Yesterday afternoon we made the plunge and bought ourselves a fancy dancy DSLR camera (I don't even know what DSLR means, but I know that it's fancier than what we had)!
We are the proud new owners of a
Canon EOS Rebel T3i along with these accessories (all of which came in a
very convenient bundle from BestBuy besides the 50mm lens):
Before finalizing our decision to get the Canon T3i, we researched a variety of DSLR cameras on the market. Our research brought us to compare the Canon T3i, the
Canon T4i, and the
Nikon D5100. All three of these cameras seemed to be very similar, however the Canon T4i had a higher price tag and advertised a faster shutter speed as well as touch screen capabilities. Once at the store, we ruled out the T4i because at about $250 more, we really couldn't justify the need for
slightly faster shutter speed and a touch screen. This left us deciding between the Canon T3i and the Nikon D5100. To be honest, I just have a thing for Canon and therefore we picked it because of the name brand. Really, both cameras are very comparable and I'm sure either would do the job for a non-professional blogger photographer like myself!
After unboxing our new toy and waiting two hours for the battery to charge, B and I tested our skills and took a few pictures of our model Athena.
 |
| Testing out my aperture skills |
 |
| Mom, I still have a little bit of green alien eyes! |
 |
| No flash |
 |
| Athena the snuggling picture poser |
Our
Canon PowerShot digital camera is soooooooo slow and I find it hard to get good "action" shots of Athena. I am super excited to learn about photography and hopefully get some great pictures of Athena for the blog with our new camera! Over the next couple of weeks I plan to watch a slew of online camera tutorials and read up on some excellent photography blogs such as
kate with a camera and
Click it Up a Notch.
What kind of camera do you use to get the perfect pictures of your pets? Any suggestions for a first time DSLR owner?
Nice. Jealous. My DSLR is way older than that. My first advice is to start out using Program mode. Never go to Auto or any of the settings. Use Program, or else Aperture priority or Shutter priority (or manual, but it might take a while to get the hang of it). Using Auto, you won't really learn anything about how to use the other modes that give you more control, and you will end up in the habit of letting the camera think for you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice! I have read to avoid the auto mode, so I will need to test my skills in Program, Aperture Priority, and Shutter Priority!
DeleteThat's so funny, I just got a DSLR this weekend too! But, my dad is a professional photog and he is partial to Nikon so I went with the D3100. I felt like the D5100 was too much camera for me, and I wanted something smaller. He's going to give me some lessons, so I'll let you know if I get any helpful tips from him! Good luck, I hope you love it! :)
ReplyDeleteHow funny!!! It was a close one for us between the Nikon and the Canon =) Please do keep me posted about any tips that you get from your dad!
Deleteoooooooh! The T3i was my first DSLR! (DSLR = Digital Single Lens Reflex ;)) You're going to love it! First tips: turn off your flash and shoot in Av (aperture priority) mode. Action shots of dogs are hard, don't fret if you have a hard time getting them! Reading up on the different focus modes will help with that (read the manual!) and of course practice will too :) Have fun!
ReplyDeleteI saw from your blog that the T3i was your first DSLR (thanks for telling me what that means!) so I was super excited that we ended up choosing that one!
DeleteI need to get going on reading the manual =) I can't wait to go back through your blog and reread all of your photography posts now that I might now know what some of the things mean!
Oh my! What a great haul you got there! Kate with a Camera is my go-to blog for photography inspiration! Can't wait to see the photos you get with your new camera!
ReplyDeleteOh yes! I'm super excited! Hopefully I can get outside in the next few days (if it stops raining...) to test my skills and post some pics!
DeleteOh gosh... now I feel like I need to write a few new photography posts, haha. Thanks Emily! :)
DeletePlease do!!!!!!!!!!!
DeleteAll my pictures are phone pictures, bah! I need an upgrade now more than ever!
ReplyDeleteMy phone has a terrible camera and whenever we use B's iPhone for pics they always turn out really grainy!
DeleteNo advice, but I am jealous! I love that no-flash picture of Athena. The light on her looks really cool. I take all my pictures with my iphone because it is actually much better than my digital camera, but that means motion shots and night shots are a no go really:(
ReplyDeleteThank you =) I thought that pic was pretty cool too! I will just act like I planned it to look like that ;)
DeleteCongrats, but omg. SO JEALOUS. mostly of the fact that you have interchangable lenses and got a telephoto. Lure coursing photos are so difficult to get without a telephoto.
ReplyDeleteIf I've learned anything from watching my parents struggle with their single lens dslr, stay away from auto mode or scene mode if you have it. If you want beautiful pictures, the adjusting has to be done manually almost all the time. Program/User Settings are my go-to most of the time, though.
I wish I knew what to do with the telephoto lens! Hopefully I will figure it out soon enough once I learn more about the camera. It was part of the bundle that we got from BestBuy, so we got it without knowing anything about it!
DeleteWow, I'm in the same boat. I want to get a better camera and take better pictures but I think the problem for me is behind the lens. :-) I don't know if a better camera would help me at all. I used to rely on my crappy old droid and now am using my new and improved droid as well as my daughter's kodak. *sigh* Yes, I'm jealous. :-)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I just realized that a fancy camera may not necessarily make my photos turn out better if I'm a sucky photographer to begin with! We shall see what happens!
DeleteHow did you manage to use flash without getting demon dog eye?
ReplyDeleteWe had a camera misadventure over the weekend and are now considering seriously looking into a DSLR camera, so this post and the comments have been super helpful!
I wish I could explain the no demon eye thing, but I really have no idea what I'm doing when I use the camera, so it was luck that the pictures turned out without the green eyes!
DeleteI can't wait to find out what camera you end up getting =)
I have several cameras that I use an older digital Kodak and a Nikon Coolpix but I am so insanely jealous of your new camera, I've been looking at that exact model! I can't wait to hear more about it.
ReplyDeleteHow funny! Hopefully we will be doing some learning about the camera in the coming weeks and will be able to share some of our insights!
Deletethats a great investment! i love my dslr camera but i need to use it more often than i do and get another lens for it. I only have the sotc lens which is not a good one. I also love Kate's blog & click it up a notch they both have told me so much about photography & How to use it in manuall mode. Good luck with your camera. Ill be looking forward to seeing beautiful pictures of Athena!
ReplyDeleteI have the same camera (love it), I took a photography class at the local community college. Still have the book if you would like it, has some helpful tips.
ReplyDeleteRead Full Article you could look here Visit This Link dolabuy louis vuitton Find Out More informative post
ReplyDelete