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DSLR help please...what do I need?


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Posted
  • Location: Doddington, Kent
  • Weather Preferences: Storms, Tornadoes, Snow and Hot Sun
  • Location: Doddington, Kent

Soo, lucky girl here has just got her first DSLR for my Birthday on Friday!! After testing them out in the shop I went for the Canon 600D with the basic kit lens (18-55mm IS) I've drawn up a little wish list of lenses which I would like... 50mm 1.4 and 75-300mm for a start. I'd love a Macro too but I think that one might have to wait until next year as they're super expensive so I'll wait, save and by then I should be confident with my baby.

 

I need a little help on what else I'll need. Has anyone got any good suggestions of things I could get? I've been looking at tripods but I have no idea what to get. I'm only a shorty 5"1. Will this make a difference when looking for them? Do I need lens hoods? Filters? I don't want to buy a ton of stuff that I wont really need.

 

Any help/answers greatly appreciated x

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Posted
  • Location: Eastbourne, East Sussex (work in Mid Sussex)
  • Location: Eastbourne, East Sussex (work in Mid Sussex)

Any help/answers greatly appreciated x

 

Hi Tilly!

 

Good call on the camera as it will do pretty much what you want for a while and you can add a ton of accessories. I'd go for the 75-300mm lens next and you don't have to buy an expensive Canon one. I bought a Tamron one for reasonable money, I think Sigma make one for the Canon too.

 

First thing if you haven't got one is a good sized kit bag for all the stuff with a nice padded area for your lenses and other gear. I'd also recommend you play around with some filters, maybe a UV one and I use a polarizing circular filter quite often to take sky and water shots. You could also get yourself one of those lens puffers and maybe even an IR remote control? I use mine for manual stuff with a tripod trying to get lightning or moving water shots as I can fire the camera off without shaking it by using the button.

 

Tripods? Not sure what to recommend as I went on lightness, quality and price. The one I have folds right down to about 30cm long but expands back out to full height - I'm sure you can adjust most models legs to suit your height and if you go to a good photographic shop they will let you try a few out. Get a good balance between lightness (you may have to carry it a long way) and rigidity.

 

I'd highly recommend a trip to my local outlet, it's a bit of a trek for you (a short walk for me!), but they have a huge shop crammed with absolutely everything!

 

http://www.parkcameras.com

 

So let's see you put some images up here soon please!

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Posted
  • Location: Doddington, Kent
  • Weather Preferences: Storms, Tornadoes, Snow and Hot Sun
  • Location: Doddington, Kent

Thank you Coast!

 

Bag! Good thinking :) I'll have a look for one in a sec and for all the other bits you suggested. I found a remote for cheap and I'll have a looksee for the lenses. I'm ridiculously excited to set it up and go out with it. Im not allowed it until Friday though *sobs* Your local Camera Shop looks fab, it is rather a bit of a trek for me though lol.

 

I've just been looking at the 75-300mm lenses and now I'm confused as there seem to be different types? :/ and just to make things even more confuzzling there is a 55-250mm IS lens which upon reading people say its a way better lens than the 75-300? What do you think about that? sorry I feel like such a pain!

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Posted
  • Location: Eastbourne, East Sussex (work in Mid Sussex)
  • Location: Eastbourne, East Sussex (work in Mid Sussex)

I'm ridiculously excited to set it up and go out with it. 

 

It doesn't show!!! :lol: 

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Posted
  • Location: Eastbourne, East Sussex (work in Mid Sussex)
  • Location: Eastbourne, East Sussex (work in Mid Sussex)

I've just been looking at the 75-300mm lenses and now I'm confused as there seem to be different types? :/ and just to make things even more confuzzling there is a 55-250mm IS lens which upon reading people say its a way better lens than the 75-300? What do you think about that? sorry I feel like such a pain!

 

No worries, I bought Tamron on cost as I don't use it all the time. Try reading up here:

 

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120111200449AAOALzY

Edited by Coast
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Sigma make the best value for money lenses for Canon I think, so worth looking at them. I'd also consider what you do you really want out of your camera? Figure that out then you can narrow things down. There are so many options and possibilities for a DSLR that you be overwhelmed. Too many lenses complicates things and after the initial novelty of being able to everything wears off it can become tiresome and takes away from the enjoyment of photography. I'd keep it simple, a good quality ~28-75mm (35mm equivalent) lens for example should allow to do pretty much all you'd want. Then if you want a dedicated lens for telephoto/macro photography then get a quality lens of that type. I personally wouldn't go beyond that.

