Will upgrading my camera improve my photo's drastically ?

[TheMiniatureWorkshop]

Hi,

This may seem like a silly question to people who know a lot about cameras but unfortunately I am not one of them so here goes...

I currently use a Sony Cybershot DSC-w215 it cost me about £100 just over a year ago, I have been looking into upgrading to get a digital SLR and one that has caught my eye is the Nikon D90. I have read lots of reviews and it seems to get lots of praise, the problem is its pretty expensive around £700 here in the UK.

My question is will I notice a massive difference in the overall quality of my mini photography with a camera like the Nikon D90 or will I just be wasting my money ?

Please have a look at my gallery here on cmon to see the standard of my current photo's.

Any advice is appreciated.

Cheers

Rich

The Miniature Workshop

 

[Ruleslawyer]

It will improve it, but not drastically. Especially not reduced to 600px wide strips for the web. You also need to know what your camera settings do, or its just a really expensive point and shoot. What is your current lighting setup? I would look into that before spending a ton of money on a camera.

 

[TheMiniatureWorkshop]

I'm currently using a fairly cheap light tent and 2 desk lamps fitted with 75w daylight bulbs.

 

[Orb]

looking at your gallery, you should be able to improve the mini pics......although they are fairly decent for a £100 camera.

Lighting is important, but you can get very good results with £30 worth of lighting kit - I use 11W (100W equivilent) daylight bulbs (not those ugly blue coated things).

There are cheaper DSLRs out there, although the D90 has recieved consistently good reviews.

You may well notice an improvement in other photographs as you get into using the creativity of a DSLR.....£700 is a lot for a camera to take pics of minis, but it would be fine if you're into general photography also

 

[TheMiniatureWorkshop]

Thanks for the advice,

I paint full time for my living so having good photo's is a must, I've been thinking for ages that I need to upgrade but just not sure the £700 is worth it. Do you know of other camera's that would be a good upgrade but a little less strain on the budget ?

Also any idea where is best to get some decent photography lights in the UK ?

 

[Avelorn]

If you're only going to use it for miniatures I don't think it's worth the money. Spend money and thought on how you light the miniature and buy a compact that has manual controls. All the photos currently in my gallery (except the very oldest ones) are made with an old sony cybershot p100 compact camera and they're decent I think.

If you're still going to go the dslr way. Buy a used one and spend some money on decent glass. Say a canon 40d with a Sigma 50mm macro lens. That would probably add up to be under £700.

 

[Ruleslawyer]

Thanks for the advice,

I paint full time for my living so having good photo's is a must, I've been thinking for ages that I need to upgrade but just not sure the £700 is worth it. Do you know of other camera's that would be a good upgrade but a little less strain on the budget ?

Also any idea where is best to get some decent photography lights in the UK ?

A couple year old canon or nikon fitted with an inexpensive prime macro lens (like the 50mm) is about as good and cheap as you'll get. You probably can pick up that sort of setup for what you'd pay for a higher end compact. There are usually plenty of people upgrading bodies for the latest and greatest. Even something from the low end rebel line, or something like a d60 would do the trick. They all have the larger aps-c sensors and the ability to mount good glass, which is probably 95% of the upgrade. If you look at nikons, be aware some of their lower end older models can't mount the screw drive lenses. I'm not sure if their 50mm macro is screw drive or not, but check into it.

 

[mis]

Lens reviews.

Do yours resarch firts.
http://www.fredmiranda.com/
http://www.photozone.de/
Stay away from kit lenses.
Spending some cash on light tent might be healpfull.

 

[griffongames]

Actually, your photos are pretty nice for this format. Things that I would do to improve your photos:

Switch to a better background. The stuff that is accumulating on your background is distracting. Also, if you had the ground flow smoothly into the bottom (with a single sheet of fabric, posterboard, whatever) would also be less distracting. If you want a black background be sure to keep the light from spilling on to the background. You could also try pulling the mini farther from the background so that the background is out of focus.

Overall, though, I like your pictures. You have the minis in focus and the lighting is good.

 

[ktooloo]

I picked up a Cannon Rebel T1I about 6 months ago and having a good camera does help. Mine is only an entry level DSLR and it's been really good to me. I have since learned that learning my settings and how to use them to the best advantage helped even more. : ) I also picked up a book on digital photography and it's been great. The Digital Photography Book #1 by Scott Kelby. I then bought #2 and #3 a couple of weeks later. They are very noob friendly. : )

If you're going to be using it to photograph paintings as well as minis it would likely be a good investment. You would also be looking at buying better lights for photos of paintings though. The urge to upgrade is strong so you have to have a big wallet or a strong will. : ) After my second outing to practice, I was already trying to budget for nice lights/flashes and better glass ("glass" is pro slang for lenses. You have to use it to be taken seriously by professionals (and hardcore hobbyists lol)).

Like any other big purchase, you just have to weigh the cost/benefit against spending that much money on other parts of life. Would you get more benefit out of spending that much money on your car, house, significant other? More paint for work, more paint for minis, more minis? That would be a lot of paint/minis though. : ) You said you would be using it for work, so it could eventually pay for itself if it helps improve your business life and maybe you can use it as a tax right off as a business expense. I don't know if taxes in the UK have the business expense right off option like here in the US, but it may be something worth looking into when thinking about spending that much money.

Good luck!

 

[www.buypainted.com]

My humble advice is first spend money on the book about photography. When you will get some theory, you will not buy such amazing lightsources like daylight bulbs.

 

[MiniStalker83]

Upgrading your camera by 600 dollars will help pretty dramatically, in my opinion. As long as you read up on the manual and use a lot of lighting. However, that's a lot of money for a hobby. Are you wanting to sell your mini's professionally, or become a professional photographer? If not, I wouldn't suggest you spend that much on a camera. Learning about lighting and camera basics will help you just as much if this is just for a hobby.