hard decisions to make...


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baggiolee

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Dec 7, 2006
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need advice....as i only can buy 1 of the following...all are $300+. do mostly portraits outdoor and sometimes indoor. will shoot on events like car/IT shows. :)

1) 55-200mm lens (only have 18-55mm lens)
2) Flash lights (don't have external flash lights)
3) Iphone (lol, only have w800i sony erricsson)
 

Since you mentioned mostly portraits, I don't suppose you need the telephoto lense. The 18-55 should suffice. The only concern now would of course be lighting, since the events u mentioned will be indoor and the 18-55 aperture may not be the best in these situations. So I would go with the flash too ...
 

i vote for a flash + 50mm F1.8 if you do not already have.

Good beginner set up for portraits.

Actually 55-200mm also does nice outdoor portraits. But usually a prime can do better.
 

3 replies so far do not bother abt your iphone at all..:bsmilie::thumbsup:
 

3 replies so far do not bother abt your iphone at all..:bsmilie::thumbsup:

i-What? :)
My vote goes for the flash. More useful imho when you take pictures with your kit lens. I use flash more often than a longer lens.
 

I vote for flash too. It will be more useful for your indoor portraits than a zoom lens. Plus a flash also works as fill flash for your outdoor portraits.
 

need advice....as i only can buy 1 of the following...all are $300+. do mostly portraits outdoor and sometimes indoor. will shoot on events like car/IT shows. :)

1) 55-200mm lens (only have 18-55mm lens)
2) Flash lights (don't have external flash lights)
3) Iphone (lol, only have w800i sony erricsson)

I would think the iphone would cost you way more then $300 leh....unless you want to burden yourself with a 2 yr contract instalment...

I would say get the 55-200mm zoom. If you are serious about photography, you need the length to cover a decent focal point. Since you have 18-55 covered, get the 55-200mm. For portraits that will come in handy. I say handy as that is not the sharpest lens or really good lens but hell to get one of those you are talking above $1000 or more. Save that for later when you improve in your skill.

You say you seldom shoot indoor so why get a flash now when it will be sitting inside your bag weighting you down and be less use more longer in the bag or cabinet.

Don't always make the mistake like some newbies photographers who think a longer lens like a 55-200mm is for shooting far away things or scene. You can use it for shooting macro stuff upclose, you can also zoom in close on a face for a portrait shot. (telephoto length gives you less distortion thus more better portrait photo too) You can use available lighting for portrait without flash too if that has not cross your mind.

Beside you want to use the flash full on directly mounted on your camera when you shoot portrait??? you got to be kidding me...you will get a flat lighting on the poor girl's face doing so. If outdoor shootig...great. Buy yourself some bounce light screen that is quite cheap or you can use thin styrofoam too. Before you learn to use flash, learn to use existing material and props to do it. It will give you alot of insight into how to light up a scene with existing lighting.

And also you want to shoot cars in expo or IT stuff...okay maybe the IT stuff is fine but to shoot cars with a flash on, you know what that does to a photo of a car when you whack a bright flash at it directly...or even using your built in flash? That shot would be ugly with too many brighspots from all the spotlight aiming at the car and now you got your big flash too. Do what I do...shoot with existing light in the car show. Up your ISO abit. The only way you can use a flash is if you can bounce it off something from a far that will not cause a white out spot on the car's paint work.

Get the 55-200mm lens. It will be alot more fun learning more about photography at this time of your skill level.
 

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i vote for a flash + 50mm F1.8 if you do not already have.

Good beginner set up for portraits.

Actually 55-200mm also does nice outdoor portraits. But usually a prime can do better.

50mm f1.8mm or prime will be too ex for me sadly....
 

iPhone is Out!!
3 replies so far do not bother abt your iphone at all..



Very agreed!! :)
I vote for flash too. It will be more useful for your indoor portraits than a zoom lens. Plus a flash also works as fill flash for your outdoor portraits.
i-What? :)
My vote goes for the flash. More useful imho when you take pictures with your kit lens. I use flash more often than a longer lens.
 

wow thx for ur very detail advisory. :thumbsup: true i'm afraid that the flash will be underused since i dun always shoot indoor. but i may miss it dearly if i'm shoot in poorly lit environment...making use of existing lighting seems like not a bad solution for me at the moment. :) :thumbsup:

I would think the iphone would cost you way more then $300 leh....unless you want to burden yourself with a 2 yr contract instalment...

