Got the cam and a 50mm f/1.4 lens. Now what?

[vvizard]

Obviously of course.. Take pictures :-P I was more thinking about what equipment should I start saving money for?

What I got so far:

The 10D
Ef 50mm f/1.4 USM
1GB IBM Microdrive

What I wan't to get first without breaking the bank is this:
The vertical grip
Spare battery
A flash
A tripod and/or monopod

What I wan't later on, which possible _WILL_ break the bank (again) is:

A decent wide-angle 16mm or less (probably Sigma)
A decent telephoto. 70-200mm f/4 or f/2.8 non-IS looks great.
A Decent zoom for the "normal" range. 24-70mm "L" maybe.

Could you guys give me some feedback? What is the single most important thing you guys would buy next if in my position?

[EXA1a]

Now what? --- Take pictures!!!!!! Learn how to use the camera! (you definitively need a spare battery and a spare flash card, some 256 MB, anything else can wait!)

Have fun!
--Jens--

[Belmondo]

The battery grip isn't essential. Get a spare battery and use the difference as a down payment on whatever lens you feel you most want next.

Have fun, and show us what you're doing.

Tom

[CyberDyneSystems]

Forget the grip fo now,. spare battery (or two) and a back up CF card.

Next priority;
A tripod and Cable release,
A bag to carry it in.
Then lenses,
then a decent printer :D

[iwatkins]

First on the list should be a tripod and a good bag to protect all your gear.

Spare battery and flash cards next then save for the nice lenses.

Cheers

Ian

[hickory]

I have to agree with everyone else, except that it may make a difference on what subjects you plan on shooting.

If its sports then definitely a monopod, a camera bag and that 70-200 f2.8. For static subjects get your tripod early as well as the 24-70 lens. In either case you'll not regret the extra battery and extra CF cards w/ a 256 meg. minimum.

And finally you'll need that second mortgage to help pay for your new addiction :-)

Have fun!

[Andy_T]

- Tripod
- Flash
- spare batteries

Andy

[Andy_T]

- Tripod
- Flash
- spare batteries

Andy

[vvizard]

Thanks. I did some night-shooting today. Using my fathers tripod. He shoots with a Minolta DiMage Xt at the moment, so I'm sure I can "loan" his tripod for some time. But it's _OLD_ and heavy, and not as flexible in how you can move/tilt things. But until I really find a need for something better, it will work.

So far I haven't had any problems with my CF-capacity. I used to have a Minolta DiMage 7i, and the files where not that much smaller than now in jpeg. Heck, I shot a lot in tiff/raw with that cam, and then the files would be 14MB+. What bothered me was the Microdrive beeing terrible slow. But now that I got a decent buffer, I don't notice any trouble with speed either. So the CF-card isn't that high on my wishlist. Without an extra battery, for all I know, I might not even be able to fill my microdrive with one battery ;)

When it comes to battery.. I just have to say I'm _REAL_ impressed with battery-capacity on this camera :) But I still wan't an extra battery for days where I'm doing a lot of shooting. I haven't exactly tested how many I can shoot with one battery, But I guess I can snatch several hundreds. You guys got any "exact" numbers?

So that kind of boils it down to a bag and glass doesn't it? Any good recommendations? I really miss my 28mm focal-length from the Minolta. And if possible, I wan't to go even wider :) Is the Sigma's non-fisheye's in the 14-15mm range good? And if the rumors right, (the ones at their own page ;)) Sigma will start to ship a 12mm non-fisheye about theese days :)

Any good place to read lens-reviews? I've found fredmiranda.com, but I haven't seen any other pages which give good user-based reviews. I've seen some which gives a lot of numbers (1-10 for example), but that isn't to usfull to me. I wan't to see what other people can tell out of experience..

[openspace]

It depends on what you want to shoot. As a nature photographer, I'd get...

1. A good solid tripod and ballhead. Don't skimp on quality and stability or you'll be sorry. If you want to shoot macro at all (low to the ground) get one with adjustable angle legs and flip lock levers for quick adjustments. I actually use two tripods - one that's built like a tank for use when I'm within a mile of two of the car and a lighter - but less stable - tripod for extended hikes and backpacking where weight is a factor.

2. A good wide-angle zoom. The 24-70 L and 17-40 L are both great choices. I just depends on what kind of speed you need. Few need fast f/2.8 wide angle lenses. f/4 is usually more than enough. Get a UV or sky filter to protect the front element.

3. A quality 70-200 telephoto. Speed is generally more important with telephotos than wide angle lenses. If the Canon L's are too expensive, check out the Sigma EX or Tokina AT-X Pro. Ditto on the UV or sky filter.

4. If you plan on shooting outdoor scenics at all, then invest in a good polarizer for each of your lenses. If money is a factor, get one polarizer to fit your largest filter diameter lens and a series of step-up rings to fit the polarizer to your other lenses. Note that this will prevent you from using your lens hoods with these smaller diameter lenses, but you can get away with shading with your hand if you use a tripod. In my opinion, of all the filters available, to the outdoor photographer, the polarizer is the most important.

