/01/2021 - 14:30

        -1

        So she has no idea about photography, but is going to charge people for photos that will likely be rubbish? Seems legit. Her business won't last long, as if one person isn't happy, they will be posting it up all over Facebook.

  • 

    topppbloke on 06/01/2021 - 11:48

    -1

    Well, agree & disagree.
    Where she lacks in technical knowledge, she has a hell of an eye for capturing beautiful photos.
    Also, she's practically getting the studio rent free.
    Other than the cost of gear, this is a very Low risk business!

    • 

      ausdday on 06/01/2021 - 12:08

      +1

      I apologize if I might have sounded negative, but TBH, I was more confused and fascinated. I am a hobbyist and I find the "technical knowledge" of handling a DSLR the hardest. I have a lot of hit and misses over the years and still have.

      Studio Photography needs more than just a camera and lens. Lighting, trigger just to name a few.

      I think she should go for the newest models, e.g. latest A7S series, so that she can lean on newer technology such as eye-AF, high ISO, etc.

• 

  penguinswillrise on 06/01/2021 - 11:44

  +1

  I'm a hobbyist who has been shooting for 10 years. I jumped from a 9 year old DSLR to a new mirrorless early last year and have been loving it but I noticed this upgrade might not necessarily be as effective for a business. While the newest cameras are great with their new bells and whistles, I find most professional photographers stick to older but proven bodies for studio or wedding work. As such I recommend scouting the second hand market as a lot of pro photographers offload their photography equipment usually as a kit which I think could work well for your friend financially and technically.

  • 

    topppbloke on 06/01/2021 - 11:52

    Spot on
    This is exactly what we had in mind, a pro photographer selling their gear due to upgrading. '
    Would you agree that she should only be looking for Nikon & Cannon? (apparently, due durability & to accessories availability)
    Any certain models that she should be looking for? ie: D5***?

• 

  Caped Baldy on 06/01/2021 - 11:53

  +3

  Starting a photography business with little to no experience sounds like a recipe for disaster.

  Anyway, this webpage has a few Q&As. https://www.pagecloud.com/blog/how-to-start-a-photography-bu…

  85mm is the general go to for portraits. 135mm is used as well.

  For software, lightroom/photoshop are pretty good but subscription based. There are alternatives that are cheaper and with different features.
  qDSLR dashboard is an option for wireless connecting a camera to a pc, though I haven't tried it.

  Source: casual photographer. I'm not an expert but any means.

  • 

    topppbloke on 06/01/2021 - 12:06

    This is actually a good link, thank you.

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  nakahanap on 06/01/2021 - 12:27

  https://www.creativelive.com/catalog/photography/fundamental…

  Tends to have some good courses on photography and using editing software. Usually they have big sales this time of year due to new releases of courses (e.g. doing the 2020 version will be much cheaper, possibly even free). Adobe products are generally pretty good but require considerable in-depth knowledge to use to their best potential.

  A good prime lens (85mm or 135mm) is going to be fairly expensive (the nearer to 0 the aperture is, the more $) but worth it, even essential, for portrait photography.

  Take your time picking gear.

  I wouldn’t be looking on gumtree or marketplace for gear, personally but it could be worth a chat with a photography club.

• 

  MS Paint on 06/01/2021 - 14:00

  +4

  Someone starting a photography studio would have plenty of their own equipment already, very comfortable behind the camera technically and have awesome people skills.

  Good luck.

  • 

    tooblue on 06/01/2021 - 14:57

    +3

    Don't forget it also requires post-processing software as well, such as MS Paint.

    • 

      MS Paint on 06/01/2021 - 15:37

      +4

      That leads to another great point…

      Best software for editing?

      If you are asking this question you are only kidding yourself and wasting everyone's time. The photographer should have been shooting in RAW format for ages already and would already be proficient in PS or LR and have a decent laptop/desktop to process these images.

      • Keep it positive please : )

      In all honesty this is a very odd post and there is actually no genuine positive advice other than come back in 5 years after you have shot and processed 10k images.

• 

  macrocephalic on 06/01/2021 - 14:16

  +1

  You don't need a really good camera body for studio portraits. I have photos on my walls enlarged to ~80cm which were shot with a Canon 5D mk1 - and you can pick up one of those used for about $500 now. This was a good professional camera ten years ago.

  Assuming she gets a full frame camera she'll probably want something at least 85mm for portraits. You can use a 50mm, but an 85mm will look better, and a 135mm is common for head and shoulder portraits. The space that you use will dictate this as well, no point getting a 135mm and finding out that you can't frame the person in the shot anymore. You can use a zoom lens for portraits, but if you're doing it in a controlled environment then why pay extra/deal with the lesser image quality from a zoom.

