What camera should a student buy to transition into professional work?

Question

I'm studying photography to became a professional photographer, and I want to buy a professional camera. Because it's expensive, I want to buy the right one the first time. I want it to last through work after my graduation.

What kind of tips, specifications, and features do I need to look for as I make this purchase, including functions that I may not need now but will be needed for work?

I'm a writer/editor in an important magazine about art in my country, and I'm studying for getting photographic job. So I need a camera for very professional work.

Think on the problem that I don't know nothing about and I need to buy a gift. :D

It's for general purpose, but the most style I'll use is for photographic art, micro and macro. I need tips and specifications for lens, and useful functions (like light expose, time expose (I don't know how it's called in English, I'm Spanish native speaker), color response, color respect, etc.

Asked by Leandro

Answer

You may notice that all professionals do not use the same camera and lens. There are different models for different reasons and that means you have to get clear as to the type of professional photography you are going towards.

Any medium-to-high end model will certainly last for a few years. Good lenses last much longer and the good news is that you do not have to buy all your lenses at once.

For macro work, an advanced DSLR and high-reproduction ratio lens is must. Canon has a unique MP-E 65mm F/2.8 which is spectacular for very close macros. To use that one you need a full-fame body like a Canon 1D X, 1Ds Mark III or 5D Mark II. The higher end and more expensive ones are tougher and faster which will be more important if you start shooting action or events.

That lens is only suitable for macro photography, so you will need a couple of high-grade possibly weather-sealed lenses (in case you need to shoot in the rain or snow). Good ones to consider are the EF 24-70mm F/2.8 for general work, a bright lens for portraits like the 85mm F/1.2 and a longer lens like the 70-200mm F/2.8 for further subjects.

All these advanced cameras have all the photographic features you need for professional use such as manual exposure, bulb exposure, manual focus, custom white-balance, etc. So I would worry much less about those small details and concentrate on the lenses you want first, followed by broad features like speed (FPS), weather-sealing, resolution (depends on the sizes you want to print). You will notice after looking around that nothing is the best for everything, so you have to start with what is most important to you.

If you really need huge print sizes, you may consider a medium format camera like the Pentax 645D but this will cost significantly more and offers fewer possibilities since it is slower, less sensitive to light and with more limited lens options.

Answered by Itai

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Are there any pro wildlife photographers using the Pentax DA* 300mm?

Question

Are there any pro wildlife photographers using the Pentax DA★ 300mm? I have spent a week searching for anyone who is using Pentax kit in wildlife photography and who is getting paid for their work.

Answer

Aditya Panda has touched on it (twice), and finds DA★ 300 quite superb but simply too short for wildlife photography. Unfortunately, the small user base means it's hard to design quality supertele lenses with competitive price. Also, judging current lens lineup and omission of full-frame body, Pentax seems to avoid expensive market niches. So, very likely wildlife photography using Pentax gear will remain challenging in near future.

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How do I know if I'm ready to turn professional?

Question

I love photography.
I love capturing beautiful images and preserving precious memories.
I believe that I have a gift for this - one which I have worked hard to hone and grow over recent years.

I am wondering about trying to earn some of my income from my photography.
However, I find the thought very scary: surely I can't be good enough? Yet I think that I can consistently get results as good as most of what I find online.

How can I tell if I'm good enough?

Am I even asking the right question?

What questions should I be asking myself?

Answer

My tips:

• Don't assume you're good because friends and family say your are.
• Don't start with weddings. Wait until you've done a few simpler things first (christenings / babies etc). You may be a great photographer when snapping flowers but how are your people skills / planning skills etc.?
• Try to sell some stock photos or prints in a market.
• Go for it! Just don't quit your job until you have run out of weekends and are turning down bookings ;)

Good luck!

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What is considered a professional grade Macro lens?

