Photo Equiptment Suggestions...
 

Hey, bit of a newbie here...more of a lurker.

Anyway, I've been doing adult sites for around 5 years now, mainly TGPs, and other sites of that nature...I am now finally ready to start doing an amateur site. I've got the girl, done a few sets with her using some pretty basic camera equiptment.

So my question to you guys is, what would you suggest getting...

Digital Camera?
I really like what Cannon offers with some of their products.
Fuji is another one who kind of peaks my interest.

Lighting Equiptment?
Could I just basically go to Menards/Home Depot/Ace Hardware and pick up some decent lighting?

I don't exactly want to spend of a fortune, I know the more I spend the more it'll be worth it and such, but for just starting out, what would you guys suggest?

If anyone wants to see what some of the pictures from the sets I've taken already get a hold of me privately and you can give me some better feedback. Thanks in advance!

bump for an awesome guy!

send me some pics to stefan at girls2models dot com and i'll tell you what i think.

we are working with a Canon 20D with a Canon lens and are very satisfied. already made 60.000 pics with it. and we are using Elinchrome studio flashes - but if you want to keep an amateur style that would be perhaps a bit too much. of course you can also start with simple working lights, but manual whitebalance is mandatory in that case. otherwise everything will look yellow/orange.

My best Suggestion is to take at least a class on photography, because it will benefit greatly in the long run...

Too many guys waste alot of time and money to produce some pretty crappy content and then wonder why it doesn't sell as well or look as good as some others, when they don't even have a basic skill or knowledge of photography...:)

i agree - and i don't. i think porn is not exactly photography. i have seen great photographers making lousy porn cause they concentrate on the technical aspects and the model got upset because she had to wait 5 minutes for every picture. and with an upset model you cannot produce good porn. and it surely depends on the niche - shooting for Twistys certainly requires other abilities than shooting an amateur girl for a solo site. :2 cents:

go to your local library or bookstore and get a book on photography and lighting.
we use the canon 20d also. its wonderful, but if you're looking for something less expensive you may want to try the digital rebel. it takes great pics and is cheaper.
you can start with those worklights from your local hardware store. i've seen some great pictures from a set up like that.
remember, lighting is the most important key.

Thanks, I appreciate the comments...

I've been looking into the SLR's from cannon. I don't think I'm ready to make a big jump into spending $1500 on a camera right now. It's just one amatuer site so far that I'm going to launch as a test run. If that goes over well I'll probably look into upgrading.

Thanks again...

if you need to produce good looking content for the very least amount of money and you have a model on a 24/7 basis (i.e. your goodlooking girlfriend who you will make a partner in the enterprise) do this:

go buy a digital rebel (canon) with the standard zoom (i see them on sale now for less than $1000) and shoot by window light or natural light.

unless you really know what you are doing with lighting (and the vast majority of "content producers" do not) use natural light so the girl's skin looks best.

once you advance then learn about lighting and use strobes anytime you need to photograph a girl's eyes. there are reasons for this which are beyond the discussion today.

it is the use of artificial light and imagination that seperates the guys who can shoot from those that can't.

Thanks for the replies so far....

I'm probably gonna go with this camera.. http://www.buytelescopes.com/product.asp?pid=6313 ... any thoughts on that? Or if you guys know of something around the $500-$1000 range for a nice camera, can you post it here? Or give me the model number or something? Thanks in advance, this has helped.

get the one that comes with a lens. dell has it for like 700 i think with lens usually

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/P...ctlisting.aspx get this new rebel.

There's a review of the Digital Rebel here:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos300d/

Scroll to the bottow for a list of places selling it for a lot less than Buytelescopes.com

get this one: http://konicaminolta.com/products/co...-a2/index.html

i think it'll be perfect for you. we used to work a long time with the Dimage 7HI which is a bit older than that one - but it worked really great. the zoom is really superb, the picture quality is good, it's fast and we never had technical problems.

for the rebel you also have to get a lens and thats where the trouble starts if you want your stuff as easy as possible.

