Advice/Questions on buying Cameras & Accessories. **Please read OP first**

have a 600d - very good. only really significant difference is the articulated screen - which is handy - more so for video than stills (as live view focusing i.e. using the screen to take photos is fairly slow for stills).

samhail

glasso wrote: »

a class 6 or above card will do fine for all uses. 16gb is the best value size currently.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Transcend-16GB-SDHC-Class-Memory/dp/B003VNKNEQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311701486&sr=8-1

is a good option from amazon. it' says class 10 but people argue that it's really 6 but all agree that it works well with cameras, stills or hd video.

if your amazon order hasn't shipped you can amend and add to order.

I decided to go for the class 10, since was getting the 600d that had the full HD recording. faster accessing the memory card to save it. Might not have needed it but still
I got 1 16GB card, and 2 4GB cards for 30GPB (£29.91) delivered from mymemory.co.uk.
Havnt had any problem with that. seems those 3 cards you can get for 15p cheaper now !!!

http://www.mymemory.co.uk/SDHC/Transcend/Transcend-16GB-SD-Card-%28SDHC%29---Class-10
http://www.mymemory.co.uk/SDHC/Transcend/Transcend-4GB-SD-Card-%28SDHC%29---Class-10--

Macronelf wrote: »

Is the canon 550D a nice enough slr for someone who's never owned it? I've read nothing but good things about it. Just wanted some first hand opinions. I've also been reading up on the 600D too, is it worth it?

have a 600d like glasso. I moved up from a fujifilm bridge camera so still finding functionality and techniques to shoot with.
As someone else said a few posts back... all the current cameras today are nice enough
actually check out this other thread

johnmcdnl

Macronelf wrote: »

Would you recommend getting a camera from Amazon.com? It's €200-300 cheaper than it is here and they're a well known enough site.

amazon are a great site for buying from... very reliable... just make sure it's the amazon store itself your buying from an not one of the other sellers....

if it's the amazon store itself it'll be with you in 2-3 days from my experience and there supposed to be great for returns if you do have any problems...

can't say a bad thing about amazon tbh

Rented Mule

Let me preface my question below by stating that I am a photographic noob.

I was wondering if anyone can give me an idea on upgraded lenses. I have a Canon Eos Rebel T21 with an 18-55mm lens. I absolutely love it so far, the only drawback so far is shooting anything at a distance. What I am looking for would be shooting in Clubs/Concerts where I would be able to actually get in tight at the acts (distances up to 30-35m or so ?). Any ideas on a nice lens that would work well for me ?

Thanks in advance !!

samhail

Rented Mule wrote: »

Let me preface my question below by stating that I am a photographic noob.

I was wondering if anyone can give me an idea on upgraded lenses. I have a Canon Eos Rebel T21 with an 18-55mm lens. I absolutely love it so far, the only drawback so far is shooting anything at a distance. What I am looking for would be shooting in Clubs/Concerts where I would be able to actually get in tight at the acts (distances up to 30-35m or so ?). Any ideas on a nice lens that would work well for me ?

Thanks in advance !!

Hi, As soon as i moved over to Canon, coming from a bridge camera that had a 300mm zoom on it, i went out and bought something like http://www.adverts.ie/lenses/sigma-dl-zoom-af-75-300mm-1-4-5-6-canon/745489
cheap enough and useful when you are starting out.
If you want to switch over to Canon it will go up in price, and if you want to get the IS (image stabilisation) mod it will go up in price again.

http://www.adverts.ie/lenses/canon-55-250efs-f-4-5-6-is/684847
This is my next lense i think... just need to wait for the money to be spare

As im sure you know the more money you spend on a lense the better.
You can spend 800euro on a lense today that would be great

yeksi

I'm a working portrait/landscape photographer looking to get my first medium format camera (6x6 ideally). My relatively uninformed inclination is to go for a Hasselblad, but I've heard Bronica mentioned as cheaper alternative (I'm working in a rough €500 - €800 bracket ideally). Mamiya too. In my research to date I'm finding it very difficult to work out a number of questions I have:

Why is there such a price difference on ebay between (seemingly) indistinguishable models of Hasselblads? Is there a great variation in function/quality that I've missed?
Any advice on lenses/film backs for Hasselblad?
Would there be a great quality difference between Bronica and Hasselblad?
Who would be considered the best supplier for these cameras in the Dublin/Ireland area, or should I go down the ebay route?

Basically, I'm a medium format novice so any guidance or direction to good review pages would be much appreciated.

P.S. I am also a boards.ie newbie so apologies if this is in the wrong place or format or something.

Sniipe

I'm looking to replace my Lumix FZ28 (A bridge camera).

I was looking into getting a Sony Nex5 that was until I saw there is a Lumix G3 for around the same price. Perhaps there is something better?

