Love affair with the DSLR.

[Kookk]

I have never ever had my own camera untill the recent Comex in 2009. Before Comex, I have only borrowed PnSs to satisfy any photo taking needs.

3 weeks before Comex, I was out on my usual weekend window shopping with my wife and happened to step into a Sony shop. Curious about the craze on DSLRs, I took the A330 into my hands to fiddle with it. Things changed! I could no longer use another PnS anymore. I was blown away by the image quality and speed of taking photos. I will be holidaying in Japan for 10 days in November and immediately thought of all the photo taking opportunities I would be encoutering. I spent the next 3 weeks doing my research on cameras and photo taking techniques and finally decided to buy myself a Canon EOS 500D. Before making my decision, I even borrowed a superzoom, Sony HX1, to play around with it. I wanted to make sure that a DSLR was what I wanted as the Sony captured nice pictures too. The crunch time came and I busted my wallet during the Comex and got myself the 500D with the 18-55mm kit lens (Yes! I know my decision to buy at the Comex is debatable but I was a sucker for the red Canon Crumpler bag).

Now, I am still reading up a book for dummies and practising my shots, hoping to attain some level of proficiency before my trip to Japan. Just reached my first 1k shutter count and uploaded some pictures that I've managed. All comments and criticisms are welcomed. I have a steep learning curve before my Japan trip.

Scenes from my garden:
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=581696

Our best friend - Black & White Series:
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=581718

After my 1k shutter count, the dreaded BBB virus is now setting in. :embrass: Constantly on my mind, I am thinking of the ideal setup to acquire. UWA? Telephoto? Filters? Tripods? The standard set of questions asked by every noob. I've sort of concluded on the following,

- the new EF-S 15-85mm f3.5/5.6 IS USM for most of my walk about needs. I think this should be wide enough for me not to want to buy a UWA.

- EF 70-300mm f4/5.6 IS USM as a telephoto zoom or the EF-S 55-250mm f4/5.6 IS for its portability and much cheaper price. The price for a EF 70-200mm f4 IS with or without USM just seems too crazy for a starter to buy.

- flash, tripod and appropriate filters at a later stage

I also have a EF 50mm f1.8 prime lens to experiment with and may at a later stage acquire other 'fast' prime lens if required. For now, I think the 2 above mentioned zoom lens will fuel my requirements for a really long time. Again, I will be glad to soak in any comments from the experts.

I apologise about the long introductory note but I am all excited about this new found hobby.

 

[flipfreak]

get the standard zoom and a flash first. tripod if u plan to take some sceneries. the rest can wait.

 

[Diavonex]

Get yourself a Dry Cabinet to protect your investment.

 

[Leofric]

I would suggest battery grip and flash to add on

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

congrats on your purchase! You won't regret it I'm sure

had a brief look through your photos, and I must say most of them are quite all right. I would dare say that your photo-taking competency is higher than most newbies.

Some advice:
Don't buy the 15-85 yet unless you feel that you turn the zoom till 18mm and you want to go wider but can't.
If you're trying to get more in the scene, you can consider stitching photos together, or simply standing further back.
Same goes for telephoto. If you feel that you turn to 55mm and need more reach, you can consider the 55-250 as a budget lens.
55mm on a 500D is already giving you FOV of about 80+mm in film terms. Decent telephoto, in my opinion. Depends what you shoot la. If you got the budget for it, by all means!

 

[Kookk]

get the standard zoom and a flash first. tripod if u plan to take some sceneries. the rest can wait.

My priority will be to get a good versatile zoom lens for my Japan trip. Reviews and IQ questions aside, the 15-85 seems to fit the bill well and would probably go a long way. I will probably only buy a tripod and flash later as I do not think I will bring it for my trip as I want to travel lighter.

 

[Kookk]

Get yourself a Dry Cabinet to protect your investment.

Bought the very next day I bought my camera. : )

 

[Kookk]

Thank you for your encouragement!

Actaully, with the kind of shots that I am taking so far, I seem to be trying to get more zoom than wide out of the kit lens but I've not really tried any landscapes so far. I definitely want more zoom but from all the reading it seems that wide will get better yield in Japan with all the temples and sceneries.

