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Posted: 12/2/2014 1:13:09 PM EDT
My wife and i love taking photos with our old Pentax K1000 SLR, but wanted to get into more advanced things. We use the cameras on our phones 90% of the time but photography is a hobby we could both get into. Went to best buy and picked up a Canon Rebel T3i along with a telephoto lens. I plan to ask for a macro lens for christmas (or is it needed?).
I run a youtube channel that has gone dormant lately because i have no video camera and my iphone sucks at videos because i have to convert the file and the audio gets off track. The guy at best buy said this camera would take better video than the sony handycam that was like $300 that i was looking at (true?). Asked a different guy what program to get for photoshop like corrections, and he said lightroom was the new photoshop and what we should get. spent 150 on fucking lightroom and apparently that is not at all what i want. i want to be able to cut and move images inside of images around and be able to fix imperfections like skin blemishes, rips/spots on old photos, etc. Will photoshop elements do that? cant figure out how to take video on this damn thing even though i read that part of the manual. it wont focus while filiming. anyhoo, so far, overall very impressed with it. here are some of my first pictures that i was pleased with. what really impresses me is how good low light photos come out. 
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Posted: 12/2/2014 1:17:41 PM EDT
[#1]
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Posted: 12/2/2014 2:21:55 PM EDT
[#2]
Get Adobe Lightroom and photoshop for $10/month.
Lightroom is an awesome tool, but not for what you want to do. |
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Posted: 12/2/2014 3:24:03 PM EDT
[#3]
looking good for the first try! nice pooch shots, they are hard to keep still 'eh? I have the same set up, I bought the "dummies" book for the T3i (easier to read than the manual) and I've been trying different settings. good luck with it and have lots of fun! |
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Posted: 12/2/2014 4:29:23 PM EDT
[#4]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
looking good for the first try! nice pooch shots, they are hard to keep still 'eh? I have the same set up, I bought the "dummies" book for the T3i (easier to read than the manual) and I've been trying different settings. good luck with it and have lots of fun! didnt even think of a dummies book. ill be stopping by books a million after school to see if they have one in stock! thanks! |
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Posted: 12/2/2014 4:33:03 PM EDT
[#5]
Quoted:
My wife and i love taking photos with our old Pentax K1000 SLR, but wanted to get into more advanced things. We use the cameras on our phones 90% of the time but photography is a hobby we could both get into. Went to best buy and picked up a Canon Rebel T3i along with a telephoto lens. I plan to ask for a macro lens for christmas (or is it needed?). I run a youtube channel that has gone dormant lately because i have no video camera and my iphone sucks at videos because i have to convert the file and the audio gets off track. The guy at best buy said this camera would take better video than the sony handycam that was like $300 that i was looking at (true?). Asked a different guy what program to get for photoshop like corrections, and he said lightroom was the new photoshop and what we should get. spent 150 on fucking lightroom and apparently that is not at all what i want. i want to be able to cut and move images inside of images around and be able to fix imperfections like skin blemishes, rips/spots on old photos, etc. Will photoshop elements do that? cant figure out how to take video on this damn thing even though i read that part of the manual. it wont focus while filiming. anyhoo, so far, overall very impressed with it. here are some of my first pictures that i was pleased with. what really impresses me is how good low light photos come out. <a href="http://s744.photobucket.com/user/napearfcom/media/IMG_0025_zps9f2c2ea9.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i744.photobucket.com/albums/xx81/napearfcom/IMG_0025_zps9f2c2ea9.jpg</a> Gotta like the demon puppy! As already pointed out, Lightroom is a great tool, but you need a pixel editor like Photoshop or Paintshop Pro. Photoshop will also do some of the easy video editing for you. Take a look at the Lightroom+Photoshop bundle for $10 per month if you are OK with software as a subscription. Video on DSLRs takes a little getting used to as far as how the hardware works. Audio is usually the big bummer, usually requiring an external mic for satisfaction. |
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Posted: 12/6/2014 12:22:58 AM EDT
[#6]
As to the software, photoshop elements is exactly what you're looking for, you can pick up a cy off amazon for around $60 delivered (I just got elements 13). Lightroom is NOT the 'new photoshop' and the guy who advised you of such should be kicked in the nuts (repeatedly). Lightroom excels at doing minor touchups to flaws (zit removal and other minor skin blimishes) and substantial tweaks to exposure/color, especially with an eye towards processing large numbers of files quickly. What it's NOT for is extensive edits such as cutting and moving images inside of images...that's what lightroom/elements is for.
I use lightroom for 90+% of my photo work but I'm mostly doing tweaks to exposure/cropping/etc...when I have an image that needs deep surgery, I fire up elements and get serious. The learning curve is damn near vertical on both of these programs so I recommend getting a book to help out (I like the kelby stuff myself, but there's other good books) |
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Posted: 12/6/2014 12:12:42 PM EDT
[#7]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Lightroom is NOT the 'new photoshop' and the guy who advised you of such should be kicked in the nuts (repeatedly). Lightroom excels at doing minor touchups to flaws (zit removal and other minor skin blimishes) and substantial tweaks to exposure/color, especially with an eye towards processing large numbers of files quickly. What it's NOT for is extensive edits such as cutting and moving images inside of images...that's what lightroom/elements is for. I use lightroom for 90+% of my photo work but I'm mostly doing tweaks to exposure/cropping/etc...when I have an image that needs deep surgery, I fire up elements and get serious. The learning curve is damn near vertical on both of these programs so I recommend getting a book to help out (I like the kelby stuff myself, but there's other good books) I agree with Lightroom not being the replacement for Photoshop, but with the plugins out there, it comes darn close. Just not the manual controls of Photoshop, but more automated for the common tasks Photoshop is used for. Elements, however, as I remember from version 9 is Adobe's lightest weight photo editor. Adobe positioned Elements below Photoshop and Lightroom in their product lineup. I no longer use Elements though and things may have changed. |
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Posted: 12/6/2014 5:21:08 PM EDT
[#8]
Yes. It takes great video. Exceptionally better than camcorders.
