Thanks again, you’ve helped me out a lot. I’m just doing this as a hobby and I love it, I really appreciate the time you put in to responding to my rookie questions.
I think I’ll hold off on a new lens until I go for a Speedlite 550 ex like you suggested. In the mean time, I’ll pick up that Gel sample pack you recommended in an earlier post. Thanks again!
yea. i enjoy using primes more because it forces me to move around. and the more i move around, the more creative i get with the angles. i would totally suggest the 28mm. i just got it the other day and i love it. its a lot wider than the 50mm but on my 350D body, its the most closest to the human peripheral that i have. its insanely inexpensive. i got it in store at samys(which i kinda hate now) for 100. kind of a rip but it was not a bad buy.
the low f/stop is very pleasing. but the AF is pretty bad in low light. i never really minded the focusing sound till i got a USM lens. that thing cranks so hard.
as far as a lens for under 200, thatll be tough to find. esp for a medium zoom.
i totally agree with the 28-135. thats a really nice walk around lens. good range and IS is good for snap shooting. its not the best for low light, but IS makes up for it a bit.
i have the 70-300mm. its ok… i wouldnt use it too much for everything. its great for wild life. you can get really good up close shots without scaring them away. but the non-USM non-IS is really tough to work with in medium to low light. and when you zoom all the way in, the images get kinda soft.
heres a couple examples
this one is with my non-USM/non-IS
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/214/474234567_b5ffaf1f2a.jpg
this is with my friends 70-300 USM IS
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/178/397222956_c23a9bdcf3.jpg
both are pretty up close. i think i might have been a little closer with the peacock at like… 120mm but the squirrel is at 300mm if i recall. i wouldnt recommend this lens to be honest. but if you want ill sell mine! haha.
why are you getting a 550? i just bought a 430 speedlite. its HUGE. and i rarely use it too. i think its plenty bright enough. i actually read some reviews that the 500 series have problems with under exposures. might want ot read into that. but you can get a 430 for almost half the price. :rolleyes:
oh, on top of the remark about the 550 flash, why dont you save the money from not buying a flash and add it to your 200 dollar budget and buy a better lens? youd have about 400-450 to spend on a lens. and with that price budget, you open a whole lot of options.
Well, like I said, I’m pretty amateur at this, so I was going by the advice that Rei gave me. I’m getting a 550 ex from ebay for just under 200, so its not too bad… right? I would just get a lens, but I actually shoot in low light situations quite a bit, so I’d like to have a flash.
Plus, its an easier purchase to justify to my wife than a $400 lens… :-/
that makes more sense. :wonder: a flash would greatly increase photo quality, i guess its not a bad decision. im assuming you have a kit lens? (18-55). that should be fine for the time being.
Two reasons to get the 550 over a 430.
To give a real world example, as I own both a 430 and a 580, when I’m shooting in direct sunlight, and want to make the sky blue and add a fill flash, I’m shooting F11/125. In order for the 430 to give me that exposure on the fill, I have to be standing 5 ft away or less, and with the 580, I have to be 8 ft away or less. A 550 will put you at about 7 1/2 ft away. Have you ever tried to do a group shot of 12 or more people from 5 ft away? Not happening. (At least without getting the fishbowl effect).
Another real world example. You have to take pictures of a band that is playing a club. There is a little shoe that comes with the 420, 430, 550, or 580. It has a threaded screw on the bottom. Thread that into a tripod, put it on slave, and set that up on stage. Set your 550 on master and shoot ttl.
Also, you are right on the money when you say that quality of light beats quality of lens when it comes to the final image.
This is the kit lens on the 40d? I’ve noticed a lot of people selling these and didn’t put 2 and 2 together until just now for some reason.
Derek Daniels
http://flickr.com/derekdaniels
i dont know if “the” kit lens, but it does get included in some packages with the 40D. ive also see a lot of the 17-85 IS being packaged with the 40Ds. which is a nice lens also.
