Im going to jump in at the deep end

[Lord Pikey]

Good afternoon ladies and gents.

My name is lord pikey and i want DSLR. I have been lurking around the photography forum for a while but rarely post, i just enjoy the photos.

I have convinced myself i want to go for a DSLR as i have found my Lumix FZ28 a bit restrictive in a couple of areas. Its probably just me being a amateur but still i want a camera that actually goes "click, clunk, click"

Tomorrow i have arranged to go out on a bit of a photography wander around Munich with a friend and her 450d and i am borrowing another friends 40d so i can see which one i like the best. I think for me as very much an amateur it will come down to ease of use. I am told that the 40d makes adjusting setting such as aperture much simpler with its jog wheel. But thats just what i have been told by the 40d owner who also has a 350d. Im hoping a evening spent with the two cameras will help me decide.

The reason i am only looking at Canons is because most of my friends have Canon EOS's and i have used them before. So for learning and asking dumb question id prefer to stick with Canon.

The first reason for my post is i would like some advice on lenses (sp?). I am planning on attending both Lemans this year so i am assuming a decent zoom lens is a must. I have been looking on Amazon at lenses (Amazon have the 50d cheap at the moment and im hoping to use their 0% credit card scheme) and as an example there are two 70-300 telephoto lenses. From my basic knowledge the main difference is image stabilisation and of course, price. 140gbp for the non-stab lens and 460gbp for the image stab version. My question is, is the image stabilisation worth it the extra cost? If i buy the cheaper one will i end up frustrated and wishing i had got the better one?

Also, i have been told to look at USM lenses. Are they worth the extra?

The second question is recommend kit. What is the minimal amount of equipment i need from the start? Again i have been mainly looking on Amazon as that is where id like to buy the majority of the kit from. So far i have come up with

1, Camera (450d, 550d, 40d, 50d) etc
2, Telephoto lens (mainly for lemans but it will have many other uses)
3, General purpose lens
4. Bag
5. Card
6. Mono / Tripod?

What would you say i need? Is there anything important i have forgotten?

Basically build me up a beginners bundle

All advice is very much appreciated and i understand that this question might have been asked in other forms before but i did search.

[d1d215]

Lord Pikey said:

Good afternoon ladies and gents.



Basically build me up a beginners bundle

where should i send the invoice !?

[james_tigerwoods]

I can't advise much on many things DSLR, but I have found that a decent camera bag is a must - I've got 3 Lowepro bags and only use one - my Slingshot 100AW - it'll fit all my kit (camera (18-55), extra lens (55-200) and flash (Speedlight SB600)) and I use it all the time

In fact - Amazon have them reduced to £36 at the mo:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lowepro-Slingshot-Digital-...

[Lord Pikey]

james_tigerwoods said:

Slingshot 100AW -

I was actually looking at the Slingshots last night. My only query was that will the camera go in if you had the zoom lens fitted? Or would you need the slingshot 200 / 300?

[tinman0]

What's your budget?

[Anthony Micallef]

You can have £10k worth of kit but if you're crap at taking pictures then it doesnt matter how much you spend. Have a look here http://kenrockwell.com/tech/assembling-a-system.ht...

[Lord Pikey]

tinman0 said:

What's your budget?

Ideally under 1k. but it i dont mind going to 1200gbp if it is justified


Anthony Micallef - reading now. thanks

Edited by Lord Pikey on Tuesday 11th May 13:33

[crmcatee]

And you can put it all in a lovely hard case for the princely sum of £77 - used to be £550.

Canon 500mm hard case

[james_tigerwoods]

Lord Pikey said:

james_tigerwoods said:

Slingshot 100AW -

I was actually looking at the Slingshots last night. My only query was that will the camera go in if you had the zoom lens fitted? Or would you need the slingshot 200 / 300?

I can fit my D40 in the bag "nose down" with either the 18-55 or the 55-200 attached

[Anthony Micallef]

How about something like this? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lowepro-Toploader-75-AW-Te...

[Simpo Two]

Lord Pikey said:

My name is lord pikey and i want DSLR.

