Newbie Needing info on a Canon Lens
Jan 5, 2015 22:20:39 #
lighthouse wrote:
Nancy, there is a wealth of information on the net that can help you as you start out, (including UHH).
One site that I often recommend for its simplicity in keeping things understandable but not overly technical is
http://digital-photography-school.com/digital-photography-tips-for-beginners/
One site that I often recommend for its simplicity in keeping things understandable but not overly technical is
http://digital-photography-school.com/digital-photography-tips-for-beginners/
I think I had best get there right now lol I really mean that!!! Thanks so much !! Thats what I need, something understandable so that when I ask a question I can at least understand a wee bit of the answer! :)
Jan 5, 2015 22:21:49 #
Well it's a good thing you found this site. There are very friendly helpful people that inhabit this place. Stick with us and we'll get you through the rough days.
Walt
Walt
Jan 5, 2015 22:25:42 #
Whuff wrote:
This is correct and a good tripod is very good advice. With that said a 55-250mm or a 70-300mm can easily be used handheld as long as your shutter speed is at minimum set to a reciprocal of your focal length. Example: if your focal length is set at 250mm you want at a minimum a shutter speed of 1/250, focal length 200mm - minimum of 1/200. This rule of thumb is necessary to eliminate movement due to camera shake.
Walt
Walt
I am going to study focal length so that I can understand and this will help me tons once I do this! Is also good to know that if I get a lens these sizes that it can also be easily held as well Thanks!!
Jan 5, 2015 22:58:55 #
FredB wrote:
1) when there are two numbers in a lens designatio... (show quote)
WOW!! This my friend is a wonderful page for me!!!! So nice of you to explain in such detail!!! I will be keeping this close by... and re-reading it many times...Oh how I love plain english!!!! Thank you!! :)
Jan 5, 2015 23:20:09 #
Whuff wrote:
Well it's a good thing you found this site. There are very friendly helpful people that inhabit this place. Stick with us and we'll get you through the rough days.
Walt
Walt
Thats sweet and I am not going anywhere... Your all stuck with me now Thank you so much!!!! :)
Jan 5, 2015 23:21:18 #
lighthouse
Loc: No Fixed Abode
3Nancy3 wrote:
WOW!! This my friend is a wonderful page for me!!!! So nice of you to explain in such detail!!! I will be keeping this close by... and re-reading it many times...Oh how I love plain english!!!! Thank you!! :)
Yes, Fred did a wonderful job. This is exactly what i was hoping someone would say, something along these lines. Couple of small errors but nothing significant. Fred has saved me a whole heap of typing. Thank you Fred.
Errors?
I think you will find those endzone lenses are 400/2.8 and the new 200/400/560 lenses, and if I had a 1200mm for sale for $10K "buy it now" - I think it would last about 2.3 seconds on ebay!
At $100K it might even last 5 minutes!!!
Jan 5, 2015 23:30:34 #
I agree on the Tamron 16-300, it has wide angle and zoom so you are getting a lens that can shoot closeup as well as zoom which is a money saver in the long run.
Jan 6, 2015 06:04:53 #
Welcome, I have the canon 55-250mm it is a great lens. Watch YouTube videos, they explain a lot and some are even funny. A good book is Tony Northrup's Hoe to Create Stunning Digital Photography. If you get the eBook version, it will have video links to watch.
Jan 6, 2015 06:51:15 #
Donkas1946
Loc: Southern NH
Can you maybe give us an idea as to how far away the things are that you want to photograph? You said your current lens won't reach the things you want. That will give us idea as to what to recommend and the money you may have to spend to accomplish that.
3Nancy3 wrote:
Oh Thank you! I can research them!
Jan 6, 2015 07:13:51 #
3Nancy3 wrote:
Hi there.... New to the site and trying to find m... (show quote)
Hi Nancy welcome to the site. Questions need to be detailed or someone will jump on you! For your health - stay clear of Guns, Religion and Politics!:shock:
I used a Canon 450D (Rebel XSi) with the 18 ~ 55mm non IS lens and a 18 ~ 200mm Tamron non IS lens for some years.
The Tamron lens stayed on the camera for most of the time as a 'walk-a-bout' lens.
Now my wife has commandeered that camera and I have a Canon 700D (Rebel T5i) which came with a 18 ~ 55mm IS STM lens which has very good reviews and a Tamron 18 ~ 270mm IS lens.
I am very pleased with both lens and would always go for the IS. The STM lens is virtually silent in focusing.
