loopylisa84 wrote in post #14571472
Yeah newbie- had point and shoots for years but my partners dad had a sony DSLR a55? and I saw what could be achieved and wanted to get into it. The maximum aperature on my one and only lense is 3.5, I was shooting on portrait/auto mode that day as the cake came out sorta quick and people didn't stay around long enough for me to play with settings. I went home that night and played around with the cat and the pot plant using AV/Manual Mode to get an idea of what the ISO setting, the aperature and the shutter speed does. I now know how to change these on the camera and what each of these does. For me the challenge is maybe knowing the limitations of my only lense and how to get the best out of it, as also is knowing what the current lighting situation is and thus which settings to change(rather than how to change them per se). I think I have got my head around the fact, higher shutter speed- less light, better for moving objects, lower shutter speed, good for landscapes stills/especially at light but can get issues with camera shake... It's been a flood of information.. but I DO NOT want to be one of those people who spends over a grand on a camera and just uses it in auto mode, i want to get the best out of my camera.
I bought the 18-270 tamron lense because my partner and I are going to the UK/europe at xmas and I wanted a fairly lightweight lense that could be used for touristy type photography and I wouldn't be put off from carying out as it is not too cumbersome . I hope to god I got this bit right as that was the main reason for that lense. I realised quickly that however, for my other interest, pets, potraits etc that it's probably no good and I need a faster lenses... If it was up to me I would go and buy it today but my partner is quite frugal. I am not
Thank you for your thorough replies, I will stick with the 550D as most replies have indicated i will not get an improvement in photos from the 60D and that the improvement will come with technique, lenses and light control/flashes. I had an inkling this may be the case but in light of feeling regretful about choosing a lower model I need to scope this out whilst I was still able to return the camera
The nifty fifty (50mm f/1.8 II) goes for $130 or so where I live. I don't think the price varies much elsewhere. Having a "super zoom" that you have means you have sacrificed image quality for the ease of having a lens that goes all the way from 18 wide to 270. If you can afford it, I would highly reccomend you switch that lens out for the Canon EF 55-250. I don't know how much your lens was, but the canon lens gives you roughly the same range and in my experience, quite good image quality for the low price of it. Not to mention it is light and compact, something that never was an issue for me when I wanted to use it for touristy things 
Despite its aperture of f/4.5 - 5.6, during one sunny afternoon at the racetrack it was perfectly capable of stopping the horse's movement while retaining background motion blur, to display that the subject was actually moving and not just frozen in the air. The two lenses I started out with were the Canon 18-55mm and the 55-250 - and that range suited me fine for a long while.
A lens such as that would not do as well in low light conditions however, which is why having "faster" lenses (the lower f/ numbers, 2.0 and such) can let in more light and allow you to keep your shutter speed up. In bright daylight, sometimes fast lenses when used wide open can be overkill for the shutter speed depending on the situation and the lighting, and an f/4 or f/5.6 can stop the action just as well as the faster lens could. When shooting indoors, even the brightest looking rooms (to our eyes) will be a struggle for lenses that are not capable of fast apertures. Buying an external flash could help this, or just getting a faster lens.
As for using a zoom lens for pet and portrait photography that you mentioned, there is no reason why you couldn't - save for the chance that (depending on each lens) you may have to stand farther back from the subject. With super zooms, you will get the best background blur when using them at their longest end (in your case, 270mm). You don't necessarily need fast lenses to create background blur, some are better than others at the quality of background blur.
Its all stuff you will learn by practice. One thing that I found helped me when I was just learning out to use the T2i was to keep it on Manual any time I wanted to take a shot, but to train myself first I would set it to AV or auto mode and half press the shutter on the subject I wanted to take the photo of. I would watch the camera look at the situation, and I would see the settings change accordingly on the LCD display. With repetition I started to see a pattern of what shutter speeds were used where, what ISO levels were raised or lowered for certain lighting situations, etc. Then I would flip to manual and implement them myself. Trial and error works for some people, in my case it did At the same time I was in college attending a program that offered photography classes for two semesters, so that was very helpful too. Taking a local class or workshop could really benefit you, and its something to look into for learning what all those numbers mean
Oh and as for worrying about your cat - I'm sure if he/she didn't like the flash, he would run off. Most animals don't like sudden flashes of light in their face. In my past experience, it just makes my cat close his eyes and so the shots are ruined anyway If you are worried about damaging his/her eyes, just don't get right in his face.
Short Version (I get wordy )
> Sell/Replace 18-270 lens
> Pick up a 55-250, and an 18-55 if you can
> Pick up a 50mm 1.8
> Shoot, shoot, shoot
> Take some classes enjoy it, and this forum can help a lot so don't be shy to ask questions!