I'm looking for a 4 3rd's camera so that I have the compactness and the ability to throw on any lens in the future. Oh and full HD video is nice (which both of those have). Advice is always appreciated, so thanks Boardsies.

Sniipe

I'm looking to replace my Lumix FZ28 (A bridge camera).

I was looking into getting a Sony Nex5 that was until I saw there is a Lumix G3 for around the same price. Perhaps there is something better?

I'm looking for a 4 3rd's camera so that I have the compactness and the ability to throw on any lens in the future. Oh and full HD video is nice (which both of those have). Advice is always appreciated, so thanks Boardsies.

omegawkd

Hey there, I'm new to the photography section so bare with me and I'd like to say thank you upfront for any help you can give me.

I'm looking to follow a decent hobby in photography and maybe bridge into working with it. I'm not new to terminology and am quite able to follow technical info.

I bought my Canon 1000d about a year ago now, at the time I got the kit lens but no IS - I didn't understand the difference at the time, and now am looking to buy my first decent lens.

I've been looking for a replacement which goes from 18-100mm+ and have scoured the net and Amazon but will all mixed reviews. I've settled on either the Canon 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM or the Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di-II (IF) LD VC.

I realise there is a much greater focal range with the Tamron and I know it has won many awards for this but some reviews I read rave about the Canon lens being sharp consistently whereas the Tamron becomes much softer as you zoom.

Does anyone have any advice for me on these two lenses or other lenses. I do know the PZD version has been released for the Tamron, is it any better or worse?

It's hard to make my mind up since I can't physically try these lenses before hand.

Once again thankyou for your time and help. It is appreciated.

5uspect

Why buy an SLR and then stick a big all-in-one zoom on it?

Lenses with such wide ranges of focal lengths are always a compromise. The optics have to be good enough at each focal length but they're rarely exceptional at any of them.
The Canon would simply have to be sharper than the Tamron as a result.

You should ideally pick up a 50mm f/1.8 and maybe look at two zooms for the wide and long end. The EF 55-250 IS is a decent and cheap enough, but not terribly fast telephoto.
(BTW you don't really need IS on a wide to moderate lens like the 18-55)

The 28-135 is not very wide on the crop 1000D. Ideally you should be looking at a 17-55 or one of its cheaper cousins.

Definitely get the 50mm, you'll learn so much more about photography with this lens.

On the other end of the scale you could buy a prime lens for each focal length you're interested in... :pac:

omegawkd

5uspect wrote: »

Why buy an SLR and then stick a big all-in-one zoom on it?

Lenses with such wide ranges of focal lengths are always a compromise. The optics have to be good enough at each focal length but they're rarely exceptional at any of them.
The Canon would simply have to be sharper than the Tamron as a result.

You should ideally pick up a 50mm f/1.8 and maybe look at two zooms for the wide and long end. The EF 55-250 IS is a decent and cheap enough, but not terribly fast telephoto.
(BTW you don't really need IS on a wide to moderate lens like the 18-55)

The 28-135 is not very wide on the crop 1000D. Ideally you should be looking at a 17-55 or one of its cheaper cousins.

Definitely get the 50mm, you'll learn so much more about photography with this lens.

On the other end of the scale you could buy a prime lens for each focal length you're interested in... :pac:

I had thought about doing just that. Getting three different lens but its the price point that is the issue. I am currently not working and have managed to save a bit of cash and with a birthday coming up is the only reason why I am getting another lens.

If I could find three lenses that could amount to roughly the €500 mark i'm game but I have come up short so far with regards to value and quality for money.

However, my plan is to buy a 50mm lens there after.

I just figured a zoom lens would be a decent replacement for my stock. I do have to say though, some of my photos have come out very blurry, even in excellent conditions, with the stock lens I have... I wouldn't have the steadiest hands. For this, I bought a tripod.

hbr

omegawkd wrote: »

Hey there, I'm new to the photography section

Welcome to the forum.

so bare with me and I'd like to say thank you upfront for any help you can give me.

I don't think there is a nude sub-forum, but I'm sure it would be very popular.

I bought my Canon 1000d about a year ago now, at the time I got the kit lens but no IS - I didn't understand the difference at the time, and now am looking to buy my first decent lens.

I don't think IS is critically important on an 18-55mm lens. The newer
IS kit lenses are better than the old 18-55mm, not just because of the
IS, but because other aspects of the design have improved too.

I've been looking for a replacement which goes from 18-100mm+ and have scoured the net and Amazon but will all mixed reviews. I've settled on either the Canon 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM or the Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di-II (IF) LD VC.

Will you be happy with 28mm at the wide end? I would find this very
restrictive for a walk-around lens. The Tamron 18-270mm and the
Sigma 18-250mm (OS or whatever Sigma call it) are probably the
two best-in-class superzooms.

