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Lenses?
MainFragger
Registered Users Posts: 563 Major grins
Suppose you knew you had to balance out the cost of a pro camera and some lenses...would you go for the most expensive camera and cheapest lenses? Or cheapest available camera with most expensive lenses?
If you had a dream lens that is up to 3x zoom, a macro lens, and and a wideangle lens..what would they be, and how much is their avg. cost?
If you had to settle for something cheaper, what would be your best value for each?
I've been reading reviews, but I am curious to see the opinion of someone who has to use these constantly over the opinion of someone who reviews them for a few weeks.
MainFragger
If you had a dream lens that is up to 3x zoom, a macro lens, and and a wideangle lens..what would they be, and how much is their avg. cost?
If you had to settle for something cheaper, what would be your best value for each?
I've been reading reviews, but I am curious to see the opinion of someone who has to use these constantly over the opinion of someone who reviews them for a few weeks.
MainFragger
0
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nikon?
canon?
oly?
pentax?
konica minolta?
first choose your system. sometimes, lens choices dictate the system you'll want to settle in on.
as to your other question... i would invest more in glass. glass lives long, bodies come and go. and i know, having been through four upgrades in 2004 alone
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MainFragger
Is there anybody out there? I was hoping for a reply to the answer to your question.
MainFragger
A good L lens is for life. If worst comes to worst and you hit hard times they'll always be there, and they are a MUCH greater determinant of your image quality than the camera.
I really didn't know what everyone was on about until I bought my first "proper" lens. Have been broke ever since
And I will NEVER sell my EOS 30. Digital bodies come and go, and older models will become obsolete at an ever increasing rate as technology advances.
You can ALWAYS fall back on an old film camera and get superb shots, even if you can't keep up with buying bigger and bigger megapixel.
That would be my view...
I agree with Yvonne. Bodies come and go but good glass is forever
$10,000 to spend on a Canon system
If you dedicate $7500 to camera and lenses, buying a 20D would allow you to pick up some stellar glass. Like 4 or 5 nice L's
Hopefully Andy will chime in again. He's had most of these cameras and he definitely has some great lenses.
Steve
Olga
In the 35mm days, we used to refer to "glass" vs. "film holders" (bodies). That's somewhat less true today in the digital age, as the "film holders" contain the processors. But it's still true that you should choose glass over body.
That's not to say that you shouldn't pick them all up and play with them to make sure that the ergo's fit (the Nikon D100 is really what I wanted, but my hand hit controls everytime I picked it up. Conversely, the Canon 10D felt just right and the 20D feels even righter).
If you like Nikon glass, buy a Nikon body. If you like Canon glass, buy a Canon body. Everybody else is a distant third...including Contax and their $13000 300/2.8 lens.
Just my opinion and YMMV.
"The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."-Hunter S.Thompson
I gotta meet you someday, dood.
"The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."-Hunter S.Thompson
The problem is, I am an electro-junkie..and getting anything less than the 1Ds irks me a bit..but the price tag is enough to give me pause. I have often found my pattern of using electronics to be...get something above and beyond...learn how to use said device...figure out how to push its limits..start thinking toward what I want in the next device...
the MKII seems like an ok choice to fall back to. I'm just trying to decide how annoyed I'm going to be when I can't get something done on the MKII and realize that I could have gotten it done on the 1Ds.
At the same time. I also get annoyed when something is the only or best of its kind in a class...and I want it to do more....and more doesn't and won't exist. Sometimes I don't feel as bad if something can't be done, if I know that I have a camera that never should have been close to doing that to begin with.
I admit the SD card is probably not the best reason to stick with a certain camera, but when you've spent $250 to get a gig of memory, you kind of want to hold on to it. And since those cameras would come with memory that could be used simultaenously..well, that just makes it a really sweet deal. I just wonder which performs better, high speed CF cards, or high speed SD cards. I do notice that the CF cards do seem considerably cheaper than the SD cards.
I've been looking through the Canon catalog of lenses..and there is a lot of really good information in there. The only problem is...no MSRP prices. I'm gonna have to start hunting through local catalogs. I might see if I can find some decent used lenses too.
If you had to start with a basic kit, what three lenses would you use? I have notices some interesting lenses that were wide angle to telephoto lenses. Some that were just wide angle, and some that were just telephoto. What do you consider the basics?
MainFragger
You should realize that depending on what you're doing, the 1Ds mkII or the 1D mk II is a better camera. The 1D mk II is much better for bursts at 8.3fps compared to the 1Ds mk II at 4fps. Hell, even the 20D beats the 1Ds mk II with it's 5fps. So if you're doing a lot of action photography 1Ds isn't king of the hill. Only reason why Canon has 2 pro-level digital cameras is they couldn't get the speed and resolution in the same package.
When the cameras cost $4k or $8k I think $250 for memory isn't much of a concern. Especially once you start factoring the cost of lenses. I paid $550 for my 1 GB Memory Stick Pro and that was stolen, so personally I wouldn't feel too bad about having $250 in memory collecting dust. hehehe.
Anyway, CF rocks. It's larger form factor size means cheaper and faster. I used to be worried it'd be more fragile than the Memory Sticks I had before but so far they've been just as good to me.
Check out www.bhphotovideo.com good prices, great service. They have used lenses too.
All depends on what you want to shoot. Tell us what your photography interests are and we can help point you to a better short list.
