Camera advice requested

My wife's cousin worked in the photo studio at Walmart & then Sears for a few years, and apparently wasn't too bad, since she has several past customers who've friended her on Facebook & have been asking when she's going to start doing photography again, even though she hasn't done any for a couple years.

I have an 8800 sq ft building that I'm only using 650 sq ft of presently...

So, we were talking last night about setting up a small portrait studio in part of my building, where she could work on nights & weekends. The only problem is that she doesn't have any gear, and not being much of a technical person, all she remembered about the last camera she used was that it was a ~$500 Sony and she really liked it.

She'll be the one buying the gear, but I'd like to help her make sure she gets what she really needs & also doesn't get ripped off in the process. I know nada about photography beyond which direction to point it. Any input or suggestions on models to look at/avoid, and places to shop?

BHPhoto.com

the subject is so large that I cannot begin.

If there is a local camera shop (not Best Buy, Walmart, etc), she needs to go there and talk to them about this, and then order from B&H which tends to be cheaper. I bought my first DSLR (which is what she will need) in July and spent just over $1000 on the camera, 2 lenses, bag, memory card and lens filters. She will also need specialized lighting for portrait photography.

One thing to remember, though, is that she doesn't need a studio to have a photography business. Studio photography is on its way out, most clients are opting for outdoor sessions, or to have the photographer bring her equipment to their home and shoot there. The reason is that people are more relaxed and end up with better pictures outside of a studio.

PHeller is right, though, the subject is almost too huge to get into. She really needs to start at a camera shop and talk to them about what she wants to do.

If she has got no gear at all, this isn't going to be cheap if she wants to be able to off the full, end-to-end service.

A decent entry-level DSLR from any of the big manufacturers is probably good enough, but if she wants to be able to hand the prints (at least smaller ones) to the customers quickly, she'll probably need a computer (with Photoshop Elements) and a decent printer. The latter is likely to be quite expensive and expensive to run, and she'd probably want an LCD monitor usable for photo editing as well. The regular ones aren't that great and a wide-gamut one will cost extra.

Another vote for going to a camera shop for some advice, and I'd be tempted to buy there as well if it's local enough. Forging a relationship with a shop can come in handy if she's in it for the long run.

And don't forget lighting equipment, backdrops and any other stuff she'll need for portrait photography.

Numerous photogs in our area actually print at Costco. It's cheap, fast & good. They upload the pics and pic them up in a short while, I think maybe an hour or 2.

I know that cause when I'm in I'm usually waiting on one of their orders to complete.

Good point re Costco, didn't think about that. Most of the places around here that do prints are either expensive, E36 M3 or both.

Thanks for the input.

Yeah she planning on just handing them a disk unless they request prints & then she was going to find someplace to partner with.

She had purpously decided to try to avoid the outdoors/location work & offer a studio setting to differentiate herself from others in the area who don't have a studio.

OK, in that case if she wants to deliver them pro results she'll probably still need at least a calibrated monitor if she's planning to do any editing at all.

If the print sizes are kept sensible (ie 8x10 and smaller), then pretty much any entry level DSLR should do as mentioned above. I'm one of those old timers who still do the 'serious' photography on film and an intuitive interface on a camera for me is two dials (shutter speed and f-stops), but I'm finding the Nikon D60 I bought for the less serious stuff to take decent shots and easy to use.

Yes, the quality isn't quite as good as 35mm transparencies scanned at 5000dpi but we ain't talking exhibition prints here either. That said, I probably wouldn't buy another D60 - it's a good camera but it takes the Nikon AF-S lenses only as it doesn't have an AF motor in the body. That's a serious restriction on what lenses you can put on it and I'm a firm believer preferring a better lens on a cheaper body to the reverse setup.

Ok good to know.

Speaking of lenses, are they generally pretty interchangeable? I have an old Canon EOS from the 1980's that was dad's. Would those lenses work on any newer cameras, or has lense tech made them obsolete anyway?

