Which camera do you use and...

I use:

 

Canon EOS 7D

 

With lenses:

 

Canon 50mm Prime Lens with Hoya CIR-PL UV Filter

Canon 60mm Macro Prime Lens

Canon 18-135mm IS Zoom Lens

and an old Canon Telephoto Lens I rarely use for anything

I found this thread very useful, since I'm a beginner to what comes to photography. It's nice to see what kind of camera and lenses people have and to see what can be used well for doll photography.

 

Currently I have only my few years old Canon EOS 1000D and a 18-55mm basic lens that came with it.

And a smaller Canon pocket camera, but that shouldn't even be mentioned. x)

 

So far this beginner level camera has been enough for me, and I'm kind of sure that I can't even use all the functions very effectively. I'm hoping to learn thought, and maybe someday to update my equipment too!

(When I stop buying dolls in order to save money for the camera equipment...)

i have been used a Canon 7D and mainly 24-105 L lens for over a year. kinda pround of them :3

I just bought the Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM lens and that one seems pretty nice for doll photography too! The focal length is really versatile, the lens itself is TINY, and best of all it focuses much closer than my other lenses at 30cm (compared to the 45 cm of 50mm/1.4 and 50cm of 28-70/2.8). The maximum aperture is not much for a prime lens, but when there's enough light to work with, it seems pretty nice! Was real cheap too, there's a cashback campaign going on so the lens ended up costing only 129€ and the build quality is much better than on a completely plastic 50mm f/1.8.

A word of warning if anyone's considering the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens.. I bought that because I thought it would have been sturdier than the all-plastic f/1.8 one but how wrong I was.

 

There's a piece of very thin metal inside that guides the focusing mechanism, and if the focusing isn't always placed at infinity when storing the lens, even the smallest amount of pressure on the front element of the lens can bend the focusing cam guides. Mine stopped focusing further away that 3 meters. Even though it was under warranty, the local Canon service didn't want to fix it, claiming the repair would cost more than a new lens. I didn't really buy that so I bought the spare parts myself on eBay (focusing rail and cam barrel) for about $60, took the lens apart and put it back together with the new parts. Was a bit frightening but surprisingly not very difficult at all.

 

If you have this lens, always set the focus to infinity when you're not using it! And buying the optional lens hood also protects the front element. If you're considering it, I'd rather recommend the f/1.8 - yes, it's probably even more fragile but at least doesn't cost very much to replace if it breaks.

 

Here's a picture of the dissection ;D

 

at first i thought you was making your own ironman ring thing

Since the repair would have cost more than a new lens, shouldn't they have offered to give you a new lens since it was under warranty?

Since the repair would have cost more than a new lens, shouldn't they have offered to give you a new lens since it was under warranty?

 

Since the insides were bent the repair shop claimed I'd dropped or bumped the lens somewhere -> warranty void. Even though I didn't, the mechanism is very fragile and something pressing on the lens while it's stored in a camera bag for example is enough to do that damage :<

 

Luckily the repair was easy and cheap to do myself, now I've got a hood for the lens that protects the front element so that shouldn't happen again.

A word of warning if anyone's considering the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens.. I bought that because I thought it would have been sturdier than the all-plastic f/1.8 one but how wrong I was.

 

There's a piece of very thin metal inside that guides the focusing mechanism, and if the focusing isn't always placed at infinity when storing the lens, even the smallest amount of pressure on the front element of the lens can bend the focusing cam guides. Mine stopped focusing further away that 3 meters. Even though it was under warranty, the local Canon service didn't want to fix it, claiming the repair would cost more than a new lens. I didn't really buy that so I bought the spare parts myself on eBay (focusing rail and cam barrel) for about $60, took the lens apart and put it back together with the new parts. Was a bit frightening but surprisingly not very difficult at all.

 

If you have this lens, always set the focus to infinity when you're not using it! And buying the optional lens hood also protects the front element. If you're considering it, I'd rather recommend the f/1.8 - yes, it's probably even more fragile but at least doesn't cost very much to replace if it breaks.

 

Here's a picture of the dissection ;D

 

 

 

Wait... The camera doesn't automatically park the lens at infinity when you turn it off?

Why would it? It's an SLR lens.

Why would it? It's an SLR lens.

 

That sounds like you're trying to insult my intelligence.

 

My Minolta Maxxum 7D SLR and Sony A77 and A99 SLTs park their lenses at infinity when I power the camera off.

 

Sorry if your Canon doesn't do that for you.

Just being brief. Sorry it came off that way.

 

That is a good design choice by Sony. I am also sorry my Canon does not do that too.

Just being brief. Sorry it came off that way.

 

That is a good design choice by Sony. I am also sorry my Canon does not do that too.

 

Ah, no worries then.

 

Technically the design is credited to Minolta, Sony picked up where they left off after picking up their camera division.

Just chiming in, but I use a Nikon D70s. Lenses are 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 VR, 55-200mm f/4-5.6 non-VR, and the one I use the most: 50mm f/1.8.

- Sony NEX6

- Sony SEL16-50 f/3.5-5.6

- Sony SEL50 f/1.8

- Sony SEL30 f/3.5 Macro

- Sony SEL16 f/2.8

I have only a few pieces of equipment for photography.

