What to buy??

[cbmazur]

Ok I am looking at getting some add-ons for my Kodak Z650. What are your suggestions and advice. All I have right now is The Z50 with the 45.5mm to 55mm lens adaptor/hood. And a 46" tripod thats too short for a 6'2" person. I am looking for a 60"+ tripod on some auction site now. But what else should I consider that wont break the bank. I want to really start getting some quality photos. I also plan on in about 12 months getting a digital SLR camera in the 6 - 8 MP range. Whats your advice/suggestions/ideas... Anything is better than nothing

[MarkR]

Ok I am looking at getting some add-ons for my Kodak Z650. What are your suggestions and advice. All I have right now is The Z50 with the 45.5mm to 55mm lens adaptor/hood. And a 46" tripod thats too short for a 6'2" person. I am looking for a 60"+ tripod on some auction site now. But what else should I consider that wont break the bank. I want to really start getting some quality photos. I also plan on in about 12 months getting a digital SLR camera in the 6 - 8 MP range. Whats your advice/suggestions/ideas... Anything is better than nothing

The camera you have is capable of producing some astounding and mind blowing photos. The only equipment you really need is a good eye and (maybe) a tripod.

Don't get caught up in the more-is-better fallacy. There are a lot of "photographers" who bemoan their lack of equipment, when they are really only lacking motivation and experience.

Remember, most of the pictures you shoot are going to be crap. This is true whether you have a $15 Holga or a $5000 Nikon kit. Toss out the bad ones and post the good ones here so we can see them and be jealous. :D

[ziggy53]

The Kodak Z650 is a very sweet P&S, but indoors, you are somewhat limited by the built-in flash. I recommend an external slave flash, since there is no flash connection on the camera.

You'll probably need a "digital" slave that doesn't fire on the pre-flash. Wein makes a great little digital slave unit that can fire either a hotshoe flash or PC flash:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=263024&is=REG&addedTroughType=search
http://www.adorama.com/WNHSD.html

Sunpak makes a dedicated, but fairly low powered, slave-flash that should also work:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=213230&is=REG&addedTroughType=search
http://www.adorama.com/SUDFK.html

ziggy53

[cbmazur]

The Kodak Z650 is a very sweet P&S, but indoors, you are somewhat limited by the built-in flash. I recommend an external slave flash, since there is no flash connection on the camera.

You'll probably need a "digital" slave that doesn't fire on the pre-flash. Wein makes a great little digital slave unit that can fire either a hotshoe flash or PC flash:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=263024&is=REG&addedTroughType=search
http://www.adorama.com/WNHSD.html

Sunpak makes a dedicated, but fairly low powered, slave-flash that should also work:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=213230&is=REG&addedTroughType=search
http://www.adorama.com/SUDFK.html

ziggy53

Now im a little confused on how that works? how would it attach to my camera. The only way i know how is duct tape...j/k and what triggers it? the flash ro is it "wired" to the camera? Im still new to this and will prolly have a million more questions here in the future..
Thanks for everything so far guys.

[ziggy53]

Now im a little confused on how that works? how would it attach to my camera. The only way i know how is duct tape...j/k and what triggers it? the flash ro is it "wired" to the camera? Im still new to this and will prolly have a million more questions here in the future..
Thanks for everything so far guys.

Red Green would be proud of your duct tape solution.

An optical "slave" is driven/triggered by another electronic flash, in this case, the Z650 onboard flash. The slave flash, or slave and flash, don't need to be physically connected, but a "flip" bracket is a very practical accessory.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=52728&is=REG&addedTroughType=search
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=443991&is=REG&addedTroughType=search
http://www.adorama.com/SB310635.html?searchinfo=flip%20bracket&item_no=3
http://www.adorama.com/OGFF.html?searchinfo=flip%20bracket&item_no=8


A potentially more photogenic use is having the slave unit off the camera and to one side or the other, and setting the on-camera flash to "Fill" mode. You can either use an assistant or a lightstand or even just hand-hold the off-camera flash for positioning.

You also have more opportunity for bounce flash, you can block your on-camera flash for a type of Rembrandt light, and even use an umbrella, so your lighting repertoire increases dramatically.

Check this site for some interesting ideas:

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html

... and finally our own Shay Stephens has a compatible application:

http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1166287

ziggy53