 

I find keeping it simple increases the enjoyment and fun.

 

Of course it's up to you but that's my two pennies.

Edited by Bobby
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Posted
  • Location: North York Moors
  • Location: North York Moors

IS refers to Image stabilisation built into the lens, it is effective on that 55-250, I would go for that.The 50mm (or consider 35mm) prime is nice for portraits in the loose sense - not just people but pets or other medium sized object studies, because you can more easily isolate messy backgrounds by blurring them, and they perform well in low light like indoors without flash.There is a relatively inexpensive one from Canon too but a 50mm should not be high priority.To be honest you could get by fine with the 18-55 for now and get to know the camera and how to get the best from it.Since you have a larger sensor you will find a crop to a quarter of the frame will still give a decent image and the zoom is not as essential as you imagine.It is something of a hassle carrying it about and swapping - with attendant risk of dust.Be prepared for a higher fail rate than with a compact as you are more in control so it is easy to mess up!Try to get to grips with using RAW mode, it really is the best way to get good results.The DPP software for RAW conversion - which comes with the camera (?) - is not bad but Lightroom is about the best and not expensive compared to Photoshop.

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Posted
  • Location: Doddington, Kent
  • Weather Preferences: Storms, Tornadoes, Snow and Hot Sun
  • Location: Doddington, Kent

arghhh just typed out a big long reply and closed the window by mistake!!

 

Thank you guys, help is much appreciated.

 

I really want a Prime Lens for pics of the kids. My step mum has a Nikon and mainly uses her prime lens over anything else she has. Ive taken pics with it and they are FAB. So this is high on my wish list. I like taking pics of landscapes, flowers, wildlife/birds, the weather. A bit of everything really. I really love close up Macro shots of flowers, insects and snowflakes. I think I will definately need a few lenses to cover all this. Also I really want to do some good night photography, stars, moon, lightning too. I have so many ideas in my head.

 

I've gone for the IS lenses as I dont have the steadiest hands in the world so I think it will help. Also I've read about shooting in RAW mode which I willl definately do. I've got photoshop (very limited knowledge on how to use it) but I  can get lightroom too so that should be no problem.

 

My current camera which I've had for a few years now is a Lumix TZ10. It has manual mode which I've been playing around with for a while to get used to the different settings and what they do. I still find it very limiting in what it can do though so it made sense to step into DSLR.

 

Apologies for choppy reply, I'm being assaulted by 2 children as I type lol

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Posted
  • Location: Eastbourne, East Sussex (work in Mid Sussex)
  • Location: Eastbourne, East Sussex (work in Mid Sussex)

I really want a Prime Lens for pics of the kids. My step mum has a Nikon and mainly uses her prime lens over anything else she has. Ive taken pics with it and they are FAB. So this is high on my wish list. I like taking pics of landscapes, flowers, wildlife/birds, the weather. 

 

You've really got that in the kit 18-55mm IS lens, it should see you good for 85% of what you are looking to do :good: 

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Posted
  • Location: NE of Kendal 215m asl
  • Location: NE of Kendal 215m asl

I have the 600D, great camera, always been a big fan of the swivel screens on canon cameras, great for those low down awkward shots. I'd say a 50mm prime is an essential lens, I've not tried the f1.4 so can't compare to the f1.8 I have but for the price difference it's well worth looking at the 1.8 and put the extra money towards another lens. For macro look at extension tubes, very cheap at around £60 and fit onto any lens, work really well on the 50mm and give a really interesting perspective when coupled with my sigma 10-20mm wide angle but only works at the 20mm end.

 

I was quite overwhelmed by the choice of tripods on the market, ended up going for a pro travel tripod from Hama. Works great not too heavy but still sturdy. For filters it depends on what kind of photography you are going for, I quite often use a circular polarizer, neutral density and graduated neutral density. Good luck and don't rush into buying things as it's not a cheap hobby!

