Tips: Getting My First DSLR

In January 2010, I got a few friends of mine were asking me what model of camera should they get as their first ever DSLR - it is including my team lead, Lal. They still have money to spend from year end bonus perhaps. :D. By the way, I am not pro nor expect in this field but here I am sharing my point of view in getting DSLR especially for newbie.

In this post, I am not going to give review on each entry level camera available in the current market but I am sharing my points of view about getting first DSLR. Most of us will be in dilemma in choosing the brand and model to invest in. :). Here are a few tips and points from me - they might be help you in making your final decision:


THE BRAND

1. Which brand should I get:
- Buy same brand as your friends - you can learn from them, testing their gear before you get yours.
- Don’t 100% believe on those crap articles saying that Canon is the best, Nikon is for pro, sony is for newbie. A good photo comes from a good photographer, not the lens nor the brand. You will learn how to overcome the limitation of your camera.
- All entry level cameras – be it Nikon, Canon, or Sony – it performs fairly same.

2. My Point of View: Canon
- Good after sale service.
- They offered 3 years warranty last time when I bought mine but I am not so sure now.
- Pro is using Canon. LOL!
- Large user based - you can find second hand items almost everywhere.
- Organizing events with small amount of fee (or sometime free) for Canon users.

3. My Point of View: Nikon:
- After sale service suck! Clearing dust is taking weeks even it can be done in 10-15 minutes. I don’t have personal experience but I know this from my reading in photography forum. Not single user faces same problem but many!
- Nikon camera is most solid body if compared to Sony and Canon.
- Large user based - you can find second hand items almost everywhere.
- They have Nikon Academy – provide studio rental, workshop, etc and of course with a fee.

4. My Point of View: Sony
- Not bad in after sale service. I have no personal experience because my Sony A700 is still strong to serve me.
- New in DSLR market, thus smaller user based if compared to above brands.
- Organizing workshops for FREE for all sony users


THE PRICE

1. Know the market price.
- U can use photography forums or ebay.com to get the rough idea about the cost.
- What are the items come with the price tag.
- Make sure you are well aware of the price and model. A single letter would cost you thousands of money. E.g: Canon 70-200L f2.8 IS lens is sold at +-RM8k (Malaysian Ringgit) while Canon 70-200L f4 IS is around RM4.8k.

2. Do not buy with accessories.
- If you not sure about price of accessories, do not buy it together with camera body. The shop will charge you 100-300% higher than normal price - to compensate with low margin of camera body.
- The shop normally will throw a few cheap accessories like tripod, memory card, screen protector, bag and filter. You actually pay 'hidden fee' for it. Try ask them to reduce the price and take those cheap freebie.
- Entry level cameras normally come with at least free memory card - 4GB. Check (on box or in manual to make sure) for the accessories come in the package if the seller say no.

3. "Playsafe".
- Do not buy the item if you do not know the market price.
- Do not buy from TARITA - Lowyat Plaza, Sungei Wang, etc. They are famous by overcharging newbie buying first DSLR. I also was conned by them when I was buying my very first DSLR. RM300-RM400 item but they charged me RM850. It's all because I didn't do enough homework.
- Do not get blind with high price tag. Shops normally put high price tag and reduce it significantly. E.g: a filter worth rm50 with price tag of RM350 but the seller offers you at RM150. Sound a good deal, isn't?

NOTE: All points are from my personal preference after a year in photography.

If you like my post, please share with your friends. ;).

As usual, you can contact me for any reasons at admin@afhamaziz.com. I will try to reply you soonest possible and I am willing to share my knowledge, skill, etc if needed.

Thank you for reading.

- Afham Aziz



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Product Shoot: Nike Total 90 Shoot III

Hi guys. It is great that I manage find a free time again to write something in this blog. In photography, there are a few type of it - event, portrait, product shoot, landscape, etc. Oh, did I mention what is my interest in photography? No? I think so. Haha. I love to shoot people - no matter either it is candid or portrait. Another field of photography that I interested to learn more is product shoot. One of the reason why I like product shoot is because it is giving me freedom/flexibility/full control of everything.

