Stanced DSLR

[digitalauthor]

I'm in the USA, and I've got an Olympus E510 DSLR. I will upgrade someday to a nicer Nikon, but I got a steal and a half on this thing, and love it very much so far. I love taking night shots, but everything I try to do comes out blurry, even using my knee as a tripod.

My problem is I like to take my camera in my backpack. Hiking into the woods or on the train down into NYC, and don't want a monsterously huge tripod. Maybe even just a monopod would work ok, but I'm still a little afraid of the wobble.

I like the idea of one of those "table" ones, or that gorilla arm thing that you can wrap the legs around, but I'm not sure if they are strong enough for the weight of a big slr. I'm looking for something ideally that would be able to fit in a backpack, or that I can secure to it easy enough.

So I bring this question to you all here at stanceworks. This place has some of the most incredible photography I've ever seen and would just like a little help with this one. I'm sorry if I missed a past thread about this. But I'm more concerned with it being packed small, and sturdy enough for my camera.

[Kielan]

Two things I would suggest, getting a camera backpack (lowerpro, Canon makes one, Thinktank), and as far as a tripod, you'd be better off going to a local camera store and finding one that works best for you. Personally I rarely ever use a tripod (unless its a long exposure) I will usually just bump the ISO up, I find I am too limited by a tripod. But that's just me.

An FYI though, good tripods are not cheap at all.

[digitalauthor]

I'm not worried about "not cheap" I mean I'm not going to drop $1000 on one, but I'm def willing to spend a couple hundred. The only reason I need one, is I love the night shots. Do most of my car shooting, and picture taking (minus when I'm out hiking) at night . And everything comes out blurry. In New York, It's not too bad as I can use the sides of buildings and benches and stuff pretty readily.

[Kielan]

The only thing is that good tripods typically are big and heavy, because they are extremely stable, small light ones aren't really made to support the weight of a DSLR, so there has to be a comprimise made somewhere.

If you do a lot of night shooting why not get a few speedlights, lightstands, and a set of wireless trigger/receivers for doing those night shoots, it would really help you IMO.

[kartikeya]

What kind of lens are you using? A faster lens can take some decent night shots with no tripod.
Simple manual 50mm 1.8, dashed out into the street to take the shot and because of the large aperture, got enough light for a relatively quick shutter speed (1/10).


However, when I do need a tripod, I'm using a Giotto VT806 which is a really cheap ($30) aluminum/plastic tripod. Folded up, it's about 2.5' long, and isn't cumbersome. I can stick it in my backpack and take it with me on the Ruckus, or bike, or walk, and because it's lightweight, it really doesn't bother me. In fact, the heaviest thing is the camera itself.

The trade off of course is that's not as precise, since it's mostly plastic, and more susceptible to vibration.

Kielan - if he's concerned about carrying one tripod, lighting equipment is the opposite of a solution.

[besthaticouldo]

a fast lens is the best thing you can buy.

as far as a tripod, i rarely shoot with one. i like the feeling of the camera in my hand. but thats just me.

[digitalauthor]

I'm not trying to win any awards. Lighting and all that stuff, maybe someday. I'm just trying to capture some decent enough shots, that I can be proud of. I'm using the Olympus 14-40 and 40-200mm VR lenses that came with it. I don't have any others yet. I'll post some pictures in a minute.

I guess I had never thought of a faster lens. They were all really expensive when I was looking at the lenses.

[kartikeya]

I'm kind of shocked that Olympus doesn't have an equivalent to Nikon and Canon's cheap medium-large aperture 50mm primes.

[indy510]

If you do a lot of night shooting why not get a few speedlights, lightstands, and a set of wireless trigger/receivers for doing those night shoots, it would really help you IMO.

What would be the cheapest set up to get??? .......... .. . and what kind of power source for the remote flashes???

[Kielan]

What would be the cheapest set up to get??? .......... .. . and what kind of power source for the remote flashes???

You could get a set of Yong Nuo speedlights, and Yong Nuo triggers, cheap effective setup. Especially if you are just getting into it.

And I realize now, that lighting would be a step backwards, wasn't really thinking about the whole "portable" thing. I would definitely look into getting faster glass, don't be afraid to shoot at higher ISO's either. Really a good solid tripod really can't be that small, and they will be pretty pricey.

[digitalauthor]

I'm not overly worried about pricey as I said. Although I'm not looking to spend like $1000 on one, but $100-200 seems fairly reasonable. I need a decent tripod. I don't necessarily need it to be one that I can stand behind. Actually one of those small almost table top style ones would probably work very well for the most part.

My problem is I have lots of pictures that come out like this because I can't hold my hands steady enough while I'm looking through the eye piece.







But for instance this one came out damn good, I think because of all the lights, and I used a lightpost I believe as my "tripod"




I just don't want that to happen anymore. I do my very best to find places I can support the camera. But I cannot always get it. I'm sure there are things I can learn to do slightly differently when I'm shooting to make them come out a bit better. Which is why I asked about maybe a monopod. Maybe that is enough for me to be able to hold it more stable.

[Withers]

A monopod would be a huge help. You can also usually boost the ISO up to about 400 or so and it still be usable. If you're shooting with something shiny and new you can go higher than that.

[dav3design]

I bought a tripod off of ebay for £10 - works fine and weighs nothing. Not bad for a cheap tripod.

[Kielan]

Looks like you definitely have room to bump that ISO up, when I go to the city and shoot at night, typically I shoot ISO 800-3200 depending on light.

This was ISO 1600



ISO 3200 @ f/3.5 1/100th

[digitalauthor]

Alright. My ISO options are 100, 200, 400, 800, or 1600.

I might get a monopod, I can probably get one that folds up fairly small. The tripod is good, I just know most of the cheap ones don't hold a heavy DSLR very well. And I'd rather not trust my nice camera up too high on a pile of worthless shit.