Hello all! I have been posting a few photos in the recent weeks and want to thank every one of you who have viewed my posts as well as all of the wonderful feedback. It's amazing what talent all of you have and I am just thrilled to have learned that there are so many others who have the same interest in nature as I and to have a website specifically for it!
Photography has been a big interest in my life and for years (decades!), my photos were taken with the auto setting. Within the last 5 years, I've started to share and sell my work. Only in the last year or so, have I learned more about the techniques involved with photography (everything from how the shot was taken, to lenses and other equipment)and am very much interested in learning more and improving my knowledge and techniques.
I do have a question, what I am using now is a Canon Rebel XT, with the kit lens 18-55mm, and 2 others, a Tokina wide angle 19-35, 0.4-2 and a Canon 75-300mm 1.5. Also have 3 macro filters +1, +2, and +4 all 77mm. I am uncertain as to what should be my next step when purchasing a lens and filters, all suggestions would be great!
I have read in the forums, comments from others who have mentioned how NPN has helped them tremendously. I very much appreciate all of the critiques and comments and I am greatly looking forward to what I will learn with NPN.
Hello Lynn,
it really depends on what you shoot most, if for instance you shoot a lot of macro i would invest in a good dedicated macro lens. You've pretty much got the basic focal lengths covered. so you could simply invest in better sharper glass. A polarizer is always a handy filter to have in your kit too.
Wim.
Posted by John Mumaw on August 29, 2009 at 4:59 PM
Hi!
Here are my recommendations:
Sell the Canon 'kit' lens that came with your camera as you already own a similar focal length (and better quality) Tokina lens.
Is the Canon 75-300 lens the IS (image stabilized) version? If not, sell what you have as the quality is greatly inferior to the IS version, and buy that one.
Finally, consider the Sigma 10-20 wide angle llens if landscape photography is something you would like to pursue. This lens is comparable in quality but much less $$ than the similar Canon wide angle lens.
Ditto on the circular polarizer. You can find a good quality Hoya (Kenko) circ. polarizer for a great price at eBay.
Lynn: If you do any landscape work at all a polarizer is a must. Your two short lenses are kind of redundant so I would keep whatever is the better optical quality and sell the other. I know you've been shooting flowers and while the close up filters are economical they cannot compare to a good macro lens. I own both 100mm and 200mm macros and much prefer the 200 for the kind of stuff I shoot but the long macros are a good bit more expensive. Sigma's 180 macro is an excellent choice. If you do any portrait work a good 100mm macro can double in that role.
You didn't mention anything about your support system. If you don't have one already a good tripod and head are imperative, especially for serious macro work. Don't skimp here. Good stuff lasts for a long time and the image quality enhancement that you get from a solid mount is significant. I bet I take <5% of my shots of all kinds hand held. You've been a fine addition to the galleries. Keep up the good work.>=))>
Posted by Larry Puckett on August 29, 2009 at 10:28 PM
Lynn--when I switched from film to digital I started with the XT also. The kit lens is good to learn with and will give good results since the 8 megapixel sensor won't challenge the lens quality. My first upgrade purchase was a Canon 24-105mm IS. This is a really nice quality lens that gives very sharp photos. I use it a lot. After that I replaced the XT with a 50D so my sensor would be more or less the equal of the lens. Then to improve my landscapes I picked up a Canon 10-22mm to get shots in those really tight situations below the range of the 24-105. If I decide to do some macro work I'll get an extension tube first and if I get really serious a 100mm macro. I also have a hankering for a 100-400mm to fill out the range to go after birds and other wildlife but that will have to wait for the next royalty check--Larry
Posted by Kent Staubus on August 29, 2009 at 11:11 PM
If you are doing a lot of macro with the screw on deals, a macro lens such as Tamron 90mm or Canon equivalent is an obvious consideration. It's hard to suggest lenses on internet forums like this since I don't really know what you like to photo or what your current lenses are allowing you to do. Analyze your photos. Do you often find yourself zooming out to 18mm and wishing the lens went a lot wider than that? Do you often find your shots from the 75-300mm not all that sharp and wish you had the IS lens? Your photos will tell you.