Question

Macro (or Micro for Nikon) lenses come in different focal lengths, however looking through the current list of canon Macro Nikon Micro lenses they mostly have the same f2.8 apeture. (apart from the 85mm Nikon and 180mm Canon)

Which would be considered entry level and which would be professional, What makes this difference (apart from focal lenth)?

As a comparison to help understand what I am looking for;

The Nikon 24-120 f3.5-4.6 would be entry level whereas the 24-120 f4 is considered a higher quality professional lens (by Nikon NPS)

This also applies to the 50mm f1.8 and the 50mm f1.4.

But what defines the step up to professional quality in this range?

Answer

I don't think there is a big difference between consumer grade and professional grade when it comes to macro lenses, since as you say they are mostly f/2.8, prime lenses, and all very sharp. With zooms you have big differences in maximum aperture, fixed aperture vs variable, and so on.

For Nikon:

• the DX lenses (40mm and 85mm) could be excluded on the basis that they won't work on professional FX bodies

• the PC-E lenses would certainly be considered professional due to the tilt-shift capabilities (and cost!)

• for the most part, I'd consider the lenses with ED glass to be pro lenses. This includes the PC-E lenses mentioned above, the 200mm f/4, the 105mm f/2.8 VR (but also the 85mm f/3.5 VR DX lens)

Nikon Professional Services requires ownership of two pro bodies, but the lens requirement is not specific (can include DX lenses), so I'm not sure Nikon themselves categorise their lenses as consumer or pro grade.

For Canon:

• probably easier to differentiate. The L-series lenses, with UD glass and USM would be obvious "pro" lenses.

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Is an entry-level DSLR good enough for portrait photography?

Question

I'm looking into starting a small at home portrait photography business mostly as a hobby for now, and I'm wondering if the camera I have now (Nikon D3000) is good enough for portrait photography.

I've heard from a few friends who do portraits, weddings, etc. that most of the "photo magic" is really just handled in Photoshop, and how the camera is actually used, and the camera is not the only thing to think about.

Is there a flash or some other add-on I should purchase that will help the camera? I just have the onboard one now. I've signed up for a few classes at our local college, however they won't start for a month, so I want to get a head start on what I should look for in equipment.

Is this camera simply sub-par for this sort of work? Is there a better entry level camera I should look into?

Answer

Yes, it's "good enough" for someone getting started in portrait photography. Almost everything you'll need to learn is camera-agnostic. The one technical limitation that comes to mind with the D3000 is that the body doesn't have an autofocus motor, so you'll need to be using lenses that have AF motors in order to get autofocus.

From a lighting perspective, most folks doing portrait photography use an external lighting source of some sort such as a speedlight. You'll want to use this off-camera, which means either a flash sync cord or a radio trigger of some sort. That said, it's also possible to create good portraits using only natural light, it's just harder since you have less control.

There are cameras that would offer slightly easier controls, or flash triggering built into the camera, but they're a couple steps above entry level which is what you specify in your question. You'll be able to learn the basics of portraiture with the D3000.

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Why do some professional cameras have dual memory card slots?

Question

I have noticed that some cameras such as the Nikon D300s, Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, or Pentax 645D have dual memory card slots.

What is the purpose of having multiple memory card slots and why would you want them?

Answer

Professional cameras such as the Canon 1D Mark IV have dual memory card slots for a variety of professional use cases. I will break them down into three main groupings:

• Mirroring of the image across multiple cards for redundancy
• Automatic switching to a second card after the first one reaches capacity
• Ability to write different file formats to different memory cards

Speed, Redundancy, and Buffers

A theme across the three groupings can be realized, where you will find speed, redundancy and the cameras use of the buffer all play a role. It comes down to what is the most important aspect of your photography, and where do you place your priorities.

If you consider speed to be your number one goal(which it may be if you chose a high end body that has the dual memory card slot feature) then you may want to choose the ability to write different formats. This will prevent the camera from doubling the data going through it on every shot as in the case of mirroring the image. If redundancy and near 100% image preservation is your highest priority, you likely want to mirror the image to both memory cards. If you are more casual about your redundancy and or speed is not the highest priority, you may choose the convenience of having the camera switch to the second memory card when the first fills up.

