bonsaidad

Well i finally took the splash, and bought myself a new DSLR, a Olympus E 240 with standard 17.5 to 45mm lens, for the bargain price of £250.00.

It will take a while to get use to the controls, as there is a very big difference between a bridge camera, and a DSLR camera.

But still i have read the manual this evening, and worked out most of the settings i will initially use, so i can practice from tomorrow on.

I needed live view to take images of bonsai and i think this model has some settings that will help with getting a sharp image with a short depth of field.



Best regards BD Paul

Attached Images

new camera 003.jpg (96.3 KB, 7 views)

__________________
Old Chinese proverb says.
Go to bed with itchy bum.
Wake up with stinky finger.

Salvelinus

Good for you! I'm sure you will have a lot of fun with that. Read a few books, and take a class if possible, and you'll be farther ahead. Funny, that sounds a lot like bonsai advice . . . hmmm. . . .

When you are ready, go to this site and you'll learn a lot both about photography and about lighting as well: Strobist. Read the Lighting 101 and 102 sections. I've learned A LOT from that site--I highly recommend it. Check out my Flickr site if you want: Flickr: bonsaihiker's Photostream, or my gallery here on bonsaichat for what I've been able to do with photos of my trees. Also, look at Old Mister Crow's bonsai photography tutorial here: Old Mister Crow's guide to photographing bonsai and kusamono

Just be warned--photography can be just as addictive as bonsai!

__________________
Namaste,

--Scott ><>

"There seems to be no survivors to interview, but I suspect [kamikaze pilots] did not shout 'traytree' the moment before their personal sacrifice." --Herb Gustafson

Thomas J.

My first DSLR was also an Oly, the E-500 with two kit lenses. I then upgraded to the E-510 and soon after bought the 70-300mm lens. I looked at both the E-410 and 510 at the same time and thought that maybe the smaller 410 would be nice, but as soon as I picked it up and held it, I knew it wasn't the camera for me. It just didn't feel good holding it. The 510 felt perfect so that's the one I went with. Yes photography can be just as addicting. I own four cameras altogether and all somewhat on the expensive side, but the pics are really great and fun coming up with new things to shoot.

Here's a recent shot with my E-510 and the 70-300 lens

Attached Images

PB225221a_filteredaa.JPG (36.5 KB, 15 views)

__________________
Thomas J.

anttal63

great shot and a great tree thomas.

__________________
Antonio......
__________

bonsaidad

Thank you Salvelinus for your comments, and advice, also for the threads you have supplied to me.
Old Mr Crows has been on my favorites since i became interested in photography, and i have read it over, and over again, a simple article, but covers all the basics you will need to know.
I already know how addictive photography can be, but it will have to slot in between my other hobbies.


Best regards BD Paul

__________________
Old Chinese proverb says.
Go to bed with itchy bum.
Wake up with stinky finger.

bonsaidad

Very nice Thomas, nice image and certainly a nice tree.
Now i was the opposite with the cameras, as soon as i picked up the E420, i knew it was the one for me, it just felt comfortable in my hands, and although i have reasonably big hands, i did not find the camera to small.

There are plenty of adjustments to keep me busy for quite a while, so boredom will not come into it, and soon i will be setting up my trees to be photographed.


Best regards BD Paul

__________________
Old Chinese proverb says.
Go to bed with itchy bum.
Wake up with stinky finger.

shaggybirdman

i have a Olympus E-510 myself. only thing i don't care for about it is the weight. i'm used to my heave Minolta XD-11. my 510 is a feather in comparison. another thing i don't care for is if i change settings they don't stay. shut down, and re power up, and they are back to the old settings. i must have missed a setting of some sort.

bonsaidad

Hi Shaggybirdman.
The weight of the camera is not an issue for me, and your E510 would be heavier than the E420.
As to the settings staying to where you set them to, they ought to when you switch the camera off.
Better check the manual and see what is happening, as this may be a fault on the camera, but i hope not!.
The next step for me is to buy a Macro extension tube, and a dedicated Macro lens.
The lens i will use for photographing bonsai, as well as close up work in general photography, but for bonsai it should give very good results.

Post on this thread if you have success with the settings on the camera, and let us know what was happening.


Best regards BD Paul

__________________
Old Chinese proverb says.
Go to bed with itchy bum.
Wake up with stinky finger.

shaggybirdman

get a set of close up filters. mine cost $60. came with +1, +2, +4 filters. made by HOYA.

Salvelinus

One thing to consider is that a close-focusing lens (macro lens) may give a very different image of your bonsai than you expect. You may actually get a better representation of your bonsai by backing up and using a moderate telephoto (80-130 mm in 35 mm format). This makes the branches and perspective more accurate and appear more like the way you intended the bonsai to appear. On the other hand, you may know of another technique and I'd be very interested to see your results!

__________________
Namaste,

--Scott ><>

"There seems to be no survivors to interview, but I suspect [kamikaze pilots] did not shout 'traytree' the moment before their personal sacrifice." --Herb Gustafson