Advice needed fairly quickly.

[Abarbarian]

I have been asked to do the pictures for a mates wedding on the 22nd of June and my Cannon Powershot is being a bit temperamental, It could be oldish batteries. I have decided to buy a new camera as I have been toying with the idea for a while. I now have a valid excuse to spend loads of loot, can not let a mate down now can I.
Decided is not quite the right word. I have decided to buy one but can not choose between these two.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/panasonic-lumix-dmc-fz200_Digital-Camera_review

I can get this at Amazon for £391 with a great free Lowepro Nova 160 AW All Weather Shoulder Bag (£28.99) and it qualifies for a free three year guarantee from Panasonic.

Or I can get


http://www.trustedreviews.com/panasonic-lumix-dmc-g5_Digital-Camera_review

Now this has an offer from Panasonic of a free Panasonic H-FS45150E-K Telephoto Lens at present (£199). This offer I think is applicable to all the retailers below.

Amazon have it at £449 with a standard 14-42mm Lens.

However Park cameras are selling at £499 with a genuine spare battery and instead of the standard lens they are offering a LUMIX G X VARIO PZ 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. POWER O.I.S.lens.

Also the official Panasonic shops are offering one at £510 with a THREE YEAR guarantee and a spare battery and I think the LUMIX G X VARIO PZ 14-42mm / F3.5-5.6 ASPH. / POWER O.I.S. lens. I'll have to phone them to check this out though.
The Panny site is a bit confusing.

http://www.panasonicstore-leeds.co.uk/g-system/447-dmc-g5kebk.html

I was quite taken with the FZ200 but the offers for the G5 have thrown me into a bit of a spin as the G5 is not that much more expensive as standard.

What do you recon folks.

Mind you I could get a Nikon D3200 with two lenses for under £500.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/nikon-d3200_Digital-Camera_review

http://www.i-store-online.com/produ...camera---black---af-s-vr-dx-18-55mm-lens.html

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nikon-AF-S-NIKKOR-35mm-1-8G/dp/B001S2PPT0/ref=pd_vtp_ph_3

Would the Nikon be a bit too complicated ? It does have a decent auto set up.I just do not know.

 

[crazylegs]

I must admit I'm very tempted by the fz200 and that superb f2.8 aperture all the way through the zoom range, I have been looking at that myself as a next camera purchase..

the G5 also looks a very nice camera and a good replacement for my fz7 but accessories can be very costly for it..

For a wedding though I think I would have to go with a DSLR but its got to be a decent flashgun to go with it, or the pics of the bride are gonna be washed out and lifeless
I used to do a lot of weddings years ago when I had SLR kit and decent flashguns, I wouldn't attempt a wedding nowadays without the right kit..

I'm sure there will be others here that can better guide you than I, but good luck a barb on your endeavour!

 

[Quadophile]

Advice given fairly quickly!

As far as I am concerned and in my humble opinion, a DSLR is a no brainer. If I were making the decision and spending my own money from my pocket, I would not bat an eyelid going for Nikon 3200 .


Now I must justify my decision so you know where I am coming from. First of all lets consider the project you are going to be working on, its a wedding shoot.


The DSLR has a bigger sensor compared to any point and shoot or a bridge/compact camera. Therefore there is a lot more room for cropping and editing which in my personal experience of 42 years in photography is essential when it comes to weddings. The DSLR having a bigger sensor and at the same time a 24 MP sensor will give you that advantage which none of the other cameras you mention are capable of giving.


The work-flow on the DSLR is way better than any other lesser type of camera, it also gives you a lot more control in what you need to accomplish as an end result. The DSLR has way more latitude when it comes to low light photography, as the sensor is larger it is less noisy than the other types of cameras. During weddings you will come across times when you need to shoot candid shots of close family and friends without the flash for those 3D type of images which the DSLR is more than capable of than any other.


When it comes to flash you can very comfortably rely on independent maker like Metz for a great value for money flashgun if you want to save money. Just note that anything upwards of a guide number of 45-50 will be adequate. Metz offers flashes just like Nikon and Canon with diffusers built into their flashes which will minimize those shadows and give you more appealing shots.


The lens choices are much greater on a DSLR and you get better value as the economies of scale kick in, you also have greater choice in the lenses from independant lens makers, my favourite being Tamron. The DSLR is a much better investment as it will be a system you are buying and not just a camera, it has the potential of growing in future as your needs arise and your style changes, the lenses can be used on subsequent bodies with out becoming redundant. I used some of my lenses for 20 years as they went from one body to another and even total transformation from film to digital bodies.


