Lambchop

iTrader: (1)

cant see it personally as we didnt get a footie or sports forum when we asked

Technically we already have a photography forum and its called "Pictures & video gallery"

Phil

iTrader: (1)

Chop,

You cant really go wrong with the Canon and the 350d has a lot of features (more than my 20d probably ) The only complaint I hear about it is that it is too small and too light which can make it hard to take steady shots. I guess you can buy the battery grip to resolve this (a big chunky thing that its to the bottom of the camera and holds more battery power)

I would be weary of using a 1.4 or 2x converter etc on anything other than the fastest most expensive lenses. Using the convertors basically loses you a few F stops on the apperture. For most UK trackdays etc currently I am struggling using maximum apperture to let in enough light. Usin a convertor efectively blocks out the light and you may find you need to use a tripod everywhere.

Pop down to Jessops and get a hold for the cameras, then buy the one you like off the net. remember for most photographers, the body is the disposible part, it is the lenses that you keep for many many years!

Perosnally I don't think you could go far wrong if you stick to Canon or Nikon. These are what the pros use and what all the lenses and accessories are made for.

I would write more but it is 10 past midnight here and I have just done 3 12 hour days already so my brain is goosed

frog

Sorry m8, I'll try...

IS stands for Image Stabiliser, so if you've got the shakes, the lens will try its best to compensate for it. Has advantages when zooming up to say 300mm, without IS, you'd be expected to have a shutter speed which is at least 1/300s to avoid any blur due to shaking, with IS, you might be able to drop to 1/150s which would enable you to take clear pictures where otherwise not possible. But, and it's a big but, you will pay the price for the lens

F4, without going into a great deal of detail (that's what the essay would be for, and mrsFrog will kill me if I stay on the computer much longer), represents the widest aperture the lens will allow, in other terms, how much light it will let through at best. The best zoom lenses usually go down to F2.8, rarely below that. Again, this is a compromise, at F4, you might have to choose a shutter speed of say 1/150s, if your lens allowed you to go to F2.8, you may be able to choose a shutter speed of 1/300s, which would be better with the zoom, and allow you to freeze sports-type of photos. (PS: for the photographers out there, I have quoted random speeds and not checked that they are technically accurate).
Again, you will pay for the privilege, F2.8 zoom lenses aren't usually cheap

70-300mm is good for sport or wildlife photography where you can't get too close, but won't work for family pictures indoors, or, landscape.

I'd add a 28-70 to that and you'd have a kit starting base.

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

You know, i meant to type "L" Not "IS" anyway, but was busy at work and got distracted. IS-L was the one i couldnt afford. ROLFOL

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Canon-70-200mm...em160097380348

The convertor is also an "L" series.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Canon-1-4-...em330099119264

As for teh forum, as always, we would have a vote, and if ENOUGH people want it and will use it, we will go for it.

Kev.H

I have a canon eos350 but with a 28-105 f/3.5-4.5 II USM lense Canon are the daddies period great starter camera

had a go the other week on a 1d with a fixed 50m L series lense just awesome but big money

couple of examples resized but you get the jist

a flower

a butterfly

a dash

engine

a turd

a temple in mexico

Lambchop

iTrader: (1)

Phil
Cheers for taking the time to have a read Where are you working just now?
I wasn't thinking of using a converter i was just wondering what they were.


Frog
Again cheers for taking the time to reply
It makes a little more sense now.
What would USM mean though?
Would the 18-55mm be ok instead of 28-70mm as thats what most come with? Thats for taking closer shots of the kids inside or in garden etc.


Kev
Is the eos the american version? Mate has one from america thats named differently and wonder if its that?
How much did that lens cost? Sounds expensive
How much was camera also?
That pic of the dash is so clear! It might not be of anything too great but i think it looks ace quality. Not that the rest are bad of course

frog

No worries, absolute pleasure m8.
Great
USM stands for Ultra Sonic Motor. In order for the camera to auto-focus and drive the lens, a motor is required.
Some manufacturers (sony for example), put a motor inside the camera itself, and that drives the lens. Canon decided to put the motor inside each lens.
Cheap lenses come with cheap motors, expensive ones come with USM motors.

USM is meant to be faster and quieter than the cheaper equivalent, again, you get what you pay for.

It will be just fine

No go buy something and enjoy it !

I was going to say that you should treat yourself to a decent lens, but it sounds like you've done that recently already.
I bought a really nice lens for mine a few months ago, and for some reason I love shooting with it, it's heavy, feels like a quality item if you know what I mean
If you are thinking of upgrading, I think you'll need to look at the bigger boys, the 5D, 10D, 20D. Reason I am saying this is that the 400D and 350D are essentially a similar body with more megapixels and maybe a few more features, but they feel the same (same size). I would be worried that you wouldn't feel like you've got a new toy per say.

