anyone willing to help out a freshman???

[jencorr]

Hi everyone! My name is Jen and this is my first post. I've been reading along and learning with/from you all, and thought I'd try you for some advise. I tried asking the girl at Ritz, but she didn't seem to be able to help.

I've had a rebel G, and LOVED the pictures I could take with it. I had been dabbling with more of the manual features when I had a child, and decided the inconvienience of film wasn't worth it. So.. I went digital for the last 2 years.

Well...Santa was VERY nice to me and brought me a Digital Rebel :-)

Ok, now my question. I have a 300mm lens that I used with the rebel G, it is from Quantary. When I put it on my new digital rebel, I get ERR99.

Does that mean it's not compatible? The woman at Ritz told me all my accessories should work, so I'm not sure what to do... any advise??

Thanks in advance!!
Jen

[PacAce]

Hi everyone! My name is Jen and this is my first post. I've been reading along and learning with/from you all, and thought I'd try you for some advise. I tried asking the girl at Ritz, but she didn't seem to be able to help.

I've had a rebel G, and LOVED the pictures I could take with it. I had been dabbling with more of the manual features when I had a child, and decided the inconvienience of film wasn't worth it. So.. I went digital for the last 2 years.

Well...Santa was VERY nice to me and brought me a Digital Rebel :-)

Ok, now my question. I have a 300mm lens that I used with the rebel G, it is from Quantary. When I put it on my new digital rebel, I get ERR99.

Does that mean it's not compatible? The woman at Ritz told me all my accessories should work, so I'm not sure what to do... any advise??

Thanks in advance!!
Jen

Yes, you are correct. Your lens is not compatible with the Digital Rebel. Some people have experienced this problem with other older 3rd party lenses as well. Some companies, like Sigma, have volunteered to "rechip" some of their older lenses for free. Isn't Quantary made for and sold by Ritz? Maybe if you ask the right person at Ritz (and based on all the stories I've read here about inept Ritz sales people, that may be a BIG maybe), he'll be able to tell you if that'll be possible with Quantary lenses. If they can't get it "fixed" for you, then your only other option is to get another lens that does work with the DRebel.

[jencorr]

ouch! that's what I was afraid of....

Ok, so that leads to the next question. Would you mind me asking for a recommendation for a zoom lens for someone like me, who just wants really nice shots of her kids, not a professional nor a millionaire???

I'm bummed!

[Tom W]

You're going to get a lot of recommendations. I'll give you a couple.

I don't know what your budget is, but here's a couple that might be suitable for general photography. They aren't high-magnification lenses, but they zoom through a useful range and provide very sharp pictures.

Canon 28-105 f/3.5-4.5 USM lens. This lens covers a pretty good range, from a slight wide-angle to telephoto. I have it and it is pretty sharp and focuses very quickly. Be careful not to buy the cheaper 28-105 f/4.5-5.6 unless you really can't afford the mid-range lens. Its decent, but the image quality is just a tick or two lower on the ladder, though it still offers stiff competition for most point-and-shoot cameras. Price around $220.

Canon 24-85 f/3.5-4.5 USM lens. Good rating at photodo.com, but I don't know much else about this lens. The range of zoom is a little better suited for the smaller digital sensor. Its equivalent range with 35 mm is 38-136 mm. Price, around $310.

Canon 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 USM IS lens. This lens is very well liked around here. It has a fairly wide zoom range, though it won't have the wide angle that you might want occasionally. It has image stabilization to help lessen the effects of camera shake. People around here like it, and I would have gotten it had I not bought the 28-105 first. Price around $400.

There are several more expensive lenses, and several less expensive lenses. I tried to give you the mid-range priced lenses. If this doesn't match your finances, let us know. There are a few pretty good, inexpensive lenses out there.

Also, I picked some general zoom ranges. If you're looking for longer telephoto, let the forum know. There's plenty of folks here that have far more experience than I do.