Other points to consider

If your camera only uses compact flash cards, it will not currently allow use of an Eye-Fi adapter for wireless transmission of images. If the dual memory card support adds an SD card slot, this may be an additional advantage.

There was a time when some cameras came with dual memory card slots to help consumers switch between competing formats, such as xD, Memory Stick(Sony), Compact Flash, etc. These early implementations were not designed in the same way as today's professional dual memory card slots, they were simply to ease the transition for consumers between formats.

Some manufacturers have additional features specific to them, such as Nikon's ability to write video to one memory type and photos to another, or Canon's ability to accept both Compact Flash Type I and II cards.

Conclusion

Overall the dual memory card slots add professional level options that further enhance the photographic possibilities. If you are interested in the fastest possible speed, data redundancy or work in poor weather conditions - these features will provide enhanced opportunties. They do add an amount of additional size to the camera bodies, but for most professionals using these bodies, the features are welcomed or even necessary.

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How can I make extra money with photography?

Question

I have photos in Getty Images, in Shutterstock, Imagekind and I recently added some to RedBubble, but I'm not having the expected results.

Does anyone have some history of success selling photographs or working as a photographer?

Examples of my work are available in my gallery on Flickr.

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Also asked by nute

I am an amateur who sometimes takes pictures of nature or random things. I've been told by several people that my pictures are worth money.

How can I monetize my best shots?

I don't really want to do a lot of work, editing, SEO or whatever. I'm looking for an easy way where I would just upload my pictures somewhere and let it go.

Maybe stock photos? People buying prints? I have no idea how that works...

EDIT: maybe a link to see which type of photography I do can help http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasht00/

Answer

I'm going to be a bit blunt here: your photography isn't the kinds of stuff clients who buy stock/microstock go for. In 2011, the vast majority of stock photography is used to sell business products to business people. And if it's not that, it's used as a source of images to be composited with other images.

I've worked in interactive and print advertising and design for the past 13 years, on literally hundreds of campaigns for international brands the world over.

Here are things we bought: people in suits doing business things (all white, we're in europe); people in suits doing non-business things - like jumping, running, hanging off a ledge; pretty, neutral spaces like kitchens, offices, living rooms we could put people and products into; an amazing amount of travel photography with clearly visible landmarks for an airline; landscape photography that included sweeping vistas that we could, again, place items into. Give me any of these things in a cohesive series and I will love you to death.

Some things stand out in your photography that would cause me to look over most of it, even if I had a market for the subject matter. Post processing for a look either by defocusing elements, color tinting the image, adding blur - I want sharp objects I can cut out/composite with other objects. I want my starting images to be as neutral as possible.

There's a huge difference between people liking your work on flickr and actually buying your work. For someone to buy stock photo, they have to be able to use it as an element of making more money for themselves. Look at your photography and ask yourself if this is the kind of work you can imagine being used by people who actually lay out the money to license those images.

Ask the microstock houses what kind of photography they need more. I almost tried selling stock on a now defunct stock site. They had a great list of what they had more than enough of, and what kind of stuff they needed. Number one with a bullet is always: "People in suits doing things."

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Is it acceptable in professional photography to accept a meal from the client during a paid event?

Question

On 4-5 hour long assignments shooting events such as anniversaries/weddings/birthdays etc.. the clients have asked me to help myself to lunch/dinner. Is acceptable to do that or will it look completely unprofessional?

Answer

Yes it is. In fact, I've seen many photographer contracts for a wedding explicitly call out whether or not the photographer will be getting a meal.

I've read on some forums that some photographers require a meal, but I think it's in better to taste to make it an "option" on the contract.

If the client said it was okay, then it's okay. Now, of course you want to make sure you do your best to eat quickly, make sure you don't disturb guests and ensure you don't miss any important shots.

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