What's the next step? 2nd major purcahse.

Hi everyone, I have followed seemingly good advise for a year, by not buying any major equipment since I first got my 350D.

So now it's that time again to think about some new gear! Woo!

The list of major equipment is in my signature, I also own a tripod (happy with it so far), UV protectors and a polarizer for my lenses, as well as a blower for my camera's sensor. What could be a good next step in my adventures in photography?

-My budget is around $600 total.
-I'm interested in People Photography, as well as Landscapes.
-I had new lenses, or possibly a flash in mind, but I'm not sure.

Consider the 24/28-70/75 f2.8 from Sigma or Tamron.

I agree. That Tamron lens is very sharp. I don't use zooms often, but I do use that one.

- You could decide to go UWA or pick up a street zoom. Quite a few options that will fit into your budget. UWA could be the 12-24 Tokina, 10-20 Sigma or even the 10-22 Canon if you feel like splurging. Street zooms - go with the Tamron/Sigma. They are really good.

- A good flash is useful but in my experience, its not a very commonly used part of my gear. I have the Sigma and it does very well. As I said, for the amount of usage it gets, I'm happy I didnt go overboard with spending on a high end Canon.

- A tripod is a good investment and has a substantial impact on IQ. Go for a solid one with a versatile head.

Not too sure I'd like to go UWA, 18mm is very wide for me already (surpises me almost every time I use it, at how wide it is), it's really fun for photography because of the distortion, makes people photography pretty interesting, and fun landscapes too.

What exactly are "Street Lenses", were you refering to something like those Tamron 24-75s?

Tamron 17-50 would be a good all purpose versatile lens for what you do.

On the 1.6 crop, it would have a FOV of 80mm on the tele end. That would be good for portraits. And the 28/29mm FOV for the wide side for landscape. And you get constant 2.8 all for about 450-500.

People either completely love the UWA or hate it I guess. I belong to the former set and I will probably have a tough time giving up one now.....

Yes, the 28-75 is what I would refer to as street lenses. Not much on the wider side and has around a 3X zoom....plus of course, I would add wide aperture as a must have for a street zoom.

>-I'm interested in People Photography, as well as Landscapes.

A tripod? to do panoramic shots or QTVT?

I would get a speedlite flash for your 350D

Yeah, I've been considering those lenses, but they do have a few minor problems that I'm not crazy about (lose of sharpness at corners, and some vignetting) I'm actually going to wait til Tokina releases their 17-50mm lenses this Fall, and see how they are til I decide.

I already have a tripod (edited that back into my original post). I don't go anywhere with out it! So useful.

Brad Gosse wrote:
I would get a speedlite flash for your 350D

Yeah, I've been considering that also, but I'm still new to the whole flash lighting thing, but I do know that just a flash on the camera is only great for bouncing and fill flash, but as I said still learning.

Also, their flashes are pretty expensive, and if anything, I'm pretty sure I'd want the 580EX for it's extra few features, especially the wide-angle ability which I'd actually use.

>-My budget is around $600 total.
>, but I do know that just a flash on the camera is only great for bouncing and fill flash,

Hmmm... I would get a 580EX and a PocketWizard system. Just add another $100 to your budget.

Then you can have off-camera flash, behind the person/subject, angled lighting, etc...

If I did get one, which model of PocketWizards would be appropriate? I see a few different models/kinds.

this pair here.

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …ghType=category​Navigation

I’d like to thank all the members for taking their time and sharing their experience. I’ve been reading and reading your posts for the past 3 weeks. I primarily shoot weddings professionally more than 20 years ago and am now just rekindling my interests. I don’t think I’ll pull out the old medium format stuff out just yet but maybe really don’t see the need.

Well I just needed a camera I had to have it so I finally decided to get one based upon a lot of the info in those posts and other forums / reviews on the web etc. I finally settled on the 30D for various reasons like spot metering 5 fps larger LCD etc but I soon found I wasn’t taking full advantage of the cameras capabilities with the poor glass I was using . After plunking down all that cash on this new camera it seemed that I needed some quality glass in order for it to realize it’s full potential. So my search began and I decided to plunk down so more cash and get me some L after discounting some of the 3 party options due to issues with IQ as you mentioned. I had a certain amount of cash available this month to PLUNK down so I did after much agonizing. Ideally I would have like to cover 24-200mm and I wanted my glass fast. Initially I considered the 24-70 L along with the 70-200 2.8 L. Not a shabby combination for a new rig but wait what about the 70-200 IS everybody said if you got it get it but you gotta pay to play. So back I went to Fred M & POTN and started looking in the used forums and while I was at it I took a look at Ebay too. I have to say that by this point I pretty much had my mind made up I WANTED THAT “IS”!!! But wait I couldn’t believe my eyes people were buying used 70-200 2.8 IS lenses for $1500-$1600 without a warranty some of them even listed damage!!! So I continued to search and yesterday I stumbled on Augusts B&H code and guess what I found? A brand new 70-200 2.8 IS USA for $1599 for some reason it was even less expensive than the imported version but I had to think ...............for all of about 2 minutes !!!
And guess what came today? You guessed it my new IS and all I can say is WOW!!! 200mm @ 1/15s and IQ that just pops off the page!