5. At the very least, a backup 256MB CF card. Working with only one card or microdrive in my bag would make me nervous. Failures are a fact of life. In my opinion, even if you choose to shoot with microdrives exclusively, you should always carry a backup solid-state CF card.

6. A spare battery. I know for many, this is farther up the list, but in the last 4 months, I have only drained a battery twice before I could get to a charger.

7. An external flash. As I mentioned, I'm a nature photographer. I rarely use flash. If you plan on shooting indoors a lot, then obviously this item will move way up on your list.

[vvizard]

I don't know what kind of photographer I am actually, cause I'm just in the (very) early learning state. I think portraits and stuff is boring, and I don't like dragging $2000 equipment to take indoor-shots of drunken people at parties :-P Therefore a flash isn't highest on my list (but it's quite high anyway though).

I got a polarizer for my 50mm. But this 50mm is so darn narrow :/ What tend to attract my eyes is arcitectural and nature. Therefore I guess that's what I would like to take pictures of too. At least that's what I've spent most "CMOS-sensor" on the few days I've had this camera.

Here's some of the pics I've saved from my first few days with my first SLR. And believe me, although the shots might not be that good (you guys decide), The pictures I shoot with this cam is insanly many times better than what I used to shoot with my previous (first) camera I've had for about a year (Minolta DiMage 7i)

http://vvizard.net/pics/vvizard/

So I guess I will opt for some wide-angle glass, tripod and a backpack for the equipment first. Anybody who can recommend a good backpack for my 10D, with (hopefully) both the 50mm, a wide-angle, and in the future maybe even the 70-200mm "L". It would also be a big plus if the bag was large enough to fit a speedlite, and the vertical-grip mounted on the camera. It have to be a backpack, cause I don't fancy bags very much :(

[psk4363]

Hi,

Just looked at your images and thought that 001 was wonderful. Compositionally sound, very atmospheric - if this is what you're capable of at such a "(very) early learning state" then you have a good future as a photographer.

Cheers,
Barry

[vvizard]

Well thanks :) I don't have calibrated my screen, so I wouldn't exactly know if it would show up at all on other monitors, that's why I added 0002 ;) I also run Windows emulated through Linux, so I wouldn't trust calibration that much either.

What really bothers me on that pick is the whatever-it-is-in-english in the foreground. If it could only be sharp.. But it isn't :-P And I've lost my Photoshop-7 CD, so I'm stuck with the elements-cd which was bundled with the 10D. I don't find any clone-tool there to remove it :/

[openspace]

Pics 0001 and 0003 are VERY dark on my monitor, which is calibrated with Eye-One Display. Pic 0002 looks good. I agree with Barry - good composition.

One other item to consider - get the RS-80N3 or TC-80N3 remote switch. A remote switch is invaluable for reducing the camera shake you get with pressing the shutter button on the camera during longer (under 1/15 second) tripod mounted exposures.

[Andy_T]

VVizard,

If I look at Pic1 at MY monitor, me thinks the flash should be higher up your wish list :)

Regards,
Andy

Man, I'm really intrigued by these ISO test images you shot ... the ISO 3200 looks better (less noise) than ISO 200 on my G2 :(

[Longwatcher]

in order and why.

1. Spare CF card (even a 256MB). The most likely thing to break of everything you have is the CF card/micro drive (especially since you have a micro drive)

3. Flash. The 50/1.4 is a great lens for low light, but adding the flash will help even more when needed.

4. Your next lens. Depending on what you expect to take pictures of will determine which lens you want next.

If shooting indoors go wide, if outdoors a lot go long.

5. Now get the spare battery.

6. Tripod - I put it down here only because I have found that the tripod, while very helpful at times actually caused me to limit my options. If doing still life then the tripod becomes more important. If doing people, the tripod is not very important except in portraiture.

7. Remote switch - You want it just after you get the tripod so you can take those long duration shots without motion.

8. Next Lens, go in the other direction from the second lens.

9. Get some filters

10. Now that you have three lenses, get something to put it all in. Make sure you get something that gives you room to grow.

11. Get the battery grip (also maybe get the handstrap at this time as it is sometimes more convienent then neck strap, but only works with battery grip attached.

12. When your pocket book recovers from all that get the gap filler lens.

13. Finally just get whatever else you feel you need based on what you have learned to date from taking pictures.

At some point after you get the BG-ED3, you may find you want a total of 4 batteries, since occasionally the batteries in the BG-ED3 run out and you want that extra pair around so you can keep shooting for awhile.

Just my opinion - does not necessarily follow what I got, but does follow what I would get if I had to do it over again.

[vvizard]

andythaler wrote:
VVizard,

If I look at Pic1 at MY monitor, me thinks the flash should be higher up your wish list :)

Regards,
Andy

Man, I'm really intrigued by these ISO test images you shot ... the ISO 3200 looks better (less noise) than ISO 200 on my G2 :(



Yeah, I'm real impressed by it too. the 1600 (and probably) the 3200 is better than my old Minolta DiMage 7i did at iso-200. But what even impressed me more is how good I can handhold this cam :) The iso-100 shot (though not exactly tack-sharp) was handheld at 1/2s shutter. If I would try that with my old much lighter camera, we would probably not see what I was taking a picture of =)