HELP.. I AM too new for my 20D - don't know digital

[newphoenix]

Hi all, I made the big mistake of trading in all my Nikon F100 and 3 lenses with a top of the line flash ... and came home happily with my spanking new 20D and an 18-85 IS USM canon lens...and an extra battery. I was happy to go back to Canon after 5 years of moving over to Nikon but their affordable digital camera did not feel nearly as good as the 20D. My problem is this. I have a bad shoulder and cannot carry around heavy "L" glass and was sooo disappointed to learn the 75-300 is usm is over $1000 or close to it. For now,this is way out of my price range and do not know what alternative I have. I hear the same lens that is not digital but usm is pretty bad from the reviews I have seen ... and I love large crisp photos. Did I make a mistake getting the Canon. I already had a 20 2.8, the great 35-70 2.8, and the ED glass 75-300 with an F100. but I knew I wanted to go digital and Nikon does not leave many good options. Anyway. I don'tknow what I am doing. I cannot even understand the boards for digital photog. :cry:

My questions are three. I purchased (without doing extensive research, an HP 8450 photosmart printer which I thought was good when I was using my little canon A95 but I can only make 8x10s with this printer plus the color renditions are frequently off. NOW I WAS TOLD MOST FOLKS GET THE EPSON 2200 OR 2400. Any suggestions here???

I have also been using (rather bumbling through it) Adobe elements 2.0 and have Microsoft Digital Imaging. I know i need to keep reading and reading but I am having such an enormous attack of buyers regret this weekend.

So, what software does everyone use, what are good photo printers, and is there any magical tack sharp lens to compliment my 17-85 mm IS USM lens ... such as a LIGHT and sharp 70-200 or 300 that can be handheld. I have a torn rotator cuff so I can't really lug heavy glass around too much.
LASTLY, does anyone on this forum know of another forum which may be more geared for beginners ... I have used 35mm for 20 years and now i feel like I am in a country and don't speak the language. eeewwwww... I wish I could have my old 'stuff' back .... but it has all been sold I've been told.so please HHHHEEEELLLLPPP! I have been looking at folks galleries and i feel like i will never get anywhere near that quality of work in digital... although I had in 35mm. THANKS FOR ANY FEEDBACK OR HELP OR EVEN WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT. PHOENIX

[condyk]

I think the 20D is the best balance of usability, performance and price around so you need have no regrets about starting with such a great foundation :D

Everything you know from the old SLR is transferable, but switches etc will be different: play and read the manual and enjoy yourself. Seems what you don't have is the knowledge of what to buy just yet. Perfect ... you can ask here and slowly assimilate all you prior experience into digital day by day. Sounds like you need to have fun with a couple of nice lenses and you'll be fine.

Elements is also a great program to use, though full Photoshop will give more flexibility at the expense of learning curve and hefty price. You can get it discount I think if you have Elements already. I'd stay with Elements for now and focus on your lenses.

The Canon 70-200mm f4 is a stunner if you're in decent light, but you know all that f-stop stuff already. Handheld ... no problem :D Your IS lens is also a decent very practical performer day to day, but may lack that final excellence you may be used to, or that the stunning 70-200 f4 offers.

Foundations are good so post some info on your main interests (wildlife, street scenes, portraits, whatever) and your budget and shooting priorities just now; people will chip in. Welcome BTW ...

[Headcase650]

Take a deep breath and relax. Check out the canon digital learning center. Watch all the lessons for the Rebel, rebel XT and the 20D. The will all aply to the digital world.
http://www.photoworkshop.com/canon/index.html

As far as softwere is concerned your elements 2 is slightly outdated but still very good. Elements 3 is a large improvement and has a RAW file converter witch is great, for less than $100.
Books are available for all the adobe softwere. For a beginner I hightly recomend Photoshop elements 2 or 3 book for digital photographers by Scott Kelby. Its a very easy read and straight to the point on how to do the most basic to some more advanced things with your photos. As your skills improve youl use the book less but its great to have as a referance.

Light weight long lenses of any quality are hard to find. The 70-200 f4L is the lightes good lens canon makes and it may be to heavy for your. The consumer zooms are much lighter but dont have the same performance. Examples of highly rated consumer zooms are the canon 100-300 USM, the sigma 70-300 APO super macro 2, tamron 70-300. The canon 75-300's (there are 3 of them) none are highly rated but the Image Stabalized version may be of help to you but it is slightly on the heavy side.

[ayotnoms]

75-300 IS USM over $1000??? I bought (and later sold) that lens for $500 (online it goes for a shade under that amount). One that is over $1000 is the 70-300mm f/4.5 DO IS USM which, judging by your comments, is the one you've identified as light yet having a good focal length. Perhaps that's the one you were referring to.

Coming from a film background, I doubt you'll have trouble adapting to the digital way of doing things . Same basic principles apply.

You bought an excellent camera and with some quality glass on it, you'll be back into the swing of things in no time. Speaking of glass, check out the reviews on the 70-200 f/4L. Many here in the forum swear by the lens. It's reasonably pricing in the $500-600 range and is 2 lbs lighter that its f/2.8L IS USM big brother.