If you go for a "fuller size" camera like the 5D, 10D, etc... you will feel like you've really got something different as they are much chunkier, better built, essentially pro or semi-pro. But they're not cheap

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Hmmm.. the 30D is nearer my considered budget...

I tghink il just get on with my fast ford writing and forget cameras for a while. Well, an hour or so at least...

cbp

Lambchop:

I would recomend a Nikon D70s with the Nikkor AF-S 18-70mm DX lens.
This lens outclass ALL the 18-55 kitlenses of other makes and if bought with this camera do not cost that much money anymore. Yes it's the fore runner of Nikon D80, BUT it has the same 3D colour matrix metering system that all digital Nikon have now, and this system senses colour aswell as the normal light and contrast. Nikons are better at exposure than the rest (Fact). When focusing on a moving object (like a car) Nikon is also superior. But in my opinion the best thing compared to all the other makes in the same class is the build quality and the fact that it's in not aimed at women and people with small hands.. it's a proper camera that fit a normal man hand very nice.

So if it is still available in the UK i beleive this is the best buy camera atm. In Norway we sell it for a snip under £500, so the UK might be cheaper?

If choosing a Canon.. please do not buy a Digital rebel,, as this is purely aimed at the American market and could give you problems if it needs warranty repair. Get a proper EOS and a number code..
EOS kiss is for japan market.

BUt in total ALL these camera makes do more or less the same job, there are some differences but possible picture quality is almost equal.

The best tip is to visit a store that has all the different makes as and feel the cameras and pick the one that you feel fit your hand the best.

There are more makes than Canon and Nikon though..
We have Olympus, Pentax, Samsung(same as Pentax but cheaper) and Sony Alpha.

Good luck.

cheeRS Christian (yes i do run a camera store)

Lambchop

iTrader: (1)

Christian thanks for that info!

I've been at a friends house today looking at his canon 400 equivalent which he got in america. I tried it with his 18-55mm lens and his 70-200mm and the zoom is ace. I reckon with a 70-300mm you could get some really good long distance stuff

I'm going to go visit the camera shop and see each camera up close and have a look through menus etc etc.

The bug has bitten

foreigneRS

can anyone recomend any good books to read up on both equipmet and technique please?

Lambchop

iTrader: (1)

Nick you got your eye on anything yet?

jessops have a price cut on the Canon EOS 350D at the moment until wednesday.

http://www.jessops.com/Store/s28045/....aspx#inthebox

I've found an EF 75-300mm F4 5.6 Mk3 USM lens for £149 at www.bristolcameras.co.uk which seems to be the best price.

foreigneRS

not ready to buy yet chop - don't understand enough about it and don't have time to go in a shop for a few weeks. i'm going to be travelling for a bit, so thought i might amazon a book or 2 and read up to do a bit of research

have decided that budget will be about £1k for body & lenses and filters, bag, battery, memory etc. don't know if that will be enough

Lambchop

iTrader: (1)

I think you get rather a lot for 1k tbh!

Maybe the canon 400D with 2 decent lenses and bag etc no problem!

Although yes it seems easy to blow away whatever budget you may have!

STUCOS

iTrader: (8)

New to photography but here,s some i took with my pentax dslr








all took on an 18 mm < 55mm lens

cheeRS stu

Cossiebros

The best advise I can give is buy the best lens u can afford and buy a nice body to go with it. Good lenses wil hold there value, body's dont.
The Canon lenses are the best (well, maybe second after Zeiss), so I bought Canon gear.

I have owned a 350d and it was a great camera for the money. I upgraded to the 30d last year, because it is slightly faster.

The best lens for the money IMO is the Canon EF 70-200 F4 L, I don't know what i costs in the UK, but it's well worth saving a little more money for.

Few sample shots with the 30d + 70-200 F2.8 L:

Cossiebros

Damn photobucket for resizing my pics

better quality on my website, pics with the 30d + 70-200 F2.8L:
http://www.cossiebros.nl/gallery5/index.html

Pics with the 250d + 70-200 F2.8L:
http://www.cossiebros.nl/gallery2/index.html

danja

Hiya matey

I personally use the Nikon D50, here is my kit: http://www.djaphoto.co.uk/about.html

Browse around my site, all images you see used on my site are taken with the Nikon.

Some prime examples with large images can be seen here: http://www.djaphoto.co.uk/main.php

I think the Canon 350D is a brilliant camera, if a little small. Many complain at it;s size and say that it's needed to be a bit bigger to feel right, and some often buy the battery grip to compnesate. My D50 is slightly bigger but has less mp, mines 6.1 as a pose to the 8mp of the EOS.

All I will say is beware of what you are buying, becasue as the lenses build up etc, it'sv ery costly to swap manufacturer if you want to go from say Nikon to Canon lol the lenses are not compatible

For the money now, the D50 is only slighty more expensive than a top compact digital camera, and I do feel that if your after top motorsport photographs then a digital-slr is a must, as the speed of it is second to none.