I realise there is a much greater focal range with the Tamron and I know it has won many awards for this but some reviews I read rave about the Canon lens being sharp consistently whereas the Tamron becomes much softer as you zoom.

It isn't really fair to compare a lens with a 5x zoom ratio to a
superzoom with a 15x zoom ratio. If you compare the Tamron
with the 18-200mm IS Canon lens, you will find that the Tamron
is the superior lens.

Does anyone have any advice for me on these two lenses or other lenses. I do know the PZD version has been released for the Tamron, is it any better or worse?

The best advice I can give you is not to be seduced by very
long focal length or vast zoom ranges. Superzooms seem to
offer a lot, but they usually come up short in terms of performance.
Most of them have a maximum aperture around f/5.6 or f/6.3 at the
long end. In reality, they are usually so soft at maximum zoom
that they need to be stopped down by 1-2 stops to get a sharp
image. That takes you to about f/11 which is ok on a nice bright
sunny day, but not so good on a day like today.

Have you thought about a two lens solution? A S/H Canon
70-200mm F/4L fetches around €400 or perhaps a little
more. For a smaller budget, The Canon 55-250mm IS
is quite a good lens. These are under €200 brand new.
You would probably pay almost as much for a used one.

At the wider end, the Tamron 17-50mm is a superb
lens. You want the cheaper non-stabilised version, it is
sharper than the VC version.

It's hard to make my mind up since I can't physically try these lenses before hand.

Some camera shops will let you play with the lenses, particularly if they
have used ones available. Camera clubs or photo walks are another good
opportunity to try out lenses. Many DSLR users will be happy to let you
take a few shots with their precious lenses if you promise not to drop
them or run off with them.

hbr

I took so long to reply that 5uspect beat me to it on several points.

omegawkd wrote: »

If I could find three lenses that could amount to roughly the €500 mark i'm game but I have come up short so far with regards to value and quality for money.

For anyone with a restricted budget, the Tamron and Sigma superzooms are
quite expensive.

For €500, I would get the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 (non-vc). I paid €276 for
mine just a few weeks ago. I would either spend the remaining cash on
a Canon 55-250mm IS or I would put it under the mattress until I had
enough for a used Canon 70-200mm F/4 or Sigma 70-200mm F/2.8.

omegawkd

Well I could understand the need for a 50mm prime, not sure why I would trade my 18-55 for a 17-50 right now, considering my main aim of this is to get a better zoom.

So many choices

5uspect

omegawkd wrote: »

Well I could understand the need for a 50mm prime, not sure why I would trade my 18-55 for a 17-50 right now, considering my main aim of this is to get a better zoom.

So many choices

Define better.

omegawkd

Ha, yeah better... I suppose its hard to quanitfy... More simply I mean further, 55mm is really crappy to be honest.

My mate had is 135mm around the other day and it didn't seem that much further but I guess it still made a difference.

I had a look a picture on Flickr for the Tamron, they seem pretty good to be honest. http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=tamron+18-270&z=m&page=7

Yet I know, these are lower res than the taken photo and probably taken in optimum settings. They still seem pretty clear.

Ultimately I am looking at an all-in-one replacement for my stock and between the two I mentioned I am starting to lean towards the Tamron.

I think that is the way I will go unles I can afford three different lens.

hbr

omegawkd wrote: »

Well I could understand the need for a 50mm prime, not sure why I would trade my 18-55 for a 17-50 right now, considering my main aim of this is to get a better zoom.

So many choices

You won't get a 'better zoom' without losing out on image
quality. The Tamron 17-50mm is much better than the
Tamron 18-270mm over the limited range of focal length
that they have in common 18-50mm. At larger apertures,
there is a fairly radical difference in quality. Have a look
here:

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=400&Camera=474&Sample=0&FLI=2&API=2&LensComp=492&CameraComp=474&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=2&APIComp=0

Move your mouse over the test chart. As you can see,
the 17-50mm is very good, even compared to lenses that
cost 3-4 times the price. By comparison, the 18-270
looks bloody awful.

My point is: you could get much better quality out of your €500
by buying two lenses.

On the other hand, there are some advantages to using a
superzoom. If you don't have to change lenses in the field,
you won't need to clean your sensor as often.

omegawkd

So whatever it is about what lens I get, where do you find that are the best on price? Amazon?

hbr

omegawkd wrote: »

So whatever it is about what lens I get, where do you find that are the best on price? Amazon?

Amazon can be good, although I have no experience of dealing with them.
I have had good experience on eBay. I have also bought lenses in a local
camera shop at very competitive prices. Adverts.ie can be a good place
to pick up used lenses. Check prices carefully. Some of the sellers
are asking for more than the new price for old lenses.

I bought my last lens (the Tamron I mentioned earlier) from
Simply Electronics. They have a fairly dodgy reputation, but
I was reasonably happy with the service and the price was
good. They take great pains to avoid telling customers that
they are a Hong Kong company. This means that shipping
times are usually 1-2 weeks.

