Really, any camera that will allow you to set the aperture, shutter and focus manually will do. Oh, and RAW is also worthwhile...

How about waiting until you determine what school you'll transfer to, and then get suggestions from the teachers there?.

Perhaps they have a school camera brand, and if you get a compatible boidy, there will be lenses, flashes, etc. you can borrow..

BAK..

BAK wrote:.

How about waiting until you determine what school you'll transfer to,and then get suggestions from the teachers there?.

This is absolutely the best thing you can do..

Contact your school and find out if they have requirements. I've known of classes that require you to use an old manual film camera and a 50mm lens for the entire class. Better to make a phonecall or two than to waste money.'Be right, fearless, faithfull, and true to others...'T.S. Elliott..

Captainchair wrote:.

I'm just about done with my basic classes and I'll should betransferring to another college this winter in hopes to get aphotojournalism degree of some kind..

The other posters make some wise suggestions about checking to see what the teachers will prefer you have to shoot with. But there is no such thing as a "school camera," as one poster suggests. To be blunt, if a school wants to require a specific camera type is used it pretty much as to supply it..

There are several students who post/contribute to sportsshooter.com. I would suggest joining that, see if there are students from the school you plan to attend, and e-mail them for suggestions on everything from course selection and teacher to camera choices. (On the front page there's a link to some sort of boot camp the site is organizing in November. Even if you're not into sports, I'd suggest doing it because of it's multimedia aspects)..

The other important things to consider are internship opportunities in the area and job placement..

Also, don't presume you can't make a little side money while going through school. We employ correspondent photographers I tend to work with most of them and while a large percentage is mundane but necessary, there's always an opportunity for a portfolio shot and to hobnob with the staff photographers and editors..

I have a few questions for you:.

1. Do you have a film camera now?.

If so, whatever it is, Minolta, Pentax, Canon, Nikon, that's a good place to start with respect to digital camera body choices. With all the above (unless you're using really old Canon FD mount or Minolta XD mount film gear) you can use existing lenses with current digital camera bodies. Fact is, while you'll likely have to use your own gear in your first job, many mid-size newspapers supply their photographers with cameras. And you are indeed correct, there will be something different by the time you get done with school (more on this later)..

2. What kind of photography experience/eye do you have?.

You can learn structure and write wonderful stories. You can learn about composition and the types of shots that make up a compelling photo essay. But you've still got to go out and be able to "see" it..

3. What is it you want to do?.

Photojournalism is a catchall for everything from sports and chasing ambulances with a camera for accident photos to documentary photography. Most people think of the latter when they think photojournalism. The forum for that is fast disappearing and/or migrating to the web..

Now I want to drift back to the camera of the future at least in photojournalism. It takes moving pictures and sound. There's a magazine that just came out "HDVideoPro" That had a story talking with the photo editors at the Dallas Morning News, a pioneer in using still video grabs as photos..

Another article dealing with that can be found here: http://digitalcontentproducer.com/hdhdv/depth/photo_finish_2/.

Will this happen in the next few years? Tough to say. At our paper (a mid-sized Florida daily with 10 photographers and 2 photo editors) the end of the useful life cycle of the current crop of Nikon D2Hs and lenses is nearing. I'm fairly certain that we'll spend money on still cameras again but I'm also certain we'll be outfitting photographers with video cameras to shoot some video as well both for the web and a cable TV station that operates out of our building..

Within 10 years, I'm willing to bet that they'll all be shooting video with still grabs..

Even now, there's a heavy push to produce multimedia slide shows (the future of mainstream documentary photography if Agee and Evans were around today "Let us Now Praise Famous Men" would be multimedia, if it wasn't video). At our paper, it's a current job requirement..

So think about that, if you want to go into photojournalism. There is a future in the genre but it will be changing..

Sorry if I spent too much time up on a soap box. Hope some of it helps..

Though there's one other key thing. Learn about exposure and the zone system. Ideally the classic one but if not, here's another helpful link for the digital age..

Http://www.pbase.com/ole_thorsen/image/75120309.

'Nice pen, bet you write good stories with it.'..

To answer your questions.

1. I do have a 35mm film SLR. A Minolta X-370s and a couple lenses. I am very familiar with it, at my current school I use their darkroom to develop and print..

2. I rarely get to take many pictures just because of the expense of film but recently I've been taking my camera around just for some candid pictures of my friends and such, you can see them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/captainchairAgain none of these are serious for anything and were just taken for fun. I know I can improve greatly..

3. The type of photojournalism I would like to be apart of would have to be more along the lines of war time and disaster, I am not very interested in sports, although I'm sure I'll have to do it at one point or another..

And that's very interesting what you said about using video cameras and taking stills from it because I was JUST pondering about that last night.....

War and disaster, huh. A friend of mine from college did the war photographer thing back in the first gulf war. Though I have a feeling you mean more along the lines of documenting the rebuilding after war and disaster..

You don't have to wait to do that. I just saw some snapshots from an AmeriCorps volunteer who was working on rebuilding in the Gulf Coast in Mississippi. There's an opportunity there. Depending on how adventurous and resourceful you are, you could even find out who's doing repair and outreach work this summer, find out where the volunteers are from, and maybe line up their local newspapers for a few images. I can't say what they'd pay but if you can break even you'd get some great clips "(obviously you'd have to figure in film and processing costs and either scan yourself or skip expensive and useless prints and have the labs burn CDs.).

Just looked at your flickr page. You've got some nice stuff there, mixed in among the snapshots. And it's good that you've delved into the joys of developing and printing, that means you've learned about exposure. Though I suspect the lenses with the camera you have don't fit on the current Sony mount (but I bet you knew that) so you would be in the market for an entire digital setup..

The brand and level of camera is a tough call and it's up to you and your pocketbook. Most newspapers outfit with either Canon or Nikon the reasons behind it are a debate that fills the Canon-Nikon forums for hours. Standard PJ kit (newspaper supplied) tends to be two bodies, a 17-55 2.8 lens and a 70-200 2.8 lens, with pool equipment of longer focal length and shorter. As I said, chances are at your first job you'll be using your own equipment. The only advice I'll give is expect that your first digital body won't be your last but buy lenses with an idea that you'll use them for your career. (Don't hesitate to buy used but consider the source.

NEVER buy newspaper pool equipment. It gets abused, mostly because it's a tool and not jewelry. Independent pros who have to buy and maintain their own equipment treat their gear with more respect/care)..

It's too soon to expect video capture only. That's an expense your employer will shoulder. Expect to do multimedia slide shows immediately though. In fact, if you land a gig at a paper that isn't doing them regularly (virtually every paper/magazine has a web site) do them anyway..

Do peruse sportsshooter. It's sports themed but it's a forum where new and veteran photographers freely exchange ideas. I just popped over there and noticed that a photographer named Christine House uploaded a storefront church documentary piece she did. I also noticed that someone posted a head's up on a paid internship at the Columbus Dispatch..

Once again, hope that helped more than it put you to sleep..

'Nice pen, bet you write good stories with it.'..

Nikonparrothead wrote:.

Another article dealing with that can be found here:http://digitalcontentproducer.com/hdhdv/depth/photo_finish_2/.

Interesting article - thanks for posting..

Good Day,Roonal.

'Money doesn't buy happiness, but it makes for an extravagant depression' by golf tournament sportscaster..