Well, I bought my camera last week and havent had the chance to test it until tonight, well last night if you look at the post time. Tell me what you guys think and suggestions on cam settings if you know anything about cameras. Let me know if the pics came out good enough and whatchu think about my stock Maxipad






By the way these are uneditted

 

Looking good..


Sell me your wheels..

 

if you get a tripod youll notice a huge difference in image quality. what kind of camera is it? i was told when taking car shots to focus on the pillar/door area to get the greatest focal point and the cleanest shot. i want a dslr camera, picture taking is fun. good job though on the pics. youll get better.

 

your window trim looks black.

 

both the photography and car need a little work, but they are not too bad.

Try to clear out stuff like that stick before you take pics, it distracts from the subject. The lighting is a little off, but not horrible. Use a tripod at night.

The car needs a little drop. I do like the wheels. They are sharp on a 3rd gen. I can't tell from the pic, but you need to paint, remove or clean your side molding.

 

the picture has a contrast problem because the camera is looking into the lights from the building. you need a camera where you can override the automatic settings for aperature and shutter speed and set them manually. experience in this area is the only way to know the exact settings.

 

looks good, i would have shot from a higher angle though. what kind of camera is it? looks like the lense may need cleaning and yeah a tripod will work wonders.how long was your exposure? it looks alittle blurred but that is probably due to not having a tripod.

 

Rookie....

 

less flash, more tripod, also don't be affraid to mess with the white balance settings

Image quality will increase because the camera will remain still with the long exposure shots. Not using the flash will give it a more natural look, however it might turn out "yellow" because of the street lights, which is where he would want to tinker with the white balance settings. Also try messing with the flash a little (put some masking tape over it/etc) but a better solution would be to use the natural lighting that is there to your advantage (like your signature). As for where to aim, thats a good rule. Really I found the best way is to just go out and take a boat load of shots. It's funny because the shots that look perfect to you when you take them, will look like crap when you get them on the computer, and vice versa. Cars all have their beauty angles, then just slightly above/below/right/left of that they look .

DSLR's... Fun but addicting, and expensive as hell. My fatal flaw is I always want the best stuff (or atleast that is somewhat in my grasp), and with DLSR's you will easily spend more than you have on a car and still not even be half way there (and I mean MrGone cars, not 'automar cars ). I want to pick up a 'measly' Canon EF-S 17-85mm F/4-5.6 IS USM lens ($600), but then it's an EF-S lens and I have dreams of owning a 5D some day. see, DSLRs = teh devil). I also am looking out for a Canon EF 50mm F/1.4 (or F/1.8 MK-I) but then with the 1.6x crop factor, I'd rather have a 24 or 28mm). On top of that I want a BG-E3 battery grip ($150), 580EX flash ($400), an assortment of filters ($80), CF cards ($180), etc. Then you want more lenses($200-600+), and you want L glass ($1000+), then you get tired of the 1.6xcrop factor so you want the Canon 5D ($3000).

yeah, way OT on the camera stuff, but it's the devil Actually the Canon PowerShot line is very very nice aswell, gives you lots of features.

 

case in point, second picture, even though you used the flash, you can see how the picture is still slightly blurry (from slight movement).

A tripod will eliminate this. If you are still having troubles with it even using a tripod look into either 1. getting a more stable tripod, 2. using a timer (3-5 seconds is more than enough, just incase it is moving when you hit the shutter) 3. use a remote, if avaliable for your camera.

 

Thanks for telling me the tip you received yourself. The camera is an HP M417 5.2 MP, got it cheap at Target for 164.99, in my opinion for that price you cant go wrong, I still need to master some photography skills but that'll come in time and eventually move on to a DSLR which is what I originally wanted.

By the way I set the ISO to 200 for these pics, is there a better choice?

 

lol is that good or bad?

 

Thanks for the comments and advice guys, I did mess with the ISO speed as I mentioned on TripleGs repond, I will be be playing with the White Balance and I think it also has the option to change the aperture, maybe you guys that know more about cameras wanna check the specs for HP M417 and see if I can do that stuff.


Cliff Clavin, yes the car need a little bit of body work, such as some rust removal and pop a little dent out of the drivers door, repaint and ..voila (I hope)

 

I think its good, because it resembles the SE... but i doubt it looks black in the daylight so it doesnt matter.

 

That's a good choice for low light picture shooting but makes the need for the tripod that much more important.

Google ISO camera settings and there are plenty of websites out there that can explain the different ISO settings and how they interact with your aperture and shutter speed settings.

I used to do a lot of amatuer photography before digital cameras got so inexpensive but not so much anymore.