Here is a bit story how I got my shoe. :D. I was going out with my girl a few days ago and having windows shopping at The Curve. I was looking for a pair of futsal shoe for ages but could not find one - oh, there are a lot of options but none of them catches my attention until I saw Nike T90 Shoot III in a Nike Store at The Curve.

"... I haven't buy something for you for our anniversary", told my girl to me. without waiting long, I was calling one of sale rep then and ask for my size. :D. Actually, I couldn't think anything when she asked me what I want for our anniversary back in December. So, I asked her to keep the money until I find something I really need and that day, I found it. Thanks dear for the shoe. :).

Back to the topic, here are the outputs:





I like the combination color of shoe with dark background. It makes the picture look lively and colorful. :). I was using two wireless flashes on right and left to get these pictures - but flash effect seems to be over on the first one. Oh, thanks for Azim for his F42AM flash. If not, I will not have a chance to try 2 wireless flash effect. :D

I am not too sure how the pros doing product shoot but for me, I was using ISO 100, mid aperture setting - around 8-11, and shutter speed was around 1/60 sec. Make sure you use as low as possible (ISO) if you have enough light. It is important in product shoot to keep your picture cleanest as possible.

This will be my last post before I will be flying back to hometown later today. I hope I will have more time to shoot landscape in my hometown. :D. As usual, please visit my flickr gallery at http://www.afhamaziz.com/flickr for full collection of mine and you also can contact me for any reason at admin@afhamaziz.com.

- Afham Aziz


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White Room Attempt

Nik Ahmad Farid as known as Jono is one of my house. He was willing to pose for me for my white room attempt but he untagged all of his photos in Facebook. I don't know why. haha. :p

Here are the results:









To get above pictures, I was using 2 wireless flashes, Sony F58 and Sony F42. Oh, credit to Azim for his Sony F42. I wish to have a home studio setup early this year but the economy is not so good now. So, I have to postpone it to recover from a small damage - the purchase of Dell Mini 10v.

I don't know what else should I write. Pretty blur in a morning at my office cubicle. If you have any question related to topic, you can post it here or contact me at admin@afhamaziz.com. I will try my best to answer all question.

As usual, visit my gallery at http://www.afhamaziz.com/flickr for full collection and I also can be contacted at admin@afhamaziz.com for any reason. Thank you.

- Afham Aziz

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A Weekend Trip to Broga Hill

Broga Hill - one of must-visit spot for photographers. I was there once, about couple of months ago with housemates but the trip was not enough preparation - we didn't even bring a drink, food, and less stamina - and it was on weekday, no uncle auntie selling food or drink. :p. So, to make it better, I posted in my Facebook status - about organizing another trip to Broga Hill a few days before the trip.

I got a few messages from friends asking about the Broga Hill outing - and 10 were joining the trip - all are my close friends with their girlfriend and wife, and housemates. "Not so good luck" (meaning unlucky. Only my friends know the meaning of it. Haha) for me, I didn't have a chance to bring my girl together - trip was planned as earlier as 5am and for sure her mom wouldn't allows her to leave home as early as 4am.

The trip was not going as planned. We were late again - waiting friends and subuh prayer too - but it was a fun trip with full of gossip. Haha.

Instead of shooting sun rise, I was going for portraiture again:













Even I couldn't get a single nice shoot of nature at Broga Hill, but I satisfied with the output. Thanks to God for good weather and blue sky - it makes my pictures lively and colorful.

Since our newly wed joined the trip, I took the opportunity for post-wedding shooting:







Look at "how good" they were posing especially the guy. Like zombie like chimpanzee but they are cool. Haha. :P.

A few of my friends are not happy with the color of my pictures - they claimed I post-process (edit) a lot, etc but the fact is Sony produces colorful picture. Yes, I admit that I post-process them but not too much. For me, no matter how much post-process I have done, as long as I get a good output then I will be happy. I want to write more about the post process but the time does not permits me.