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Posted
  • Location: Doddington, Kent
  • Weather Preferences: Storms, Tornadoes, Snow and Hot Sun
  • Location: Doddington, Kent

Thank you MS :)

 

I've only ever tried the 50mm 1.8 too. I'm looking at the 1.4 mainly from the sample pictures I've seen. They look sharper than the 1.8 & the 1.4 seems to have nicer colours which really appealed to me. Money is an issue here though and could be better spent on something else like you say. I know what I'm like though, I'll buy the 1.8 and then I wish I'd got the other haha. I'm going to take my time in deciding though, there isn't any real rush...I guess haha. If only money was no object I'd have one of everything. After you mentioned your Sigma 10-20mm it had me searching on those...another to add to the ever growing list. Anyway, I'm even having trouble choosing what bag to put my kit in at the moment, can't find anything remotely girly, pink or sparkly for under £100 ( First World problems ) so I think its probably best I have a break and come back to the searching another day. Ooh I had a look at the Hama tripods though and I think I shall go for one of those too so that was really helpful thank you :)

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Posted
  • Location: Northwood. NW London. 68m asl
  • Location: Northwood. NW London. 68m asl

Great choice of camera Tilly.

 

Don't rule out shopping elsewhere for good deals on accessories though. I bought my  fully extendable Hamma tripod in Cash Convertors for £15 including the carry case, a set of 3 filters on E-Bay costing under £10 and a remote trigger release ( cabled ) for less than that, again on E-Bay. I also bought a perfectly useable bag that has 4 seperate compartments for £7.50 at a local market stall.

 

It holds all 4 of my cameras, filters and various other bits and bobs, and I simply wrap the expensive stuff in bubble wrap if I am planning to go out and about. In a specialist camera shop I would have spent many times more than that with no obvious gain. We look forward to seeing your weather photo's.

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Posted
  • Location: North York Moors
  • Location: North York Moors

I find that if i leave the local area I end up taking postcard/tourist shots but near home I can catch those special moments when lighting or weather make the mundane scene special.
Which camera gear you have makes little difference within reason.


Posted Image

 

 

Posted Image
Over the Hill, on Flickr

 

Posted Image
The Spectators on Flickr

 

Edited by 4wd
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Posted
  • Location: Doddington, Kent
  • Weather Preferences: Storms, Tornadoes, Snow and Hot Sun
  • Location: Doddington, Kent

Thank you :)

 

BB - I got myself some bits yesterday from Ebay. I got filters, wireless trigger remote, cleaning kit, screen protectors and something else but cant think what. I'm looking at a tripod for cheap on there too. I've been looking at second hand lenses but they still sell for quite a hefty price and you just never know if they've been dropped or are all working ok. I'd like to think I'm quite good at shopping around and hunting for a good bargain. Im such a magpie though so get distracted easily with things like bags lol.

 

Thanks Triple :) I've ordered a book with tips and tricks for the 600D which will come in handy. I've been watching tons of tutorials and taking notes aswell to help me out. 1 day to go and I can start practising hooray!!

 

 

4wd - Wow they are BEAUTIFUL shots. I'd be incredibly happy if I took pics like that :)

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Posted
  • Location: Eastbourne, East Sussex (work in Mid Sussex)
  • Location: Eastbourne, East Sussex (work in Mid Sussex)

I got myself some bits yesterday from Ebay. I got filters, wireless trigger remote, cleaning kit, screen protectors and something else but cant think what. I'm looking at a tripod for cheap on there too. I've been looking at second hand lenses but they still sell for quite a hefty price and you just never know if they've been dropped or are all working ok. I'd like to think I'm quite good at shopping around and hunting for a good bargain. Im such a magpie though so get distracted easily with things like bags lol.

 

You must be a nightmare with a PayPal account!! :lol: 

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Posted
  • Location: Doddington, Kent
  • Weather Preferences: Storms, Tornadoes, Snow and Hot Sun
  • Location: Doddington, Kent

You must be a nightmare with a PayPal account!! Posted Image

 

Lol! Im actually very good Posted Image

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Posted
  • Location: Doddington, Kent
  • Weather Preferences: Storms, Tornadoes, Snow and Hot Sun
  • Location: Doddington, Kent

woohoo the camera is AMAZING. Its going to take me a heck of a time to work out what Im doing but I love it. I've only been in the garden with it so far and indoors taking random pics of household objects..Im still in my jamas lol. Unbeknown to me I had a camera bag as a suprise and its FAB! I also got a tripod so for now I think I'm ready to go. Here is a little shot I took of a Bee collecting pollen. It was one of the first I took and I have no idea what I'm doing really but I thought it was quite cool.

