DSLR noob...still (1 Viewer)

[porkchop]

I have a Nikon D40 that is sitting in my closet, we have only used the camera a handful of times. To be honest, I know so little about photography, that I don't even know what I don't know!

We had the stock lens and a zoom lens (AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED), but I dropped the camera and killed the stock lens. Since then, it has sat I unused.


So......I have some questions.....


1. Is this camera a viable option for taking quality pics (especially reef pics), or is it un-capable of something important and/or too old and out of date?

2. What lens(s) would I theoretically need to purchase for reef photography?

3. Will there be a Photography class this year, or is anyone in the Clearlake/Kemah area willing to help my wife and/or I learn some basics.

4. Is there any fancy software that I need to purchase for the Mac to be able to edit the pics?


This will most likely be my wife learning and playing with the camera as I have the attention span of a gnat! But, I want to be sure that she has the right equipment to be successful. Recently, we were at an event and she tried using someone elses DSLR, and complained that the pics were sub-standard compared to the ones taken by her iphone 5. Seems like that is backwards to me.?.?.?

 

[d2mini]

Yes, its perfectly viable.
Just make sure you get lenses that have the internal focusing motor for auto-focus. I believe the D40 doesn't have this inside the camber body.
The Tamron 90mm 1:1 is a fantastic macro lens. Great for shooting close up stuff.
Adobe Lightroom will get the most out of your pics. And its a great organization tool as well. Shoot raw and you'll be very happy with the corrections you can make, especially when it comes to white balance, lifting shadows, overall exposure, etc.
I think it's $10/month for the lightroom and photoshop combo.

 

[Nickig23]

I second D2mini's advice. I love Lightroom. Also there are several classes online, we got some good deals through groupon. Or even just free ones if you search like "how to edit out glare on glasses" (just an example) you will find all kinds of help that way too.

A site I follow and get updates through is called Mcpactions.com, they have tutorials on their site and send out newsletters with good information. Also pretty presets @lightroompresets.com they will have free Lightroom tool packages that you can download and install into Lightroom, or discounts on them as well as tutorials. I have a Mac as well.

I'd love to learn more myself, and get as good as D2mini or tinman


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[Oceanlife Aquariums]

maybe dennis would hold a short class on how to.. I also just got an entry level d3200 with the tamron 90mm. still havent figure out this camera yet.

 

[Jason]

maybe dennis would hold a short class on how to.. I also just got an entry level d3200 with the tamron 90mm. still havent figure out this camera yet.

I like that idea[emoji24][emoji24]

 

[porkchop]

I like that idea....

Yall set the date and the place, we will be there...

 

[tinman]

Dennis will have pizzas and drinks with his "aquarium photography for dummies" class at his house soon and also free frags.

 

[porkchop]

Dennis is a heck of a guy.

Open bar, photography, and free frags! Man. That's a deal.


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[d2mini]

What the heck just happened here?

 

[Oceanlife Aquariums]

What the heck just happened here?

oopsss. sorry dennis. i'll bring the beer!

 

[Jason]

oopsss. sorry dennis. i'll bring the beer!

I'll pitch in!

 

[d2mini]

LOL, i've never taught a class but I'm sure we could put together some kind of demo sometime.

We could quickly go over how a camera works in general, give you an idea of how to use the manual settings on a dslr and more specifically for our tanks (i.e. a decent starting point, shooting in RAW), and finally (and probably most importantly).... Adobe Lightroom overview. That would be the hard part. Worst case we would have to crowd around my 27" iMac.

 

[Nickig23]

LOL, i've never taught a class but I'm sure we could put together some kind of demo sometime.

We could quickly go over how a camera works in general, give you an idea of how to use the manual settings on a dslr and more specifically for our tanks (i.e. a decent starting point, shooting in RAW), and finally (and probably most importantly).... Adobe Lightroom overview. That would be the hard part. Worst case we would have to crowd around my 27" iMac.

I like this idea, I can bring my laptop that has Lightroom. I just don't have a macro lens to practice with, I mean I have one that says macro but the 90mm one you've suggested. and that's kind of a long drive for a free class, with beer I can't even drink lol


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[Oceanlife Aquariums]

LOL, i've never taught a class but I'm sure we could put together some kind of demo sometime.

We could quickly go over how a camera works in general, give you an idea of how to use the manual settings on a dslr and more specifically for our tanks (i.e. a decent starting point, shooting in RAW), and finally (and probably most importantly).... Adobe Lightroom overview. That would be the hard part. Worst case we would have to crowd around my 27" iMac.

I'm such a newbie, I don't even know what RAW mean

example? shooting a tank through glass with a nikon d3200 with a tamron 90mm. what setting? M. S. A . P? EXPOSURE? APARTURE? SHUTTER SPEED ETC. settings?

 

[Nickig23]

I'm such a newbie, I don't even know what RAW mean

example? shooting a tank through glass with a nikon d3200 with a tamron 90mm. what setting? M. S. A . P? EXPOSURE? APARTURE? SHUTTER SPEED ETC. settings?

Lol you have to know what Aperture, and ISO and other settings do in order to even know what to put them on. He could tell you a general setting, but if you don't know how they relate to one another you will always be asking what setting to use. Iv read up on aperture and ISO, and still can't figure it out lol.


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[porkchop]

On a serious note.....Is there any chance of a class this year?

I would love to get some help in person. Youtube helps a lot....but its nice to have help while your doing it yourself.

 

[DustinB]

I'm not a pro like some of the guys on here, but I do have a fairly strong knowledge of photography in general, had to have another hobby to dump thousands of dollars into. I'd be happy to help if someone wants to get into reef photography. I don't know about a class, but maybe one on one or a couple people. Reef photography is somewhat easy once you know how to use your camera properly.

 

[Oceanlife Aquariums]

trying out the new camera here in tokyo.. mainly did on the auto setting. played around with difference lenses that came with the camera and the tamaron 90mm.

 

[d2mini]

Pretty nice, nick!

 

[porkchop]

Very cool.