Buyer's Remorse

[dugarner]

I began taking pictures about when I started scrapbooking, 7 years ago when APS was all the rage. I had a little Fuji point & shoot and it did alright. I bought another higher resolution APS, and then made the jump to my ZLR (zoom lens reflex; all the capabilities of a DSLR without the removable lens). I loved it, and it took great pictures; I'm pretty convinced the camera took great pictures, not me.

Well, that's the camera that committed camera-cide. So I made the jump into a DSLR, but now I'm not convinced it was such a great step. It's not a problem with the camera, but rather with the limitations of a DSLR. My Fuji had full manual, and a great super-macro mode. (Buying the lens to get me there with my DSLR will run $300-$400, if not more.)

I am really regretting making this step, but I wonder if it's because at the same time I bought the DSLR, I was beginning to immerse myself in learning photography technique. There is so much to learn, it's almost like you're put back at the beginning of the learning curve, and I have to un-learn what I've been doing and re-learn it the "right" way. It is so unlike, say, an expensive musical instrument. A crummy piano sounds crummy, and while an accomplished player can make it sound okay, it's still a crummy piano. But a Fazioli or Steinway can make even the novice sound a little better. I was looking for that type of analogy with my camera, but it doesn't work that way, because this type of camera only does exactly what I tell it to do, kind of like a computer. So my limitations are immediately obvious every time I take a picture.

Part of my frustration as well is my stubborn refusal to put my camera in auto mode, which was my mode of choice with my ZLR. I had just started messing with aperture priority when it went away.

Have any of you experienced this same sort of guilt? Remorse, maybe? Frustration and self-doubt? Am I not being patient enough with learning the new skills to see that the new equipment is advantageous? I'm just probably looking for encouragement that I didn't waste my money on something that will continue to be a major financial investment. I also want to buy the two lenses I "need" right away, but have to defer a while until I can save the money. So the ants in my pants are causing another part of the frustration.

Thanks for listening! I appreciate you all very, very much.

Sarah

[shellb]

All I can say is I know how you feel, change is never easy but you will make it through it and one day who knows...

[sam ellis]

I can so remember seemingly going backwards with my photography when I first learned the theory. man it was a frustrating time. I definitely wanted to go back to "auto".
I am currently going through this with moving over to MAc. But I have REFUSED to switch my pc laptop on and I am seeing the light.

Only advice is practice - practice ! and perseverance

[dugarner]

Originally Posted by sam ellis

I am currently going through this with moving over to MAc. But I have REFUSED to switch my pc laptop on and I am seeing the light.

Ooh, thanks for the encouragement. I can understand that frustration, and how wonderful it is when you've finally made the conversion. Keep going! Don't look back at your PC. Nothing but frustration there!

You hit the nail on the head; it's the theory that is driving me crazy. I don't want to know why Sunny-16 works, I just want to be able to do it. But you can't do it unless you understand it! I feel like I'm back in school. I will keep at it. Part of my resolve is that my sister got her bachelor's in photography and confided in me years ago that she never moved her film SLR off of auto, and I was a little shocked and taken aback, and told myself, "I want to really learn." But she concentrated on artwork, and did most of her work on the film itself with hand-painting techniques, etc. (This was in pre-digital days.) I am the type of personality that if I know something is out there to be learned, I try to learn absolutely everything I can, all at once.

Thanks so much.

Sarah

[MIDA78466]

oh Sarah I know how you feel. In November I moved from the PC environment to a MAC, bought a DSLR and moved from PSE to PS. I am still learning!!! Hang in there. I am bound and determined to learn this stuff.

[KerryMac]

I've never seen a DSLR that doesn't have manual mode. What kind of camera did you buy?
They can seem overwhelming at first, but I promise you'll get it and love it after a while! Just keep practicing and shooting everything you see and find a good website or book to help you.

[donitab]

One thing you might do is look at pictures from your old camera that were taken in the mode you like - right click on the file and click on properties. Usually you can see what aperture, ISO, etc. were used. Then practices taking pictures in manual mode with those settings.

[Jen D]

I would try working in P mode and just bumping up and down your exposure. This way you can see where the camera is putting the setting and you still have a little control to trick it the way you want to go. Tackling a learning cuve is no fun but it is always worth it = )

[dugarner]

Sorry for the confusion! My DSLR has manual, I was just making the point that my old one, which was a point and shoot, had manual as well. Sometimes P&Ss only have a few choices on the dial, or none at all, but this one had P/S/A/M. Sorry for the confusion!

I think part of it is, too, that I'm trying to jump up levels in technique. I know, for instance, how my old camera exposed for a sunny day outside, and I can get that with my new one easily. But I never tried indoor portraiture with my P&S and now I am, but with a camera that I'm unfamiliar with. It's a double-doozy.

Thanks for the encouragement! I'm glad it's not just me. Terry, you've got me beaten on the frustration level for sure!! I thought about using CS3 (I've got it on my computer) but that plus a new camera, well, I know my limits!

Sarah

[katrinak]

I've discovered with photography that everything I learn opens up a door to something I haven't yet. I go in waves of feeling confident and then have something crashing over me that I just can't get. Hang in there, no that you have a support network here and that it can be mastered. I liken it to golf, just have to keep swinging and enjoy the process because we'll never truly master it

[digigrandma]

I find I'm very lazy when it comes to learning what my DSLR can do, so I admire the learning goals you've set for yourself and your perseverance. All I know is, it helps our brains to grow new connections and pathways and this growth happens when we step out of our comfort zones to learn something new and challenging. Keep up the good work!

[bluelemur01]

I do understand your frustration, too! Don't give up! Your new camera will get easier to use the more you practice, and in a few months you'll be LOVING it, I'm sure.