I wouldn't be inclined to buy a used DSLR because they have
a limited life. Consumer grade DSLRs like my Canon 500D and
your 1000D are more or less disposable items. If they pack up
after two or three years, they are out of warranty and usually
beyond economical repair. Hopefully they will last longer than
two or three years, but the risk of failure is quite high at this
age, particularly if the shutter has seen several tens of
thousands of actuations.

Lenses are different. They usually last longer than a camera body.
I would have no hesitation in buying a used lens. If the glass is
in pristine condition and the lens is working perfectly, you will
probably get many years of good service out of it.

Jim

Amazon is great from my experience. Even the cheapest delivery option tends to be really fast. Problems can arise though when certain items are only available from Amazon via third party resellers, so sometimes they can take longer or don't deliver to Ireland.

Colin4May

PCPhoto wrote: »

Raaaight !!

what do you want to take photos of ?

if you plan on doing more and more with the camera then I would suggest a system like Canon or Nikon - they have the largest range of lenses if you plan on building your gear.

There are plenty of other systems Pentax, Sony, Minolta - however, because Canon/Nikon are the main players there are loads of secondhand lenses/bodies around.

its a bit of a bold suggestion but you could always go with a film SLR - learn and experiment - most of the time any lenses will be usable if you eventually move up to a digital SLR.

goto a shop and check out different cameras - whichever feels most comfortable in your hand is the system which you should choose !! (lets face it unless you are comfortable holding the camera - whats the point in buying it)

I would only add my two pennorth here.. that I have a Lumix G3 Digital SLR and have found the Panasonic/Leica range of lenses http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/Products/LUMIX+Digital+Cameras/G+Micro+System/Lumix+G+Lenses/Lumix+G+Lens+Sample+Gallery/6666068/index.html to be quite large, and good enough for all the applications I wanted to use my camera for so far..

That's not to say the others aren't good too.. In fact you are just spolit for choice!

PoleStar

Like many here, I love my nifty fifty lens (on my canon EOS): flattering images and great low light performance.

However, as the saying goes, "the best camera is the one in your pocket".

Thus, my bulky SLR doesnt always come with me where I go.

Are there any fixed lens small cameras with 50mm lens which might suit a "bring it everywhere" purpose with good aperture size (like down to the 1.8 of the nifty fifty that we all have)?

This could even be a fixed lens film camera! (I have a Nikkormat with a 50mm lens but its just too darn heavy and bulky to bring it everywhere!).

All suggestions welcome!

Jim

Anyone recommend a decent wrist strap for replacing the full shoulder strap?

DConway

Hi,
Been looking for an dslr to get in to photography, a friend of mine has a Canon 400 d he said he would sell to me for €260. What do you guys think? Would this be a good deal? It's about 3yrs old, used very lightly, maybe 3-4000 shutter actions, looks like its been well taken care of. He will throw in 3 compact memory cards. Has stock lens.

Would it be good for a beginner? Just going to be shooting the usual stuff, holidays, family events, some amateur sports etc. With a view to maybe taking it more seriously if I can get into it.

Thanks for your help!

pixbyjohn

260 euro sounds like a good deal to me for the camera with lens etc.

blacknight83

hi guys looking to buy my first dslr, have settled for nikon d3100. I have been looking around in some bricks and motar stores here and online, does anyone know where I'll pick one up for a good price? don't want second hand also will be going to NYC later this year.. would it be best to hold off and pick one up cheaper over there ?

samhail

blacknight83 wrote: »

hi guys looking to buy my first dslr, have settled for nikon d3100. I have been looking around in some bricks and motar stores here and online, does anyone know where I'll pick one up for a good price? don't want second hand also will be going to NYC later this year.. would it be best to hold off and pick one up cheaper over there ?

I got mine brand new camera from ebay a few months ago.
Dont forget that if you are flying to NYC that you will be heading through the tax free...

"...give either T 1 or T2 a call (T1 01 8447196 or T2 01 9446454)..." from the curries forum... actually check this thread out. talks about your camera and all !
link

blacknight83

thanks Sam have been looking on eBay too, could u pm the seller u bought from did u get a good deal?

jamescd

Just bought this for the dad http://cgi.ebay.ie/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110717498729&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Should come to around €1,200 after conversion. Tbh he just wanted it because one of his mates has the exact same one, doubt he'll use it much :eek:

blacknight83

blacknight83 wrote: »

hi guys looking to buy my first dslr, have settled for nikon d3100. I have been looking around in some bricks and motar stores here and online, does anyone know where I'll pick one up for a good price? don't want second hand also will be going to NYC later this year.. would it be best to hold off and pick one up cheaper over there ?

423 euro in dixons in dub airport. saw it for that price this morn.