So I now have a light camera bag for taking the camera with canon lens - when I want to travel light - and a larger camera bag for the heavier combination (which you certainly notice after the basic set).
You could therefore add a longer lens to the one you have but which would require changing each time to got to the minimum or maximum range - or if you don't mind the weight - purchase one lens to cover the range of the two lens together and which could be left on the camera as a standard lens.
Many on here will suggest spending thousands of $£ on a top quality lens but you will have to ask yourself whether it is worth it and whether you would really notice that much difference. There are plenty of reviews and comparisons by photographic magazine if you ask Google. DPReview does some good reviews.
Also - through Google and on some of the reviews - you will find illustrations of different focal lens lens. A crop sensor - such as your camera and mine - magnifies the effective focal length of the lens so that a 270mm lens is equivalent to a 432mm lens on a full frame camera. As some of the review pictures will show - at 270mm you can read the time on that church clock that is a spec in the distance at 18mm.
For myself - I can only say that I bought the Tamron off a neighbor - a semiprofessional photographer and member of the Royal Photographic Society who won many competitions with it and has just purchased the mark 2 version of the lens which is lighter and more compact. Before owning it I won many competitions with the basic 18 ~ 200mm Tamron and have continued with the new one so it can't be that bad and is a very affordable price. :thumbup:
The bottom line is always that spending thousands of $£ on equipment does not make you a good photographer and certainly my main rival in the competitions is a retired professional photographer with equipment many times the price of mine. :? So I would suggest getting a good, reasonably priced lens with good reviews, and learn to use your equipment thoroughly rather that be like some here who spend thousands and then have to ask how to use it!
A long answer but I hope it helps answer your question.
Jan 6, 2015 07:42:22 #
3Nancy3 wrote:
Thats sweet and I am not going anywhere... Your all stuck with me now Thank you so much!!!! :)
Of the things you want to shoot, only shooting birds absolutely requires a long lens. On your camera and at this stage of your shooting, a zoom topping out around 300mm will be more than adequate.
I shoot a lot of runners. (My wife is a marathoner and recently completed five marathons in 76 days) On a sunny day, I use a Sigma 17-70 from the roadside. I have also shot races with as short as an 18-35 f1.8 and gotten great results. However, at finish lines (unless you are the official photographer) you need at least a 70mm and sometimes a lot longer since it is hard to get close to the finish now due to both security and the way the race organizers photographers set up. If you are trying to shoot finish line photos something like a 70-300 is very useful.
Jan 6, 2015 07:54:12 #
3Nancy3 wrote:
Hi there.... New to the site and trying to find m... (show quote)
Canon has a 55-250, zoom that may be what your looking for, or, bit more expensive, heavier, faster but shorter is the Sigma 17-70, the Sigma would allow lower light shots, Bob.
Jan 6, 2015 08:12:54 #
I just purchased a Canon 18-135mm lens with image stabilization for my Canon 70D camera, to use as a walking-around lens. I haven't had it long, but have enjoyed not changing lenses and am pleased with my photos.
Jan 6, 2015 08:42:46 #
3Nancy3 wrote:
Hi there.... New to the site and trying to find m... (show quote)
The zoom range, in your lens' case, 18-55 effectively tells you the magnification, more or less. If your lens is the 18-55 f3.5-5.6 IS, the "f" part, aperture, tells you how effective your camera will be in low light. The lower the F number, the more light the lens can gather. The "IS" at the end means "image stabilized", which means the lens will correct for some shake when handholding it. It's perfectly alright to go with a longer lens as long as the F number is adequate. The 70-300 would be a good beginner telephoto zoom. My first telephoto zoom was a 70-300 f4-5.6 IS. It gives you enough range, has a low enough F number for most uses up until dusk or early dawn, and the "IS" compensates for a lot of the movement you induce in the camera when hand holding it. "VR" is another term some companies use for "IS", same thing. You could get a 70-300 f2.8 IS that would allow you to take photos in almost dark conditions, but the price you pay for stepping up from f4 lenses to f2.8 is pretty extreme, a couple thousand as opposed to a few hundred dollars. A 70-300 f4-5.6 IS lens will serve you well until you're ready to drop $2000 on a lens!
Jan 6, 2015 08:47:19 #
lwerthe1mer wrote:
I just purchased a Canon 18-135mm lens with image stabilization for my Canon 70D camera, to use as a walking-around lens. I haven't had it long, but have enjoyed not changing lenses and am pleased with my photos.
Ditto this. I've taken some stunning pictures with the older version of this lens. I've also taken some bird pictures with the 55-250 -- not at great distance but they turned out great.
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