Maybe I will just get the 17-55 f2.8 and 55-250 f4-5.6. My friend from HK just called me and the prices she can get seems quite attractive and she is visiting SG this week.

congrats on your purchase! You won't regret it I'm sure

had a brief look through your photos, and I must say most of them are quite all right. I would dare say that your photo-taking competency is higher than most newbies.

Some advice:
Don't buy the 15-85 yet unless you feel that you turn the zoom till 18mm and you want to go wider but can't.
If you're trying to get more in the scene, you can consider stitching photos together, or simply standing further back.
Same goes for telephoto. If you feel that you turn to 55mm and need more reach, you can consider the 55-250 as a budget lens.
55mm on a 500D is already giving you FOV of about 80+mm in film terms. Decent telephoto, in my opinion. Depends what you shoot la. If you got the budget for it, by all means!

 

[sinned79]

My priority will be to get a good versatile zoom lens for my Japan trip. Reviews and IQ questions aside, the 15-85 seems to fit the bill well and would probably go a long way. I will probably only buy a tripod and flash later as I do not think I will bring it for my trip as I want to travel lighter.

15-85 is a bad choice, not much significance as compared to your 18-55 :sweatsm:

 

[Racingheart]

Hi ts..
when taking photo at low light condition using 500d is it very dark??

 

[Kookk]

Hi ts..
when taking photo at low light condition using 500d is it very dark??

Based on my little experience, I've been finding it difficult with the kit lens to capture nice shots in low light condition with out flash. It was alot better with the 50mm f1.8. If that's your concern, you may want to consider the Nikons, The ISO performance is supposed to be heaps better.

 

[Kookk]

15-85 is a bad choice, not much significance as compared to your 18-55 :sweatsm:

But there is 3mm on the wide side, 30mm on the telephoto side and USM. Looking at the 17-85, I am sure the built quality will be much higher too. Whether all these will worth the price difference is the question.

 

[daredevil123]

I think the best purchase now is a flash.

If you really want to capture nice photos in low light conditions, having and knowing how to use a external flash gun is very important.

 

[daredevil123]

Based on my little experience, I've been finding it difficult with the kit lens to capture nice shots in low light condition with out flash. It was alot better with the 50mm f1.8. If that's your concern, you may want to consider the Nikons, The ISO performance is supposed to be heaps better.

Nikon or Canon, neither can perform miracle. If there is not enough light, there is not enough light period. That is why I always firmly believe that a external flash gun should be one of the top purchase after getting a body and kit lens.

 

[Kookk]

I think the best purchase now is a flash.

If you really want to capture nice photos in low light conditions, having and knowing how to use a external flash gun is very important.

Will definitely look at one but do people usually carry flashes around on their holidays? I would think alot of sight seeing will mostly be done in daylight

 

[pandukades]

congrats..... !! Welcome to the world of SLR photography and greetings from Sri Lanka....!!

 

[Racingheart]

Based on my little experience, I've been finding it difficult with the kit lens to capture nice shots in low light condition with out flash. It was alot better with the 50mm f1.8. If that's your concern, you may want to consider the Nikons, The ISO performance is supposed to be heaps better.

thanks bro.. i kind of like 500d 960k dots lcd ~ :bsmilie:
well... i thinking of getting d5000 or 500d !~ :dunno:
i couldnt make up my mind

 

[Kookk]

thanks bro.. i kind of like 500d 960k dots lcd ~ :bsmilie:
well... i thinking of getting d5000 or 500d !~ :dunno:
i couldnt make up my mind

I liked the LCD too but the deciding factor for me was to physically molest both the cameras. The Canon just felt better in my hands.

 

[ijnek]

flash...no doubt abt it...make sure u get 1 which u can bounce the flash

 

[NewbieInCS]

TS, you do know the rrp for the 15-85 is not quite that cheap right? Pretty close to 17-55. My personal opinion is at that type of price, a 18-200 or a 17-55 might be a more worthwhile choice. You sound a bit like trying to collect lens to complete the focal length:bsmilie:

How often do you use or wish you have a super tele lens? Some people only use 70-200 for what they shoot, while some others don't even own a lens longer than 85mm. All depends on what you shoot.

If you are looking for a uwa and a little bit more reach than the kit lens, you might want to consider getting a tamron 28-75 with a canon 10-22. With these, you will probably not need to upgrade for a long long time.