Actually, I have two other Lenses besides the Canon 50mm F/1.8. None of them are kit lenses… They’re both Tamrons, but I can’t remember the exact types off the top of my head. They’re both pretty decent, but I will need to get a USM/IS lens in the near future.
nice
The initial lens that was supposed to come with the 40D is the EF-S 17-85 or the 18-55 (even listed in the manual). It was then later changed to the 28-135 when the official launch was announced. But as previously stated, I am seeing the 40D come with lenses other than the 28-135. I got the kit that came with the 28-135 lens. It’s a great walk-around lens. I’m still trying to nail this whole hyperfocal distance focusing thing with it though. Tried a few shots at Yosemite this past weekend, but only a few came out decent.
Today I was doing some product photography for a catalog, and obviously, I can’t post any of the photos that I took because of ethical reasons…
So, I threw my mug into the set-up and photographed that so that I could post something up here.
For those interested, I used two 580EXs, one 430EX, 28-105 lens, a photek light tent with built in side panel flash diffusers, a non-reflective black backdrop and a Canon digital rebel.
I set up one 580 on the right as a key light, and used an on camera 580 and the 430 on the left as fill lights. The reason that the color looks strange in the set-up photo is because the light tent side panels are color corrected to 6000k. The fluorescent lights outside of the tent are a 3000k color temp, but when they hit the tent panels, they get filtered to 6000k. So, everything inside the tent is 6000k. So I set my camera’s white balance to 6000k, and get correct color every time.
As long as I get the correct exposure settings before I click on that shutter button, I can place products in the tent and I don’t have to do ANY post production.
Question!
Can anyone recommend a good point-and-shoot camera? I need something small, because I’m going to a wedding in December and it needs to fit in a small clutch bag. 
If you want the best bargain, I would probably recommend a Canon SD (or IXUS in Europe). The latest model, SD1000, is even more compact than their other SD models. They all sport fairly large LCDs and have very good quality for casual picture taking(vacations, parties, etc). If on a budget, just purchase one of the older models, SD650 or 750 is fine too. Check out the dimensions, but you can pretty much conceal an SD camera in one hand. If you’re looking for something slightly bigger, look at the Canon Powershot A-series. The later models have become bulkier (A630) whereas the earlier ones are on the smaller size.
the SD series is nice from canon. i would recommend the SD630 or the SD700. the SD1000 might look nice an compact but its missing a few features that you should get like image stabilization. im not 100% about this.
SD1000
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/SD1000/SD1000A.HTM
SD750
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/SD750/SD750A.HTM
sony cybershots are awesome too. check those out as well. theyre really thin and a great size to have if youre concerned about space. but they do lack features.
How small is small?
Hands down, the point and shoot that most pros use, and the one that you will find tucked away to get the candid and spy shots is the Canon Powershot S5 IS. (…or the S2, S3, etc).
It is 4 inches wide, 3 inches tall, and 3 inches deep.
Quick bullet points.
The bad: No RAW shooting mode.
If that is to large, then you can go with a Canon A650IS. Similar to the S5, but smaller, and you loose the hotshoe and compatibility with EX flashes. Also, the lens is non usm, and is a 35-210 mm/F2.8 - F4.8. It is also 12 megapixels.
ReloadChapsticks’ style are so very unique… good one
Thanks! The ones people suggested so far seem really good. If anyone has anymore suggestions let me know, I’m all ears. :wgrin:
Thank you, I really appreciate that.
EDIT: I was looking at some point-and-shoot cameras today and I came across the Samsung NV3, Nikon Coolpix S51, and the Sony Cybershot DSCW55. Anyone care to share their opinions on those three compared to the Canons that were previously suggested? I’m really leaning towards the Canon because I’ve always loved their cameras but I just want to get more opinions and suggestions before I make my purchase. 
just a few since i last posted. most of them are with my new 28mm and there might be one or two with my 70-300mm. most of them are long exposures.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2038/2045904329_d23051af21.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2357/2045905147_39165affaa.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2407/2058707113_6381f90daf.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2352/2059492520_6fb5553871.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2375/2058899461_a519ca532e.jpg
ive never been a big fan of the coolpix line. not that im biased or anything. sony cybershots are pretty nice, they have plenty of features to tinker with. im not sure about the samsung.