New to modern day photography! Mind answering some of my questions?

Hi Guys,

I'm new around here, decided to sign up after making the decision to get into photography! I used to shoot B&W with my SLR years back, but have forgotten the joys that photography brings after a long gap!!!

I've had my eye on the 450D for quite a while now, but I am unsure if it will fit my needs. I want to photograph a lot of scenery, a bit of action (my brother skateboards), and nightlife, eg cities. Primarily landscapes though. I would just like to ask if the 450D is suited to this kind of work? Please note I am very inexperienced and have heard the best way to learn is to just get a camera and start experimenting, therefore what would be unsuitable for you may actually suit 99% of my needs at my current level.

I know a camera is only as good as the lense you put in front of it, would this mean buying a 450D body and my own choice of lense turning out to be a better option?

I have around £600 to spend in total, I know it's not a great amount of money compared to some of the kits on your cameras, but this is just to get me started Is the lense that the 450D comes with pretty decent to start with?

Thanks in advance!!!

You will get hundreds of answers... All of Canon's SLR cameras are up to the task that any person starting out could ask for. How much money do you want to spend to get features? Only you know. That said, get a 40D or 5D.

A 450D will be a good start for you. The only thing that I see it hendering you in is the "scenery" shots. It is a crop body and you don't get the full width that you would with a full frame 5D. But from your post that would be outside your budget anyway.

The 450D will do the job for you.
If the kit lens you are referring to is the 18-55 IS (N.B. "IS"), then yes, it is pretty decent, and I'd recommend that you get it unless you can afford the 17-55/2.8 IS.

Where you may find the 18-55 IS wanting is in the capture of moving subjects in low available light.
Your least expensive ways of addressing this are to get the 50/1.8 lens also, or if possible and appropriate for your situation, a flash like the 430 ex.

P.S.
Oh - and welcome to POTN.

Chris28 wrote in post #6120920
Hi Guys,

I'm new around here, decided to sign up after making the decision to get into photography! I used to shoot B&W with my SLR years back, but have forgotten the joys that photography brings after a long gap!!!

Welcome to POTN and welcome back. I'm in the same boat you are except that I have about a 6 month headstart. I started off looking at the Rebel's but as soon as I held one in the store I knew it was wrong for me. Just too small for me to be comfortable with. I found the size of the 40D and 5D to be perfect, settled on the 40D mainly because of price.

Just get the 450D with kit lens... see how you like it, if not you can always buy another lens later.

Since you're new, get used to the camera, shoot some photos, then decide if you need to upgrade or not. I'm sure you'll WANT to upgrade, but I found my 28-135 kit lens on my 40D to be underrated by most. I just *wanted* a better lens, but in all honesty I didn't really need it.

Welcome to POTN, Chris. The 40D is a wonderful camera and is very well suited to landscape photography as well as anything else that you would want to do with it. I wish that it had been available two years ago when I got my XTi, but I will say that the XTi is also a great little camera. You can see some examples of landscape shots using my XTi which has the same sized sensor as the 40D in my online gallery, by clicking on my "Woodturner Bill" signature below. Each shot also shows which lens I used for the shot along with the full shooting information. The 40D is capable of getting shots that have less noise and slightly greater dynamic range than the XTi and operating over a wider range of lighting conditions.

First off, thanks very much for your replies and welcomes! I am debating about getting a 40D and using the kit lense, or 450D with the kit and the 55-250mm F4-5.6 IS zoom lense.

I think the extra features of the 40D and the better kit lense are pursuading me to go with it though, as I can always get a telephoto lense later on, what do you guys think?

Also, approx how many full sized max quality jpeg shots would I be able to fit on my 8gb sdhc card?

Thanks

Chris28 wrote in post #6125269
Also, approx how many full sized max quality jpeg shots would I be able to fit on my 8gb sdhc card?

Thanks

Many people prefer to shoot in raw instead of JPEG. Raw is the raw data from the sensor so you have much more flexibility when it comes time for post processing. Kinda like having the original negatives to work from instead of working from prints.

Many people will also suggest having two or three 4GB cards instead of one 8GB card. "All your eggs in one basket" and all that.

The 40D uses Compact Flash cards, not SDHC.

The number of images you can fit on a card varies depending on the camera. More megapixels in the sensor means larger file sizes so fewer images on a card. On the 40D with a 4GB CF card, the display says it can hold 313 RAW images. If I change it to any of the JPEG formats it just says 999.

krb wrote in post #6125339
Many people prefer to shoot in raw instead of JPEG. Raw is the raw data from the sensor so you have much more flexibility when it comes time for post processing. Kinda like having the original negatives to work from instead of working from prints.

Many people will also suggest having two or three 4GB cards instead of one 8GB card. "All your eggs in one basket" and all that.

The 40D uses Compact Flash cards, not SDHC.

The number of images you can fit on a card varies depending on the camera. More megapixels in the sensor means larger file sizes so fewer images on a card. On the 40D with a 4GB CF card, the display says it can hold 313 RAW images. If I change it to any of the JPEG formats it just says 999.

Great reply, thanks v. much! Didn't realise the 40D took CF cards, oops my bad, not a problem though I have a few hanging around already.