 

ISO 200 sounds OK. I'm a fan of slow settings (lower numbers) though. I looked up the M417 on DPReview.com, and judging from your specs, I would try setting the camera on a tripod, set the aperture to F3.0, and the shutter to 1" or 2" (full seconds). If you can set the white balance manually, I would set it to "Tungsten", or the one that looks like a regular lightbulb with lines coming out of it (LCD icons tend to be standardized, no matter what brand you buy). To do all this, your camera will have to have a fully manual mode.

MrGone: I have a D70 and it is still one of the best for the money, especially the lens. I've seen a Canon 5D in use, and it is pretty impressive. I've also tinkered with a 350D, which is also a nice camera, but a bit small for me, and I don't care for the lens. 20Ds are great too.

 

Here is an example of long exposure, no flash and a tripod:



The photographer is a guy on NorthwestNissans.com in Washington. He is only 17 and takes some hot pictures.

 

not bad. clean car, and digital photography is addicting. got myself a 20D

 

Thanks for the replies...now, where can I go get a good tripod that wont make me broke? what kind is good?

 

If you are looking for a decent tripod that won't break the piggie bank, take a look at the line up from SLIK. The tripod/brand you choose is completely subjective, just as any choice in camera, etc.
Personally, I shoot with a Canon G5 and have been very happy with it. I too used to dabble with 35mm and absolutely loved the freedom of complete manual control with my Canon AE-1 (the only thing it needed a battery for was the internal light meter!). When I was looking for a digital camera, of course I wanted a dSLR, but I knew I'd be like $2k+ deep in one before I took the first picture. To me, the G5 was the perfect balance/compromise - flexibility of full manual controls, custom settings, TTL hotshoe, as well as adapter barrel for filters and additional lenses. The image quality is very sharp, and the battery life is awesome - I can fill up my 512mb card (using the lcd the whole time) before swapping batteries. It has lots of other features and goodies that have made this camera a joy to work with, too.

 

I would say get even a really cheap $20 tripod at BB or CC would be fine. That's what I have for my DSLR, and it works just fine. Sure I'd like to get a Bogen Manfrotto tripod, but you don't need something that nice to do decent night pics.

 

wow, photography talk. i'll have to scan a few of my old b&w's.

 

hmmmm...i'll let this go as long as it doesn't stray too far OT.

 

I had a D70 but ended up returning it. Great body and the kit lens completely owns the Canon's, but I just like what Canon has to offer, it suits me better.
I have the 350D, I'm tempted to sell it and buy a 20D, but I'd rather just buy a nicer lens and use it on the 350D. At first I complained about the size and kind of "forced" myself to get used to it (and I have big hands), but then I was playing with a 20D the other day and actually appreciated the size of the 350D strangly enough. I still like the build quality of the D70, I always worry that I am going to break my 350D.

I'll get some pics up when I get home. I need to go take some more.

 

sd400 ftw. actually, sd550 ftw. great cameras

 

me too

 

I have three different SLIK tripods and I have been pretty happy with them. My primary one is a large U212 that is very stable. I have a second U212 that I took the head off of to make a camera mount for the Maxima. I bought it at Goodwill for $4.99 and it is mostly for parts in case my good one breaks.

My third tripod is actually a tripod and a monopod combined. I can take out the center and use it as a monopod. I can't remember the model, but they don't make it anymore.

 

Now that I think about it...my little *** camera would look funny on a tripod..dont know if you 've seen pics on an HP M417 but its rather small..

 

who cares what it looks like, just worry about what the pics look like

 

yes i know this i want dslr and all the goodies too. it does get pricey. I really started to get into photography after i got my car. Before i was just taking party pics, but now after taking photos of my car, when i have time i try to shoot other stuff. but the time part gets me everytime.

i think wally world has a tripod for like 12 bucks that is decent for 12 bucks.

 

www.bhphotovideo.com has a wide selection of aluminum tripods, which i prefer.

i shot some pics of the max but that got boring after awhile. now i'm more into scenic and nature shots.

and yeah i also want the 580EX flash for my 20D. but man it's pricey...

 

I agree with Fred.

I use my point and shoot on a tripod and it is very small. The pictures turn out a lot better.



Pic from my Canon A70 on my gigantic Slik U212 tripod.

I want a 20D (or any Canon DSLR)

 

nice shot Cliff.



sample of mine. i was snapping pics of my car on campus until that flower caught my eye

 

Dude my girl is the same way, she's got like 300 pictures of nothing but flowers...she has a thing for black and white pics of roses...

As for DanNY thanks for allowing the thread to remain open for a bit of OT

 

Last post at 11-29-2005, 05:13 PM
BY AscendantMax



c'mon john..