I would say get the 55-200mm zoom. If you are serious about photography, you need the length to cover a decent focal point. Since you have 18-55 covered, get the 55-200mm. For portraits that will come in handy. I say handy as that is not the sharpest lens or really good lens but hell to get one of those you are talking above $1000 or more. Save that for later when you improve in your skill.

You say you seldom shoot indoor so why get a flash now when it will be sitting inside your bag weighting you down and be less use more longer in the bag or cabinet.

Don't always make the mistake like some newbies photographers who think a longer lens like a 55-200mm is for shooting far away things or scene. You can use it for shooting macro stuff upclose, you can also zoom in close on a face for a portrait shot. (telephoto length gives you less distortion thus more better portrait photo too) You can use available lighting for portrait without flash too if that has not cross your mind.

Beside you want to use the flash full on directly mounted on your camera when you shoot portrait??? you got to be kidding me...you will get a flat lighting on the poor girl's face doing so. If outdoor shootig...great. Buy yourself some bounce light screen that is quite cheap or you can use thin styrofoam too. Before you learn to use flash, learn to use existing material and props to do it. It will give you alot of insight into how to light up a scene with existing lighting.

And also you want to shoot cars in expo or IT stuff...okay maybe the IT stuff is fine but to shoot cars with a flash on, you know what that does to a photo of a car when you whack a bright flash at it directly...or even using your built in flash? That shot would be ugly with too many brighspots from all the spotlight aiming at the car and now you got your big flash too. Do what I do...shoot with existing light in the car show. Up your ISO abit. The only way you can use a flash is if you can bounce it off something from a far that will not cause a white out spot on the car's paint work.

Get the 55-200mm lens. It will be alot more fun learning more about photography at this time of your skill level.
 

50mm f1.8mm or prime will be too ex for me sadly....

no man ... the 50 f1.8 prime costs only around $100-$110 first hand, 2nd hand ones are even cheaper. you would still have $200+ left for some parts of your iPhone :p
 

ermmmmmmmmmmmm.................................................................:sweat:

lol....at least the iPhone is out. :sweatsm:
 

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oh izzit?????????????????? u mean nikkor lens? http://nikon.com.sg/productitem.php?pid=106-387119c054
oh no...tink my d60 cannot put.

oh :think: ... i was actually refering to the canon EF 50 f1.8 ... think the nikkor one is slightly more expensive. not very familiar with nikon, and didn't know what camera you were using.
 

no man ... the 50 f1.8 prime costs only around $100-$110 first hand, 2nd hand ones are even cheaper. you would still have $200+ left for some parts of your iPhone :p

You kidding me heheh Nikon 50mm even for a 1.8 where got so cheap?!!! heh...You can get it for about $170 but YEN went up over Singapore dollar recently ..I am not surprise it goes for about $200 now leh.
 

wow thx for ur very detail advisory. :thumbsup: true i'm afraid that the flash will be underused since i dun always shoot indoor. but i may miss it dearly if i'm shoot in poorly lit environment...making use of existing lighting seems like not a bad solution for me at the moment. :) :thumbsup:


You still have your built-in flash to use as filler in some day shoot outdoor and indoor too. I am not saying you can do without a flash forever but for the moment do you really need one for the kind of shoot you are doing or intend to do.

I have gone without a flash in my shoot for years before I bought one, I have also sold off flash or lost flash and not use one for a long time too. It really depend on what kind of photography is in your interest zone at this time. And sometime you can stay in that interest zone for a long time before you turn to something else and then you might see a need to buy a flash then.

Frankly if you already have a 18-200mm zoom for example, then I would say your need purchase should be a flash. For general use like shooting your family events, for traveling and other general stuff.. I think you need abit more flexibility in your lens range over a flash since you have a built in one for basic flash photography of your family and general stuff.

The choice is yours so make it base on what you will use more of and not so much on what others might think you do...including what I say. Make the right choice for you.
 

You kidding me heheh Nikon 50mm even for a 1.8 where got so cheap?!!! heh...You can get it for about $170 but YEN went up over Singapore dollar recently ..I am not surprise it goes for about $200 now leh.

you missed what i typed before replying ... i was refering to canon's 50 f1.8, and im sure you also know that it is that cheap ;p ... TS never mentioned what camera he was using
 

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