Moving on Up
hi grinners,
I have only recently begun taking a more enthusiastic approach to photography. Realizing the learning curve was very steep, I reckoned going slow and learning was the best approach. So I bought a G10, the idea being I could better learn the basics of aperture, shutter speed, exposure, etc.
before making the quantum leap to the DSLR world. And while this process is still continuing, I am at times stretching the limits of this camera, and realize I am getting closer to the DSLR world than I would have thought.
I understand the principle of getting the best lenses one can afford, as opposed to buying an expensive body.
I like to shoot all different types of things. macro,birds/wildlife and landscapes .I am a non working photographer, just a hobbyist.
Through work I can get a 450d twin lens kit for about 900 oz$. It comes with the standard 18-55, and 55-250 lenses. This will continue the learning process nicely I think.
What general purpose lens would be a good addition?? Or would spending a lot of bucks on a lens be wasted on the 450 body??
Really folks, my head is in a thousand different worlds, and your thoughts and advice would be greatly and warmly received.
cheers:D
I have only recently begun taking a more enthusiastic approach to photography. Realizing the learning curve was very steep, I reckoned going slow and learning was the best approach. So I bought a G10, the idea being I could better learn the basics of aperture, shutter speed, exposure, etc.
before making the quantum leap to the DSLR world. And while this process is still continuing, I am at times stretching the limits of this camera, and realize I am getting closer to the DSLR world than I would have thought.
I understand the principle of getting the best lenses one can afford, as opposed to buying an expensive body.
I like to shoot all different types of things. macro,birds/wildlife and landscapes .I am a non working photographer, just a hobbyist.
Through work I can get a 450d twin lens kit for about 900 oz$. It comes with the standard 18-55, and 55-250 lenses. This will continue the learning process nicely I think.
What general purpose lens would be a good addition?? Or would spending a lot of bucks on a lens be wasted on the 450 body??
Really folks, my head is in a thousand different worlds, and your thoughts and advice would be greatly and warmly received.
cheers:D
don't get your knickers ina twist, it doesn't feel good and makes you walk funny
0
Comments
The Canon XSi/450D is a pretty good entry level camera. The kit lenses are fine to get you started but you may grow out of them.
I don't think you will find them too suitable for macro and birding in particular.
Yes, the XSi/450D would support better lenses and yes, you could see better results than with the kit lenses.
Lighting will make an even bigger impact so take that into consideration when possible. Macro and family events will both do much better with appropriate lighting.
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
Canon also makes a 50 macro but I am not sure how its quality is, also its 1:2 instead of 1:1 macro (aka the sigma can focus on things closer to the lens)
That said it'll be hard to get a better telephoto than the 55-250mm and stay under budget, but if you're pretty crafty about getting close the 55-250 will give you some good results, so yeah, I'd stick with that for now.
The 18-55 is a sharp little lens, and will give you good general purpose shooting capabilities while you start off, and for the money it's hard to beat.
If you want to get into macro (you should
For a really tight budget, you could go with a canon EF 50mm f1.8 and a Kenko extension tube set. It's not quite as handy a rig as a dedicated macro lens (you have to attach lens to tubes, then tubes to camera for macro, and remove tubes for normal shooting) but it's a cheap setup and it will give you some adaptability for minimum $, not to mention that a 50 f1.8, despite it's very cheap price, is a very high performing piece of glass in it's own right.
I would hesitate to recommend longer lenses (100 through 180mm) for a beginner to macro, since these generally are more expensive, and will more often require a sturdy tripod ($), or off camera flash ($) and more practice handholding. I'm not saying don't go for them if you're able to get them, they're all wicked lenses, but I've got a 150mm macro and I pretty much "need" my flash, flash bracket, and off camera shoe cord to use it (add $500). The shorter the macro lens, the easier to use just on its own.
over Nikon...is I can get a substantial staff discount at work and we don't carry Nikon products ( a bummer to be sure)
okay....more researching required:D
thanks again everyone
oh wait, wrong thread sorry...carry on
I have owned both the EF 50mm macro and the EF-S 60 mm macro. They are both fine, but the EF-S 60 is far better--a true 1:1 macro, quieter focus, better bokeh, and very, very sharp. The only advantages of the 50mm is that it is much cheaper and will work on a full-frame sensor camera if you eventually move up to one. They both make fine walk-around prime lenses, although they are a tad long on a crop sensor camera.
I have the 55-250mm. It's not in a league with the EF-S 60 in terms of sharpness, but it is a fine lens for many purposes, with a useful range and fairly good optics (as long as you don't shoot wide open). And it is very compact and light for a lens of that length.
My experience with the 18-55 kit lens was not good, but I had the older version and may have had a bad copy. Still, it is a sensible thing to use while you are learning about the camera and figuring out what kinds of lenses make sense for you to invest in. I eventually replaced it with a Tamron 28-75, which is a great lens for my uses but might not be right for some other people.
Good luck. Enjoy your new camera.
I kinda figgered the kit lenses wouldn't be so hot, but none the less good enough to continue the learning curve on. That ef-s60mm sounds like a sweet lens.:D
more googling required:D
http://www.dpreview.com/ DSLR reviews in particular, but they're slowly adding lenses
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Canon-Lenses/ All things Canon (or canon mount)
http://www.photozone.de/ Extensive lens reviews
http://www.slrgear.com More lens reviews, I like their testing method a bit less than photozone's, but they also collect pretty extensive user feedback on the lenses they haven't tested yet, which can be helpful.
http://www.cameralabs.com/ If you get tired of reading all you can, they have video tours of the cameras and lenses they have reviewed, which are pretty well done.
http://wolftep.smugmug.com/
information overload:D Almost a case of the more you know the less you know.
However it ends up, thanks for stopping to consider my plight
tim