My name is Lord Simpo and I'm an alcoholic

Lord Pikey said:

I am planning on attending both Lemans this year so i am assuming a decent zoom lens is a must. I have been looking on Amazon at lenses (Amazon have the 50d cheap at the moment and im hoping to use their 0% credit card scheme) and as an example there are two 70-300 telephoto lenses. From my basic knowledge the main difference is image stabilisation and of course, price. 140gbp for the non-stab lens and 460gbp for the image stab version. My question is, is the image stabilisation worth it the extra cost? If i buy the cheaper one will i end up frustrated and wishing i had got the better one?

Generally with lenses the more you pay the better the image quality - but if you're just paying a chunk extra for IS, I wouldn't bother unless you have Parkinsons.

Lord Pikey said:

Also, i have been told to look at USM lenses. Are they worth the extra?

In my opinion yes - much faster focusing - very handy for things like cars at Le Mans (assuming the tracking AF is up to it)

Lord Pikey said:

1, Camera (450d, 550d, 40d, 50d) etc
2, Telephoto lens (mainly for lemans but it will have many other uses)
3, General purpose lens
4. Bag
5. Card
6. Mono / Tripod?

What would you say i need? Is there anything important i have forgotten?

What is right for you may not be right for someone else. The splendour of a DSLR system is that it can grow in whatever direction you need it to. That said, you need to start with something so my suggestion would be:

Body (duh)
Card (equally duh)
18-70mm
70-300mm
Spare battery
Bag

On to that, if you have any loot left, you might consider flashgun before tripod - it depends what you want to do.

[Hub]

Lord Pikey said:

I have convinced myself i want to go for a DSLR as i have found my Lumix FZ28 a bit restrictive in a couple of areas.

Yay, come join the club! My 500D arrived today... to replace my Lumix FZ18! Loads of people seem to trade up from the Panasonics as they are a good intro, but ultimately limited (nasty noise especially!)

[911newbie]

Just thinking about zooms for Le Mans -
There are in fact three Canon 70-300 mm lenses - but I think you weren't considering the DO ooption at 1k GBP.

A good place to check prices is Camera Price Buster -
http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/cat5.html

Have you considered the 70-200 f4L which is about 100 GBP more than the 70-300 ? You would be trading quality for a bit of reach of ocurse.
A 1.4 converter would extend this lens to 280mm for about £150 second hand and one stop. (I think the AF will still work at f5.6 ?)
Or a 200mm f2.8L USM prime at just over 600 GBP plus a 1.4 converter ?

My recommendation for assembling a kit would be to go for fewer bits of kit but at higher quality. Wait to see what you use most and look around for it at the right price.
Oh and don't spend much on the kit zoom lens, cos you're bound to get fed up with it.

Edited by 911newbie on Tuesday 11th May 21:03

[RobDickinson]

911newbie said:

Just thinking about zooms for Le Mans -
There are in fact three Canon 70-300 mm lenses - but I think you weren't considering the DO ooption at 1k GBP.

2, + several 75-300's

The DO is nice and has proper USM not micro motor USM like the 70-300IS, its smaller and lighter but 2-3 times the price...


IMO an xxD canon is much easier to shoot with than an xxxD canon, two control dials and the joystick make shooting & changing exp comp/values 7 focus points much quicker.

A 40D, 18-55 and 70-300IS would be a good starting point.

[911newbie]

RobDinkinson is right - there are currently two 70-300mm on sale, but the OP seemed to be considering a presumeably second hand one as well (at 140GBP). Hnce my extension to three options.
There seems to be only one new 75-300mm on sale and it's pretty slow too...

The 70-300mm DO is circa 1k GBP and slow, so I don't quite see why anyone buys it... ?

I'd echo RobD's comments re the xxxD vs the xxD - the extra ease of use of the xxD and above makes them much more pleasant than the xxxD.
I use a 400D at work and its slow, clunky and a pain, versus a 40D at home which is not. I often end up taking the 40D into work if I know I'm going to take a lot of techncial pictures.

Used 40Ds are about 450 GBP ish currently, as oposed to 680 GBP for the 50D body only.

[RobDickinson]

911newbie said:

The 70-300mm DO is circa 1k GBP and slow, so I don't quite see why anyone buys it... ?

Its small and light and fast autofocus, makes a good travel lens for the super wealthy who forgot their leica.