So this is how I see it in regards to you particular situation. If you have $600 to plunk down on some glass get the best you can! In actuality you really won’t be spending your money if you buy quality if you ever need that money back just sell it. Instead of having that money in your pocket it’ll be hanging off the front of your camera and the quality should show in your IQ which is in the long run is what we all want right! I don’t know what your particularly interested in shooting but I won’t limit myself. Get the best you can and maybe more unless you plan on upgrading later. Here’s a link to a 24-70 L I was eying http://cgi.ebay.com/ws​/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIte​m&ih=004&item=14001923​9847&rd=1&sspagename=S​TRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1
Right now it’s listed at $560 but will probably sell between $850-$950. I know it’s more than you wanted to spend but remember you really aren’t spending anything your just putting it on the front of your camera and if you need it back it’ll be there. But the missed shots, the slow focus, poor IQ, AF hunting, slow glass etc will cost you more than any lens ever could. The opportunity to capture that once in a lifetime moment is priceless.

John Nicholas wrote:



Well I just needed a camera I had to have it so I finally decided to get one based upon a lot of the info in those posts and other forums / reviews on the web etc. I finally settled on the 30D for various reasons like spot metering 5 fps larger LCD etc but I soon found I wasn’t taking full advantage of the cameras capabilities with the poor glass I was using . After plunking down all that cash on this new camera it seemed that I needed some quality glass in order for it to realize it’s full potential. So my search began and I decided to plunk down so more cash and get me some L after discounting some of the 3 party options due to issues with IQ as you mentioned. I had a certain amount of cash available this month to PLUNK down so I did after much agonizing. Ideally I would have like to cover 24-200mm and I wanted my glass fast. Initially I considered the 24-70 L along with the 70-200 2.8 L. Not a shabby combination for a new rig but wait what about the 70-200 IS everybody said if you got it get it but you gotta pay to play. So back I went to Fred M & POTN and started looking in the used forums and while I was at it I took a look at Ebay too. I have to say that by this point I pretty much had my mind made up I WANTED THAT “IS”!!! But wait I couldn’t believe my eyes people were buying used 70-200 2.8 IS lenses for $1500-$1600 without a warranty some of them even listed damage!!! So I continued to search and yesterday I stumbled on Augusts B&H code and guess what I found? A brand new 70-200 2.8 IS USA for $1599 for some reason it was even less expensive than the imported version but I had to think ...............for all of about 2 minutes !!!
And guess what came today? You guessed it my new IS and all I can say is WOW!!! 200mm @ 1/15s and IQ that just pops off the page!

So this is how I see it in regards to you particular situation. If you have $600 to plunk down on some glass get the best you can! In actuality you really won’t be spending your money if you buy quality if you ever need that money back just sell it. Instead of having that money in your pocket it’ll be hanging off the front of your camera and the quality should show in your IQ which is in the long run is what we all want right! I don’t know what your particularly interested in shooting but I won’t limit myself. Get the best you can and maybe more unless you plan on upgrading later. Here’s a link to a 24-70 L I was eying http://cgi.ebay.com/ws​/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIte​m&ih=004&item=14001923​9847&rd=1&sspagename=S​TRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1
Right now it’s listed at $560 but will probably sell between $850-$950. I know it’s more than you wanted to spend but remember you really aren’t spending anything your just putting it on the front of your camera and if you need it back it’ll be there. But the missed shots, the slow focus, poor IQ, AF hunting, slow glass etc will cost you more than any lens ever could. The opportunity to capture that once in a lifetime moment is priceless.

Definately a great/interesting way to put it John, I'll make sure to keep that in mind!!!! I nearly forgot, that even if I have great lighting and a great scene, it may not look so great w/ out great IQ.