Common high end sets that people get (only listing Canon lenses):
#1
16-35 f/2.8L or 17-40 f/4L
50 f/1.4 or 50 f/1.8
70-200 f/4L or 70-200 f/2.8L or 70-200 f/2.8L IS
#2
16-35 f/2.8L or 17-40 f/4L
24-70 f/2.8L
70-200 f/4L or 70-200 f/2.8L or 70-200 f/2.8L IS
#3
EF-S 10-22 (digital rebel or 20D only)
24-70 f/2.8L
70-200 f/4L or 70-200 f/2.8L or 70-200 f/2.8L IS
My old CO always screamed at us "use whats in your pockets...not what you think you'd like"
Truthfully, whatever... I like shooting macros, parties, nature, general stuff that just strikes me as neat, and I want to get into Model Photography. Sports I am not that into, but I'm sure a high speed lens would benefit me anyway. I am a bit spoiled with IS from my FZ10, but I might force myself to get a non-IS lens to develop my basic skills a little more naturally.
MainFragger
Would my basic lens choice match yours? I'm a grandmother who likes to take pictures. I also have not one artistic bone in my body. My goal is to minimize weight as I cannot handle it very well. I also tend to favour IS lenses because I don't have the steadiness of hand.
I have my favorite kit for when I travel by air vs. travel by car. For local outings it depends on where and what I plan on shooting and may go out with one lens or a whole bunch of lenses which I haul in a baby stroller.
So the basics have to start with what it is you usually shoot. What's your favorite focal length? What are the lighting conditions for when you shoot?
My basic needs may not match yours.
Olga
Nice to see you here Olga
Steve
I've been a grandmother a long time................I just want to see all those lenses in a baby stroller, sounds good to me (all those lenses, I mean:D ).
As I mention often, I have three lenses. No glass. I prefer camera to lenses. Will never afford glass, even if I took the great glass lens over the camera, I would get one, or less, glass lenses, for the price of the camera I want: Canon 20D.
Right now I have a Rebel. I have some kind of fantasy that if I had a 20D, I would have "shot" that gigantic bird in low light last night. Nevermind that we were both scared to death and acting accordingly. I just have a thing about cameras. Don't have a thing about lenses, wouldn't go through a bunch of either, don't have the money. I might want to, but I wouldn't. The fact that lenses hold their value on ebay might be a consideration. I don't think mine are going on ebay.
For the last two weeks, I have had my 28-135 IS on my camera. Don't seem to want to take it off. Used it for portraits and used it for landscapes several times. (Not several landscapes, the beach, the creek, a few downtown)
Shem Creek last night, same lens the whole night:
http://gingerSnap.smugmug.com/gallery/326777/1/12995113
ginger
Depending on what one calls pro, if one doesn't go at least SLR, changing lenses is not going to be a problem.
Ian
"The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."-Hunter S.Thompson
Now that would be a great place for shooting birds
We wouldn't want to be taking pics of each other. We may have some solid cameras and lenses, but they do have their limits :lol
Steve
thank dog. how 'bout we just head to a pub and drink?
"The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."-Hunter S.Thompson
I will admit that I try hard but like my Art Teacher once told my mom "she's such a good kid and tries so hard, but when you don't have it, you just don't have it."
Olga
This last year my most fun lens was the 100-400 and my most fun shots were of birds. The 20D helped me capture birds in flight; but the Rebel helped me figure out that I can hold and aim a 3 lb. lens.
http://yiayia.smugmug.com/Birds
But I also may stick a lens on my camera and not take it off for a while. Right now the favorite of the season is a 17-85 IS. I plan on taking most of my XMas pictures with that lens.
Olga
Buying a high end camera and lenses isn't quite like buying a computer, which will become obsolete within a year. Sure, camera bodies turn over with metronomous regularity, and I doubt we're close to the end of the cycle of fast advances... but the 20D, 1DmkII and 1DsmkII are more than enough camera for most users. I can't speak for Nikon, but I suspect that they have something close to the above as well.
You say that you have two concerns; the first is that you're a technofile, and don't want to spend $$ on something you'll soon outgrow, and that it bugs you to know that bigger and better is out there; the second is that you spent $250 on an SD card and don't want to waste the investment.
To the first, I'd say that it will take you years, and I do mean years, to get your skill level to the point where you've outgrown the Canon cameras listed above. Unless you have a specific need (e.g. fast frame advancement for sports photography, massive print needs) any of those camera bodies will give you more than you know what to do with. It's like buying a 1995 BMW M5 automobile, then trading up for a 2004 BMW M5. Sure, the 2004 is more advanced and feels more hip... but very few of us can take even the 1995 model to its limits. At some point, the purchase isn't about the car/camera anymore, it's about personal stuff. Similarly, you're highly unlikely to actually have needs or skills that outstrip the cameras I listed above.
Basically, I'm saying that common sense has a place in your decision to buy a camera body, rather than a perfectly understandable technofilish urge to have the latest/greatest.
To the second point, you mention that you have up to $10,000 to spend. And yet you're letting a paltry $250 investment guide your decision? Tail wagging the dog?
OK, rant over!
Personally, I'd say you should get a 20D, and then buy the absolute finest Canon glass you can. Your budget will allow for nice stuff. Since you can afford it, buy the fastest L lenses you can, and methodically cover the range from 16mm to either 200mm or 300mm. A fast 400mm might put you over budget. (I assume you know that in dSLR land, if you want the finest glass, you'll have to accept changing lenses and cleaning your sensor?)
You're in a great spot, man. Good luck with your purchases.
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
I got my 1DMkII and three lenses: 24-70/2.8L, 70-200/2.8L, 400/5.6L, and the 550EX flash that I just sold for the 580EX.
Buy the best and you only cry once!