 

Camera bodies:

Canon EOS 6D

Canon EOS 650D

 

Prime lenses:

Canon 35mm f/2

Canon 40mm STM

Canon 50mm f/1.8

Canon 85mm f/1.8

Zeiss 50 Planar

 

Zoom lenses:

Canon 18-55 IS II

Canon 24-105L

Canon 70-200L

Tamron 18-200

Sigma 70-300 DG Macro

 

Flashes:

YN 560III

YN 622

Canon 480EX II

I use 5D mark ii with these lens

- zeiss makro planar T100

- canon 50mm

I snap shot my girl with Canon G12 or my mobile only

 

Don't have money to spend on camera things!

 

Use a bit of Photoshop to make good light and signature, and good weather is my tools.

 

I recently got a Canon EOS M to go along with the bigger DSLR and I'm super happy with it! Considering the bargain price nowadays it's a great lightweight companion for anyone with a Canon system and would probably also work great as a beginner camera for anyone who's getting interested in photography. Despite the small exterior, it holds the 18 MP APS-C sensor that's also found in the 650D/Rebel T4i, flash hotshoe and a large touchscreen on the back. The 22mm f/2 pancake lens I got it with is super sharp and compact, and with an adapter it's possible to put any EF or EF-S -lenses on it (my 40mm f/2.8 STM makes a nice mini tele, but EF zooms are a bit too heavy.. ).

 

Thanks to the small size it's really handy for photographing dolls and the picture quality is super good for the price, as well! I had a Fuji X100 before this and while its lens and sensor were a lot better and I really liked the physical knobs for adjusting aperture, shutter speed and exposure compensation, I had to get it serviced twice during the short time I owned it, so I returned it and bought the EOS M instead.

 

For the big DSLR I've switched the lenses around a bit: had a 28-70 f/2.8 and a 70-200 f/4, and now I've got a 24-70 f/4 IS and a 70-200 f/2.8 IS. With the normal zoom I do think I preferred the older one - IS is nice but doesn't really make up for the slower aperture. The telezoom however is just perfect, the long focal length and wide max aperture produce really nice results and IS helps a lot here. Only downside is the weight - 1,5 kg!

I lately switched from reflex to mirrorless caused by a problem with my eyes.

 

Photography is my main hobby so I sometimes grab something new

 

M43

Cameras: Olympus OMD EM5, Olympus Epl2, Olympus EPL1 converted for infra-red photography

Lenses: Olympics 45mm 1.8, 12-50, Panasonic 20mm 1.7, 100-300

Flash: 2x FL36R, FL300

 

Fuji X100 with Nikon flash SB800

 

Samsung NX1100, 20-50, 50-200 and adapted 56mm 1.4

 

Zenza Bronica medium format film camera with 80mm 2.8

I lately switched from reflex to mirrorless caused by a problem with my eyes.

If you don't mind me asking, what was the eye problem and how did it affect your use of a SLR?

 

I've been thinking about getting a DSLR sometime in the future but I've been thinking that maybe my slight near-sightedness would make it difficult to focus manually.

I lately switched from reflex to mirrorless caused by a problem with my eyes.

If you don't mind me asking, what was the eye problem and how did it affect your use of a SLR?

 

I've been thinking about getting a DSLR sometime in the future but I've been thinking that maybe my slight near-sightedness would make it difficult to focus manually.

 

Keratoconus, it's a degenerative disorder. Multiple images, streaks of lights, difficult to change focus from distant object.

 

I'm pretty sure you would bot have any problem with your near-sightedness: usually reflex camera have a built-in dioptric regulation that can be changed for using the camera without eyeglasses. If you have strong near-sightedness you may have to buy a costlier camera that has interchangeable dioptric lenses.

Fun lesson to anyone wondering about the differences between cheap and expensive cameras.. one of these pictures is taken with a Canon EOS M with the 18-55 kit lens that sold for 200€ a while back, the other one's with a Canon 5D Mark II and a 24-70 f/4 IS that's a bit under 2000€ together, with the same 430EX flash and tripod used with both pictures. Click for bigger:

 

 

See the difference? Yeah, me neither

 

Of course, the cheaper mirrorless focuses a lot slower and doesn't keep up as well with moving subjects and the low-light capabilities aren't as good, but since dolls tend to stay still, a 10x more expensive camera doesn't necessarily mean 10x better pictures

 

So yeah, I definitely recommend the Canon EOS M if you happen to run into one, they're selling them off right now and I got mine at a pretty great bargain price. Works either great as a beginner camera or a smaller backup for someone who already has a proper Canon DSLR.

So yeah, I definitely recommend the Canon EOS M if you happen to run into one, they're selling them off right now and I got mine at a pretty great bargain price. Works either great as a beginner camera or a smaller backup for someone who already has a proper Canon DSLR.

 

I have read horrible reviews of the M but again this is the demonstration that the photographer is much more important than the camera

I have read horrible reviews of the M but again this is the demonstration that the photographer is much more important than the camera

 

I think a pretty big part of the unfavorable initial reviews was the price: it's three to four times cheaper now than when it was released. For 800€ you can get many better things, but for 200€ it's pretty unbeatable. There's also been a firmware upgrade that boosted the startup and focusing speeds a lot so that helps too. Mine was preinstalled with the latest firmware and the speed still leaves a lot to be desired, so I don't even want to guess how slow it was originally..