What cameras and equipment are best for taking still photographs of storms?

[Melinda Deas]

I'm new to photography but I have been studying weather and admiring it's beauty since I was a little girl who had to be chased by my parents and carried back in the house kicking and screaming because I was outside in the middle of a storm trying to get a better look. I recently inherited a lot of my grandmother's professional camera equipment that she did wedding photography with. I'm going to list what I inherited here and I would appreciate any input on weather (mispelled for pun) it can be used for storm photography or not. I can not afford to go out and buy all new stuff so I just need a good place to start. I may try to sell what I can't use and use it to buy lenses for the camera I can use which I'm betting is the Olympus Evot E-500. Are any of these old camera lenses ok to use with the EVOLT if I got an adapter/converter or is that a waste? Looking at this supply list, what should be my next equipment purchase to save up for? Thank you so much for your help.

Kodak EasyShare DX6490 4.0mp with docking charging station (should I keep this or sell it?)
Olympus EVOLT E-500 with 2 Zuiko lens 14-45mm and 40-150mm (I'm liking this one best)
Minolta Maxxum 9000 AF
AF lens 35-70
wideangle hood 49mm
Minolta Maxxum AF 135 mm 1:2.8 (32) lens
Minolta polarizing filter 55n
Starblitz 3600 DFM TTL Dedicated AF Illuminator
Sunpak auto 422 D Thyristor
Soligor 1: 3.8 F=85-205mm No. 3795040 lens
Canon AE-1 Program 3832293 camera
Tou/Five Star MC Auto Zoom No. K852799 1: 3.5-4.8 35-75mm lens
CPC Phase 2 Opti-coated glass filter
Vivitar Filter
Hoya Filter for B&W films
Hoya Filter55 m/m Polarizing PL 8155 Lens Filter
Camera tripod

EVERYTHING is in LIKE NEW condition!

 

[Shane Reichert]

The lenses that mount on the Minolta should mount on current Sony Alpha series DSLRs. Sony bought Minolta awhile back and continue to use the alpha mount. As to what compatibility there will be with AF, exposure, etc I am not sure.

 

[Rob H]

This is a completely subjective question and there are many correct answers, but I'll try to give some helpful advice

I'm not familiar with most of your gear, so I don't know if you'd actually want to get rid of any of it. I would try to identify the types of pictures you want, and then go out and try to take them. You'll quickly learn what gear you (think) you need. I'd probably start with the Oly body and slap on the 14-45mm lens and see what you like/dislike. There's no sense in getting rid of a working body when you're not 100% sure of what you need.

The popular thing to do now for veteran chasers is to get close and shoot wide with a DSLR, and something in the 16-20mm equivalent range, but then you're talking at least $400 for the lens. I personally moved away from that style and got a fixed lens mirrorless 35mm equivalent because it filled *my* needs perfectly. Fast f2 lens that is sharp wide-open, 35mm is more of a documenting focal length, awesome ISO performance, and a small camera with no extra lenses so it's easy to travel with. A lot of people think I'm crazy, but it solved all of my problems, so your gear setup is definitely dependent on what's important to you.

My personal recommendation for anyone wanting to get into photography from scratch:
1. Get a tripod with a ball head. Low light is your worst enemy with storms, and unless you're shooting with an expensive full frame your ISO performance will be less than ideal - so exposure time will be your "sacrifice". The ball head is needed because you won't have time to level your pan/tilt tripod on a gravel road in 40mph inflow while a tornado is touching down! I wouldn't skimp here, because you'll use it forever, and cheap ones will break within a year. I personally love my Manfrotto, but it was ~$120.
2. Get a cheap DSLR. You don't need the fanciest thing out there. A used body will still take amazing pictures. Canon T2is are very popular, cheap, and have lots of functionality.
3. The 18-55 kit lens isn't horrible, but if you can afford it the 17-50 f2.8 Tamron is awesome.

 

[Melinda Deas]

That was awesome and much appreciated advice. The main thing I want to take pictures of is lightning. My first photography class is tuesday and I'm bringing all of my equipment so the teacher can tell me what is what.

 

[Marcus Diaz]

Pretty much echoing what Rob said. If you can find a used or even re-manufactured DSLR body, it'll really help out. Earlier this year I switched from a point-and-shoot 8MP Kodak Z812 (which was actually still nice), to a T2i. To me the Canon is very user friendly and takes solid good pics right out of the box. But in terms of storm photography...its all about practice. Find out what works and what doesn't on evenings you aren't doing much. Also, take multiple pics of the same thing at least 3 times or more. Its a lesson I've learned the hard way, but sometimes the shot is a little out of focus or blurred out. Its frustrating to see you screw up a great shot when you get home. Other than that its about working with your camera and the environment around you.

 

[Greg Campbell]

Agree that your Oly is the best chasing camera. The only real issue is that your lens is only 14mm at it's widest. With the 2x 4/3 'crop factor' you're looking at a ~28mm equivalent. This is 'sorta wide' but not really close to the ~20mm equivalent that is very useful when shooting storm structure and pretty skies. Oly's widest is a 12~50 lens - better, but probably not enough improvement to justify the $500 price!

The Maxxum and AE-1 are awesome film cameras, but unfortunately you don't have any exotic glass that would make them more practical or compelling. Again, a 17~20mm class wide angle lens would be handy. You might troll ebay, craigslist, etc. looking for a 3rd party (cheap, decent quality) lens (Tamron, Tokina, Vivitar, etc.) that will fit either camera. If you can find a superwide for cheap, one look through the big, bright 35mm viewfinder will make you want to drag the camera around with you at all times!

The Kodak has a surprisingly long telephoto lens which might actually come in handy for shooting distant ground activity. Other than that, it's not of much practical or monetary value. (It looks like $40 on Fleabay is about all you could hope for.) Bring it along as a backup, and give it some occasional use to see how it fares.

For now, I'd just go out and shoot the Oly. Learn how to 'drive the computer' and make it do what you want. Find a good book on photography (not photochop, HDR, or some other largely useless distraction) and learn what an f/ number is, and why it matters, etc. Once you're up to speed, the kit will allow you to make fine pictures!

For shooting lightning, the standard recipe is:
Tripod
Remote (cable) release.
ISO 100
Manual mode, or aperture priority auto-exposure.
Set aperture to f/8 to start.
Use manual focus, or figure out how to make the camera lock focus at infinity.
Compose a pretty scene, including landscape, clouds, etc.
Fire away! (Use continuous shooting and machine-gun the storm 'till you catch some bolts.)
Adjust shutter speed to properly expose the clouds and scenery.
Adjust aperture to compensate for the lightning's distance and brightness. ~f/4 or wider for more distant/dim lightning, and ~f/32 if the neighbor's tree is on fire!

Shoot RAW, if available, and learn how the basics of post-processing; including setting black and white points, cropping when necessary, and modest curve adjustments. With these simple functions, you can make some very nice images.

If, after shooting the E-500 for a while, you decide it's lacking some basic attribute, then - and only then! - you may seek a greater camera, Grasshopper.
(At the risk of pedantic lecture, let me opine that 'photography' is not about megapickles, lenses, software, or other items of gear-dweeb affection. 'Photography' is what happens behind the viewfinder when you attempt to record some aspect of your environment and experience. Keep that in mind - YOU are the agent of creation, not the camera. Work on 'seeing' the world around you, and translating what you see into a 2-dimensional view that the camera can record.)