First DSLR

[jamie.91]

Okay guys, I bought my first DSLR, a Nikon D40x, £100 on eBay with an 18-135mm lens.

It arrived today and as soon as I'd got an sd card from currys I started having a play.

Start as you mean to go on right so I think most of what I shot was in manual mode, how'd I do?

I think the keys on the dash is my favourite pic for some reason, all the others seem to be lacking sharpness.

Ohh btw, no edits, straight from SD card to my iPad mini with a lighting adaptor.

I'm after as much advice as I can get, good photo editing software, better alternatives to photobucket etc, just anything I should know

Also who shoots raw and how do I make the most of it editing wise?

Thanks in advance
Jamie

 

[jamie.91]

Also will an intervalometer work with this camera? I'm dying to do a proper time lapse!

 

[Geddes]

Not a bad effort on the use of depth of field, not a fan on photobucket. I use it for my clio meet pics and other general pics but i use Flickr for my photography pics. You could change it to RAW to get the full benefit of the picture on the editing and picture quality. I've been using Photoshop Elements 11, it's a cut down version and cheaper than on the main big Photoshop LR/CC.

Be nice to know what settings you had on each of the pics, it's easy to find out this if the pics were on Flickr

 

[jamie.91]

Thanks

I set the camera to shoot RAW+JPEG, I'm just not sure how to get/use the RAW file yet.

How much is Elements 11?

I guess I'll have to make a Flickr account, i was going to do it yesterday but I don't like being bullied into using a yahoo email address [emoji23]

 

[Geddes]

Had a quick look on Google and people are saying there's no wired remote available for that model but mentions A ML-L3 nikon wireless remote. And some people have mentioned a Canon wired remote and not sure if there's a jack plug on your camera for the remote plug to go into, you need to look on your camera's manual see if there's any part numbers for a remote control.

The new version of Elements is 14 on Amazon it's about £65, people on here use LR and CC which is far better and you can do way way more stuff. But when i started about a year ago i had just Elements and it was more than enough for me to get started on the editing anything more it would get more confusing.

Yeah no way round it now on the Yahoo email, it is worth it too Flickr is really good, allot of us on here use it.

I though of putting the settings on RAW+JPEG but the amount of data and multiple pics would be over the top, just shoot RAW only, unless you really need to shoot in both formats

 

[jamie.91]

Well that's a bummer, Is there a way to do time lapse without an intervalometer?

I'll have a look into it, simple is what I'd like to begin with.

I'll make one tomorrow if it's worth it[emoji1]

 

[Ay Ay Ron]

No. Unless you want to sit there with your fingers on the shutter timing yourself, you will need an intervalometer. That's one of the issues with buying a ten year old camera though I suppose. Looking on Google, most of the links are now dead. You might not be able to do it with this model.

I usually shoot in Aperture priority mode. You seem to have got it right though if you have shot in full manual.

Keep shooting though and have fun with it.

 

[Geddes]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00007EDZG/?tag=cliospnet01-21

had another look at the remote link above^^ it says it's suitable for the D40X but it's a wireless remote and will get you going for long exposures. As Aaron said Aperture mode is the way forward.

 

[Ay Ay Ron]

That is only a remote shutter though, useless for timelapse, unless you are going to time your shots manually.
Should be fine for long exposure etc though although it looks like an IR remote which means you need to be in front of the camera where the IR beam is.
Can't see any wired remotes though unfortunately.

 

[jamie.91]

Thanks for the help guys! Much appreciated!
This camera will do for now and time lapse's will have to wait!

Aaron, do you shoot raw?

 

[Ay Ay Ron]

Yup. Haven't shot jpeg for a long time now.
All my editing is done in Lightroom too.

 

[jamie.91]

Cool, I'm off to Kendal today to pick some wheels up, gonna try to got for a drive around windamere and get some pics