Macro Lens Minolta

Macro Lens Minolta

Have You Got What It Takes?

R. Dodge Woodson

Have you got what it takes to make money with a camera? If you are a serious amateur photographer with basic camera equipment, you may have a cash machine in your camera bag. This book is not meant to be a dense, word-heavy manual used to give you all of the information needed for taking professional photographs. If you want a big book on how to make money with your camera, this is not it. When you want a concise guide to getting the most out of your camera with real money-making opportunities, this is it.

Rather than use hundreds of paragraphs and illustrations as I might in a photography how-to book, I am going to make this fast and easy for you. I will tell you what you need to know as quickly and cleanly as I can.

This definitive guide to photography career opportunities is not going to teach you to be a wedding photographer or a nature photographer. You will not learn the techniques and tactics used for sports photography. Nowhere here will you find how-to details of capturing photos of birds in flight. Okay, so what are you going to learn?

I am going to show you the down and dirty facts about turning a buck with your camera. Not everything I say is going to be what you want to hear. Life is rarely full of glory with no pain. Photography is not very different. For would-be pro photographers who want to make some serious money in legitimate ways, this is the straight-talk guide to the facts.

Now that you know that this is not going to be sugar-coated crap to lull you into fantasy land, let’s dig into the actual earning potential for you as a photographer. We will start with equipment and progress to personal skills and personalities.

Equipment

What do you need for equipment to make money in photography? It depends greatly on the type of photography you decide to pursue as a career. Do you have the basics of what is needed to take a stab at making money with photography? Let’s take this piece by piece.

Do you own a quality 35mm digital camera? In today’s competitive world, you will find that digital photos are a necessity.
What should you look for in a good camera body?

Look at the number of megapixels that the camera will take photos at. Don’t buy a camera that produces less than 8 megapixels. Getting a camera body that shoots 10 megapixels is a better buy for longevity. As cameras continue to get better, the higher the megapixel rating you start with, the longer it will be suitable for competitive work.

Do I need a camera body that uses removable and interchangeable lenses?

A Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera with interchangeable lenses is best, but you can get started with a fixed-lens camera. The cost of having an interchangeable system may be more than you want to spend to test the waters.

Will a built-in, pop-up electronic flash good enough for a money-making camera?

This type of flash is limited in use, but it has little effect on taking photos in natural light. If you are going to shoot with independent flash equipment in a studio, make sure your camera body is equipped with a PC connection. Cheaper cameras do not offer this feature. Adding a hot-shoe-mounted flash is going to be desirable if you do much flash photography.

How important is a camera brand?

The brand of camera you use is not very important unless you are building a system around the camera body. By this I mean that you would not want to invest a lot of money in interchangeable lens that are not suitable for the ultimate camera of your choice. Personally, I started with a Minolta SRT 101® many years ago. It was my first “Real” camera. Then I went to Canon® and built a system around it. When digital came around, I sold my film gear and bought Canon digital equipment. You will normally find that most pros use either Canon or Nikon® equipment.

Are zoom lenses okay for professional work?

Most professionals avoid zoom lenses when they can. The pros prefer what they call “Prime” lenses. These are fixed-focal-length lenses that provide sharper photos than zoom lenses can. But, zooms are fine for basic photography needs and you can use them when getting started as a working pro.

What about tripods?

Tripods and monopods come in various styles, designs, and prices. A macro photographer will want one type of tripod while a studio photographer may want a different style of support. Monopods are a terrific investment. They are not needed, but they do add a lot of stability at a small price. The type of photography that you pursue will dictate your needs for camera support. There is plenty of photography work that can be done without anything more than your hands for support.

Gadgets are great fun to buy and some of them are very useful, but not of them are needed for getting started as a pro photographer.
Filter systems can enhance photos quickly. They are not needed, but the filters can add plenty of flavor to your photos. The gel-type filters work well and are relatively inexpensive.
Camera bags can cost a lot of money. Some photographers are mesmerized by the assortment of bags available. When you are getting started, you can get by with a basic backpack or carry-on bag. Buy some foam padding. Cut it to fit your bag to protect your gear, and you are in business with very little cash being spent on a way to carry your equipment.
What other stuff will I need? You should have a second camera battery charged up and with you at all times. Get a few memory cards so that you never run out of room for photo storage. Invest in a cleaning kit and use it. A wide camera strap makes carrying cameras with heavy lenses easier on the shoulder. Buy a photographer’s vest. It is a good investment for all types of photography. The other stuff falls into the gadget categories until you perfect your personal needs.
How much does all this basic equipment cost? I am not going to turn this book into a price guide. Prices change quickly in the shutterbug world. That said, I would estimate that you could get a very nice Canon SLR with interchangeable lens capability for less than $600 new. By the time you add a lens and whatever, you are probably looking at between $1000 and $1500. Of course, you can usually find good used equipment at very affordable prices. It is worth a look if you are not sure what you want to do with photography.