 

post-16115-0-71537300-1376050883_thumb.j

 

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Posted
  • Location: Eastbourne, East Sussex (work in Mid Sussex)
  • Location: Eastbourne, East Sussex (work in Mid Sussex)

Its going to take me a heck of a time to work out what Im doing but I love it. 

 

Stick to the 'Auto' and 'P' settings for a while and check the aperture numbers, speeds etc. that those functions create (and show when you look back at the picture) when automatically set for each photo you take. Then you can venture into the sports modes, landscape, close up stuff etc and finally into 'Manual' mode to change all the settings to suit the scene or object to your taste or conditions. It won't take long to get used to what works and how to adjust things and you'll be cranking out your first exhibition in no time! 

 

Here's a guide, sorry if I'm telling you stuff you have already covered!

 

http://digital-photography-school.com/21-settings-techniques-and-rules-all-new-camera-owners-should-know

Edited by Coast
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Posted
  • Location: Hayward’s Heath - home, Brighton/East Grinstead - work.
  • Weather Preferences: Snow and storms
  • Location: Hayward’s Heath - home, Brighton/East Grinstead - work.

Hi Tilly,

 

When I got my 550D I booked on a course and found out there is nothing better to get used to the camera than a hands on course. I went to Woods Mill in Henfield with this chap and I am also booked on another this Autumn at Arundel wild fowl trust.

 

http://www.davidplummerimages.co.uk/index.html

 

Would recommend.

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Posted
  • Location: Doddington, Kent
  • Weather Preferences: Storms, Tornadoes, Snow and Hot Sun
  • Location: Doddington, Kent

Thanks guys.

I'm going to do lots of free photography workshops that thy run around kent and I'm also going to Camera club when it starts up again in a couple of weeks so that should help ALOT lol

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Posted
  • Location: Eastbourne, East Sussex (work in Mid Sussex)
  • Location: Eastbourne, East Sussex (work in Mid Sussex)

Thanks guys.

I'm going to do lots of free photography workshops that thy run around kent and I'm also going to Camera club when it starts up again in a couple of weeks so that should help ALOT lol

 

Enjoy those and let's see some of the results here Posted Image

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Posted
  • Location: Doddington, Kent
  • Weather Preferences: Storms, Tornadoes, Snow and Hot Sun
  • Location: Doddington, Kent

Really liking your enthusiasm Tilly.......it's an addictive hobby !!

 :) It is!

 

I went to a Nature Reserve yesterday evening. I saw so many birds and guess what... not enough zoom! I'm off to get another lens in a bit. Still not decided which so I'll try them out in the shop.

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  • 2 months later...
Posted
  • Location: Louth, Lincolnshire
  • Weather Preferences: Misty Autumn days and foggy nights
  • Location: Louth, Lincolnshire

Hi Tilly,

 

Came to this thread late - did you pick up a longer zoom for wildlife? 

 

One of the things not mentioned so far is consider second-hand lenses (if you can get them from a reputable source!).  I do a lot of wildflower photography and picked up my Tamron 90mm macro for £220 second hand - I prefer it to the Nikon 85mm equivalent and it's served me well for 3 years in some pretty inhospitable places.

 

London Camera Exchange I find is a good place to source second hand equipment, though these days I tend to use Ffords (search them on google).

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Posted
  • Location: Kingdom of Fife: 56.2º N, 3.2º W
  • Location: Kingdom of Fife: 56.2º N, 3.2º W

1st thing on the shopping list? Spare batteries! Nothing worse than being out in the wilds and no backup.

 

With regard to lenses, it depends what you want to do. Uber fast 500mm telephotos will get the distant shots but they come at a price.

 

A lens I really like is a Sigma prime, 20mm 1:1.8. It has a good wide angle (both ends of a rainbow) and at its limit of f1.8 it's reasonably fast. I bought it mainly for nightime photography but it doubles well as a low light portrait lens.

 

For a tripod I'd get two, the heaviest and most stable that you can reasonably lug up two flights of stairs and either a lightweight monopod or a simple pocket sized beanbag and use a chair, rock, fencepost or car bonnet to sit it on. A cable release is also essential if you are going for long (1/30 to 30 second exposure). My cable release is a long one (5m) so  that I can sit inside the car on dark chilly nights with the camera set up on a tripod outside. For carting the tripod about I use a foldable picnic chair carry bag - does the job!

 

Also, it's worth enroling at a local college for a non vocational session of digital photography so you can learn what all the buttons and gismos do and how they affect the finished results.

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