Essential Lenses for New Budget Canon 600D User?


jamesbasher

New Member
Oct 19, 2013
22
0
0
bedok
hi there guys.i just joined the forum. new to photography and have just signed up for a few courses.Recently got a Canon 600D with the 18-55mm IS2 lens as well as the 55-250mm IS2 lens. my aim is to start playing around with studio makeover shoots (using my female friends as test subjects) and go into wedding shoots in the future.

are these 2 lens enough for now for such purposes? would the nifty fifty (fixed 50mm f1/8) i keep hearing about be an essential addition as well?

All advice would be deeply appreciated for a newbie:) Thanks guys..
 

hi there guys.i just joined the forum. new to photography and have just signed up for a few courses.Recently got a Canon 600D with the 18-55mm IS2 lens as well as the 55-250mm IS2 lens. my aim is to start playing around with studio makeover shoots (using my female friends as test subjects) and go into wedding shoots in the future.

are these 2 lens enough for now for such purposes? would the nifty fifty (fixed 50mm f1/8) i keep hearing about be an essential addition as well?

All advice would be deeply appreciated for a newbie:) Thanks guys..

There is no "essential" add-on. You should become more familiar with your existing gear first, then you will already naturally figure out what lens would help you progress further.

FYI, as a newbie, please spend some effort on searching existing threads first, and most importantly reading the stickies. In fact, we even have a sticky specifically for your topic.
 

Last edited:
hi there guys.i just joined the forum. new to photography and have just signed up for a few courses.Recently got a Canon 600D with the 18-55mm IS2 lens as well as the 55-250mm IS2 lens. my aim is to start playing around with studio makeover shoots (using my female friends as test subjects) and go into wedding shoots in the future.

are these 2 lens enough for now for such purposes? would the nifty fifty (fixed 50mm f1/8) i keep hearing about be an essential addition as well?

All advice would be deeply appreciated for a newbie:) Thanks guys..

Welcome to CS.

Just my opinion..

- If you are talking about studio makeover stuffs, what you have is already more than enough. You may also want to read up on how studio shots are being setup (strobes which I think is provided by the studios) and shot. To my readings, many of them are using apertures like f8, f11 for the shots which I believe kit lens will also perform "sharply".

- Wedding shoots, I hope you know what's going on before jumping in and start charging for the services. Owning a camera does not mean that you can deliver nice pictures (a common misconception by many, owning a dslr camera = can shoot wedding stuffs). There are alot of other things beyond equipment.

- As mentioned, no such thing called essential additions. Only unnecessary poisons. Get what you need, not what others need. What's essential for others may not be essential for you.


Hope you enjoy you stay in CS.


*something which I've read some time back.. "if you have to ask, what equipment to get (upgrade), you are not ready for the upgrade"*
 

Last edited:
thank you for your reply Skystrike. Really do appreciate it:)

Any reference on where i can read up more on setting up studio shots?

Weddings is something i want to ultimately aim to do in the distant future , something to target,

ain't something i'm going to do anytime soon though.

thanks for taking the time to respond.

Welcome to CS.

Just my opinion..

- If you are talking about studio makeover stuffs, what you have is already more than enough. You may also want to read up on how studio shots are being setup (strobes which I think is provided by the studios) and shot. To my readings, many of them are using apertures like f8, f11 for the shots which I believe kit lens will also perform "sharply".

- Wedding shoots, I hope you know what's going on before jumping in and start charging for the services. Owning a camera does not mean that you can deliver nice pictures (a common misconception by many, owning a dslr camera = can shoot wedding stuffs). There are alot of other things beyond equipment.

- As mentioned, no such thing called essential additions. Only unnecessary poisons. Get what you need, not what others need. What's essential for others may not be essential for you.


Hope you enjoy you stay in CS.


*something which I've read some time back.. "if you have to ask, what equipment to get (upgrade), you are not ready for the upgrade"*
 

thank you for your reply Skystrike. Really do appreciate it:)

Any reference on where i can read up more on setting up studio shots?

Weddings is something i want to ultimately aim to do in the distant future , something to target,

ain't something i'm going to do anytime soon though.

thanks for taking the time to respond.

Studio shoots is basically playing with lighting setups which I'm not familiar with. But for reading materials for lighting, refer to http://strobist.blogspot.sg/

In particular 101: http://strobist.blogspot.sg/2006/03/lighting-101.html
 

Any reference on where i can read up more on setting up studio shots?

Hate to state the obvious... But have you tried a basic search on the internet on this, or looked in the library for the many excellent studio photography books?
 

Do try a search for "studio photography" on here. :)
 

Just my opinion..

- Wedding shoots, I hope you know what's going on before jumping in and start charging for the services. Owning a camera does not mean that you can deliver nice pictures (a common misconception by many, owning a dslr camera = can shoot wedding stuffs). There are alot of other things beyond equipment.

Super agree with this! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
 

It's good that you already plan what you wish to do in the future.
Since you just got your gear and new to photography.
The first goal you wanna focus on is training yourself and familiarize yourself with the camera and lenses.
Attending workshops, events, competition and etc. to improve yourself.

Next you will look at your shooting preferences before considering the next lens you wanna buy.
Main thing is your skill have to be polish first before moving to wedding photography.
 

hi there guys.i just joined the forum. new to photography and have just signed up for a few courses.Recently got a Canon 600D with the 18-55mm IS2 lens as well as the 55-250mm IS2 lens. my aim is to start playing around with studio makeover shoots (using my female friends as test subjects) and go into wedding shoots in the future.

are these 2 lens enough for now for such purposes? would the nifty fifty (fixed 50mm f1/8) i keep hearing about be an essential addition as well?

All advice would be deeply appreciated for a newbie:) Thanks guys..


Welcome to ClubSNAP.

what you have right now is already good for you to spend a lot of efforts to develop your skills for the next few years.
buying more gears will not speed up the process if you are not willing to spend quality time to build the foundation.


hope this help.
 

Essential lenses for somebody who is new and on budget? - You got them already. Use them and learn.
For the sticky threads, please browse through the forum and check the postings on top of the listing, they are marked in yellow. Invest your time in reading them.
 

What is essential is to hire me as your personal photographic equipment shopper! Haha!!

Your equipment is fine lah - you got 18-250mm covered.
 

would also advice you to start reading some books(can find from the library)

joe mcnally - hot shoe diaries
bryan peterson - understanding exposure
michael freeman - The photographer's eye
Light Science and Magic ( a textbook style book on photography)

While i have not read through all of these yet, these are often the most recommended books i found in my research on the net. Cheers.
 

Worst advice possible.

And why is that so? While I'm not directly answering the question stated in the title, I'm giving my opinion with regards to studio shooting.

Of course, getting those without learning how to work with them is also pointless, and that's what TS should explore on his/her own.

Putting down other people's comment isn't gd advice either.
 

I feel that if TS wants to save costs, getting triggers and speedlights are the way to go to double up for both studio and weddings.

But there are tradeoffs. Speedlights cannot replace strobes, and the best way is to get separate equipment for both genres.

And my advice to TS is to focus on one genre at a time. Sharpen one skillset before moving on to the next
 

Last edited:
Get a tripod, and a few flashes with triggers and receivers :)

it's a great idea ... for a more experienced shooter.
well it is a great idea. just that it is not a suitable idea for newbie. strobist learning curve is steeper.

but it's not the worst idea ever. worst idea ever is to ask TS to "buy all the L lenses because they're so sharp and expensive that they'll make him/her into a pro".
 

may be nowadays people like to do multi-tasking, learning crawling, standing, walking, running, and swimming all at the same time. :)