  The thing that your friend will really need to focus on it how to pose people and use lighting. She will need to read up on posing and practice it. She will need at least one external source of light, a decent speedlight -off camera- will work, but if it's all posed shots then she may as well get a fixed strobe. She'll also need light modifiers and know how to use them, that is things for softening, spreading, reflecting, and concentrating light as required. Umbrellas, softboxes, and snoots are what these are called.

  The go to software for photo editing is Lightroom. This will do all of your basic stuff. If you want to heavily modify or create images then you'll want Photoshop - but I'm guessing that your friend is looking to pump out a lot of low cost portraits rather than painstakingly creating really good ones. The only way you can get Adobe image software now (legally) is with a subscription. It's not a huge cost if you're making money, but it's a bit of a slap in the face to the hobbyists. You could try one of the cheaper or free alternatives like Capture1 or Darktable - but after using LR I find these ones a step down.

  • 

    topppbloke on 06/01/2021 - 14:26

    Hi mate,
    Thanks for the message and valuable info.
    Sounds like you know what you're doing.
    What if she wants to take full body shots also, such as models portfolio photos? or family photos too? which lens would you recommend? stick to 50mm perhaps?
    Also, it would be great if you could please recommend a 5 yo professional camera?
    thanks very much

    • 

      macrocephalic on 06/01/2021 - 15:58

      I haven't been looking for a while - and I've really only ever shot Canon. The 5D series is always a sturdy camera; the mk2 and mk3 must be getting affordable now. They will be strong and have decent battery life - made for professional use. An 85mm lens is still better if you can afford the space (ie you'll need to be standing further back to frame a whole person - but it's not a huge distance, just a few metres).

      Realistically, if you look at the santa photo stations at xmas time they're often shooting with a D3xxx camera and a standard kit lens. They set up their lighting properly when they set up the station and then leave it. If that's the level of professionalism that you're looking for then you might be able to get away with everything for $1000 with a consumer level body and lens, and Chinese strobes and modifiers. If you have to deal with moving subjects or changing conditions then you'll need more and better equipment; just look at what a standard wedding photographer would carry: 2x body, 4x battery, 17-40 lens, 24-70 lens, 70-200 lens, 2x speedlights, then other miscellaneous bits = that's roughly $12k worth of gear and that's probably the minimum (you could maybe get away with just two lenses, but it would be risky).

• 

  [Deactivated] on 06/01/2021 - 15:17

  shoot portraits / family & groups photos / also model shoots for portfolios

  The Sony mirrorless range are reputed to be unbeatable for fast focus on human eyes. Very good for taking pictures of people - especially babies who can move around a lot.

  Not only do Sony have the full-frame A7 series, but there is the more consumer oriented A6400 and associated models.

  Nikon, Canon, they are great cameras. But they are currently playing catch-up when it comes to crisp fast focus on eyes.

• 

  cwongtech on 07/01/2021 - 12:59

  As per above, it appears she wants to find a quick way to make cash..

  DSLR:
  - Decent Nikon or perhaps Canon that could be scored at a good price 2nd hand on maybe facebook market or gumtree?
  - Should she be looking for WiFi connectivity?
  - Would be fantastic to find something that offers great 'auto focus' function.

  Nikon and Canon are good, Sony is dominating with mirrorless at the moment.

  WiFi for..? If it's a studio situation, normally people will have the camera on a tripod for standard shots, and tethered to a laptop so they can immediately process and review (well the ones for Uni/School photos are like that), but if you want more dynamic.. then the photographer has to unmount and take photos as they see fit.

  As above, you'll need a flashlight/speedlight or strobes (look into Godox or just powered.. lights)

  All cameras have autofocus lol, Sony's renowned for very fast AF though

  It sounds like your friend isn't ready for a photography business (no offence)

  Taking photos is an essential skill of a photography business (and poses)
  Next are people skills, marketing and managing the business overall (non-technical)

• 

  AutomationGuy on 08/01/2021 - 14:23

  I used to buy and sell cameras and always had an eye for what studios are using. Most shopping centre and school style photo booths and studios use old very basic DSLRs and basic lenses. The trick is that they have very good lighting which compensates.

  The skills to interact with the person being photographed and have them position themselves the best way and look comfortable are to me the most critical parts of the industry. The equipment is pretty basic and the technical knowledge required is limited.

  I would go for a 5D II / 5D III or 6D and a 24-70mm if the budget will allow.

  I do have a 5DII to sell in Bris, but won't be bargain pricing since it has only taken 4000 shots (most pro models are 60-200k shutter actuations).

  • 

    skjaus2015 on 29/01/2022 - 21:07

    Can you recommend some camera for taking photo of objects to sell on gumtree/ebay