Jack M Posted July 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2006 Time for me to jump in with a question...Rec'd a Rebel XP as a work gift and trying to pimp it out. Pretty cool so far...providing I have it set on full auto. No jokes about the Rebel...as it's hard to compete with FREE. So...looking for ideas on best value lenses. Remember...I'm a total hacker newbie photographer, but it would be nice to take some "action" shots from a distance. Can I buy a non-Cannon lense for cheap? Are the cheap lenses THAT bad. Do I really need IS? Any links are appreciated..and I'm really going for the best "cheapest" lense. Also, I need some help with all the other stuff....filters, flash, etc. Just tell me what to buy and I'll figure out how to use it. K Hey, that's great. The Rebel is no slouch at all. I am a heeeeuge fan of IS. Nearly makes tripods obsolete. And the longer the lens, the more you need it. And even at shorter focal lengths, it gives you confidence to squeeze off quick impromptu shots in sub-ideal light. (although IS does nothing for subject movement) I'm loving my Canon 17-85mm IS USM as an everyday "walkaround" lens. It's the Donek Axxess of lenses! $500 isn't exactly cheap, but you can spend tons more than that on a lens. And it's worth it - way better than the $100 kit lens that probably came with your camera. But you might think it's a little short for action at a distance. For that you'd probably need something that goes up to 200 or 300mm. For third party lenses I wouldn't look much further than Sigma or Tamron. Definitely get a polarizer, check out the difference: without: www.cs.usm.maine.edu/~gmichaud/no_polar.JPG with: www.cs.usm.maine.edu/~gmichaud/yes_polar.JPG Flash - if you can't get by with the onboard flash, look to the Canon Speedlights, starting with the 400 series. Shop B&H (www.bhphotovideo.com) or ebay. For scads of info and discussion, check out the forums at www.dpreview.com If I want the camera to select exposure settings, I shoot in P mode rather than full auto, so I can control ISO, white balance, metering mode, exposure compensation, and focus points (usually center only). I'd recommend you get comfy with P mode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carvedog Posted July 13, 2006 Report Share Posted July 13, 2006 I'm loving my Canon 17-85mm IS USM as an everyday "walkaround" lens. It's the Donek Axxess of lenses! $500 isn't exactly cheap, but you can spend tons more than that on a lens. And it's worth it - way better than the $100 kit lens that probably came with your camera. But you might think it's a little short for action at a distance. For that you'd probably need something that goes up to 200 or 300mm. For third party lenses I wouldn't look much further than Sigma or Tamron. While empathisizing with the need to save money, I think you will be much happier in the long run with the better quality (Canon IS) lens. While the Sigma and Tamron both have higher quality lenses dsigned to compete with OEM lenses - they aren't. Besides the IS factor the Canon lenses (the better ones) have lower chromatic aberration(?) and better contrast. This will translate into brighter colors and sharper looking images. I am a Nikon guy, but the Canon lenses are fine. Get one. Shoot lots. Be happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gecko Posted July 13, 2006 Report Share Posted July 13, 2006 While empathisizing with the need to save money, I think you will be much happier in the long run with the better quality (Canon IS) lens. While the Sigma and Tamron both have higher quality lenses dsigned to compete with OEM lenses - they aren't. Besides the IS factor the Canon lenses (the better ones) have lower chromatic aberration(?) and better contrast. This will translate into brighter colors and sharper looking images. I am a Nikon guy, but the Canon lenses are fine. Get one. Shoot lots. Be happy. I would argue that except I don't have the evidence anymore. We took the time on the ship (like there was anything else to do out at sea) and compared the Sigma 12-24 against both Canon's 10-22 and the Nikon 12-24 (yes we used 2 different cameras my Nikon D70 and my buddy's Canon EOS 20D. What we found out surprised us, The Sigma was faster focusing (remember Nikon and Canon have completely different auto focusing) and brighter at any given F-stop. Now the Sigma is bigger, there's a whole lot bigger glass in the Sigma than either OEM lens but it's also half the cost (well it was where we bought them). Some other things we noticed were deeper colors and no vigneting at max width even with a filter, something that pissed us off about both the Nikon and the Canon lens. something to think about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donek Posted August 11, 2006 Report Share Posted August 11, 2006 Just had to post this one of Claire. Oh. By the Way that's Don McKee (He's on the Dewar's bottle). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted September 28, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2006 Sean, been meaning to say what a great shot that is. She's precious. Got a used 24-70L off ebay, it arrived yesterday - happy happy joy joy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin A. Posted October 31, 2006 Report Share Posted October 31, 2006 Nosing around at the local Ritz Camera shop, I happened upon a roll of KodaChrome 64 film. I was THRILLED, Kodak canned the 64 about a year ago and the 200 has become their standard. Now to find some stuff worthy of what could be the last roll of Kodachrome 64 I'll ever get my hands on. Anyone else still have a love affair with film cameras? I have a digital too, but film will always have a special place in my heart, since the MP Equivalent of a frame of KodaChrome is about 40MP and my Exlim is 6.0MP :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted February 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 http://i7.tinypic.com/2py12jp.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin A. Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Nice shot there jack. Was that done with a digital or was that film? It almost looks like an IR image. Very well done. Here's my Adams impression...not very good though. Click the image to view it at full size. http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=5587398 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted February 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 digital, Canon 30D with a polarizer. Orange filter effect applied in post. Is that the Moat range? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin A. Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Circular Polarizer or straight? I have a circular polarizer and truthfully, I'm not too happy with it. I just can't get it to cut the glare out of the sky to get the nice dark tones like you have in your shot of the tree. Not the moat range, it's Mount Washington Valley as viewed from a pulloff on Rt. 16 in Conway. That snow-capped mountain on the right of the image is Jefferson...I think. It's one of the presidentals anyway. Washington is the next one over, I was taking a series of shots to reconstruct so I didn't include washington in that one. It just happens to be my favorite of the bunch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted February 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Circular. I thought I had it aligned right, but it looks like it might have been tilted to the right a bit. Yeah, the Moats are the mountains you see off to the west of Conway. Pretty sure that's them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin A. Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Duh. I knew that, but I wasn't thinking. I haven't heard them referred to as the moat range for awhile now, but yeah, that's them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxguitarist Posted February 13, 2007 Report Share Posted February 13, 2007 i'm a film guy, my current main camera is a nikon FM2n, but i also have a canon TLb and a (now dead, yet have two lenses for) pentax ME super looking forward to spring to play with macro settings on the new camera Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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