As usual, if you like my pictures, visit my flickr at http://www.afhamaziz.com/flickr . It would be great if you can leave a comment or two. I also can be contacted at admin@afhamaziz.com for any reasons.

Thank you for your time reading this blog and hope I will have more time to spend on photography.

- Afham Aziz
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My First Outing for Model Photoshooting Session

"Kejar! Kejar! Ko back up aku!" - thats the sentences used by Meor asking me to back him up in Dota game. :P. We were playing Dota in the office right after we ended our shift on new year eve. While enjoying myself, I got a sms from a friend of mine - told me that Photoskool is organizing a model photoshoot session in KL - Lost in the Big Bad City.

Without thinking twice, I replied yes and asked him to book a place for me. I was so excited because it is my first official outdoor model shooting.

Outputs of the day:











The weather on that day was not good - dark and raining. As I said in previous post, I was scared to use high ISO - to avoid noise - but it costs me blur pictures. :(. I tot outdoor photoshoot is the easiest to get right exposure (I did not even use my flash!) but it was wrong. Most of them are blur because of slow shutter speed to compensate with low light environment.

I hope I wouldn't repeat the same next time. In this post, I want to give a little bit tips on how to shoot in low light condition:
1. Use wide aperture lens, e.g. 50mm f1.4, 50mm 1.8, 85mm 1.4, etc. Normally, high aperture lens is fixed focal length (as known as prime lens) - You can't zoom in or out but it produces pin sharp pictures.
2. Use slow shutter speed but make sure your hand steady enough to hold camera for 1/20 seconds without moving a bit. If picture blur, make it a little bit faster (1/40 or 1/60 should be good).
3. Pump ISO if above setting produce blur or dark image. Do not worry of noise.

If you are new to photography, try to play around with the above tips. You will get the idea. I am less than 1 year old in photography but I was practicing a lot. My old Sony A300 served me 10k of shutter count for 2 months plus, Canon 40D served around the same for 3 months plus and now, my Sony A700 is serving me about 11k for 5 months. :). Look at the improvement of shutter count over time.

If you don't know, camera shutter has life time of 100k - not all cameras but most of them - also it is subjective. Some of them still strong serving their owner even it more than 100k of shutter count. So don't think about your shutter count. Just shoot as much as you can and enjoy it.

If you like my photographs, please visit my flickr gallery for full collection at www.afhamaziz.com/flickr


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My Love, Her Portraiture and Our ISO Test

For some reasons, I start to love blogging again but not sure who gonna read it - but (again) it is not the matter. :). In this post, I will share my experiment testing Sony Alpha 700 at high ISO performance. If you do not know what is ISO, Mr. Google is just one click away.

On last weekend, I was spending my time with my girl at One Utama. We had lunch at... Ah, I couldn't think the name of it - Penang Cafe? Penang Restaurant? Penang Laksa? Sound weird. Haha. The environment there was kind of romantic feeling - not so dark with yellow (tungsten) lamp. So, I took the opportunity to test the high ISO performance of my Sony Alpha 700.

The reason why I want to test ISO performance was because I was disappointed with the result from a photoshoot session with 'forummers' a day before. The pictures are blur because of slow shutter speed. I was worry to pump ISO > 1000 (worry if the picture will be full of noise) - to compensate with not so good weather (dark) on that day.

I don't want it to happen again, I took the camera out of my bag, set the ISO to 1600 (and WB too - but I am not going to elaborate more about it because I am noob in manual WB :D). I asked my girl to pose for me and thanks god - she co-operated well. Haha. Normally, she will get annoying when I play my big gun in front of her. :D.

To suit the main objective, I played with the ISO setting - up down up down - well, these are the result of my test:







Sorry, I am in the office and I do not have the ISO info each of the picture but I believe, all of them are in between 1600 and 2500. There are no post process to reduce the noise. You can check bigger size in my flickr at http://www.flickr.com/afhamaziz if you are pixel-peeping.