In terms of lenses, the 40D on a particular website is offered with either a 17-85mm IS lens or a 28-135mm IS lens, what would be considered the more versatile lens? As I understand it, under 30mm ish is wide angle? Regarding depth of field, would I be correct in saying the 17-85mm lens is superior in this area? Any help here would be greatly appreciated!

I was in your boat a couple of years ago. Film photographer, developing my own prints, etc.

Got away from photography as work and life interferred!

Many moons later, I found myself with time and money and a wonderfully supportive husband who encouraged me to start shooting again.

He bought me the Rebel XTi and we added some lenses. Relearned digital photography with this forum and some great books! Join in the photography competitions - there's weekly ones that are ood practice.

Shoot 5,000 frames with whatever you buy and don't limit yourself. After a while, you'll find your direction.

Good luck.

Oh, and don't buy an expensive camera to start. It won't be enough and you will upgrade!

If you buy online, I would definitely not make my decision on where to buy based on price. I only deal with B&H and I think that Adorama has a good reputation, but don't quote me. The internet is completely awash with sleazy camera dealers and if you see a deal that looks "too good to be true", guess what! Bingo! You guessed right ... it is not a good deal. I don't rember the name of the web site any longer, but it is one that rates camera dealers. Hopefully, someone will post that information here.

I think that the best decision is to go with the 40D and the Canon kit lens. Neither of the lenses that you mentioned are the best route IMHO. In the longer run, you will be happier with a lens that has a larger aperture and you really do not need IS below about 70 mm focal length. The best use of IS occurs with focal lengths above 150 mm, but by the time that the lens gets over 400 mm, it is tripod time anyway so IS is no longer a real big issue (I could be mistaken here ... you might want to check with the guys who do airshow and BIF shots). If you look at my lens list, those are the top favorites of Canon lenses (ignore the cheap ones ... they were freebies).

Concerning CF cards, I prefer them over the smaller SD cards because they seem more rugged although I don't have anything to justify that warm fuzzy feeling. When buying CF cards, I would say to stick with 2GB and 4GB cards and forget about 8GB cards. The 8GB cards cost more than twice as much as a 4GB card and ever since I bought a 8GB card, I could feel the "all my eggs in one basket" syndrome -- you know, things like: what if a bald eagle swoops down and swallows it, the Loch Ness monster eats it, it falls into a crevice while hiking across a glacier, a cement truck runs over it, I drop it on the street and it goes down through a storm grate. No, I am not paranoid ... why do you ask?

Chris28 wrote in post #6125401
In terms of lenses, the 40D on a particular website is offered with either a 17-85mm IS lens or a 28-135mm IS lens, what would be considered the more versatile lens? As I understand it, under 30mm ish is wide angle? Regarding depth of field, would I be correct in saying the 17-85mm lens is superior in this area? Any help here would be greatly appreciated!

Depends on what types of shooting you are doing. The thing that you have to remember about modern digital SLRs is that most of them are what is called a "crop camera". In the Canon world the 5D and the 1Ds series are all full frame cameras which means the sensor is about the same size as a 35mm negative. but on crop cameras the sensor is smaller which significantly changes the field of view. For people new to photography this is something they can just ignore but if you are accustomed to 35mm SLRs and want a similar experience you'll need to keep it in mind.

The 40D and 450D that you are looking at have a crop factor of 1.6, meaning that if you put a 100mm lens on a 40D you will get the same field of view as a 160mm lens on a full frame/35mm camera. The crop can be an advantage at the long end, where a 200mm feels like a 320mm and a 300mm feels like a 480mm but is a disadvantage for wide angle shots because a 20mm will feel like a 32mm.

Compared to what you were accustomed to on a 35mm SLR, those lenses will feel like a 27-136 and a 45-216, respectively. If you find that confusing or just don't know for sure what kind of focal length you'll be needing then just ignore all of that and find one in a local store that you can look through.

I have shot with a film SLR since 1971 and never encountered the much talked about problem of getting accustomed to using a camera with a different size sensor. I looked through the viewfinder, framed the shot, and got what I expected ... end of story ... I think that there is a lot more smoke than fire, not much different than the local TV sports commentators yakking ad nauseam about the imagined Cowboys quarterback controversy.

krb wrote in post #6125651
Depends on what types of shooting you are doing. The thing that you have to remember about modern digital SLRs is that most of them are what is called a "crop camera". In the Canon world the 5D and the 1Ds series are all full frame cameras which means the sensor is about the same size as a 35mm negative. but on crop cameras the sensor is smaller which significantly changes the field of view. For people new to photography this is something they can just ignore but if you are accustomed to 35mm SLRs and want a similar experience you'll need to keep it in mind.

The 40D and 450D that you are looking at have a crop factor of 1.6, meaning that if you put a 100mm lens on a 40D you will get the same field of view as a 160mm lens on a full frame/35mm camera. The crop can be an advantage at the long end, where a 200mm feels like a 320mm and a 300mm feels like a 480mm but is a disadvantage for wide angle shots because a 20mm will feel like a 32mm.

Compared to what you were accustomed to on a 35mm SLR, those lenses will feel like a 27-136 and a 45-216, respectively. If you find that confusing or just don't know for sure what kind of focal length you'll be needing then just ignore all of that and find one in a local store that you can look through.

I understand, that was a great explanation. Thanks very much!