Nice, a thread about photography. Well, I believe I was long overdue for SLR technology and decided to upgrade from point and shoot to the new Canon EOS 40D. The kit I bought comes with a EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Standard Zoom Lens. Obviously lenses are the key element for SLR cameras, so I would like a few lens recommendations/opinions for the following scenarios which I see myself in:
Landscaping/scenario (like blooper’s pictures)
Sports/motion involved subjects
Flowers/bugs/closeups
Weddings/parties
I’ve been reading up on lenses and I’m sort of understanding what all the numbers mean. I have a learning curve to overcome, but it’s about time I get into more serious photography. Photography classes, here I come.
Also, do any have a particular brand of choice for filters? UV, polarizing, etc.
What kind of budget are you working with? It would also be good to know which of those categories you listed you are most interested in so you can buy an expensive lens that excels in that particular category. That lens that came with your camera can really cover all those subjects if you want it to.
Also, where exactly are you planning on taking photo classes?
EDIT: I typed some more, but the stupid back button on my mouse took my back a page and deleted everything. I’ll just wait for your responses before I type anything else.
i used my kit lens(really lame lens) for most the photos i took. only exceptions are the up close pix i get which is with a 75-300mm cheapy lens that i got for about $200. other than that… so all together i spent less than a grand on it all. i think theres a 17-55 fixed f2.5 lens you can get for about 4-600 which is a way better lens that would take the place of a kit lens. of course its a little more expensive but the quality is well worth it.
filters… i use cheap sunpak brand from best buy… all my lens have UV filters and i have a polarizer for day time shots.
but for a good starting set of lenses… you want a nice wide lens… 17 is plenty wide… but if you want to get craazy, go look for a 10mm. for close up of bugs and stuff, youd want a good macro… which arent cheap… i dont know what else to tell you if i dont know your budget.
Well, with the price of the camera, I am looking to probably spend another 600-800 in gear/addons and wait a few months before I purchase anything else. The most important category would probably be weddings/parties, followed by flowers/closeups/macro shots, then sports/motion, and finally landscaping.
Like you said, I can most likely cover all those categories with the lens that comes with my camera, but I was reading how there are specific lenses just for sports, lenses for macros, and etc.
I was planning on taking a photography class at a local junior college just to learn the basics like composition and that stuff. I can always read online tutorials, but I like having an instructor now and then.
I was looking at some lenses and came across this one, which some have used it for portraits. Tell me what you think.
thats a great lens. take notice that its a fixed 50mm. meaning, you wont ever be able to zoom in or out. i have the lower version of that (the 1.8) i love that thing to death. but i really dont get to use it that much but for portraiture. for out doors i prefer some wide shots. thats why i use my kit alot, since its the only lens i have that will widen that much. i really should have gotten that 1.4 because the picture quality is really sharp on that lens. thats a great price too. the 1.8 is about 100 bux btw. you can decide whether the .4 stop is worth 200 bux. the build on that lens is pretty sturdy too. so yea.
so youre setting your budget at about… 12-1500? thats not bad. thats quite a lot actually. if youve never used an SLR, just get the kit… its a 100 dollar lens value that you can practice on and you can judge whether you want to continue upgrading. some people upgrade immediately tho.
If by chance you are taking classes at Santa Monica City College (or whatever it’s called) look out for an instructor named Steve Moulton. He’s awesome and a freakin’ genius when it comes to everything photo.
It’s up to you, but I also recommend that you spend some of that money on a film SLR and take film classes. Working in a darkroom is more fun that sitting in front of a computer will ever be and you will pick up some good habits that will stick around when you shoot digital.
I like to focus on photojournalism stuff and my lens of choice is a Canon 17-40 F4L. It’s sharp as hell and built like a tank. Also when I use it on a digital it’s a 28-70 because of the sensor crop factor. Another that may be appealing to you is it has a really close minimum focusing distance, nothing close to macro, but with cropping you can fake it. It’s about $670 new, but I got mine for $550 used. As for a telephoto, with that sort of budget there are several L’s within your reach whose only real difference is range and speed, so it all depends on how much you want to spend.
omni might know. I haven’t been there, but the Getty Museum might provide a nice view to take pictures at. I’ve been to the Griffith Observatory and the view there is pretty nice.
got a few shots of the full moon earlier… this is an unedited crop and still somewhat fuzzy, think i need to invest in some new glass as im capturing all my photographs through the 18-200mm zoom that came with my camera…:
also been trying to shoot my partner’s handmade jewelry some with the interest of selling it; can’t seem to get it to look as good as a lot of the other stuff on etsy.com and the like
probably can use a bettersuited lens and some good lightings but i would appreciate all sorts of tips and tricks to improve the overall quality of my shots… here’s just a sampling of some of the ones that look alright compared to the rest, unedited:
as for the shot of the moon, are you shooting with the aperture wide open or narrower? you should bump the fstop all the way up and shoot with a longer exposure. you can probably get a good shot of it with a remote on a tripod.
as for the jewelry, youre not using light boxes huh? also for these shots aside from using proper lighting, you should boost the aperture up a lot too. this will give the star burst affects, making the shines and gleams more intense. thats kind of some of the tricks that i know of. try em out and let us know how it goes.
Some film shots from my local “multi-cultural festival”. It seemed more like a multicultural flea market to me, but any chance I get to shoot at 1/15th of a second is good to me.
