Suzanne

Tricia · 02-06-2007, 12:35 PM

Hey some camera ?? for you.

Do you have the espo disc (sp?) for setting your WB? Do you have a cap or just the disc. I think I really want to get it.

Plus when I take pictures in the house they are alway really dark. is that b/c I am using the built in flash?? I really want to get that next but it is a toss up between the flash and a new lens.

Mommy2Meghan-Caleb · 02-11-2007, 11:24 AM

Hey! I don't have an expodisc, but I have heard really good things about them. I have a gray/white card that I got at the camera shop that is shaped like a circle and I can fold and unfold it much like you do a sun reflector in a car window. I really like it. Another good (and cheap!) option is to use a couple of coffee filters doubled up. It works great to set white balance.

What lens do you have already? I would really reccomend getting a 50mm 1.8 lens if you don't already have one. It's relatively inexpensive (about $80) and it's a great prime lens to start learning aperatures/shutterspeeds/ISO on since it opens up so wide. The wider open the lens is, the more light it allows in. The more light you have to work with the faster you can make your shutter speeds (to freeze action) and the lower the ISO you can use (to reduce digital noise/grain). The make a 50mm in a 1.2L ($1,800), a 1.4 ( $300) and the 1.8($80). Obviously the difference in price is the quality of the glass, but for the price I got nice sharp pictures with my 1.8...you won't regret it.

What setting are you using when you use your flash indoors? It shouldn't be dark... Is it actually going off? My external flash is a 420ex that I bought used off of a photography forum for about $100. It's small, and they don't make it anymore as the new ones are the 430ex and the 580ex. I like mine though, it's fine for what I use it for. Check around on E-bay or go to ILovePhotography.com and check out their buy and sell forum...you can probably get a good deal on one.

Hope that helps!
Suzanne

jillian1527 · 02-11-2007, 01:40 PM

Butting in to say wow, you all lost me. lol.. if you have the time could you explain what excatly your talking about?The filters? I just got my XTI about a week ago and I love it and can not wait to learn more about it. Tricia, you said you were taking a class?

Tricia · 02-11-2007, 02:15 PM

Suzanne,

I do want to get another Lens but I really like taking macro pictures. I have some great Butterfly pics and I really enjoy that. But I also want a little telephoto

I also have to get a new flash. I really like your lens idea and with it being cheaper I may get that first........ GO look at my pictures of the boys.

I got the expodisc and LOVE it. It realy fixed some problems

Tricia · 02-11-2007, 02:58 PM

Jillian, I got free classes when Dh got the XTI for christmas through Ritz camera

Mommy2Meghan-Caleb · 02-12-2007, 12:29 AM

Hey Jillian...congrats on the camera! I didn't know you got a new one!

An expodisc basically allows you to custom white balance your camera. Your camera has lots of settings for white balance. And the whitebalance you choose helps your camera to produce the correct color. There are all different kinds of lights and light intensity so your camera has different settings for all of these. They include auto, bright sun, cloudy, flouresent, etc. You have about 8 different settings in your camera. If you were to take your camera outside and take a picture of the same thing in the same light and change your white balance with each picture you took (from auto to cloudy to bright sun to flash, etc.), your camera would have 8 slightly different colored pictures. The easiest way to assure that you are going to get good color when taking a picture is to custom white balance. Basically it allows YOU to tell the camera what is white in the light that you are in so it can record color accordingly. So if I am inside and I want to take pictures of Meghan I set my camera to custom white balance and take a picture of my white card. I then select that picture in the custom white balance options so that the camera knows, that in the light of my living room, that is what white is. Now after taking pictures in the living room, if I want to go outside and take pictures I reset my CWB by taking a picture of my white card in the light outside and program that into the camera. With each major lighting change (indoors to out or Sun to Shade, etc.) you should reset your custom white balance. An expodisc (or coffee filter, or white sheet of paper) works the same as my white card...it's simply something white to tell the camera what white is.

Hope that helped!

Suzanne
(and it sounds complicated to set the CWB in your camera, but really it's not...I'm sure we could walk you though it when you get to the point of wanting to try it!)

belinda · 02-12-2007, 11:40 AM

That's good to know. Tricia was trying to explain that to me. These classes have been really fun, and it's amazing all the stuff that you learn and the tricks that you learn. It's definitely worth the $$$ if you have to pay for it.

BTW...I've been meaning to get on Sony's site to see what kind of lenses they have an options they have for me (because I have a sony camera, I can't just buy Nikon or Cannon lenses - they don't fit on my Sony). Gotta love Sony, right?! GRRRRRR. Anyway....

Any suggestions on what my first lens to buy should be? I have the Sony Mavica 5.0. Suzanne, can you go to the sony site and tell me which one I should try to get?