Canon 550d - Just ordered

[Diabolik]

Been waiting to find a decent price for this for ages, and I have to say I'm pretty darned happy at £520 with kit lens (18-55mm).

Got it on the BestBuy using Quidco cashback which is currently offered 20% cashback!

Chuffed!

Now, lens.........

Edited by Diabolik on Friday 14th January 14:20

[londonagent]

A very good buy, I love mine. It's all the 'extras' that start to add up though, have already spent about £800+ on lenses, filters, bag, tripod, flash etc (good job the wife doesn't read this).

[JustinP1]

Diabolik said:

Now, lens.........

I've had the 400D for a few years and just upgraded to the 60D.

Out of all the things I have ever bought (including the 60D) that has made a difference nothing has been greater than a 50mm prime lens.

You will want to delete all the pictures you ever took with the kit lens. And you certainly won't mind zooming with your feet when you see the outcome...

[tinman0]

Diabolik said:

Now, lens.........

Tokina 11-16 for Ultra Wide Angle

[londonagent]

JustinP1 said:

Diabolik said:

Now, lens.........

I've had the 400D for a few years and just upgraded to the 60D.

Out of all the things I have ever bought (including the 60D) that has made a difference nothing has been greater than a 50mm prime lens.

You will want to delete all the pictures you ever took with the kit lens. And you certainly won't mind zooming with your feet when you see the outcome...

What he said.

[Diabolik]

londonagent said:

JustinP1 said:

Diabolik said:

Now, lens.........

I've had the 400D for a few years and just upgraded to the 60D.

Out of all the things I have ever bought (including the 60D) that has made a difference nothing has been greater than a 50mm prime lens.

You will want to delete all the pictures you ever took with the kit lens. And you certainly won't mind zooming with your feet when you see the outcome...

What he said.

Looking at the EF f/1.8 over the f/1.4 purely from a price perspective - I am a student after all!

[14-7]

You will now find out what it means to truly have no money! (but lots of new lovely camera gear )

[JustinP1]

Diabolik said:

londonagent said:

JustinP1 said:

Diabolik said:

Now, lens.........

I've had the 400D for a few years and just upgraded to the 60D.

Out of all the things I have ever bought (including the 60D) that has made a difference nothing has been greater than a 50mm prime lens.

You will want to delete all the pictures you ever took with the kit lens. And you certainly won't mind zooming with your feet when you see the outcome...

What he said.

Looking at the EF f/1.8 over the f/1.4 purely from a price perspective - I am a student after all!

Myself, and two friends, all totally independently, bizarrely, all got the f1.4 over Xmas.

If you want it for video too, then this might sway you as the cheaper manual focus is fiddly to say the least. Apparently the 1.4 also lets in 60% more light.

Bizarrely the second hand price on ebay for both lenses is about the same price or more than they cost to buy new. So, if you did need to upgrade you'll probably get 90% of your money back if you get a good deal.

[londonagent]

I bought the 1.8 as I said earlier costs are starting to escalate with this photography malarky. Also not sure my photography is at a level to justify the price difference.

edit as didn't read comment properly

Edited by londonagent on Friday 14th January 17:17

[JustinP1]

londonagent said:

I bought the 1.8 as I said earlier costs are starting to escalate with this photography malarky. Also not sure my photography is at a level to justify the price difference. But if you can get a good secondhand 1.4 on fleabay for the cost of a 1.8 then definately worth it.

The 1.4 is about £250 on ebay.

[theboyfold]

I dare you to be different!

One of these:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/M42-Lens-Canon-EOS-EF-Adapte...

and then one of these:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

It will teach you about the art of focus and will take a different style of photo to the AF models. Plus if you don't like it, sell it for what you paid as it's going nowhere in value any time soon

[Diabolik]

This isn't my first dslr, ex Sony alpha user - was very tempted to get the A550 however I'm not sure I want to buy into the Sony lens range due to their relatively low recognition in the pro sector, something which I have considered in the future, canon lenses will give me no problems.

Thanks for the link - in what way would that lens be 'different'?

Thanks

[JustinP1]

Diabolik said:

This isn't my first dslr, ex Sony alpha user - was very tempted to get the A550 however I'm not sure I want to buy into the Sony lens range due to their relatively low recognition in the pro sector, something which I have considered in the future, canon lenses will give me no problems.

Thanks for the link - in what way would that lens be 'different'?

Thanks

You would have to focus for each shot. With your fingers.

[silvagod]

JustinP1 said:

You would have to focus for each shot. With your fingers.

That would be me then. Bought my 1st DSLR over the Christmas (400D) and spent 2 days taking shots of everything, loving it. It was only on doing the obligatory RTFM that I read about the AF/MF switch on the lenses. I had been in MF mode all the time.

As you may guess, it's been a while since I had an SLR of any type :P

[theboyfold]

JustinP1 said:

Diabolik said:

This isn't my first dslr, ex Sony alpha user - was very tempted to get the A550 however I'm not sure I want to buy into the Sony lens range due to their relatively low recognition in the pro sector, something which I have considered in the future, canon lenses will give me no problems.

Thanks for the link - in what way would that lens be 'different'?

Thanks

You would have to focus for each shot. With your fingers.

Yep! That, plus older lenses tend to have a different look and feel to them. It's all down to the mysterious (and expense) world of bokeh. although as you have a crop sensor I'm not sure it will make such a large difference as a full frame camera.

Also forcing yourself to think about things like focus, exposure and DoF is a great way to learn!

Whatever you end up with! Have fun it's a great camera

[Diabolik]

I've done a photography A-level, been through manual focussing, film rolls and all that before....still got my old Pentax MZ-50, died on me though!

[Killwilly]

theboyfold said:

I dare you to be different!

One of these:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/M42-Lens-Canon-EOS-EF-Adapte...

and then one of these:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

It will teach you about the art of focus and will take a different style of photo to the AF models. Plus if you don't like it, sell it for what you paid as it's going nowhere in value any time soon

Do you have experience using this combination?

I have the adapter in the link below which works "OK" with a couple of my FD lenses, including my 100mm FD macro with the glass removed from the adapter/converter, but with my 28mm FD the results are complete rubbish.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Adapter-Mount-Canon-FD-Lens-...

[buymeabar]

It would be great if you could report back with your impressions on the 550d camera body itself. I'm considering getting rid of my beloved d90 for the 550d as I fancy a smaller, more discrete camera body.

[theboyfold]

Killwilly said:

theboyfold said:

I dare you to be different!

One of these:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/M42-Lens-Canon-EOS-EF-Adapte...

and then one of these:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

It will teach you about the art of focus and will take a different style of photo to the AF models. Plus if you don't like it, sell it for what you paid as it's going nowhere in value any time soon

Do you have experience using this combination?

I have the adapter in the link below which works "OK" with a couple of my FD lenses, including my 100mm FD macro with the glass removed from the adapter/converter, but with my 28mm FD the results are complete rubbish.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Adapter-Mount-Canon-FD-Lens-...

Have a look here: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

I've posted some examples before. I've ended up selling my 1.4 as it wouldn't focus to infinity, but I think it is the fault of the adapter I have

[Diabolik]

buymeabar said:

It would be great if you could report back with your impressions on the 550d camera body itself. I'm considering getting rid of my beloved d90 for the 550d as I fancy a smaller, more discrete camera body.

Will do mate, though it will probably be a while as I'm stuck at uni whilst the cameras being delivered back home. In the mean time "cameralabs" do pretty decent reviews on YouTube.