Moshi moshi...

[Gerald Lam CK]

Hello everyone,

I'm gerald and im looking to buy my first dslr soon. I'm looking at 400d and i wonder if the kit lens 18-55mm is good enough to shoot close up food? Shd i get a Non-IS or IS? If i want to upgrade another lens, what will be the next possible lens that i should buy with limited budget? Roughly how much is that?

I'm still getting used to all the jargons used which are so confusing! Arigauto gozaimasu!

 

[Nikonnew]

Hello everyone,

I'm gerald and im looking to buy my first dslr soon. I'm looking at 400d and i wonder if the kit lens 18-55mm is good enough to shoot close up food? Shd i get a Non-IS or IS? If i want to upgrade another lens, what will be the next possible lens that i should buy with limited budget? Roughly how much is that?

I'm still getting used to all the jargons used which are so confusing! Arigauto gozaimasu!

I am a newbie and this would be my thoughts , if you could afford it, get the IS, nowadays, Canon has the kit lens in IS version so it should not be too expensive. Secondly for the next lens, it really depends on what you like to shoot. If you want to shoot birds, no punt intended, then you got to go long, some will advise you to go as long as 500 mm (35 mm format), if you want to shoot bugs, then you have to get up close with a macro, so there isn't really a recommendation for a next lens per se.

 

[sidloojl]

whatever lens you get is dependent on what you wanna shoot..no lens is useless, if not, it wouldn't be in production!..haha

 

[Gerald Lam CK]

Hey..many thanks for the advice. At the moment im just looking at shooting close up food. So a normal 18-55mm is good enough to do it right? Well the next lens that i will buy is perhaps long range ones...those that can be zoomed far like maybe 20-50 metres and still get sharp images? Any recommendations and roughly what's the market price?

 

[zac08]

Hi Gerald,

welcome to CS. The focal length that you use would be depending on how far you are away from the food and how you want to showcase it.

 

[Octarine]

Well the next lens that i will buy is perhaps long range ones...those that can be zoomed far like maybe 20-50 metres and still get sharp images? Any recommendations and roughly what's the market price?

Unfortunately, all lenses only come in focal length denomination - and that's in mm. In result you will have a certain field of view. Longer focal length will result in narrower field of view - you cut out a small central part of the image that you see with naked eye. Whether the image is sharp or not depends on other factors, e.g. handshake, working image stabilization, motion blur etc.
Have a look at the Tamron website, they have a nice focal length comparison. Keep in mind the crop factor when you use the stated focal length on your 400D.
For price information check the Market Place, the respective brand thread has a list of equipment with current prices from reputable shops.

 

[Nikonnew]

Hey..many thanks for the advice. At the moment im just looking at shooting close up food. So a normal 18-55mm is good enough to do it right? Well the next lens that i will buy is perhaps long range ones...those that can be zoomed far like maybe 20-50 metres and still get sharp images? Any recommendations and roughly what's the market price?

I suggest you go to the library or book shop and go through some books on food photography, you will be surprised the amount of information you can get. Learning from experience is good, but supplement with experience from others will be better.

 

[Limsgp]

If you want to upgrade, you can consider the EFS 17-55 F2.8 IS.

Approx 1.2k (may not be accurate). With limited budget, the EFS 18-55 IS is already a very good lens, no need to upgrade.

For longer range, can consider the EFS 55-250 IS. Approx $400.

If you wanna shot someone at 50m away and see the pimples on the face, you would need a lens that is >> 300mm and it will not be cheap (A few $k at least).

Hello everyone,

I'm gerald and im looking to buy my first dslr soon. I'm looking at 400d and i wonder if the kit lens 18-55mm is good enough to shoot close up food? Shd i get a Non-IS or IS? If i want to upgrade another lens, what will be the next possible lens that i should buy with limited budget? Roughly how much is that?

I'm still getting used to all the jargons used which are so confusing! Arigauto gozaimasu!

 

[Gerald Lam CK]

If you want to upgrade, you can consider the EFS 17-55 F2.8 IS.

Approx 1.2k (may not be accurate). With limited budget, the EFS 18-55 IS is already a very good lens, no need to upgrade.

For longer range, can consider the EFS 55-250 IS. Approx $400.

If you wanna shot someone at 50m away and see the pimples on the face, you would need a lens that is >> 300mm and it will not be cheap (A few $k at least).

Thx for the suggestion..guess i will stick to the kit lens for now. At least till im more familiar with the functions. I saw the price list for EF 75-300mm 1st hand is around $399 while EFS 55-250mm is $549 for 1st hand..why is it so? Isnt the further the more expensive?

 

[Limsgp]

You can refer to this thread for more realistic prices.

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=518391

For lenses, it's not the further(longer focal length) the more expensive. There is many factors. In general, "better" = more expensive, and focal length is not a measure of how good or bad a lens is.

It just happens that canon's long focal length telephoto lens are mostly high quality(read: expensive) lens (the "L" series).

Thx for the suggestion..guess i will stick to the kit lens for now. At least till im more familiar with the functions. I saw the price list for EF 75-300mm 1st hand is around $399 while EFS 55-250mm is $549 for 1st hand..why is it so? Isnt the further the more expensive?

 

[Octarine]

I saw the price list for EF 75-300mm 1st hand is around $399 while EFS 55-250mm is $549 for 1st hand..why is it so? Isnt the further the more expensive?

Erm.. this 75-300 USM (not IS) went for $99 at Mustafa not long ago. That reflects the quality of this lens much better. On the other hand, the 70-200 is shorter than 75-300 but costs at least 1k$ more for the cheapest version.
But still, better check the reviews, there are a few good review sites like dpreview; photozone and others.