Thank you to everyone. I appreciate all of the suggestions. Kent, I do find that my photos are not as sharp as I would like them to be, however, I thought that maybe it was myself who was out of focus with my camera or possibly moving even just a little. Bill, thank you for the advice on macro, I like to shoot flowers and have been planning on getting a macro lens. I also like to shoot landscape photos ( I don't seem to have one distinct style, many things catch my eye). I do have a polarizer that likely isn't as high quality as has been mentioned. I will keep this advice in mind as I plan on what to purchase!
Posted by Kent Staubus on August 30, 2009 at 12:20 PM
I note you didn't mention what tripod/head you are using. If the answer is "none," there you go. Budget about $500 for this. The head is the place to put the money, more than the tripod. You will see a difference in sharpness. My own tripod/head cost about $800+. I'm pretty tight with money and if I didn't get a noticeable improvement, I would never have spent it. Turns out the carbon fiber tripod and AcraTech ballhead was the best money I've ever spent on photo gear. It not only delivers, it has kept it's value very well.
Kent in SD
Posted by Steve Foss on August 30, 2009 at 12:55 PM
Lynn, a number of my photo excursion clients use your camera and glass. With solid technique, the only limiting factor to the sharpness of your images considering your current setup is, as mentioned, the quality of the glass. I definitely recommend replacing the 18-55 and 75-300 with better lenses. You can get used Tamron/Sigma/Tokina lenses in the 17-50 f2.8 range for around $300, and they perform much better with sharpness than the 18-55, not to mention the better aperture performance of f2.8. Look at replacing the telephoto with (as already mentioned) Canon's 70-300 image stabilized lens. The IS will aid your steadiness when shooting handheld, and the lens's native ability to produce sharp images is noticeably better than the 75-300. With gear like this and on a budget, used is a great way to go, and there's a Canon-dedicated site with a VERY active buy/sell classifieds board. I've bought and sold thousands in gear there with only excellent luck. You can sell your other lenses, which won't bring too much money but will help allay the costs of buying better glass.
BTW, that 8 Mp sensor is capable of gorgeous image quality. While I have shot and continue to shoot all manner of Canon DSLR gear, to this day I do the bulk of my work with 8 Mp Canon 1.6 crop sensors and sharp prime lenses, and I've often produced prints to 20x30 with those sensors and excellent glass that are wonderful. There's no doubt that sensor technology has improved in the few years since the XT hit the market, but your glass is going to have a much bigger impact on the quality of your photos right now than, say, keeping the glass you have and buying a new body.
For you landscape/flower work, Manfrotto makes a very affordable 725B with integral ballhead that will easily handle the weight of your gear. I used its predecessor, the 724B, for a few years with 5 lbs of gear on it with excellent rock-solid results. You can remove and invert the center column as well to get the camera right down next to the ground. The 725B comes with a quick-release plate, which is mighty handy, and can be had for under $120. You don't need to spend a gajillion dollars on a tripod/head for macro/landscape work.
If you go macro, Canon has a great 100mm f2.8 macro that as mentioned doubles nicely as a portrait lens, but you can also find excellent and sharp offerings from Tamron and Sigma in that range for less money. I like the 180-200mm macro range for shy critters like butterflies (although the 70-300 at 300mm will do you nicely for butterflies), but up here in the thick woods where I do most of my floral work I prefer the working range of the 100mm because I often don't have room to move back far enough to achieve the effects I want with the longer focal length.
You'll also want to look at a remote shutter release for those times when shutter speeds are slow enough off the tripod that even touching the shutter with your finger will soften/blur an image. That's often as true of landscape work as it is of floral/macro. Your camera's self timer will be OK for lanscapes but not so much for floral/macro.
Good luck out there, congrats on selling some images, and keep having fun!
Posted by Lynn Markarian on September 10, 2009 at 11:37 AM
Thanks Steve, for your valuable information and suggestions. I've narrowed down my list and I look forward to using this equipment.
