I'm so new.

[TheNautilus]

I would like to introduce myself to everyone out there in ClubSNAP.

My name is Jared and am 15yearsold (this year.).

I just started to get interested in photography around 2months ago.

Once, I thought photography was stupid, but after I started to lay my hands on a dSLR, I got sooo enchanted and therefore I got rather interested in photography.

Please don't say to me that I'm just gonna like Photography for 3months and throw it away.

No more introduction, I would want to ask some questions

What kind of dSLR should I get? (Personally, I am aiming for a 550D.)

What kind of lens should I get? (I think of getting body only, so what do I get? :O)

Do I need any other accessories or etc. stuffs? (Please help in this.)

Where should I get the stuffs you mentioned? (I'm newb.)


My budget is Body+LENS = $1500~$2500.

Thanks alot for reading! Hope you could answer my tiny little questions.
You may want to add me on MSN, if you wish.

 

[chiangkxv]

Hello.. Welcome to CS...

First thing first.. what is your budget?

 

[TheNautilus]

Updated on the threadstarter already, regarding my budget.

It's $1500~$2500, for body+lens.

 

[madmartian]

Welcome to CS

 

[TheNautilus]

Thanks!

Any ideas on my questions?

 

[harvardsch]

consider 500d.

 

[TheNautilus]

^

No...

I just got a price quote from AlanPhoto @funan.
1) CANON EOS 550D BODY $1035.00 BF GST
2) CANON EOS 550D KIT W/EFS 18-55MM $ 1200.00 BF GST
3) CANON EOS 550D KIT II W/EFS 18-135MM $ 1490.00 BF GST
ALL ITEMS FREE:8GB SDHC CARD & BAG

 

[dingaroo]

Hi Jared,

As a beginner, recommend the following:

550D Kit II with 18-135mm lens for a promo price of $1,799, but I'm sure there are reputable shops you can check in Clubsnap that most of your senior brothers and sisters can recommend.

Why the Kit II lens?
1. It is bundled.
2. 18mm for wide angle
3. 135mm for sufficient telezoom range.

As you are new, and you don't know what you LIKE to shoot, a kit lens is thus more than sufficient to start with. Until you can STRONGLY justify with 10 reasons why you need a new lens, don't consider anything else. Hone your skills with this lens, and should you upgrade to any new lens in future, your skills is portable, means you can use it with any camera system, and any lens.

You might also need the following:

1. Tripod, for night photography or anything with long exposure
2. Cleaning kit, such as a blower, micro fiber cloth, Lenspen
3. Bag may be given to you
4. A good book on photography
5. Dry cabinet for storage of your equipment
6. UV filter (Hoya is good for starters)

Future investments
1. Flash
2. Circular Polarising Filter
3. Bigger bag to put all your equipment (when buying a bag, think bigger, as you'll never know what you'll be getting in future, unless your 1 lens is good enough)
4. Remote shutter controller

Just wondering, what made you settle on Canon 550D?

Was it because of advertising or all your friends are using the same?

EDIT: As a beginner, should a senior approach you and advise you on your photography techniques, take heed. I've noticed a lot of youngsters when taking photos will not accept advise given by seniors especially to help correct their techniques. As the saying goes, the seniors have tasted more salt than you.

 

[TheNautilus]

Hi Jared,

As a beginner, recommend the following:

550D Kit II with 18-135mm lens for a promo price of $1,799, but I'm sure there are reputable shops you can check in Clubsnap that most of your senior brothers and sisters can recommend.

Why the Kit II lens?
1. It is bundled.
2. 18mm for wide angle
3. 135mm for sufficient telezoom range.

As you are new, and you don't know what you LIKE to shoot, a kit lens is thus more than sufficient to start with. Until you can STRONGLY justify with 10 reasons why you need a new lens, don't consider anything else. Hone your skills with this lens, and should you upgrade to any new lens in future, your skills is portable, means you can use it with any camera system, and any lens.