But I do want to agree with you -- unless you know what you're doing and how to do it, the initial pics from a "fancy dancy" dSLR can be MUCH WORSE than those from a good quality zSLR. You really have to know what to tell your dSLR to do. BUT...once you know it, your pics will do an amazing jump in quality.

Indoor portraits are hard. Give yourself a bit of a break on this one! For instance, I have a D300 and some good lenses. But even with a fast lens, and even living in the land of bright sun (Arizona!), there is just not much light indoors. You have to know when to use your flash, how to bounce it, when to bump the ISO and how much, when to use a tripod and when to safely hand-hold. If you're still sort of playing around, you might not get the "perfect" settings for your camera. And a good quality zSLR on auto can figure it out by itself and get a better pic, kwim? But honestly, give yourself time and just practice a LOT, and it will get much easier! And you will start getting those pics you crave.

I usually shoot on aperture priority, unless I'm using my studio lights (then I use full manual plus a lightmeter.) I rarely use shutter priority. I actually only use the tripod for studio lights too, b/c I take tons of pics of my dd and the tripod just gets in the way (she's too fast and zippy!)

About "sunny 16" -- forget this for now! Your camera has a good light-meter built in, and you don't need to memorize this stuff -- your lightmeter will always tell you what aperture you need for SS, or what SS you need for a given aperture. I'd say to just focus on understanding how depth of field changes when aperture changes, and how your shutter speed changes as aperture changes.


Just keep looking at your setting in Photoshop for both good AND bad photos, and start figuring out what combos of aperture/SS/ISO/flash work and don't work for your favorite shooting situations.

One of my favorite exercises goes like this:

Set up a still-life tableau (or a compliant model) and put your camera on a tripod. Set the aperture to f/3.5 and allow the camera to pick a shutter speed. Take a picture. Then move the aperture to f/5.6 and allow the camera to pick the shutter speed, and take the picture. Do this for each aperture your lens allows. Don't zoom at all; just keep the camera on the tripod, focused on the same part of your picture. Then print them all out and write aperture and SS on them and pay attention to how the DOF changes.

Then do it again with shutter speed. For shutter speed, find some running water (even water from the faucet.) so you can see how the camera freezes movement or shows blurry movement as the shutter speed changes. Pick a shutter speed of 1/1000th or 1/500th of a sec and allow the camera to select the aperture and take a picture. Then change shutter speed to 1/250, then 1/125, then 1/60, etc, each time allowing the camera to pick the corresponding aperture, and each time keeping the camera focused on the same exact spot. When you print these out, you'll see how the shutter speed affects the movement in the photo.

I used to ask my photo students to do this and it REALLY helped them get aperture/shutter speed clear in their minds.

But don't give up! Just keep trying and trying, and also look for free articles and tutorials on the web. There are lots of great resources and I know you'll soon be loving that camera!

[bluelemur01]

I also want to point out that many of the newer point-and-shoots have AMAZING focus and facial-focus technology, and it all just "works" by itself, lol. But on the dSLR, YOU have to select the focus mode out of many that are available, and tell the camera how you want to focus, do focus tracking, whether you want 3D focus turned on, etc. I'd recommend that you really spend time reading the manual that deals with how to focus, and practice EVERYTHING in there. Once you get good at focusing your camera, that will ease a lot of frustration, too (at least it did for me when I moved to the dSLR world!) Just an idea!
J

[dugarner]

Jennifer,

Thanks for that tip---I had never thought about making an "index" for my camera! What a great idea!! I will do the first part of it today. I can just make the file name the EXIF data so I don't forget which is which when I have them printed.

I was outside yesterday, not a cloud in the sky, but with long, dark shadows (it was around 4:00 p.m.) No matter what metering mode I set my camera on, in auto, I was getting weird blown-out sections and underexposed shadows. Even the fill flash looked weird. My camera was really forcing a low shutter speed (on auto) to compensate, even at f/5.6 and I needed to hand-hold b/c I was crawling around on the ground shooting my son. (Pictures, that is!) So I used sunny-16 to figure out how to keep my shutter at around 1/100 and I got it right, finally! That and figuring out how to expose the moon properly is about how far I'm willing to go with complicated technique until I'm better at it.

Thank you, ladies, for all your encouragement and advice! I am excited and renewed about figuring it out. I'm sorry I sounded so "Eeyore" in my post---boy, yesterday was a bad day. To put it lightly!

I have been buoyed up by your encouragement and interaction over the past few months, and am very grateful I found DD (besides the awesome product, great customer service, and not to mention the sales!).

All the best---
Sarah

[dugarner]

Jennifer,

Also, my manual is pretty lame. It doesn't go very in-depth. At a local camera store I did see a book called a Magic Lantern Guide, and they had one for my camera. I wasn't familiar with it, is that a good guide?

Sarah

[katrinak]

It is a GREAT guide Sarah! I think you will appreciate it. Your camera's manual is just about as helpful as the manual for your car, it shows you were the nobs are but not how to drive the car!

[allmine]

Definately get the Magic Lantern Guide for your camera. I highly recommend them.

[dugarner]

Great analogy, Katrina! I know where the all the options are, and all the menus and sub-menus and sub-sub-menus. Now, what do they do?

Take care!

Sarah

[donitab]

I have magic lantern also - it was a great help learning how to use my camera.

[Myra]

Sarah - Jennifer is giving you great advice. I learned what I know exactly by doing what she is suggesting. I come from the same type of camera that you had too, and I promise, if you take some time to play around and experiment, you will get the hang of it. Before you know it, your skill level will soar. You can do this! Post your questions. We are all learning together!