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Photography Equipment & Software Thread

rundll

By rundll
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NecroMorrius

NecroMorrius

Posted
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I guess it depends how wide you want your widest focal length to be. I'd miss out on an awful lot of unobtrusive natural shots of people if I only had a 16-35 on when I went out. But you still have the 70-200 for that.

Nap, just go to a shop and try them all dude. It'll be fun whichever one you decide on 8)

Once you get the L bug you'll probably wind up buying all of them anyway so it's ONLY A MATTER OF TIME!

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TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap

TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap

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Once you get the L bug you'll probably wind up buying all of them anyway so it's ONLY A MATTER OF TIME!

This my biggest fear really. I already have some rather expensive hobbies, and this is something that might get out of hand as well. So far I've done pretty nicely, only bought a reasonably priced 70-300mm lens and got the 50mm lens. But the L, there lies madness. Especially as I'm still very much a beginner and can't really justify buying pro-stuff. On the other hand, if I bag something nice second hand, there'll be hardly any depreciation if I ever decide to sell it on again AND I'll be Full Frame prepared.

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Dapple

Dapple

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35*1.6 = 56 which is pretty close to the 'canonical' 50mm walk around lens so you may find it not as restrictive as you fear.

But surely the 50mm would then be an 80mm equivalent on a crop sensor so not really comparable?

I'm with fragglerock on this one, both in terms of taking a look at the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 (I've got one and it's a great lens, very well reviewed and so much cheaper than the branded alternatives) and not getting totally fixated on L lenses.

Would I love the Sony/Zeiss 24-70mm for my A700? Absolutely. Would I see £800 of difference in my photos compared to the Tamron? I doubt it.

EDIT: Nap - for what it's worth, my advice is to hold tight for a while and make sure that when you buy a new lens it's so it fills a genuine gap in your kit (either in terms of quality or range).

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TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap

TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap

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That Tamron looks pretty good for that money. Too bad it hasn't got IS, which is something I find pretty important.

Taking price, portability and performance into account and dropping the 'full frame'-requirement, the EF-S 17-55mm F/2.8 iS USM and the EF-S 15-85mm F/3.5-5.6 iS USM seem to be the best contenders as crop camera kitlens replacements when not going for the L experience.

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TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap

TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap

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Heh, it does tickle one's vanity, that's true.

However, I learned a wise lesson last Tuesday when I was out taking photos of the eclipse.

I was there, with my cheapish tripod, small camerabag, modest Canon EF 70-300mm F/4.0-5.6 IS USM and 550D crop body.

Some time later, a chap showed up with a huge kit from which he unpacked a 5D and a Canon EF 500mm F/4.0 L USM iS on a monopod, it looked huge and heavy and impressive.

I made some great pictures, he didn't. The difference? He was 10 minutes late and the sun was already going behind the clouds. All the gear in the world won't make a iota of difference if you can't get the first rule of photography right: being at the right place at the right time.

:)

tldr; I don't have any money

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TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap

TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap

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Well, I feel the combination of focal length I have now is pretty good - 18-55mm as allround walkaround, then a fast 50mm F/1.8 lens for portraits and other general use and a 70-300mm for telephoto. I don't think the gap between 55mm and 70mm is much of a problem, but it's a hole. The goal now is to replace the 18-55mm for something comparable in focal length, but with better image quality and preferably faster (that's why I now have my eye on the EF-S 17-55mm F/2.8 iS USM - the 15-85mm also looks good but only starts at F/4.0). It'd be nice if it were small enough so I can bring both the kitlens replacement and the 70-300mm in a small bag, having a good range in a small and portable package as I will mainly be photographing while 'doing' stuff rather than going out on phototrips on purpose.

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iwan_canobi

iwan_canobi

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That Tamron looks pretty good for that money. Too bad it hasn't got IS, which is something I find pretty important.

What body is it you have again? Image stabilisation on a wide angle lens is not really that much of a benefit when you can easily up the ISO without too many noise issues on newer bodies, and with f/2.8 compared to f/4 of the L glass, or what you're used to from the kit lens I dont think you would miss it that much!

I'm watching this closely though, as its a decision I will probably make at some point now that I'm on Canon, and dont really have a wideangle.