:2 cents:

Thanks again for the replies...Seems as though I have to buy a lens for the Canon either sepertly or as a package deal, so either way I do it, i'll be paying around $800 or so for it. Not too bad, I really like that camera.

If anyone can sell me on something else for around the same price, same features, let me know. Thanks again.

i think aaronm has a competition regarding giving away some of his equipment... maybe you should approach him...

B & H photo in New York for Lighting kits.
they ahve some very nice start-up packages, and most of their business is mail order.
Get their catalog.

All of these posts are great advice for somebody with photo experience...

But messing with changeable lenses, lights, and color balance are only going to confuse you.

I think you'd be best suited with a high quality "point and shoot" camera. Forget about buying lights until you have some real photo experience. For now, get used to working with models and making sure they have fun. Single girl sites are great for taking candids. Go to the park, mall, lake, etc.. Just take fun snapshots and get a few good closeups

Check out the canon cameras in the $350-$500 price range. They take good exposures and you won't have to mess with a bunch of buttons that you don't understand
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont... =7&Submit.y=6

If you get serious about photography and start making some money... you can buy professionla gear LATER. For now, a high quality "point and shoot" is all you need.

Honestly, I have a good friend that runs several single girl sites... He makes about half a million dollars a year in sales and shoots with a 500 dollar camera.
But he's got HOT models and knows how to make the pictures fun... He spends a lot of time on location and in real life situations.... he gets lots of great candids

A single girl site needs video to upsell... get a decent DV camera too and you're all ready to go

1000% correct

I used to have a Canon 35mm Rebel. So I'm used to that aspect of the camera functions...I just want to go digital now.

My advice, stay with film..... As hardware technology changes every couple of years, you can always rescan a film image or slide for a higher resolution image if needed. If you can afford a medium format camera such as a Bronica, go for it. Your images will be lightyears above those shooting on crap digital with miminum resolution. You will be able to turn your images into posters, billboards, or anything else your heart desires using film. :thumbsup

Oh - I'm sorry I didn't realize you had some experience with manual controls etc...

In that case, You'll probably love the new digital rebel XT. I just got it to replace my aging 10D. The best damn camera for the money hands down!

An excellent lighting kit would be the calumet travelites
http://www.calumetphoto.com/ctl?PAGE...type=QUICKPICS

I use these elinchroms
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=358757&is=REG

The calumet kit is probably the best kit you can get for a reasonable price. THey have plenty of power and come with stands and umbrellas. You're gonna need a minimum of 2 heads and that's included in the kit. I've used them before and they recycle quickly and are very consistent color temperature.

If you've got the money.. think about getting a good wireless sync so you're not tripping over cables
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...u=96054&is=REG

Any other idea's on lighting equiptment? Thanks...

This is some of the best advice, and nice and condesed. :thumbsup

Lighting from Menard's or whatever (those 1000-1600 watt things) will do nicely, but always try and use natural light/shoot mid-day if possible. You can almost never have enough light. Always easier and better images to dim something, then brighten, contrast, etc.

DAMN, i knew i had to keep my PlaubelMakina, my Arca Swiss and my Linhoff Technica 4x5" and 8x10" salon cameras, anyone interested in custom content? el cheapo at only 300$ / image - minimum order 10 sets/ 1500 images :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

check out this link, maybe this will help a LOT:

http://sawvideo.com/sawvideo/production_shootingx.php

Thanks again everyone...I was oringally thinking Menards/Home Depot for some decent lighting for now.

I'm gonna try to do as many sets as I can in the day. There's some conflicting schedules so far, so I'll need some lighting until things can be worked out more.

I'm probably just gonna go with the Canon and go to Menards and call it a day. Thanks again...

no.

high rez digital already eclipses the resolving power of LF chemical based photography.

and high rez 35mm format digital far eclipses resolving power of fuji velvia, etc; ex: Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II

even low-end digital now simply looks better (and more importantly sells better) than film.

keep your lenses yes, and if you have MF or LF hardware get a digital back---but toss the film.

in commercial photography it ain't a hobby, it's about making coin as fast as you can.

that's digital 100%.