If you need any filmmaking resources with that camera, I have a wealth of info on my classroom website. Feel free to go there for tutorials, articles and other info: Seminolecinema.weebly.com The dummies book is good. An even better one is David Busch's book. Look for his Canon EOS Rebel T3i Guide. It's a good start. Regarding the focus issue: check your settings regarding focusing; also check the side of your lens to make sure the AF switch is "on" as well as your image stabilization switch. |
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Posted: 12/6/2014 9:54:37 PM EDT
[#9]
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Posted: 12/7/2014 3:13:04 PM EDT
[#10]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Yes. It takes great video. Exceptionally better than camcorders. If you need any filmmaking resources with that camera, I have a wealth of info on my classroom website. Feel free to go there for tutorials, articles and other info: Seminolecinema.weebly.com The dummies book is good. An even better one is David Busch's book. Look for his Canon EOS Rebel T3i Guide. It's a good start. Regarding the focus issue: check your settings regarding focusing; also check the side of your lens to make sure the AF switch is "on" as well as your image stabilization switch. ...it took me a few days to realize what the AF and MF switch on the lens did. Wow. I took a test video and when I played it on my computer the audio was great but the video was laggy. Computer issue or camera issue? |
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Posted: 12/7/2014 4:45:51 PM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
...it took me a few days to realize what the AF and MF switch on the lens did. Wow. I took a test video and when I played it on my computer the audio was great but the video was laggy. Computer issue or camera issue? Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Yes. It takes great video. Exceptionally better than camcorders. If you need any filmmaking resources with that camera, I have a wealth of info on my classroom website. Feel free to go there for tutorials, articles and other info: Seminolecinema.weebly.com The dummies book is good. An even better one is David Busch's book. Look for his Canon EOS Rebel T3i Guide. It's a good start. Regarding the focus issue: check your settings regarding focusing; also check the side of your lens to make sure the AF switch is "on" as well as your image stabilization switch. ...it took me a few days to realize what the AF and MF switch on the lens did. Wow. I took a test video and when I played it on my computer the audio was great but the video was laggy. Computer issue or camera issue? Sounds like an import issue on the software side. Keep in mind that for video, even with an STM lens like the Canon 24mm and 40mm pancake lenses, you will get autofocus noise unless you're using an external microphone. So in that case, it's often more beneficial to use manual focus. If you're trying to be artsy, you can use those little post-it pointer marker things to set up a quick and easy follow focus shot. If you're just shooting little kids playing soccer it's not an issue. |
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Posted: 12/8/2014 2:01:30 AM EDT
[#12]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Sounds like an import issue on the software side. Keep in mind that for video, even with an STM lens like the Canon 24mm and 40mm pancake lenses, you will get autofocus noise unless you're using an external microphone. So in that case, it's often more beneficial to use manual focus. If you're trying to be artsy, you can use those little post-it pointer marker things to set up a quick and easy follow focus shot. If you're just shooting little kids playing soccer it's not an issue. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Yes. It takes great video. Exceptionally better than camcorders. If you need any filmmaking resources with that camera, I have a wealth of info on my classroom website. Feel free to go there for tutorials, articles and other info: Seminolecinema.weebly.com The dummies book is good. An even better one is David Busch's book. Look for his Canon EOS Rebel T3i Guide. It's a good start. Regarding the focus issue: check your settings regarding focusing; also check the side of your lens to make sure the AF switch is "on" as well as your image stabilization switch. ...it took me a few days to realize what the AF and MF switch on the lens did. Wow. I took a test video and when I played it on my computer the audio was great but the video was laggy. Computer issue or camera issue? Sounds like an import issue on the software side. Keep in mind that for video, even with an STM lens like the Canon 24mm and 40mm pancake lenses, you will get autofocus noise unless you're using an external microphone. So in that case, it's often more beneficial to use manual focus. If you're trying to be artsy, you can use those little post-it pointer marker things to set up a quick and easy follow focus shot. If you're just shooting little kids playing soccer it's not an issue. Probably an import/rendering issue. As far as shooting video with audio on the T3i, if you want good sound recording, get a Zoom H1n. That way you can have stereo sound, and record separately as a backup. It will patch right into the camera with a 3.5mm male/male cable. If you want to hear it while shooting, simply get a Y splitter (1 male to 2 female 3.5mm). Plug the male into the zoom, your headphones into one female, and plug a 3.5mm male to male cable from the other female (from the Y splitter) into the camera. If you want a better digital microphone/recorder you could upgrade to a H4n. That's what I use with my students. It's great. Again, I have videos on my class website that will show you the products and how they work. If you want a good shotgun mic, a Rode Videomic is the way to go. It attaches right onto the shoe on top of the camera. It has phantom power within the mic as well. It's a good mic that will improve your audio footage. |
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Posted: 12/8/2014 10:29:31 PM EDT
[#13]
Need to backpedal quite a bit. Wide angle and up-close isn't the most flattering shot.
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