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iwan_canobi

iwan_canobi

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Are you using a crop body ? 24 isn't wide enough I find for wide angle work. Its brilliant for pretty much everything else. I then switch to the 10-22 which I handheld in bright light (had some great results in Santorini - gorgeous light) and use with a tripod elsewhere.

I've got a 40D now, so yeah, cropped. I have a 28mm old Pentax M42 mount lens that I've been using (along with the nifty fifty), I've actually found it quite a nice length to use! In saying that though I've not done any proper landscape stuff yet, so thats probably where it will fall down. Its a while off at the moment, camera isn't getting enough use to justify any purchases at the moment!

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NecroMorrius

NecroMorrius

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Heh, it does tickle one's vanity, that's true.

However, I learned a wise lesson last Tuesday when I was out taking photos of the eclipse.

I was there, with my cheapish tripod, small camerabag, modest Canon EF 70-300mm F/4.0-5.6 IS USM and 550D crop body.

Some time later, a chap showed up with a huge kit from which he unpacked a 5D and a Canon EF 500mm F/4.0 L USM iS on a monopod, it looked huge and heavy and impressive.

I made some great pictures, he didn't. The difference? He was 10 minutes late and the sun was already going behind the clouds. All the gear in the world won't make a iota of difference if you can't get the first rule of photography right: being at the right place at the right time.

:)

tldr; I don't have any money

You do realise L lenses have a third ring which adjusts the flow of time, right?

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Mike

Mike

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Does anyone here use film to take pictures?

I recently (just moments ago) dug out my Dads old SLR camera, it's the Canon EF-M with a 35-80mm lense on it.

Can anyone tell me about it? :D

I'd like to give taking some photos with an SLR a try, but can't due to the expense involved with just getting a camera to start out with, (can't really afford to get myself a new Digital SLR), so was thinking a film one might be nice to play around with and see how I go.

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scribble

scribble

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I love film. I've argued on here before for it as a better way to learn in some ways* I used to develop and print my own, and have done everything from basic Ilford HP5 to slide and infrared, and still have a black and white enlarger under the stairs I need to get back on the go. Personally, I'd get a roll or 2 of Ilford XP2 (which is black and white film developed in standard colour machines, so any print shop can do it in store) from a boots or Jessops.

As far as I remember, that camera isn't an EOS, so it will be manual focus only- depending on what you want to shoot this might be a problem!

*Its clearly not a better way to learn the technical side- but I do think its better for taking care and having an appreciation for the value of every shutter click.

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Mike

Mike

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I'm heading into town tomorrow, there's a camera shop so going to pop in, try get a new battery, as the one it has is dead and pick up some film. Was going to just get some Fugi film from boots, but might see what the camera shop has. Don't plan on spending all that much, just something to have a go with and see how I do to start with really.

The camera is manual focus only, but due to my happy outlook I shall see this as a chance to learn to manually focus a shot rather than any sort of major problem. I've been playing around with it in my room, seems easy ;) hehe

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scribble

scribble

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It is easy- and yeah, Fuji's standard colour film is decent and fairly forgiving. Only thing to be aware of is how the film is developed- its hard to find somewhere to do slide film or 'proper' black and white developing without doing it yourself or sending it off.

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Mike

Mike

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Posted

Picked up a new battery for a whole £10! The camera shop in town only had one type of film, Fuji Superia X-tra 400. Got that, but on my way through boots spotted they did a fair few different ones, so will go there in the future. Got home and it was cold and dark, brrrr.

Will probably take it out at the weekend.

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Zomby

Zomby

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Just purchased my first "proper" camera, got myself a Canon 20D really cheap. Slightly apprehensive about using it and composing pictures but I need to get some practise in before I go away to Norway/Sweden in the summer as I'm sick of taking shots on a compact and they end up looking terrible. Luckily I have a friend who is a pro so he's going to get me started, I have no prior knowledge other than point and click so it should be very interesting, seeing some of your photos on here is getting me excited, although I'm sure it'll be a while before I post anything decent :)

Are there any definitive websites for me to have a browse though that explain the basics (this thread is huge not reading it all!!) or is it a case of just getting out there?

Ta

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