New to me, DSLR

[Huntbear]

So I picked up a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi today for under 200.00  It has had maybe 200 pictures taken on it.      A guy at work, just wanted it gone.

It came with a 18-55 Canon Lens, and a bunch of accesories. 

Looking forward to taking some pictures soon, and then later this spring, getting a slightly bigger lens.

[Wazukie]

Nice, the only problem I see with it is that it's a Canon .  Now go shoot some pictures.

[Huntbear]

Well beggars can not be choosers,, so I grabbed it at a good price. 

Gonna start searching for some sort of all purpose type tele lense though.  this is just not gonna cut it for any pics in the hills.

Time to burn through some pics.

[carpsniperg2]

You going to need a good lense to take pictures of all those fish

[grandpawrichard]

Congrats on the new camera purchase Huntbear! Now the addiction Starts! First it will be a 70-200 mm lens, then a Camera bag,  then a 300 mm lens, then a 400 mm lens, then a Bigger Camera Bag, then a Tripod, then a 500 or 600 mm lens, then a Bigger Tripod to handle the extra weight, plus you are going to want a Dedicated Flash........ The addiction will drive you towards the poor house! So Quick! Sell the camera and Run As Fast As You Can Away from it! 

I can't wait to see the first photos that you post! Oh, by the way, if that lens that came with the camera is an 18-55 IS it should be an awesome little lens! I have one and it is as tack sharp as my Canon 17-40 L series Pro lens!

Dick

[Huntbear]

Yes that lens came with the camera. and it is a great lens.

It came in a big Canon camera bag..  another lens is a must...  need some recommendations that will not break the bank..

have a game farm next door to me, with roe deer, fallow deer, axis deer, camels, zebras.. etc.. would be good practice.

[jyerxa]

I don't know about you camera body at all. Mine for example has an auto focus or manual focus option I assume yours does too. There are auto focus lenses that sync up with the camera body. And then there are manual focus lenses you have to focus yourself regardless. That is probably the number one thing to be aware of if you go second hand.

So.......... since your camera is new, find out if it auto focus first, and then go shopping for your new lens. Just in case there is a big price difference between the two.

[Huntbear]

It is both manual and auto focus.

found some lenses... just not sure if they are what I really want or need.

Just wondering what brands are decent...

if refurbished or new is better...


I hate being on a budget for glass of any kind.... 

[Huntbear]

Looking at lenses...

Here is what I have found so far.

Canon 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 EF III

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS

Tamron AF75-300mmF/4-5.6 LD Macro 1:3.9 Canon EF

Benefits or Bad things about these??? 

[Wazukie]

Most will tell you to stay brand loyal, Canon, buy canon lens.  I shoot Nikon and being a poor missionary, I have bought three Sigma lenses and I am very happy with them.  Although some day I will get my 500mm f/4, but for now the Sigma 150-500mm works for me. I know that on the Nikon and of things the 70-300mm works real well and I am sure Dick or Bone can tell you more about the Canon side.  The importan thing is to learn how to use the thing, get off of auto mode as soon as possible.

[grandpawrichard]

I have tried the Canon 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 EF III and I was not impressed with it. It was quite soft above 200 mm.

Another lens that I was not impressed with was the Tamron AF75-300mmF/4-5.6 LD Macro. But then I have never used a Tamron lens that I was happy with, even back in my film camera days.

I have been checking for reasonable priced lenses for you and I think I found you a Decent lens at an affordable price. That lens is a Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG Macro Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras. So far about the only complaint I found was the AF is a little slow; but who is to say what a Fast AF speed is?

Per our phone conversation I know that you are an old film camera user, so you know how to use a camera and how to fine tune Focus on the fly, so I don't think a little speed loss in the AF will bother you. Heck, I was taking photos of Eagles in flight today with my 400mm plus the 1.4X extender, so it is all manual focus and I got some great shots!

Dick

[Huntbear]

Thank you for the phone call...  It was great talking to you.  I hope to gain 1/10th of your photography knowledge. 

I am ordering that sigma lens.. would have liked to have something with image stabilization... but can not complain about that for 169.00.  Plus I always have a walking stick/mono pod with me in the woods.

Thank you all for your ideas and for not trying to steer me to 500-1000.00 lenses.....   

Oh, and grandparichard, in a couple of months if you still have that other lens, we may have to talk.   

[jyerxa]

Regardless of the brand of camera or lens, I was a long time stubborn 35mm camera guy myself. It wasn’t until my son was serving over seas I ever felt the need for a digital camera. And I am sold!!! I am sure you will enjoy your choice. You get instant gratification of your good shots and a wealth of feedback on the rest of your shots. The old film cameras could take a while to shoot up a role and then send off to get developed. Lots of time to forget just how you did a shot.

[Wazukie]

I know the Nikon flavor of that Sigma lens gets great reviews and I've even seen some great macro shots with it using extension tubes.  You should have great results with it.  Looking forward to seeing some of your pic's soon.  Cudo's (Spelling) to you Dick for steering him in the right direction  and Huntbear if you ever want to go out shooting some place together, I'm down in your area all the time.  I live in Glenwood

[Huntbear]

Wazukie,,,

You have a deal.. I hear there is a restaurant over there in Glenwood that has a great steak meal on Friday nights, with some killer clam chowder..

I look forward to meeting you and doing some camera shooting together.

[jyerxa]

I just play with my camera, kind of like a kid with a toy. I am no photographer by the professional sense of the word. This is a Nikon with a Nikon 70x300 at about 300. Plus I'm sharing and testing how to add a photo. I do have a really good photo of a squirrel that would make a good target pic. I just can't find it.

*** add text ***

hmmmmm. Now that I put it up here I see my mistakes. This was on auto focus.

[Huntbear]

love eagle pics of all kinds.  I am looking forward to getting some on the Klickitat River.. There is a whole bunch that winter there.

[grandpawrichard]

I know the Nikon flavor of that Sigma lens gets great reviews and I've even seen some great macro shots with it using extension tubes.  You should have great results with it.  Looking forward to seeing some of your pic's soon.  Cudo's (Spelling) to you Dick for steering him in the right direction  and Huntbear if you ever want to go out shooting some place together, I'm down in your area all the time.  I live in Glenwood

Thanks Wazukie! I would love to see everyone using Professional Lenses like the L series lenses, but I realize that not everyone has the $500 - $1,000 to pay for them. Not only that, but if everyone was using those lenses Prices would skyrocket and there would be massive shortages of the lenses I still want to purchase.

Huntbear asked me a question about using an extender on the Sigma lens. I could not find an answer. Now that I know you have one, I can pass the question off to you! Can you use a 1.4X or a 2X extender on that lens?

This isn't one of my best photos. The Eagle was about 200 yards away, so I had to put the 1.4X extender on the 400 mm lens and then I had to Crop the daylights out of the photo to bring the Eagle and his meal in as close as I could.



Hopefully the rest of my photos are better than this one. ( I only took 224 photos today  )

Dick

[Huntbear]

Thanks again for all the help..

Great eagle pic, on the food source.