Heavy-duty pro gear is expensive. You can expect to spend $2500 to $7500 for a camera body and then the pro lenses will hit you for anywhere from about $700 to over $8000, per lens. You certainly don’t need this type of pro gear in the beginning and with some exceptions, you probably will never have an absolute need for it. But Boy, most of us want it!

Personal Preference

Your personal preference in the type, or types, of photography to pursue will dictate your equipment needs, your likelihood for making money, and so forth. What do you want to do? If you love taking pictures of spiders, go for it, but know that you have a very limited niche market. Shooting weddings on weekends can bring in thousands of dollars a week. To a large extent, this book is aimed at showing you your options and educating you to a point where you can make a viable decision.

Skill Level

What is your skill level as a photographer? Regardless of where you fall on the scale of skills, you can invest the time and money needed to increase your skills. Once you know what you want to do, you can concentrate of specific workshops that cover your type of photography. For example, underwater photography is not a common field of endeavor. To be really good at it, you need some special instruction. Before you sell yourself as a photographer, make sure that you are competent to take photos that don’t look like Granny snapped them on her old Brownie®.

Your Personality

Your personality can guide you to the right path in your photography career. If you don’t like bugs, nature photography probably is not for you. People who had to deal with models who are too demanding might enjoy pet photography. Perhaps you should be a press photographer and do all the fun stuff that goes with this special classification of photographer. You can obtain PRESS credentials from the World Photographers Organization, www.wpomembers.com, as a photographer for their magazine, World Images Today.

Cash on Hand

How much cash on hand will you need to get started? It depends on what you are doing, where you are doing it, and how aggressive you plan to be. There is no clear-cut answer. Assuming that you have the basic essential equipment, you should be able to get some business by spending $500, or less. Once you get some work, the word of mouth from happy customers will help to keep you busy. This is how a lot of full-time professionals made it to working full time with their cameras.

Okay, I am sure we could talk about more details, but let’s cut to the chase and start looking at the various types of photography that you can actually make money doing.

About the Author

R. Dodge Woodson is a full-time internationally-known, best-selling author and photographer. He created the World Photographers Organization (WPO) as a serious resource for all photographers from point-and-shooters to pros. Photographers of all skill levels come to WPO to learn, to increase sales, and to take advantage of the extensive resources offered by WPO. Having been a pro photographer for more than 30 years and a full-time writer for 17 years, Dodge now feels it is time to share his tricks of the trade with up-and-coming freelancers.

with the help of a lens mount adaptor can I use this lens on my DSLR?

-LENS= Quantaray 70-300mm f4.0-5.6 AF (AF Macro for Sony Alpha / Minolta)

-Camera is the Olympus E-420

I only received the camera yesterday and am not tech savvy on SLR's (yet!)
but I did see on Ebay that you can get a minolta adaptor to put their lenses on my camera, I just dont know which lenses would still be compatible.

Seeing as this lens is suitable for use on Minolta, and DSLR it seemed in the 'possible' range.

Am hoping someone with more knowledge can tell me as I would really like this lens I found online.

cheers.
Jo
thanks heaps

You can get an adapter to use lenses with other mounts on your camera but you will see a loss of image quality if you do. It just isn't worth the money or the trouble. It would be best to get a lens with the Olympus mount.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/504906-REG/Olympus_261057_70_300mm_f_4_5_6_Zuiko_ED.html

There you are, an Olympus brand lens, much better quality than a quantaray lens, and is $100 off right now so it would cost you $299 and with free shipping within the US.

edit-Thanks, C I forgot about the problem with the aperture. See, there are some really nice old manual prime lenses. These lenses have an aperture ring that you turn to set the aperture. So if you were to find a very nice old manual lens it could be worth it to buy an adapter and then focus and set the aperture manually. You can find them a lot cheaper than you can get primo glass today and that is why a lot of people will buy them and adapt them to their camera mount.

But it just isn't usually done with auto-focus lenses because you have no way to control the aperture.

Sigma 28mm F1.8 EX Macro Lens 28mm Review - Microglobe.co.uk