In the meantime, keep shooting to get familiar with your camera. Read the great information here in the forum. Get that bad shoulder looked at. :-) :-)

[myth337]

Firstly.. buying a 20D is not a mistake.

and Lastly.. I think this forum here is one of the best I've been to... and with all my years of experience with 35mm.. I am continually learning new stuff here every day!!

Everything in between will come with a few days browsing thru this forum... ;)

.. Lee

[drisley]

I agree with Condyk. Get the 70-200/4L lens if you want SHARPNESS in a relatively light, handholdable lens.

[lkorell]

First off, don't feel guilty. The 20D is a beautiful camera. It will serve you well on beginning your journey into digital.
Good lenses can be quite expensive, but Canon does have a few really great ones at more affordable prices. Now what does affordable mean?
Well, today it means under $1000.

As I started with digital and a 300D I realized I could get optimum performance with better lenses. I didn't have much money but here's what I started with:

50mm 1.8II about $70 you can't afford not to have this one.
85mm 1.8 under $350 a remarkable lens with a great price for that kind of quality
70-200 2.8 at this point I'd wait until I could afford the IS version. If you don't need speed, the f4 version is also a great lens

Then I got the 20D and my perspective on things grew a bit. I did some weddings and portraits with the 20D and expanded to the pricier L gear:

17-40 f4L
24 1.4L
35 1.4L
and finally the 50 1.4 (if you can do this instad of the 1.8 you'll be glad you did)

I now have a second 20D and of course a 580EX flash, which is the perfect match for the 20D (you will be steered towards the Sigma 500 to save money, but save yourself the cash and save up for the 580EX. You will do it eventually anyway)

I didn't recommend any other brands like Sigma or Tamron because I just never use anything else but Canon for Canon and Nikon for Nikon. I notice the difference, others may not be as concerned.

Best of luck with your new camera! You will have a hard time putting it down once you start shooting a lot.

Lou

[chtgrubbs]

If you can find a good clean sample the older 50-200L F/3.5 lens is quite compact and quite light. It is not a USM lens but it works just fine for me. I bought mine specifically because I didn't want the weight and size of the 70-200 F2.8 and the f/4 version was not available then. Another good one is the 100-300L but it is slower , f/5.6, and a little heavier.

I think you can make your HP 8450 produce excellent prints if you are satisfied with the maximum print size. I have seen some great prints from one. It is going to take a little work and you'll need to go to the retouching and printing forum and do some research. By all means, I would upgrade to Elements 3 for your processing, but I wouldn't jump into an expensive printer until you get your post-prcessing under control.

[Jack W.]

I'll pipe in on the printer. I have the HP 7960, the 8450's predesessor (sp?). Prints from it are terrific.
Bought my gf the 8450 for Christmas, the prints from it are also terrific.
If your prints are noticably different from what you see on screen, you should really consider getting a monitor calibration kit.
As for lenses, I also bought her the 75-300 IS, less than $500. She's still learning (as I am), but she's gotten some great shots with it.
I also just bought 2 300 f/4 IS L's; one for her and one for me. At about $1200 they're not cheap, but well worth the $'s, and not that heavy (I have a herniated disc in my neck which has affected my left arm-no problem with the 300 lens). If that's out of reach for now, the 75-300 IS is a VERY capable lens.
As for software, they all have a learning curve. While I have Photoshop, I'm still a big fan of Paint Shop Pro. You can download a trial version from the Corel web site.
Most of all, don't be discouraged! There's a learning curve to ALL of this stuff, and I consider it a big part of the fun.
Jack

[fetching]

you've already bought the 20D, but if weight is really a problem you might want to consider the XT. it's very small and light.

[JulianL]

One thing I would do right away is lose the Canon strap. Get a good quality padded strap and this will instantly make the camera feel half the weight. I bought a Tamrac padded strap, it has a wide neoprene padding and it really spreads the weight of the camera/lens across a much wider area.

I would recommend the Canon 50 f/1.4 lens for starters. This is a great lens and fast! I just picked one up last week.

Quality glass costs money though...but then, you already know that.

[FScott]

One last thing. Try hard not to get overwhelmed. I have had fun taking the time to learn a new feature inside and out. Spend a couple of hours just playing. Take a few hundred shots. You will probably delete most of them in the end but guess what, the shots are free! The hardest thing moving from film to digital for me was not conserving shots. It was actually a progression, I went from holding back to taking way too many shots and then reining back again as I became more confident. Experiment, have fun, and don't be shy about asking questions here. Search first, then ask. People here are very supportive.

-- Scott.

[EOSAddict]

One thing I would do right away is lose the Canon strap. Get a good quality padded strap and this will instantly make the camera feel half the weight. I bought a Tamrac padded strap, it has a wide neoprene padding and it really spreads the weight of the camera/lens across a much wider area.

Get the POTN strap!:D :D

[dale65bama]

Welcome to the journey! Although I have had my 300D for 18 months and have made some nice pics with the 18-55mm kit lens, I am still in the transition from my Pentax K-1000! I just ordered a 200mm f/2.8L:D :D :D and looking for a 1.4x Teleconverter!

The best therapy is to get out (or in - depending on your interests) and take a lot of photos. Aim to learn something new about it every time you snap off a few exposures. Try all the settings. Not sure I have used them all yet!

And yes, all these folks on the various forums have been very helpful in providing information that helps me with my decisions.