You might also need the following:

1. Tripod, for night photography or anything with long exposure
2. Cleaning kit, such as a blower, micro fiber cloth, Lenspen
3. Bag may be given to you
4. A good book on photography
5. Dry cabinet for storage of your equipment
6. UV filter (Hoya is good for starters)

Future investments
1. Flash
2. Circular Polarising Filter
3. Bigger bag to put all your equipment (when buying a bag, think bigger, as you'll never know what you'll be getting in future, unless your 1 lens is good enough)
4. Remote shutter controller

Just wondering, what made you settle on Canon 550D?

Was it because of advertising or all your friends are using the same?

EDIT: As a beginner, should a senior approach you and advise you on your photography techniques, take heed. I've noticed a lot of youngsters when taking photos will not accept advise given by seniors especially to help correct their techniques. As the saying goes, the seniors have tasted more salt than you.

Wow!

That was a blast of information!

I was already thinking of Kit II lens, but I was wondering why it's so expensive, now that you explained, I feel so much enlightened.

I agree with the "As you are new, and you don't know what you LIKE to shoot, a kit lens is thus more than sufficient to start with."

And regarding the "Just wondering, what made you settle on Canon 550D? Was it because of advertising or all your friends are using the same?"

Probably because since I started to "like" photography, 550D was released with rather nice features, and I feel interested in it.
And I think that "Oh, newly released. Maybe can get, since I'm new and the features are good enough for me. Gotta get something nice and good and user-friendly and durable for the first dSLR "
Not about the advertising, neither was it about my friends, because none of my friends like photography.

And I would like to ask some questions upon receiving new information from you.

1) Why does night photography require a tripod? (Enlighten me please.)
2) Where can I get a "good book on photography?
3) Dry cabinet? For what? (Sorry, I'm nerd :3)
4) What is a UV filter for?

And yes, definitely I'll listen to seniors' advice!

 

[lonarciso]

welcome to the club!

 

[adamis]

Wow!

That was a blast of information!

I was already thinking of Kit II lens, but I was wondering why it's so expensive, now that you explained, I feel so much enlightened.

I agree with the "As you are new, and you don't know what you LIKE to shoot, a kit lens is thus more than sufficient to start with."

And regarding the "Just wondering, what made you settle on Canon 550D? Was it because of advertising or all your friends are using the same?"

Probably because since I started to "like" photography, 550D was released with rather nice features, and I feel interested in it.
And I think that "Oh, newly released. Maybe can get, since I'm new and the features are good enough for me. Gotta get something nice and good and user-friendly and durable for the first dSLR "
Not about the advertising, neither was it about my friends, because none of my friends like photography.

And I would like to ask some questions upon receiving new information from you.

1) Why does night photography require a tripod? (Enlighten me please.)
2) Where can I get a "good book on photography?
3) Dry cabinet? For what? (Sorry, I'm nerd :3)
4) What is a UV filter for?

And yes, definitely I'll listen to seniors' advice!

Sorry, I dun have a DSLR for the moment so will advise best possible.

1) Why does night photography require a tripod? (Enlighten me please.) Becos night photography requires long shutter speed. & the only way to hold your camera steady while you take such shots is thru the use of tripod. e.g. you dun expect to hold your camera still for 10secs, do you?

2) Where can I get a "good book on photography? you can either borrow from NLB, or from bookstore. One bookstore that surprisingly has great selection of photography books is Computer Books Centre @ Funan.

3) Dry cabinet? For what? (Sorry, I'm nerd :3) Dry Cab to protect your investment when you are not shooting for long period, it keeps your photographic equipments like lens without fungus growth.


4) What is a UV filter for? One use of the UV Filter is to protect the lens (senior here correct me if i'm wrong) & it helps to reduce haziness or fogginess created by ultraviolet light.

 

[heshanj]

1) Why does night photography require a tripod? (Enlighten me please.)
when u shoot in low light, u need to use a slow shutter speed, to allow more light to enter. when u take photos at night, most often, the shutter speed u need to get a well exposed photo is very slow. therefore when u hold it by hand, its natural to shake it slightly, causing a blurred image. a tripod will hold the camera still right throughout the exposure. try holding a camera absolutely still, for 10 seconds! haha

2) Where can I get a "good book on photography?
im also fairly new. still dont own any books. but ive heard that some books by bryan peterson are recommended. ive seen these at borders, mph etc. many useful titles, i think there are other threads that i'll give u more info on this