Most lenses of the same manufacturer will work, however the can get wonky with sensor differences and all that stuff that i have no idea about...

Get a decent used Pro-Level camera or something like the D90 (I'm an Nikon user) and then look around for a higher quality lens that has a close dept of field, yet wide angle.

Don't skimp on the body or lenses. Bare minimum I would start with a Nikon D70 and a couple good lenses. One good zoom and a couple nice fixed-length, wide-aperture lenses will give her enough versatility to get the income started.

There is also no substitute for a good tripod and some studio strobes with some umbrellas. I got a tripod at a yard sale and some strobes for $20 each on CL. My wife and I dyed a few muslin backdrops and also have some generic roll-up backdrops so you can suddenly be whisked away to Mt. Everest in your three-piece suit.

For portraiture I would also invest in a nice hair light. I started out with a $5 shop light; you know, the kind that looks like a bulb in an aluminum bowl? I put a 100w spotlight in it and put it on a rheostat so I could alter its intensity. I stole some discarded gels from the theater department and the rest is history.

Then once you get to the money making stage, I think a nice D300 would work wonders. The D3 is wonderful, but not enough more features to qualify the huge price increase.

Always shoot RAW format, which means a belt-clipped external HD would be necessary for most longer shoots. I think you have to have a D90 or higher to get that capability. I know my D70 doesn't do that, but I think it will with an additional piece of hardware to plug into the USBc.

The stores will try to push the "pro" models on you, like D2xs. But if you look at what professional photographers often use, you'll see more "mid-level" cameras, like D300s.

Ahh studio portraiture, BTDT.......

For printing... mpix.com, crazy fast and real good. Consumer wing of Millers. Also White House Custom Color, WHCC.com.

Backdrops and props... backdropoutlet.com also the amvona stuff on ebay is decent quality.

Lights and stuff..... alienbees.com

Cameras..... whole lot of choices here. Canon and Nikon will usually win as they have lots of gear to chose from and are the most accepted, but don't overlook offerings from Sony, Pentax, Olympus. Keh.com will give some good prices on used gear. Bhphoto.com and Adorama.com are also great places for gear.

Get a good light meter too for studio work. Older Canon lenses will NOT work on newer bodies. Yours are probably FC/FD? mount, Canon went to the EF mount awhile back and currently use it. Older lenses need an adapter to work and even then you'll lose all TTL function.

Popphoto.com for message boards, photo equalivant of the GRM boards.

I disagree with shooting RAW all the time. Adds to your workflow (a lot) and you will need more 'puter power to convert/store files. Expose properly and shoot JPEG.

If I was staring from scratch here's what I would start with......

Canon EOS 20/30D used from somewhere. Consumer grade Canon lenses, 28-80, 80-200.

Minolta/Sekonic lightmeter, used.

2 AlienBee B400's /w stands

1 good size silve/white reflector.

Portable back drop stand or 2 bicycle storage hooks screwed into celing studs and PVC pipe.

1 5X8 canvas or muslin, 1 10X20 muslin, 1 roll of seamless paper.

Every book my libary had on photography.

Get a subscription to Rangefinder magazine for inspiration (it's free).

I know nothing about the photography biz, but I know a little about business in general. If your wife can find a solid gig (some sort of contract work or similar), even if they pay isn't as good, you'll be in better shape than by trying to find lots of individual customers. Or by specializing in something. I visited a photo studio once that specialized in photographing food (they were shooting a car for my company). They had ovens and kitchen stuff off to one side.

Lots of ideas for poses, etc HERE

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp

dpreview is my favorite review/comparison site, tons of information in an easily accessible format and it's fairly objective.

If I were to set up a small portrait photography business I would buy a used canon mk1 5d and a handful of used L lenses. A Nikon dslr is a great choice as well since the glass is plentiful and a little cheaper than Canon.

High quality lenses are the most important thing, there will always be a better body to buy but good glass really holds it's value and makes a huge difference in the end product.