DaughterAlice

Hi Gary, I'm in the Orlando area. Not really close to Sarasota, but I'll be in that area late this summer.

PAR4DCR Loc: A Sunny Place

Welcome to UHH Alice, glad you joined us. As you have used the D7100 you already know what it can do.
Don't over look refurbished but only from reputable companies, Nikon, Adorama, B&H, Cameta & KEH.
Have fun, learn and enjoy the forum.

Don

BudsOwl Loc: Upstate NY and New England

Welcome Alice. For a long time I wanted a T3i, but when I had enough money I bought a Canon 60D without lenses and used the lenses I had with my T1i. My walk-around lens for this camera is the Tamron 18-270. I sold all my other EF-S lenses when I bought my 6D. Still use the 60D, but after my granddaughter gets back from vacation in Maine and returns it to me I may be putting it on the market. You can do a great job with what you have, but if you start to accumulate more lenses I recommend that you consider only FF lens so that if you ever upgrade to full frame you will be ahead of the game.

DaughterAlice

So MUCH useful information here!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

DaughterAlice

IINTERESTING!!! I was just having this conversation with a co-worker yesterday. He was recommending that I get a used, older model FF. He showed me one online (I only recall that it was a Mark II, nothing else), for only $700, but it was 15.1 megapixals. I only have 18 as it is!! Maybe I need schooling on this, but with a FF sensor, wouldn't I want to make the most advantage of more megapixels? Could 15 give me better quality than my 18 cropped sensor? Until then it had NEVER occurred to me to go for a FF camera. I assumed that was an unreachable goal.....until my kids move out. Sigh....

gwong1 Loc: Tampa, FL

Alice, I believe Orlando has a very good camera store. Have you checked with them in regards to classes? https://www.google.com/search?q=orlando+camera+store&ie=&oe=
Gary

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Ahh, grasshopper, you have a few things to learn about: GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome), The endless sensor envy argument (full frame vs APS-C vs Micro Four/Thirds vs...) and the truth that there is a purpose, time, and place for everything.

First, know that GAS is an incurable disease. Once you catch it, it will cause you to make purchase after unnecessary purchase, all in search of product nirvana. It does not matter whether it is cars, cameras, computers, shoes, socks, baseball caps, or 1960s transistor radios, you will have to have what you don't have. NEVER MIND the fact that the purpose of owning something is to go out and use it until it falls apart or you die trying to kill it! GAS causes you to be BRAND LOYAL (Ford vs. Chevy, Mac vs. PC or iOS vs Android, Canon vs. Nikon, Nike vs. Adidas, etc.). You wind up spending hours in forums, dissecting the finer points of this or that release. Meanwhile, life passes by on the street in front of you!

Please watch this YouTube video from Zach Arias: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHYidejT3KY I think he sums up the whole futility of the full frame vs APS-C argument nicely. FUGGEDDABOUDIT.

Yes, full frame cameras play important roles in the photography world. So do all other digital camera formats! But the idea that full frame is some sort of digicam nirvana is pure crap.

Look, I've used every film format from 4x5 inch view cameras down to half-frame 35mm. That's 4x5, 6x17cm, 6x9cm, 6x6cm, 6x4.5cm, 70mm full frame long roll, split 70mm long roll, 46mm long roll (four variations in negative length), 35mm unperforated long roll, full frame and half frame 35mm perforated (size 135). Every one of THEM served a different purpose, Every one of the cameras used to expose them had a long list of positive and negative attributes.

The same is true of digital cameras. There are medium format digital backs for medium format cameras. They cost tens of thousands of dollars and are used by only a few photographers who live in rarefied air. They are well suited to advertising photography. Any time you need a super-high resolution point-of-purchase display, they are a good choice.

There are full frame cameras advertised for "pros" (Nikon D5, Canon EOS 1DX Mark II, etc.) and "amateurs" (Nikon D750, Canon 6D, etc.). There are lots of in-between models. There are 50MP Canons and 36MP Nikons and 20 MP Canons and 20MP Nikons, all full frame. The differences are important for the specific user crowds they serve. Add megapixels, and you gain resolution, but you also lose dynamic range, high ISO performance, and high framing rates for sports, wildlife, etc.

In each of the smaller sensor families, there are similar variations on the same theme. Life is full of little trade-offs. As camera sensors get smaller, the lenses (can) get smaller for the same fields of view they cover. The 12-35mm zoom on my LUMIX GH4 is 1/4 the size, bulk, and weight of the full frame 24-70mm lenses it emulates. That's great for travel and fatigue reduction. But as cameras get smaller, packing the same number of pixels onto smaller chips changes things. Some things change for the better in some circumstances, while some things change for the worse.

Again, I would encourage you to work with what you have. Learn the principles of photography, and how to manipulate ALL the variables. Once you've recorded your 10,000 first images, you'll have a MUCH better idea of what gear you need, exactly WHY you need it, and you'll make a more intelligent decision about it.

Don't let anyone tell you you need something, just arbitrarily, "...Because it's the best." Always ask yourself, "Best for what?"

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Welcome to our forum!

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Kamraman Loc: Canada

Welcome to the forum.
You could make your own lighting equipment. SUggestions are White sheets draped over chairs Cooking foil for reflecting light. White light LED lamps.

Good luck
Kammy.

hobbycam Loc: Now in "Hollister, Ca."

Welcome to one of the friendliest and informative group, for the most part.
Like all groups/forums we do have our share of unpleasanltless from a few members.
How-ever what you will get is a lot of useful information and experiance from knowlegable people.

Please excuse the spelling.

Charlton "Hobbycam" Larca
May God Bless

DaughterAlice

Hi everyone, I've been gone so long, it almost feels like I need to re-introduce myself.

Soon after I joined, I did a beach wedding shoot, and a lot of you gave me truly excellent advice. My FAVORITE was the one that told me I should be "sick" that day. Hehe! Well, I wasn't sick. I went to the wedding, I thought I was not going to be the only photographer, but I was. Terrified. Family who didn't know me were treating me like hired help, ordering me around. I take that in stride though, I'm a Disney photographer. You get used to it. Unfortunately we couldn't arrive soon enough for me to do many test shots. I chimped a LOT, but I could only barely see my screen, in the shade of a tiny sign near the boardwalk. In the end, I felt that all my photos were slightly overexposed, which I corrected for as best I could later in photoshop. I was embarrassed and mortified, but the bride LOVED them (she's an old friend, which helps). WHAT a relief. Anyway, lesson learned was to ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS use my histogram in those situations. Did I use it? NOOOOOO! I was so nervous I forgot.

Anyway, I'm still around, just have been busy with life. Still taking photos though. Somehow being behind a camera brings me so much peace. Especially when I'm on my own, with no true agenda. I wish I had more time for just personal discovery.

Rob Almeda Loc: Gaithersburg, Maryland

Daughter Alice....the comment form Burkphoto are very well explained. Just follow what he recommends and you will be okay.