Some of my non-motorsport images taken with the D50 are:

danja

Couple more:

Muska

what a great idea about adding a forum for photography!

i'm all for it.

Lambchop

iTrader: (1)

Cheers for the input mate

The D50 seems a little more expensive than the 350D so i'm swayed to the canon
Also my mate has a 400 model and i hoped we could swap lenses etc

I'm going into Jessop's to look at both but they also have a cracking deal on the canon at the mo!




That's AWESOME

danja

I'd be happy to support members wishing to look for answers/help etc as I've been at it a while now and I think some on here can vouch for my ability

Daveesaunders

I brought a Canon 400D this morning from Jessops, to replace my Powershot A75. Been trying to get Canon to give me one but didn't get anywhere (I work for a distributor and I'm responsible for their range of document scanners in our company)

I did get the powershot for free a few years back though

danja

glad you like

Are you sure your finding the 350D cheaper? I paid £330 for my D50 + 18-55mm lens kit, the 350D was over £400 when I looked?

Lambchop

iTrader: (1)

danja
the 350 i can find for £339 with the 18-55mm lens. As posted above its available at www.warehouseexpress.com or at jessops for same price until wed!
Where did you get your camera? Do they still do the D50 because i can only find D40 which is similar? Guy from work recons he paid £250 from amazon for his D50! Def isn't that now!
BTW i see you have a sigma lens? So are other makes interchangeable or is it other companies make lenses for specific models? ie sigma do for your nikon? Are they any cheaper/better?

Muska

Danja,

Where did you get your D50 from for £339? The cheapest i could find it was £380 and i'm looking to buy this week with kit lens!

Many thanks,
Matt.

danja

I couldn't find the offer mate, but is it the silver model?

I got my camera from a guy on ebay who owns his own ebay shop

Sigma will do Nikon & Canon mounted lenses, but like I said earlier, once you've bought the lens to fit your canon, times that by 10 more lenses if you so wish, if you ever chose to swap to Canon from Nikon, all the lenses will be useless as the mount will be wrong.

Best lenses to look out for are Sigma, Tamron for both Nikon and Canon, then obviouly Canon for Canon cameras and Nikon for the Nikon cameras

danja

Was from a friend I met on a fuji-forum I used to run, he did me a good deal

Lambchop

iTrader: (1)

Are the Sigma or Tamron lenses any cheaper than the canon/nikon ones?

Muska

Bummer.

Would you happen to have an opinion then on a £600 reconditioned D80 with 2 tamron lens's (lens's are new)??

Or should i steer clear of a reconditioned one?

Many thanks
Matt.

Lambchop

iTrader: (1)

What are the 2 lens sizes and where is that lot from?

danja

Lamb: I found my Sigma to be same on price but better quality than the Nikon tele lens, and so decided that the MOST important partof a digital-slr setup is the lens, so opted for the Sigma. It can also depend on the lens your buying too, be it a 50mm portrait lens of a huge tele lens. Swings and roundabouts, but don't worry all you need at the minute is the body (camera) worry bout lenses after

Muska: Mine came from Nikon refurb, looked and was packaged brand new with full warranty Go for it

Muska

From ebay and the lens sizes are...

28mm-80mm & 70mm-300mm

link here...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NIKON-D80-10-2...QQcmdZViewItem

regularly see them go for just shy of £600 from this seller.

danja

Nice bit of kit that Muska, won't go wrong with that!

Muska

Cheers Danja, i know where my money is going then!!

Incidently, thanks to everyone who has posted something of interest on this thread. I've found it very helpfull.

Matt.

danja

No problem, nice to know I can help out where possible

Lambchop

iTrader: (1)

That looks pretty good like!

Lambchop

iTrader: (1)

Is this any good?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Tamron-2-Lens-...em290096590373



2 lenses for £140?
IS it because they are shit compared to others? Or would they do?

Kev.H

eos 350 is the english name americans call it the rebel xt I think
I got the camera of the canon ebay shop (canon_uk1) (came with 1 year warrenty) cant member prices but I got the camera and the lense for the price of a new one at the time

those pics really dont do it justice the photobucket resize just kills the clarity

I want this lense next canon EF-S 10-22mm 10-22 f/3.5-4.5 F3.5-4.5 USM

My girlf parents just bought the new Sony dlsr but to be honest its just a konica\minolta in disguise and felt well cheap

I will try and find the pics I took with the guy at works 1D with fixed 50L lense as there just amazing

CANON 1D is so fast its the camera you have to have when you positively have to shoot every mother fucker in the room lol

Lambchop

iTrader: (1)

Yup my research agrees with you

Ok so i fancy the same camera as you have

I looked at the new sonly alpha and it sounded ok too.