cannon 500d

esox28

hey all, just bought the cannon 500d with the EF-S 18-55mm lens and have been road testing the different setting, today i was try to take shots of birds feeding on a stand bout 5mtrs away tried some different aperture, shutter and ISO settings and found the best i could get for this pic in the time i had was 1/100 sec, aperture f/5.6 , ISO 3200 and lens @ 55mm. at the end of all this i put the pics on laptop but couldn't get any sharpness to the bird when i zoomed in.

my question is.. is this lens suitable for outdoorsy type photo's at a reasonable distance like you probably wont get more than 10mtrs to a bird, standing with wot probably seems to them like a shot gun to them... sorry any way.

any help would be appreciated

eager novice

5uspect

The kit lens isn't great in general. This not the sharpest or fastest (maximum aperture).

For birds you need a pretty quick shutter speed since they're speedy little feckers. So you're gonna need to be around the 1/500 to 1/1000s range. Also a good bit more reach along the lines of 200 to 300mm would be ideal. The 18-55 is grand for general walk around stuff but it's not a telephoto.

I presume you were getting hand shake or motion blur? Can you post up some shots?
The 550D has a good dynamic range. If you're shooting RAW don't worry too much about under exposing a bit to get that extra speed.

LeoB

Good luck with your new camera.

Birds can be tricky to photograph and with the standard kit lens you will struggle to get a really good shot because as you say you wont get close enough. From my experience I find using a shutter speed of 200 - 400 is my starting point. Or select an aperture of f 5.6 and on a day like today. I.S.O of no more than 400 should also be enough.
I am no expert on any aspect of photography but when I used to go out with my camera I usually used plenty of different settings and eventually you will read situations and conditions much better. You could also keep a little notebook with details of your favourite shots in your camera bag.


I took this out the window of my car. 1/500 @ F.8 with I.S.O 400
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If this is your first DSLR you will be on a bit of a learning curve and I would suggest you stay in touch with this forum as the members are great for giving advice and tips on how to get certain types of shots. Put up a few photos and ask for advice and you will be pointed in the right direction.
Good Luck and most of all enjoy your new camera

esox28

super pointers people, will just have to be more adventuress with settings.

love the detailing in the pic, nothing like birds or nature to get photo machine working at its best to produce sharp detail.

how can I upload photo's when I try it (post) seem to be looking for a link....:rolleyes:

pixbyjohn

Join Pix.ie or Flickr.com >post your photos on either of those 2 sites and there is a forum link there to allow you post photos here on Boards.ie

LeoB

If you like nature/bird photography in particular I would suggest you invest in a longer lens like the 55-250is lens which you can get from €230 or the 70-300 which you can get from €200 (non is) or the i.s. version from about €500 if I remember correctly. Both these lens can be picked up second hand around Dublin. If your budget allows there are plenty of lens which cost a lot more.

I use the 55-250 quite a bit and find it a very good lens, small, light and takes up very little space in my bag.

IS = Image stabilization which allows you to hand hold at slower shutter speeds

Conns have a lens 400mm F2.8L 11 IS USM for €11,499.99. If your getting one pick me one up also and when I win the lotto I will fix up with ya;)

5uspect

esox28 wrote: »

super pointers people, will just have to be more adventuress with settings.

love the detailing in the pic, nothing like birds or nature to get photo machine working at its best to produce sharp detail.

how can I upload photo's when I try it (post) seem to be looking for a link....:rolleyes:

When replying to a post go to advanced mode and scroll down to manage attachments. Upload your shot ensuing that it is no bigger than 800px on the longest size. Then right click on the link that gets created and select "Copy Link Location" (assuming you're running Firefox) Paste that link in [IMG][/IMG] tags.

If you want to upload the full res shot just attach it and don't bother with the

frag420

I will be picking up my 500d this weekend. My aim will be to take urban photography, architecture, landscapes and surfing. Not too pushed on portraits(posed).

So what I would like to know is once I have the camera what else would I require bar the kit lense. I would imagine a 300mm zoom lense would be a good start regarding the surfing aspect. As most good surf takes place early mornings or late afternoons(in my exp) what would be a suitable zoom lense for these low light conditions.

Secondly with regards to landscape and urban photography what wold be an ideal lense again one that is suitable for low light conditions.

Lastly how can I utilise the kit lense enough untill I get the other lenses.

Sorry to hijack thread and thanks in advance for replies,

frAg

Nozebleed

This guy does a very good overview of the 500D..it might be of interest.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ8UMFx2oU8

5uspect

frag420 wrote: »

I will be picking up my 500d this weekend. My aim will be to take urban photography, architecture, landscapes and surfing. Not too pushed on portraits(posed).

So what I would like to know is once I have the camera what else would I require bar the kit lense. I would imagine a 300mm zoom lense would be a good start regarding the surfing aspect. As most good surf takes place early mornings or late afternoons(in my exp) what would be a suitable zoom lense for these low light conditions.

Secondly with regards to landscape and urban photography what wold be an ideal lense again one that is suitable for low light conditions.

Lastly how can I utilise the kit lense enough untill I get the other lenses.

Sorry to hijack thread and thanks in advance for replies,

frAg

LENS

Ahem, sorry, now that I got that out of my system.

A telephoto is a good choice for candid street photography. For Architecture a fish eye or wide angle lens would be worth checking out. Also tilt-shift lenses are great for perspective and DoF control in architecture.

And that brings us the the main sticking point. How much do you want to spend?
Fast lenses can cost quite a lot. The 70-200 f/2.8 L IS, a popular lens, can cost up to €1800 if you go for the new MkII version and Canon's tilt-shift lenses cost over 5 grand. You can get decent glass for around €300 but don't expect them to be as sharp or as fast. Another lens you should definitely consider is the 50mm f/1.8. Cheap fast and sharp, it's an essential lens.

Calina does (did?) a lot of amazing kite surfing photography. She would be a great person to talk to about that. Perhaps even search back through her posts, perhaps there's a wealth of information

esox28

Nozebleed wrote: »

This guy does a very good overview of the 500D..it might be of interest.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ8UMFx2oU8

great link I'll be a 'pap' in no time forget reading the instruction manual you-tube all the way.:D