Canons foray into Diffractive optics seems odd. A high prioced 400/4 and a high priced consumer zoom...

[LongQ]

RobDickinson said:

911newbie said:

Just thinking about zooms for Le Mans -
There are in fact three Canon 70-300 mm lenses - but I think you weren't considering the DO ooption at 1k GBP.

The DO is nice and has proper USM not micro motor USM like the 70-300IS, its smaller and lighter but 2-3 times the price...

I have a 70-300 DO. They are very good value used - if you can find one. Something of a rare beast.

It is smaller than some other 300s in terms of length unextended - but quite heavy for its size - you get a lot of glass.

It does have a few foibles - you can only lock the lens at the 70mm end and it will readily zoom in or out when being carried unlocked. It also produces images that have a particular look in certain lighting conditions due to the DO technology. Whites tend to glow a tad, an effect that can be quite interesting, though only under very specific light conditions. The images respond very nicely to sharpening. With IS, and now ever more High ISO capable sensors, the lens speed thing is not an issue.

I like mine, partly because people are puzzled by the green (rather than red) ring and partly because once you get some feel for the lens it can produce some great results at typical motor sport circuit (non Tilke) spectator fencing distances (assuming a crop sensor and/or RAW with a lot of resolution to play with), yet does not look at all ostentatious in a way that attracts unwelcome attention.

All that said, you would really have to want to buy one to pay the full new price ... which is maybe why they seem so rare in the marketplace.

[Lord Pikey]

Thanks for all the advice so far. its d-day now, 3 hours of English Garden / Munich Center wandering with a 450d and 40d.

However as i have found a 50d for only 30gbp more than a 500d/550d then this might be a forgone conclusion.

Oh, one more thing, am i right in assuming that a 60d is not far off now? Looking at the release history and the prices of 50d's falling (except amazon who's price has jumped 150gbp in two days) im thinking its immanent.

Anyway, its a still a nice way to pass the evening. I shall report back tomorrow.

[Ultuous]

Lord Pikey said:

I have convinced myself i want to go for a DSLR as i have found my Lumix FZ28 a bit restrictive in a couple of areas. Its probably just me being a amateur but still i want a camera that actually goes "click, clunk, click"

As you're someone who's wanting to progress and is reaching the limit of what they've got, mind if I ask how you've found the FZ28 in terms of 'learning the craft' and what you're finding the restrictions to be?

I'm thinking of getting the FZ38, having discounted jumping straight into the DSLR world due to budget, portablity (it will be my only camera) and wanting to see how far my talent/ interest stretches before taking the plunge! (And yeah, I know the low noise/ DoF only available by virtue of the bigger sensor on DSLR will mean the purists tell me not to bother looking at anything else, but I don't want to be lugging around all the gear and have no idea if I'm unlikely to outgrow the capabilities of a decent bridge camera for the next 18 months or so!)

[tinman0]

Ultuous said:

I'm thinking of getting the FZ38, having discounted jumping straight into the DSLR world due to budget, portablity (it will be my only camera) and wanting to see how far my talent/ interest stretches before taking the plunge! (And yeah, I know the low noise/ DoF only available by virtue of the bigger sensor on DSLR will mean the purists tell me not to bother looking at anything else, but I don't want to be lugging around all the gear and have no idea if I'm unlikely to outgrow the capabilities of a decent bridge camera for the next 18 months or so!)

Can't see the point to be honest. An FZ38 is just an over sized compact camera at the end of the day. And its still going to be as big as a DSLR with a kit lens as well. You don't need to lug around any more than a DSLR and kit lens anyway. Sure, if you want to do something specific (eg LeMans) then you take the kit for the job. But normal walking around is no different.

The difference between a bridge camera and DSLR is startling. Or it is on the ones I've tried. Bridge cameras are more compact than DSLR. They don't really fit in the middle at all. They are a horrible compromise.

As for low noise - I wouldn't knock it. Some friends bought a Fuji bridge camera the other week. Really really good shots during the daytime, but the moment it encountered a bit of darkness, the noise - WOW - just rubbish. This was an expensive 2009 model bridge camera (can't remember the model). But the noise was astounding. You didn't need to zoom in to see it, if you knew where to look it was clear as anything.