3) Dry cabinet? For what? (Sorry, I'm nerd :3)
a dry cabinet is a box which maintains a low humidity environment (looks like a mini fridge). in singapore, our relativei humidity levels is very high; and its recommended to keep cameras/lenses in low humidity environments, as fungus is able to grow (on ur cam sensor and on ur lens glass), in humid conditions. the dry cabinet lowers the humidity to an ideal level

4) What is a UV filter for?
A UV filter is a piece of glass u'll add on to the front of ur lens; on digital cameras, its basically used to physically protect ur lens i.e. u use an expensive lens, and u knock it - its better to crack a $50 filter rather than wreck a $1000 lens!

 

[kriegsketten]

4) What is a UV filter for? One use of the UV Filter is to protect the lens (senior here correct me if i'm wrong) & it helps to reduce haziness or fogginess created by ultraviolet light.

Protect is more correct and probably the best reason to have one - it is better for the filter to get scratched than the lens itself...

 

[zapper10]

Hi jared,

Here are tha answer:
1) You need tripod because you may need to use long expossure. Lets say more than 10 seconds. There is no way you want to handheld your camera.
2) Actually, there are a lot of good book for photography. For me, I will just go to Library and read whatever I dont know.
3) Dry cabinet is used to keep you lense free from fungus. Not actually free. But, it helps to prevent it, especially in Singapore. Very humid.
4) UV filter is normally we use to protect our lense. You dont want to clean your lense everytime. It is cheaper to replace UV filter than lense whenever it got scratches

Hope it helps

 

[TheNautilus]

welcome to the club!

Thanks!

Sorry, I dun have a DSLR for the moment so will advise best possible.

1) Why does night photography require a tripod? (Enlighten me please.) Becos night photography requires long shutter speed. & the only way to hold your camera steady while you take such shots is thru the use of tripod. e.g. you dun expect to hold your camera still for 10secs, do you?

2) Where can I get a "good book on photography? you can either borrow from NLB, or from bookstore. One bookstore that surprisingly has great selection of photography books is Computer Books Centre @ Funan.

3) Dry cabinet? For what? (Sorry, I'm nerd :3) Dry Cab to protect your investment when you are not shooting for long period, it keeps your photographic equipments like lens without fungus growth.

Oh, okay!


4) What is a UV filter for? One use of the UV Filter is to protect the lens (senior here correct me if i'm wrong) & it helps to reduce haziness or fogginess created by ultraviolet light.

1) Why does night photography require a tripod? (Enlighten me please.)
when u shoot in low light, u need to use a slow shutter speed, to allow more light to enter. when u take photos at night, most often, the shutter speed u need to get a well exposed photo is very slow. therefore when u hold it by hand, its natural to shake it slightly, causing a blurred image. a tripod will hold the camera still right throughout the exposure. try holding a camera absolutely still, for 10 seconds! haha

2) Where can I get a "good book on photography?
im also fairly new. still dont own any books. but ive heard that some books by bryan peterson are recommended. ive seen these at borders, mph etc. many useful titles, i think there are other threads that i'll give u more info on this

3) Dry cabinet? For what? (Sorry, I'm nerd :3)
a dry cabinet is a box which maintains a low humidity environment (looks like a mini fridge). in singapore, our relativei humidity levels is very high; and its recommended to keep cameras/lenses in low humidity environments, as fungus is able to grow (on ur cam sensor and on ur lens glass), in humid conditions. the dry cabinet lowers the humidity to an ideal level

4) What is a UV filter for?
A UV filter is a piece of glass u'll add on to the front of ur lens; on digital cameras, its basically used to physically protect ur lens i.e. u use an expensive lens, and u knock it - its better to crack a $50 filter rather than wreck a $1000 lens!

Got it.

Protect is more correct and probably the best reason to have one - it is better for the filter to get scratched than the lens itself...

Thanks!

Hi jared,

Here are tha answer:
1) You need tripod because you may need to use long expossure. Lets say more than 10 seconds. There is no way you want to handheld your camera.
2) Actually, there are a lot of good book for photography. For me, I will just go to Library and read whatever I dont know.
3) Dry cabinet is used to keep you lense free from fungus. Not actually free. But, it helps to prevent it, especially in Singapore. Very humid.
4) UV filter is normally we use to protect our lense. You dont want to clean your lense everytime. It is cheaper to replace UV filter than lense whenever it got scratches

Hope it helps

Got it!