[PacAce]

ouch! that's what I was afraid of....

Ok, so that leads to the next question. Would you mind me asking for a recommendation for a zoom lens for someone like me, who just wants really nice shots of her kids, not a professional nor a millionaire???

I'm bummed!

Well, 300mm would have been too long anyway so even if it were working for you, you'd probably still want to get a wide to normal lens anyway unless you had plans to shoot your kids from a distance. :)

I personally use the Canon 28-135 IS. It's not the cheapest lens at around $400.00 but it is a good lens and has IS (image stabilization) which, I think, makes up for more than half the cost of the lens.

The other option is the 50mm f/1.8 lens which I hear is very good and costs less than $70 if you shop around (I get my stuff from B&H Photo). The thing is that it's not a zoom, though.

[robertwgross]

I agree with what has been stated so far.

Any of the mid-range zoom lenses should work fine. I would take a wild guess that 300mm would have been rather long for you anyway. That 300 or 400 or 500 is what they use for birds and wildlife. Your kids may be wild, but not that wild. My workhorse lens is a Canon 28-200mm zoom.

I also grew out of the Canon Rebel G world, so I think the Digital Rebel should be a good one.

---Bob Gross---

[ron chappel]

:D Hi jen,welcome to the forum!
First-do you have any other lenses?Did you get the usual kit zoom with with the D rebel?

[jencorr]

Wow, you are wonderful taking the time to help me. ALL of you!

The 300 I had would never work in the house (obviously) but it was great for the football games, etc. I honeslty bought it becaues I didn't know better and at the time thought that longer was better :oops:

The IS feature is definately something I'm going to invest in! I figured I'd spend around $300, that's what the other one was. I was hoping I could get $200 for the old rebel G with the lens it came with and the 300 on ebay, but I'm not sure.

I have the digtal rebel "kit". I was actually thrilled when I read the other thread about the lens on ebay and your reaction that it was junk. I was just looking at it before I popped over here to beg for a quick education so I don't make the same mistake twice!!

thanks!!
Jen

[CyberDyneSystems]

Jen,

There is a good chance that 300mm lens is made by Sigma for Ritz.

I know of ONE case where somone who had a Quantaray branded Sigma was able to get Sigma to re-chip the lens for them.

Give Sigma a try,. you never know?

[ron chappel]

Well...the kit lens isn't TOO bad.Are you happy with the sharpness of the pictures you get with it? Any other things about it that bug you-not large enough aperture to get really shallow depth of feild shots?
If it works well for you,don't let anyone tell you to sell it! :)

"and thought that longer was better" :D :D :D
Us men have known that for years!...hangon-wasn't it you women that told us that in the first place? :wink:

I guess you want a long zoom lens to go with the kit zoom?
The options are (from the cheapest and worst to the best)-sigma 100-300DL,Canon 55-200,80-200,75-300,100-300,sigma 70-300 APO macro super II,canon 75-300 image stabilizer,sigma 100-300/4 EX, canon 70-200/4L ,sigma 80-200/2.8 EX,canon 70-200/2.8L,etc,etc

[robertwgross]

I have the digtal rebel "kit". I was actually thrilled when I read the other thread about the lens on ebay and your reaction that it was junk.

You will get mixed opinions about that lens. Here is why. The majority of people who are purchasing the Digital Rebel are amateurs or serious amateurs. They can shoot with virtually any zoom like this, especially for learning, and they can get good shots. That is what it was intended for. General children shots, pet shots, flowers in the garden, etc.

In this news forum there are others who are way past the amateur stage. Their needs for a Canon lens are quite a bit more serious, and they don't want any of their shots to be limited in any way by some compromise in a $100 lens. So, many of the folks here are more used to lenses that cost $500 to $2000.

My point is that you probably want to make sure that your investment in equipment is proportional to the benefit you get out of photography. Shoot with the kit lens for six months before you decide if you need another lens.

---Bob Gross---