The Nikon 3200 is one of the best in its class and a great way to get into photography. It will work just as a point and shoot if you want it to and it will also be fully manual or semi auto as and when you feel more comfortable. The full auto mode on a DSLR takes into consideration all aspects of the scene and is almost guaranteed to give you good if not exceptional results. For exceptional results you need to use it as a tool and control the various aspects as you learn along the way that is when you become a creative photographer.


If you want to make your mate really happy I would seriously want you to consider a DSLR, you don't mess with a friends wedding especially when he has given you one of the most important jobs a groom can give.


I am more than willing to guide you further if you have more questions or concerns. I agree with you on making a quick decision that way you can experiment with the camera at least a couple of times with a test shoot (grabbing your girlfriend in the process) before the wedding day. I will help you there too if need be by giving you specific assignment to get you acquainted with the work-flow.

 

[muckshifter]

Having the "right kit" is only the half of it, a DSLR would be a must ... hope you have served you apprenticeship in Wedding Photography ... any fool can take a pic, no disrespect intended.

My sisters' daughter, Lisa 'did' the wedding photos of my brothers daughter, Katy ... while Lisa is an admiral amiture photographer, she's won photographic competitions, she was under no illusion that she was a fantastic Wedding Photographer ... she took advice from friend who is a pro, was allowed to 'tag along' as unpaid help to 3 weddings.

She also took onboard advice, one camera is not enough, so she took a good photographic friend who actually took the "boring shots" while she made sure 'the set' was ready for the more glamorous shots ... she does have a great eye.

A fab time was had by all, the 'pics' were as good as any pro. I was very proud of both my nieces that day.

good luck!

 

[Abarbarian]

Thanks guys. Looks like the Nikon gets the vote.

More Q's to come.

Do I need one of these,

http://www.i-store-online.com/index...XTCsid=i9l5rqm082qhuadvuocr2chjm2&filter_id=2

Or would a after market cheaper one do as well ?

If I got the standard kit,

Nikon D3200 24.2 MP Digital SLR Camera - Black - AF-S VR DX 18-55mm lens

Would one of these be a good and useful addition,


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nikon-AF-S-NIKKOR-35mm-1-8G/dp/B001S2PPT0/ref=pd_vtp_ph_3

Thanks in advance.

 

[muckshifter]

yes, I would invest in as many UV filters as you have lenses, but I'd just go for the cheaper models.

As for how many lenses do you need, I have 3, but I don't do weddings, I'll just send you over to CameraLabs Gordon Laing gets my vote.

 

[Abarbarian]

Thanks again guys.

I went along to the local camera shop to have a real world look at some cameras. The sales man was enthusing over the Sony A58 so I went home and looked it up and nearly bought one.

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/sony-alpha-a58-digital-slt-review-21878

However there were a few things I did not like. The movies were not that good in all the reviews I looked at and the plastic body put me of a tad.

Looking through the hundreds of bookmarks I have I came across one entry for the Pentax K-30. This comes with a waterproof body and lens kit and can be had in glorious bright metalic blue.

Was most impressed with the reviews and videos.

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/pentax_k30_review/

After spending some time and looking at what must have been all the reviews about the K-30 on-line I decided that this was the camera for me.

It has a sturdy construction. Water and dust/sand proof which is good for a rough chap like me.Also it is compatible with quite a few different types of lens from the past though not all will have auto features and will have to be used in manual mode. These lenses can be picked up on flea bay and places for next to nothing which should provide some cheap entertainment.

The movie mode looks good. Not the best and latest full 60 fs HD but quite good. Bad point is mono audio with no external mic point. An I could not find a mention of a RF remote feature, maybe I missed it along the way.

