Nifty fifty or tripod??

Mycroft H

Friend of mine bought a eos 350d used and hes already hit the limitations of the standard 18-55 ie too slow for low light. He often shoots landscapes and pictures of birds in the hand. However he dosnt want to spend a fourtune on gear maybe 150 yo yos - however im unsure what to advise him what to get?


Do I tell him to get a fifty or a tripod?? If you rekon a fifty, do you know a good one (he dosent mind used stuff) as i havnt a clue about canon lenses

AnimalRights

Pointless getting a tripod without a long lens/zoom so..
If his into saving money it has to be the 50mm 1.8

Pigwidgeon

i'd say for 150 you could get a fifty and a cheapish tripod.
fifty costs roughly €100
i got a tripod in arogs for €50 and it does the job nicely for what i need anyway.

silverside

i bought a basic tripod for £20 in jessops, which works fine. maybe get that in N.I. ?

I also got the nifty for £60 ish in London from microglobe (i.e. the canon 50mm f1.8 which is excellent)

with sterling the way it is, you could get both for €100 !

another option is to sell the kit lens and look out for something like a sigma 17-70 or the canon 17-85 IS - I got the sigma for £150.... big improvemtn over the kit lens though probably out of your friends budget

challengemaster

Why is he shooting birds in low light anyway? and I can't even imagine trying to shoot a bird with 55mm >.<

Dodgykeeper

AnimalRights wrote: »

Pointless getting a tripod without a long lens/zoom so..
If his into saving money it has to be the 50mm 1.8

How is this the case AR?

Mycroft H

challengemaster wrote: »

Why is he shooting birds in low light anyway? and I can't even imagine trying to shoot a bird with 55mm >.<

Look at the origional post

silverside

tripod can be useful for night cityscapes / landscapes too

but the difference the nifty fifty makes in sharpness / depth of field / low light performance is amazing and will help you develop as a photographer - look at the aquarium shots on my flickr, the fish ones were taken with the fifty (without flash).

GhostInTheRuins

landyman wrote: »

Friend of mine bought a eos 350d used and hes already hit the limitations of the standard 18-55 ie too slow for low light. He often shoots landscapes and pictures of birds in the hand. However he dosnt want to spend a fourtune on gear maybe 150 yo yos - however im unsure what to advise him what to get?


Do I tell him to get a fifty or a tripod?? If you rekon a fifty, do you know a good one (he dosent mind used stuff) as i havnt a clue about canon lenses

I'm not sure a nifty-fifty would be his best option for either shooting birds or landscapes. I'd say get a relatively cheap tripod for the time being and start saving for a better lens.

ThOnda

I might be annoying again, but I think that buying nifty-fifty would lead to faster development of photgraphical skills. And therefore for realising what should be the next purchase. Tripod for landscapes maybe, but using self-timer or remote release would be very important, especially with the cheapest tripods.
I vote for nifty now and tripod at least one month later. Not to mention that there'll be more daylight in one month time.

Pivot_Al

Think I would agree with GhostintheRuins- the nifty fifty is a slightly specialist lens not sure if it would suit here given the interests specified- a tripod will help counter the low light difficulties associated with the kit lens

challengemaster

landyman wrote: »

Look at the origional post

I have done. Multiple times. I still have no idea as to why.

AnimalRights

I read it once and understood it.
Brush up CM.

AnimalRights

Dodgykeeper wrote: »

How is this the case AR?

OP said about shooting birds in the hand....so tripod pointless there and as for landscapes is a 55 lens really useful on a lens for that?
50mm will be great value and a great lens and will get him used to using his feet, then when he learns and appreciates what can be done he may be into saving that bit more for a decent zoom lens for landscapes and as someone said he can get a tripod anytime for little or no money.

Mycroft H

challengemaster wrote: »

I have done. Multiple times. I still have no idea as to why.

See linky : www.bto.org/ringing/ringinfo/become-a-ringer.htm

Some birds react badly to a flash - ie it startles them. Although they remain quite still while in the hand as they know they cannot get away. The standard kit canon lens has no i.s so either a tripod or a fifty would work

silverside

dont think a tripod will be much use for shooting birds either.... IMHO.

ThOnda

Birds in hands, on a crop body? - nifty/fifty! No brainer :pac:

AnimalRights

the 18-55 is not great quality though and if theres one place it will be shown is landscapes at 18 though.
Just my opinion.

silverside

I agree that the 18-55 is not great; but landscapes are not the most demanding subject . My 17-70 shows barrel distortion at 17mm - if i was shooting landscapes seriously i'd want to get a 10-20 - but for development of all round photography skills and fast shooting, i think the 50mm 1.8 is an obvious choice.

decsramble

Get the Fifty. I bought both a fifty and a tripod and use the 50 far more often.

AnimalRights

I just found the IQ at 18 doing landscapes was not great.