camera for texture reference??

[dpaynter26]

Hello all, i'm an aspiring environmental artist and im actually looking for my first dslr camera, i usually just get my textures from the internet but i really want to start taking my own references and everything, i dont really know much about the dslr camera's but i know they are quite expensive for a good one, all i need is one to pretty much take good quality reference and texture photos, something that will last me over the next couple years till i get into the industry and can afford a better one. Any suggestions?? i dont really have a set price range but i do know i need cheap. I'm talking the cheapest camera out there, of course a decent one but the cheapest one out there, i have no clue what i need.

[Disting]

I use a Sony A-100, and it does the trick for me.. The most important thing to think about is the lighting.
You can take a crap shot with a $1000 dollar camera, and you can take a great shot with a $50 dollar camera. You just gotta learn some basic photography guidelines. :)

[dpaynter26]

so should i be really worried if it's a dslr or should i just get a decent point and shoot camera?

[Disting]

Well, in my experience DSLR cameras are a LOT better than point and click cameras, because you can edit a lot of stuff on the camera to make a good shot.
What I meant was that it doesn't really matter what dslr camera you get, as long as it's a dslr. x)

[Thursdae]

Point and Shoot cameras will still be able to give you fantastic results, but watch out for the cheaper ones, anything over ~$200-300 will work great for what you need. Cheaper cameras tend to have cheaper hardware, and the most important one is the lens. Cheaper cameras have cheaper lenses, and they can give you a bad "fisheye" effect, which is very bad if you're taking pictures for textures. Anything with a small lens is a no go. Cameras like the Nikon Coolpix P500, are good point and shoot cameras. The P500 is not DSLR, but has a very good lens, 12 MP, shoots HD Video, and has a very long zoom. It retails around $400. Most DSLR Cameras will be well above that, unless you get an older model (probably used), and those will be around the $400 price range as well. Also with most point and shoot cameras, they have pre-programmed settings, which aren't always the best and can mess up the image in an undesirable way, so thats why DSLR's are a solid choice.

[dpaynter26]

wow thanks for the great info, ill be sure to keep all of that stuff in mind while looking for a good one

[dpaynter26]

do you think the canon EOS 400D rebel xti a good starter camera, i know it's old but it should work till i can get a better one right?

[Thursdae]

do you think the canon EOS 400D rebel xti a good starter camera, i know it's old but it should work till i can get a better one right?

it would be perfect, even older DSLR cameras will work great.

[ngrgpls]

The key with any textures that you take is that the photos are in focus and that you don't have too much light information like shadows or glares.

I use a Canon T1i weekly taking photos for textures at work.

You don't need a dslr as long as you follow the steps above but it is nice to have especially with the focus part. Auto focus isn't always the best. In the end take thousands of photos you are bound to get some good ones out of it. :)

A helpful tip to fix your photos from a camera is "Lens Correction" under filters in photoshop and the crop tool with "perspective" box marked

[dpaynter26]

well i looked and looked and looked and finally found a deal at a local sears no less. I managed to get a Nikon D5000 body and lens new in box for 297 bucks so i definitely got lucky, it was on my birthday no less!! Happy b-day to me i turned 23 today

[Disting]

Topic moved to the new Texturing Discussion section. :)

[dpaynter26]

any comments on the d5000 for that price??

[50p]

Really good choice and you got it cheap! I remember using them at college, we were taught how to use them lol but without any knowledge of photography I couldn't take good textures/photos, then I started google'ing and found really good tutorial which helped me a lot.. This is the tutorial that gave me lots of tips http://www.cgtextures.com/content.php?action=tutorial&name=shootingtextures and I remembered most of them, even now after long break from taking photos, it's stuck in my head

[dpaynter26]

awesome thanks for the tips man ill def check it out

[jezelf]

I would like to get a DSLR - go for it if you can. Far superior images. ( I would also get a DLSR more for the landscape photogrpahy I would like to do )

However I have found my cheap Lumix (http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/410884/module/general/compare/productsCategory.html#anker_410884) works just fine at the moment.

The Lumix (or any compact) is great for me, I put in a 16GB memory card and a couple of spare baterries. I can take over 2 thousand images @ 10 megapixels with that. I guess it depends what your media is - with textures moving upwards of 4096 nowadays, but I have most likely tens of thousands of textures now. The key thing of a compact over a DLSR for me is portablity. I like having a compact with me all the time, never know when you'll spot something interesting.

As has been said before - in focus and no shadows - and as many megapixels you can get (preferably double figures) the better quality, the more shelf life your images will have.

It's funny taking reference - I've had countless odd looks from the general public as I would take photos for textures.

[Disting]

It's funny taking reference - I've had countless odd looks from the general public as I would take photos for textures.

Hahaha, yeah I know!
You kind of feel like a weirdo holding your camera inches from a gravel road or a concrete wall. :P

[dpaynter26]

Hahaha, yeah I know!
You kind of feel like a weirdo holding your camera inches from a gravel road or a concrete wall. :P
LOL! i think anyone who has ever taken a texture photo has felt that way, people are always looking at you like you're special and sometimes they even laugh cuz they think you dont know what you're doing