Morale of the test: Do not scare/afraid/worry or whatever you call it to try high ISO of your camera. Ask yourself, which one are you prefer - a noisy picture or a blur picture? I would rather choose a noisy picture - Afham Aziz.


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Hola 2010, Adios 2009!!!

Ops, am I using the correct words in title? hahaha. Be it right or wrong, I believe you understand my message - Welcome 2010, good bye 2009. 2009 was a fantastic year for me. Fantastic because I enjoyed my 2009's life. I enjoyed because I couldn't think a single negative thing happen in 2009. Yes, there were bad things happened to me but at this point of time, I couldn't think any of it. So, I summarize 2009 was a fantastic year for me.

Here are big things happened to me in 2009:

- I started to learn my own life. I paid everything using my hard earn money - It is something new in my life. But still, my parents gave their hands in a few things. :D

- I bought Sony PS3 to fulfill my off days. I was working 12 hours shift a day and I was having 3 or 4 days off a week. Without entertainment at home, I gonna spend more money outside which is will be more damage to my pocket in long run. So, I bought it off.

- I 'invested' in new hobby, photography and it gives me big hole on my pocket. Haha. DSLR, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, lenses, Carl Zeiss and all came to my head in 2009. :P

- I celebrated our 7th anniversary. :).

- Bye bye to my HTC Cruise and welcome to my HTC Diamond2. Thanks to my parents for my 23rd birthday back in July.

- My almost 4 years old laptop is dying now but still usable till today. I hope, it will serve me at least until July.

Oh, I think, that is enough about myself. Lets continue about photography. 2009 was my first year as DSLR enthusiast. So in this post, I want to write more about my Top 10 best photographs. I was having hard time choosing 10 because I have about 15-20 favorite pictures out of over 1000. :P.

#10

Lady bird is not that sharp and a bit out of focus but I love the green color surround it. It was my first macro attempt. So, I believe, it deserves to be in my top 10 list.

#9

I love blue color of sky and incomplete yellow 0 at right bottom corner with green and white in between. I had hard time choosing 1 best from this album because I like most of them. Thanks to the blue sky from Carl Ziess 1680 on Sony A700. I have a few other great photos of this album which is I don't upload to flickr.

#8

I choose this is simply because I like the moment. Enough said. :). It was taken during a wedding day a good friend of mine.

#7

I am big fan of blue sky and colorful picture. WB of picture is a bit off (a bit yellowish) but still, I like it.

#6

When I look at girl with purple dress, I will think about my girl because they are look-alike in certain angle. Haha. :P. Ops, it not the reason why I choosing this. I choose this picture because it tells the message I want to deliver. A flash with stand on the left, a photographer puts the eye on viewfinder, and 2 models posing in front of it with white background - a studio shoot!

#5

Not much I can describe about above picture. It looks like in-magazine picture. So it deserves to be in my top 10 photograph of 2009. :D

#4

Like I said in previous comment, I will fall in love with colorful picture. Look at the sharpness on bridge, the color of sunset in Putrajaya, it is brilliant to a pair of my eye. :).

#3

Lonely finding the right path in darkness. Make it or die?

#2

I like the way strap was placed. With 1 second eye on it, message will be accomplished - it is an Olympus DSLR.

#1

This gonna be my photo of the year. Put yourself on the yellow line. Look at upside, right and left, your can see the future - a colorful future. At the same time, a lot of things blocking your way to get there but there is only one way in the darkness where you can see the light at the end of your journey.

For your information, selection of picture was based on my personal preferences. If you erase above pictures and I have to re-choose, I might be choosing the different ones.

That's all from me this time. It would be great if you can leave me a comment of two. So that I know my weaknesses and improve it for a better collection in 2010. For complete collection of 2009, visit my flickr at http://www.flickr.com/afhamaziz.

Happy New Year and have a fantastic year to all!!!


- Afham Aziz


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