Ky Lane

Hey guys,

Im finding more often than not, Im expected to go onsite and take in-situ shots for some of my exterior work, along with reflection maps for the buildings - I have 2 cameras, both kodak, a 8Mp pocket sized thing and a larger semi slr which is only 5MP - neither of which really cut it.

Looking into HDR, Id love to get a decent DigiSLR which will produce some nice HDR work, and maybe even look into creating my own HDRI (but, god Ill need some tutoring!).

So my question is, i dont have thousands to spend as Im a little freelancer, but its tax time and I need to spend money what light weight DigiSLR would you guys recommend for producing good in-situ/HDR/HDRI shots, and any suggested hardware?

Cheers!!

SSPEIPER

Canon 400D which is 10.2 megapixel and you can pick up for under $1000 now here in Melbourne...

I was going to get this for my trip to Europe in 2 months - but then they released the new 450D which is 12.2 megapixel so I am going to get that...

Hoping it will be great for my Arch Viz as well.

At around $1450.00 AUS its great value for what you can do with it...

All are Digital SLR's - check the Canon.com.au website and see prices.

Ky Lane

http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.co...egory626_1.htm

That one?

SSPEIPER

Thats it...! I guess I quoted the price with a lense kit included...

Which is what you would want anyhow...

Ky Lane

Yeah, I know nothing of lenses etc. Might pop into the local camera store and chew their ear.

SSPEIPER

Yeah, for sure talk to them about it and also what your looking to do with it and get out of it...

Seriously though, the 400D and 450D series are perfect for what you would want it for. They should have links to sample shots on the Canon website...

Unless of course you are thinking of turning pro photographer where you could be up for $11,000+ for SLR and lenses.

Teds Camera House is doing great deals on them atm.

Mat@MDI-Digital

Nicons are better for HDR work because they can take more than 3 brackated images without the use of a laptop..

Canons can take 3 (unless you buy a pro model)
Nicons can take 5

Also, look into getting a fisheye if you want to do panoramic HDRIs, the sigma 8mm is what I use.

to take panos and you are happy to take a laptop around with you I would recomend the canon 350-450Ds, the sigma 8mm, a copy of PTGUI, A Tripod and a Nodal Ninja pano head....

not inc laptop you could probably get all that for around £1000-£1300 tops

bjornkn

My preferred setup for shooting spherical panoramas for HDRI reflection maps, environments etc is an Olympus C7070WZ with a Raynox DCR-CF185PRO (US$400) circular fisheye lens mounted on it. It's not a SLR, but gives you great flexibility as you can get everything from a circular fisheye to a FF fisheye from the same setup. Using this setup I can shoot 3-4 images for a full sphere x number of HDR exposures (usually 3-7). I could even point it straight up to get full hemispherical images with a single shot for each exposure.
For other (HDRI) images I use an Olympus E-330 SLR with a 7-14mm lens, which is not a fisheye, but a super rectilinear lens with very little distortion and 110 degrees of fov. Using this setup I need to shoot 6 images around to get a full circle/sphere in portrait mode. But I need 2 rows to get a full sphere. Shooting 12x7 shots vs 3x7 makes a huge difference.
I also use a sturdy tripod and a NodalNinja panorama head + PTguiPro.
Attached is a small LDR version of an HDRI (4exp) environment/reflection map I shot yesterday on a site. Took maybe 30min to shoot and process in PTgui. It has not been edited, so you can still see the tripod at the bottom, which doesn't really matter much for such use.

Attached Images

pfs8814BurasenHDRs.jpg (70.5 KB, 25 views)

bjornkn

I forgot to mention that if you don't already have the HDRI Handbook it's a must-have.
As well as the smartIBL program and sIBL loaders for LightWave, Max and Maya.
http://www.hdrlabs.com/sibl/sibl-edit.html

Ky Lane

Thanks for all the advice guys.