Does anyone know how to take great Pics with kit lens..

[miraroadvolfire]

I am nor sure but I have never found a thread helping people shoot great pics with the kits lens.

I have seen how to shoot smoke, with a better lens.

I have seen how to shoot sports, with a better lens.

I have seen how to shoot landscape, with a better lens.

It just seems everything I have read always comes down to buying this or that better then what came with the camera. Does anyone know how to take a portrait, landscape, sports etc with the kit lens I received with my Nikon D5000, Just wondering...

I didn't post this to sound mean I just can't seem to find anything that would help me unless I spend more money.

Thanks

[SusanH1970]

I use my kit lens for a lot of my portraits; not as often as my 50mm, though. Getting the lighting right for a good exposure is your best bet. If you'd like examples, I can show you. I've done a couple of landscapes too with my kit lens that are okay, but that's not my specialty. It's good to learn the equipment you have and how to use it to its full potential. Better lenses don't automatically equal better photographs.

[cleamon]

Originally Posted by miraroadvolfire

I am nor sure but I have never found a thread helping people shoot great pics with the kits lens.

I have seen how to shoot smoke, with a better lens.

I have seen how to shoot sports, with a better lens.

I have seen how to shoot landscape, with a better lens.

It just seems everything I have read always comes down to buying this or that better then what came with the camera. Does anyone know how to take a portrait, landscape, sports etc with the kit lens I received with my Nikon D5000, Just wondering...

I didn't post this to sound mean I just can't seem to find anything that would help me unless I spend more money.

Thanks

Learn to work with what you've got. Some of my best (my favorite) pictures were taken with a P&S camera. Others taken with my kit lens (17-85). I've just acquired a "better" lens, but it's no guarantee that it will result in better pictures -- that's up to me.

[Maggie_M]

What kit lens do you have?

I use my kit lens for 80% of my photos, all of these photos were taken with my Nikkor 18-105mm Kit Lens, which came with my Nikon D90. I think I get pretty good results.

Playing With Fast Shutter Speed On The Oregon Coast

There is a reason they call it Opal Creek!

[Maggie_M]

Originally Posted by cleamon

Learn to work with what you've got. Some of my best (my favorite) pictures were taken with a P&S camera. Others taken with my kit lens (17-85). I've just acquired a "better" lens, but it's no guarantee that it will result in better pictures -- that's up to me.

I agree with what Chuck said +10.

[OceanHorizons]

There are a couple "how I took it" threads that don't need extra gear:
Water Drop: I love this one:
Simple water droplet tutorial (No extra gear)

Smoke: Haven't tried this one yet:
Simple Smoke Photography Tutorial (No extra gear)

I got my first "new to me" dslr last fall, and I've learned alot from articles on this site about exposure, specificially:

Learning about Exposure – The Exposure Triangle

Moving Toward Manual Settings: Understanding Aperture (a beginner’s guide)

If you haven't read these articles, I highly recommend them!

[ravncat]

Kit lenses are fine, I`ve lots of great shots with my really old 28-80 , my older 18-70 and 70-300...

How to take great pictures with the kit lens? it depends on what your subject is, but in general the answer is simple - use good technique in good light. Don`t jab your shutter, hold the camera firmly and use your body for stability or a tripod.

What follows are some quick tips - there are other approaches that are also correct, the more you learn, the more you can break the simple guidelines below...

For landscapes - Use a low ISO and close the aperture of your lens down, to around 8 or 11, use a tripod. If you can`t use a tripod, make sure you have enough light to use a low ISO and be at f8 with a shutter speed that is faster than 1/(2xfocal length) (I said 2 times focal length here, because that covers your crop factor and a little more)

For portraits - make sure you`ve focused on the nearest eye. Make sure to use a shutter speed fast enough to stop motion - with a wider angle (like the kit 18-55) stop the lens down a little, because you`re unlikely to be able to really get a narrow depth of field, and the added sharpness. With a telephoto you can try to put your subject towards minimum focal distance and far away from your background to really separate from background, even with a smaller aperture like 5.6. Avoid direct flash - be careful of lighting, and watch out for back lighting.

For Sports and Action - fast shutter speeds, good focus and lots of light. Anticipation for what will happen next is key.

For Macro - a magnifying glass will do in a pinch, otherwise invest in extension tubes, closeup filter attachments, reversed lenses, macro lenses or a combination.

For Wildlife - Get as close as you can, good light, fast shutter speeds.

For Architecture - Avoid flash, Watch your verticals (try to keep your camera level. Use a tripod if you can, be careful of exposure from open windows, you`ll need to use your wider kit lens)


Even with other better lenses, your sense of style and composition, coupled with proper exposure, focus and enough shutter speed to freeze your action and/or a tripod to keep the camera stable will take you far. Good Technique is half the battle, Good Composition is the other.

(I thought I should toss a picture I shot with a pretty simple basic kit, d70 and a kit lens up - I have more, but very few on the net)

[RichardTaylor]

+ Ravncat

These were all taken with a kit lens - The Canon 17-85, which is generally regarded as not a good IQ lens, on a Canon 350D (Rebel XT)

All pics were taken during a vacation in 2006. I had my DSLR for one month, however have ownend SLRs. .
(1) Landscape.


(2) Candid (I was spotted) Street portrait.


(3) Landscape.


(4) Environmental portrait.


I havn't shot much sport with that lens as it is too short for the sport I do do shoot however I could see it being used if I was really close to the action - in good light..

Kit lenses make for a good general purpose/walk around/travel lenses - in good light, if not using a tripod.
My kit lens still sees a lot of use.

[Indigo November]

I think that someone already posted one or two of these, but it doesn't hurt to post them again!

Ultra Easy Freelensing (No extra gear)
Simple water droplet tutorial (No extra gear)
Simple Smoke Photography Tutorial (No extra gear)

[RichardTaylor]

@ Indigo
If memory serves me correct, not in a kit lens thread.
However sometimes I think I need to upgrade my memory.
+ smile

@miraroadvolfire

This may be helpful (where a similar question was asked)

Here is something I can't seem to find on this site.

What specifically were you having problems with and could post examples of problem photographs, along with Exif info, so we can analyse and make constructive suggestions to help improve your photography?