----------------------------------------------

After all,
What is a price of a decent tripod, dry cabinet and a UV filter?
Where can I get those?

 

[Sivakis]

No need to feel bad because you're new. Don't forget - every single one of us here started off with holding our first camera and taking our first shot and also felt like a complete n00b at that time. There's no running away from that

The rest have already mentioned why certain equipment are needed so I won't repeat those.

Some would say - if you're buying your first camera, don't go for the cheapest cos you'll end up looking at higher end to upgrade, which would end up spending more. On the other hand, if you buy higher end, and lose the interest, then you end up losing also.

The 550D + 18-135 is a very decent camera to start off with and your 2500 budget should also include the rest of the items mentioned, especially dry cabinet. I'd put in filter as must get as well, cos being new, it might take a while to intuitively know when to protect that lens. The rest - tripod/ flash/ battery/ memory card/ 2nd lens/ bag/ shutter release etc - all that can come later. When is later? Perhaps when you find out more about what you like to shoot. If it's a lot of night-shooting or slow-shutter, then perhaps the tripod can come into play. If you find yourself running out of memory, then spare cards/ battery. Until then, play with what you got first, then buy the rest slowly and later.

Most importantly, have fun. Photography shouldn't be stressful or frustrating. And practice practice practice. Go NLB, borrow books. Read it, practice it, then practice it again. In no time, it'll become second nature and you'll soon forget how daunting it seemed initially.

 

[TheNautilus]

No need to feel bad because you're new. Don't forget - every single one of us here started off with holding our first camera and taking our first shot and also felt like a complete n00b at that time. There's no running away from that

The rest have already mentioned why certain equipment are needed so I won't repeat those.

Some would say - if you're buying your first camera, don't go for the cheapest cos you'll end up looking at higher end to upgrade, which would end up spending more. On the other hand, if you buy higher end, and lose the interest, then you end up losing also.

The 550D + 18-135 is a very decent camera to start off with and your 2500 budget should also include the rest of the items mentioned, especially dry cabinet. I'd put in filter as must get as well, cos being new, it might take a while to intuitively know when to protect that lens. The rest - tripod/ flash/ battery/ memory card/ 2nd lens/ bag/ shutter release etc - all that can come later. When is later? Perhaps when you find out more about what you like to shoot. If it's a lot of night-shooting or slow-shutter, then perhaps the tripod can come into play. If you find yourself running out of memory, then spare cards/ battery. Until then, play with what you got first, then buy the rest slowly and later.

Most importantly, have fun. Photography shouldn't be stressful or frustrating. And practice practice practice. Go NLB, borrow books. Read it, practice it, then practice it again. In no time, it'll become second nature and you'll soon forget how daunting it seemed initially.

Man, great advice given! Really really really nice.

For the tripod/filter/drycabinet/uvfilter, how much would it be? (approximately!) I really need this, due to me being a student, no cash. lol.

Just to check out abit, and I'm trying my very best to do my very best in the upcoming MidYearExams. All for a 550D.

 

[Sivakis]

Slow down!

Get that mid-year paper aced, then look at what's available. The equipment will always be there, waiting to be purchased and hardly will prices get inflated (hardly, not that it hasn't happened-just very rare). But your paper, once taken, is taken. No 2nd chance (unless you repeat the year again.......).

So for now, get those grades and tell them,'Actions speak louder than words!'

 

[TheNautilus]

Slow down!

Get that mid-year paper aced, then look at what's available. The equipment will always be there, waiting to be purchased and hardly will prices get inflated (hardly, not that it hasn't happened-just very rare). But your paper, once taken, is taken. No 2nd chance (unless you repeat the year again.......).

So for now, get those grades and tell them,'Actions speak louder than words!'

Haha, true.

But I'm so scared I get bad grades... ):

 

[sheaffey]

Updated on the threadstarter already, regarding my budget.

It's $1500~$2500, for body+lens.

If it were to be me, i would buy 550D body and get a tamron 17-50 IMO..