Anyways I hunted up prices and found this good bundle,

http://www.greatdigitaldeals.co.uk/pentax-k30-black-slr-1855mm-wr-lens-premium-bundle-p-2569.html

• Pentax K-30 Black DSLR Camera​
• Pentax 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 SMC DA-L Lens​
• Proper Bags Calypso II SLR System Bag​
• 16GB SDHC Class 10 Memory Card​
• 2GB SD Memory Card *Today's Special offer*​
• 2 x Li-ion battery DLI-109​
• Battery charger D-BC109​
• AC plug cord D-CO2E​
• USB cable I-USB7​
• Neck Strap O-ST53​
• Eyecup​
• Hot shoe cover FK (already mounted)​
• Body mount cover ​
• CD Rom Software​
• User guides​
• UK Warranty & Registration Card​

**All our Pentax K-30 Digital SLR cameras are genuine UK Models from Pentax UK**

A two year parts and labour and third year parts only warranty is included with postage either way also included. Which seems good though I hope I never need it. The buundle is a darn good extra as the best price I could find was elswhere was about £520 with only a one year guarantee.
Also,

Pentax Summer Sunshine Cashback 2013

Purchase selected Pentax digital cameras between the 4th May 2013 and 27th July 2013 and you will be able to claim up to £85 cash back from Pentax UK (cash back amount varies according to the model purchased).


a new Pentax K-30 + 18-55mm WR - £60 cash back

which will bring me price down to £470.

The bad news is that they would not sell me a Blue kit for the same price. They wanted another £60 for coloured kits. I do not see why as everywhere else the coloured kits are the same price as the boring old black ones. So no street cred for me then.

One other good point is that the lens will take 52mm filters same as me old Cannon. Which means I already have a UV filter and a macro lens and a collapsible rubber hood which I have never used.
Also if I fork out £12 I can get a AA battery holder which means I can use me AA's as spare travelling batteries. One genuine batttery, one aftermarket battery, two sets of well used AA's and a newish set of AA's should be enough for me I recon.

What do you all think ? Is it a good camera and deal ?

 

[Abarbarian]

Well the K-30 arrived today along with a polarising filter I ordered.

I was a tad spooked as there seemed to be something moving around inside the camera as you tilted it from side to side. Undeterred and nervously I took some pictures which seemed to come out ok.
nevertheless I took the K-30 into town and popped into the local camera shop and asked about the noise. A very helpful chap had a look and assured me that it was a normal noise. He took a K-30 of display and showed me that their modle did exactly the same thing with anti-shake enabled but no noise when anti-shake was disabled. Exactly the same as mine. Phew that was a relief.
Took me nearly an hour to discover that there was no zoom button and why. Duh !
So here is a link to some pics. Some .jpg's and some .dng's. They are maximum size so they are a big file size. posted like that so anyone interested could do the zooming in thing to see what detail is like.

http://imgur.com/13CTj1R,KhNDnuJ

They are taken in my garden and in Kendal. I took four shots at various settings with and without the polarising filter to see what the differences were. However the shots on-line are just two samples from the test shoot.

Me I'm blown away with the quality after me old faithful Cannon.It is going to take me the rest of my life to become even familiar with all the stuff this camera can do. Thankfully it has a decent auto which is the setting used for the shots above.



Hmm looks like .dng files will upload but not show up. Seems I have a lot to learn here.

 

[muckshifter]

welcome to the photographic world of DSLR ... enjoy!

 

[crazylegs]

Enjoy abarb now get out there and take some pics

 

[Abarbarian]

Here are four shots in raw .DNG format. Taken hand held.

Shots are looking up Stricklandgate in Kendal from the crossroad at the town hall in the middle of the town. A great place to test a camera as all four roads are of the level and point nearly to the prime compass points. One of the roads is very narrow and nearly always in shadow.

Files are about 14 to 16MB each. Thought they might be of some interest.

Hosted them at that new cloud supplier, COPY which seems to work well.

https://copy.com/7txUO7RR3LHx

I'm using a program called DARKTABLE on me Arch64 to view them. It has the ability to do all sorts of tweaking but have not had a chance to test that out yet. Seems ok for viewing with zooming capabilities. Runs a tad slowish at startup on my pc but then mine is not the fastest pc in the world. Not tried viewing on Windows yet anyone got any suggestions, got to be free and easy to use.

 

[Abarbarian]

Well I just could not resist. bought a,

Vivitar VMC auto Lens 200mm f4.0 Auto 55mm
Pentax k bayonet fitting

Lens no.99501435 made in Japan
Very good condition​

Cost a whooping £11.99 including postage.

For penguins,

I have tried for viewing .DNG files,

Darktable slowish to load but nice to use -- but it has locked up on me several times.

UFraw which is a stand alone and a gimp plug-in. Loads fast but baffled me at first glance.

Rawstudio which loads fast and is quite useable -- but all the pictures have a darkish tint to them which is a bit puzzling.

I tried to install Photivo but it would not install so gave up on it.

So at the moment I am using Rawstudio.

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