[richpike]

Hi Folks,

So I finally broke down and bought a DSLR on Blackfriday - I ended up getting a Canon T3i with the 18-55 lens kit and then purchased the "nifty fifty" 50mm prime lense as well.

Is anyone on here in to photography? I'm pretty new to it, but got tired of my old P&S (should be POS) giving terrible low light pictures, missing photos with the kids, etc. I'll mainly be doing pictures of my kids indoors, some portraits, some outside pictures (landscape) some sports, etc. Nothing too crazy, but pretty across the board.

Any recommendations for other good budget lenses for Canon? I'm looking at a telephoto lens now - not sure if anyone has any good recommendations on that (Sigma, Canon, etc).

What about other must have accessories? Filters, bags, flashes, etc. I'm open for any and all advice.

TIA.
Rich

[forza1976]

Rich,
Nice pickup. I'm not a canon shooter (nikon here) but try to stick with Canon glass. The other stuff is decent but you can't go wrong with the good Canon stuff.

Also, if you have any future plans in purchasing a full frame camera (5d Mk2, Mk3, 6d, etc.) then consider glass that is meant for full frame cameras. They will be more expensive but you will be setup for the full frame camera and won't have to duplicate lens purchases. Crop sensor lenses work on full frame cameras but they vignette heavily.

Only other suggestion is to spend the cash on faster lenses if you can stand the prices, so lenses with F stop 2.8 and below. You'll be happy in the future and the low light performance is killer when you get down to that level.

Just some thoughts.
Matt

[richpike]

Originally Posted by forza1976

Rich,
Nice pickup. I'm not a canon shooter (nikon here) but try to stick with Canon glass. The other stuff is decent but you can't go wrong with the good Canon stuff.

Also, if you have any future plans in purchasing a full frame camera (5d Mk2, Mk3, 6d, etc.) then consider glass that is meant for full frame cameras. They will be more expensive but you will be setup for the full frame camera and won't have to duplicate lens purchases. Crop sensor lenses work on full frame cameras but they vignette heavily.

Only other suggestion is to spend the cash on faster lenses if you can stand the prices, so lenses with F stop 2.8 and below. You'll be happy in the future and the low light performance is killer when you get down to that level.

Just some thoughts.
Matt

Thanks Matt. I looked at the Nikon D3100 and it was very nice, but I just got too good of a deal on the T3i to pass up.

Good advice on the F stop value - that was one of the things that caught my eye on that "nifty fifty" lens - F stop of 1.8 should make it great for shooting indoors without a flash. Most of the telephoto lenses I'm seeing are in the F4 range - does the F stop value make as big of a difference when shooting outdoors (likely during the day with my son in soccer, etc)?

Thanks!
Rich

[klove83]

Rich I can help you out sometime. I shoot with a Nikon. Prime lenses are the best route to get, But expensive. It just depends on what you want to photograph. If you are wanting to take kinds pictures id suggest getting a fast lens thats good in low light. When looking for a fast lens take a look at the fstop. The lower the fstop the faster the lens especially low light. Id also get a speedlight.

[forza1976]

Originally Posted by richpike

Thanks Matt. I looked at the Nikon D3100 and it was very nice, but I just got too good of a deal on the T3i to pass up.

Good advice on the F stop value - that was one of the things that caught my eye on that "nifty fifty" lens - F stop of 1.8 should make it great for shooting indoors without a flash. Most of the telephoto lenses I'm seeing are in the F4 range - does the F stop value make as big of a difference when shooting outdoors (likely during the day with my son in soccer, etc)?

Thanks!
Rich

Canon is good stuff, it's funny how people are with Nikon and Canon. It's like the Ford and Chevy debate. Just stick with one and you'll be good.

As for the outdoor stuff, you can never go wrong with faster lenses, the 2.8 and quicker but the 3.5 and slower will be good in daylight situations. For Canon, if you can stomach the cost their "L" lenses are the best. They have that red line around the end of the lens. Pro lenses with the advanced lens coating and fancy types of glass to reduce lens flare, distortion and generally sharper images. Oh, and they are typically much heavier because they have a bunch of glass in them. Basically if you are buying 2.8 gear, you are likely getting their semi to pro lenses.

I have a few lenses that have 15+ pieces of glass and they are damn heavy and tough to travel with so keep that in consideration as well.

Hope you have fun with the camera.

[richpike]

Originally Posted by klove83

Rich I can help you out sometime. I shoot with a Nikon. Prime lenses are the best route to get, But expensive. It just depends on what you want to photograph. If you are wanting to take kinds pictures id suggest getting a fast lens thats good in low light. When looking for a fast lens take a look at the fstop. The lower the fstop the faster the lens especially low light. Id also get a speedlight.

Thanks Kevin. Have you guys ever bought used/refurbished lenses (from a reputable company)? Seems like you can save some serious money buying used, and it seems like they don't change much. But I'm not sure how fragile the lenses are.

[richpike]

Originally Posted by forza1976

Canon is good stuff, it's funny how people are with Nikon and Canon. It's like the Ford and Chevy debate. Just stick with one and you'll be good.

As for the outdoor stuff, you can never go wrong with faster lenses, the 2.8 and quicker but the 3.5 and slower will be good in daylight situations. For Canon, if you can stomach the cost their "L" lenses are the best. They have that red line around the end of the lens. Pro lenses with the advanced lens coating and fancy types of glass to reduce lens flare, distortion and generally sharper images. Oh, and they are typically much heavier because they have a bunch of glass in them. Basically if you are buying 2.8 gear, you are likely getting their semi to pro lenses.

I have a few lenses that have 15+ pieces of glass and they are damn heavy and tough to travel with so keep that in consideration as well.

Hope you have fun with the camera.

Thanks man!

[klove83]

Originally Posted by richpike

Thanks Kevin. Have you guys ever bought used/refurbished lenses (from a reputable company)? Seems like you can save some serious money buying used, and it seems like they don't change much. But I'm not sure how fragile the lenses are.

Just make sure it focuses correctly no scratches and no fungus and you will be ok

[richpike]

Originally Posted by klove83

Just make sure it focuses correctly no scratches and no fungus and you will be ok

Nice - thanks. BTW - great pictures above.

Any accessories you guys would recommend? I got a nice bag already. What about tripods, etc? You had also mentioned a speed light - I'm assuming the built-in flash isn't that great?

[klove83]

Just get a sturdy tripod. The ball heads are best. Speedlight is a attachable flash. The built in flash sucks. Once you get more into lighting you can run remote hot flashes synced to the flash off the camera.

My fav lens I have is a 50mm 1.8 - creates lots of depth

[16M4]

I got into it for a little bit. I am not good at it whatsoever. However, I kind of just read some things online and watched some videos on YouTube. They helped me a little bit.