Posted by Buck Ward on September 11, 2009 at 8:24 PM
I concur with Kent. Regardless of the quality of your lenses, a good tripod and head is the best bang for your buck to improve image sharpness. If you shoot a lot of macro, a tripod can be an inconenience, especially with moving subjects, such as butterflies. For landscapes or wildlife, however, it's pretty much a must.
Discussion
10 repliesPhotography has been a big interest in my life and for years (decades!), my photos were taken with the auto setting. Within the last 5 years, I've started to share and sell my work. Only in the last year or so, have I learned more about the techniques involved with photography (everything from how the shot was taken, to lenses and other equipment)and am very much interested in learning more and improving my knowledge and techniques.
I do have a question, what I am using now is a Canon Rebel XT, with the kit lens 18-55mm, and 2 others, a Tokina wide angle 19-35, 0.4-2 and a Canon 75-300mm 1.5. Also have 3 macro filters +1, +2, and +4 all 77mm. I am uncertain as to what should be my next step when purchasing a lens and filters, all suggestions would be great!
I have read in the forums, comments from others who have mentioned how NPN has helped them tremendously. I very much appreciate all of the critiques and comments and I am greatly looking forward to what I will learn with NPN.
Thanks again and have a fabulous weekend!!
Lynn
it really depends on what you shoot most, if for instance you shoot a lot of macro i would invest in a good dedicated macro lens. You've pretty much got the basic focal lengths covered. so you could simply invest in better sharper glass. A polarizer is always a handy filter to have in your kit too.
Wim.
Here are my recommendations:
Sell the Canon 'kit' lens that came with your camera as you already own a similar focal length (and better quality) Tokina lens.
Is the Canon 75-300 lens the IS (image stabilized) version? If not, sell what you have as the quality is greatly inferior to the IS version, and buy that one.
Finally, consider the Sigma 10-20 wide angle llens if landscape photography is something you would like to pursue. This lens is comparable in quality but much less $$ than the similar Canon wide angle lens.
Ditto on the circular polarizer. You can find a good quality Hoya (Kenko) circ. polarizer for a great price at eBay.
Best of luck!
You didn't mention anything about your support system. If you don't have one already a good tripod and head are imperative, especially for serious macro work. Don't skimp here. Good stuff lasts for a long time and the image quality enhancement that you get from a solid mount is significant. I bet I take <5% of my shots of all kinds hand held. You've been a fine addition to the galleries. Keep up the good work.>=))>
Kent in SD
Kent in SD
You can find that site here: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=14
BTW, that 8 Mp sensor is capable of gorgeous image quality. While I have shot and continue to shoot all manner of Canon DSLR gear, to this day I do the bulk of my work with 8 Mp Canon 1.6 crop sensors and sharp prime lenses, and I've often produced prints to 20x30 with those sensors and excellent glass that are wonderful. There's no doubt that sensor technology has improved in the few years since the XT hit the market, but your glass is going to have a much bigger impact on the quality of your photos right now than, say, keeping the glass you have and buying a new body.
For you landscape/flower work, Manfrotto makes a very affordable 725B with integral ballhead that will easily handle the weight of your gear. I used its predecessor, the 724B, for a few years with 5 lbs of gear on it with excellent rock-solid results. You can remove and invert the center column as well to get the camera right down next to the ground. The 725B comes with a quick-release plate, which is mighty handy, and can be had for under $120. You don't need to spend a gajillion dollars on a tripod/head for macro/landscape work.
If you go macro, Canon has a great 100mm f2.8 macro that as mentioned doubles nicely as a portrait lens, but you can also find excellent and sharp offerings from Tamron and Sigma in that range for less money. I like the 180-200mm macro range for shy critters like butterflies (although the 70-300 at 300mm will do you nicely for butterflies), but up here in the thick woods where I do most of my floral work I prefer the working range of the 100mm because I often don't have room to move back far enough to achieve the effects I want with the longer focal length.
You'll also want to look at a remote shutter release for those times when shutter speeds are slow enough off the tripod that even touching the shutter with your finger will soften/blur an image. That's often as true of landscape work as it is of floral/macro. Your camera's self timer will be OK for lanscapes but not so much for floral/macro.
Good luck out there, congrats on selling some images, and keep having fun!