First dSLR, lens recommendations

[Marsu42]

Name me a lens that's a 1.8 and sharper wide open for a 100$ with the same feature set and I'll recommend it. The point is that it's the sharpest for the $$$.

Of course the 50/1.8 has a ridiculously good iq for the $$$ because of long-term mass production, horrible af and crappy build quality. And I'd recommend it to anyone on an absolute budget who doesn't crop pictures or does large-prints. But I'd advise people to be aware of the drawbacks which makes the price possible, esp. if you've got it in a list with the 100/2...

[RLPhoto]

Name me a lens that's a 1.8 and sharper wide open for a 100$ with the same feature set and I'll recommend it. The point is that it's the sharpest for the $$$.

Of course the 50/1.8 has a ridiculously good iq for the $$$ because of long-term mass production, horrible af and crappy build quality. And I'd recommend it to anyone on an absolute budget who doesn't crop pictures or does large-prints. But I'd advise people to be aware of the drawbacks which makes the price possible, esp. if you've got it in a list with the 100/2...

Itd be nice if canon would revamp there 35mm f/2. The Nikkor 35mm 1.8g is such a good lens for the $$$ and the canon 35mm is not very good. If theyd release a version II of the 35mm f/2, I'd recommend that over the 50 1.8 anyday.

[Sartor]

Hi again

I have now bought a camera and two lenses. I ended up buying a 60D (new) with an EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM (used). After two weeks I bought the 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM (new).

This is a gigantic step upwards from my 9G compact and I absolutely love it!
All the new controls, settings, the way to shoot and the viewfinder is all very different – but in a good way.
The most significant changes over the G9 are obviously speed and image quality.

I my opinion the 17-55 makes a good focal length for all-round group pictures and landscapes plus for indoor use. The 70-300L is absolutely useless for that. But for details, animals and far away objects it’s amazing! I can’t wait to get to Malaysia and shoot some wildlife. I this this is really where the 70-300L will shine

[!Xabbu]

Hi again

I have now bought a camera and two lenses. I ended up buying a 60D (new) with an EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM (used). After two weeks I bought the 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM (new).

This is a gigantic step upwards from my 9G compact and I absolutely love it!
All the new controls, settings, the way to shoot and the viewfinder is all very different – but in a good way.
The most significant changes over the G9 are obviously speed and image quality.

I my opinion the 17-55 makes a good focal length for all-round group pictures and landscapes plus for indoor use. The 70-300L is absolutely useless for that. But for details, animals and far away objects it’s amazing! I can’t wait to get to Malaysia and shoot some wildlife. I this this is really where the 70-300L will shine

Congratulations - have fun with it!

[Marsu42]

I my opinion the 17-55 makes a good focal length for all-round group pictures and landscapes plus for indoor use. The 70-300L is absolutely useless for that. But for details, animals and far away objects it’s amazing! I can’t wait to get to Malaysia and shoot some wildlife. I this this is really where the 70-300L will shine

You've got a great setup now that'll keep you busy for years, congratulations, imho a good choice. Just remember that even with the IS of the 70-300L, if you want sharp pictures @300mm of anything that is *slightly* moving (animal breathing, plants moving in the wind not noticeable with the bare eye) you still need fast shutter speeds.

[bycostello]

spend more on the lens than the camera and more on the training than the lens

[Sartor]

spend more on the lens than the camera and more on the training than the lens

First one is done now. I'm on with the training and I'm getting better each day.
My main focus at the moment is to learn how to use the autofocus and how to get it right each time.

I'm also starting to realize how this hobby is going to consume most (if not all) of my money over the next couple of years. There is still a lot of cool gear to get. 

The top of my wishinglist is a flash, a good tripod and a pol filter. And an ND filter.
I've never tried filters but it seems to me thay they can add an extra set of "features" to the camera. Exciting

[Marsu42]

The top of my wishinglist is a flash, a good tripod and a pol filter. And an ND filter.

Looking at the prices of good filters, I'd advise you to get a 430ex2 flash first because you'll use it more often. It works as a remote flash with the 60d, too, so you can use your built-in flash for fill and the external flash for directional light or bounce. The built-in flash is surprisingly ok, but it doesn't have much power & doesn't do hss (high-speed sync) and thus only fires up to 1/250s - but that's not enough for using it with the 70-300L.

[briansquibb]

The top of my wishinglist is a flash, a good tripod and a pol filter. And an ND filter.

Looking at the prices of good filters, I'd advise you to get a 430ex2 flash first because you'll use it more often. It works as a remote flash with the 60d, too, so you can use your built-in flash for fill and the external flash for directional light or bounce. The built-in flash is surprisingly ok, but it doesn't have much power & doesn't do hss (high-speed sync) and thus only fires up to 1/250s - but that's not enough for using it with the 70-300L.

I believe the 60d doesn't support off camera hss

Get a 580EX/EXII for the extra power and HSS

[Marsu42]

I believe the 60d doesn't support off camera hss. Get a 580EX/EXII for the extra power and HSS

You're correct - I didn't even notice it until now since I only use hss at tele range with the flash mounted. When I use remote flash, it's for macro, and in this case the shutter speed is slower than 1/250s anyway. The 580ex2 as a master makes the 480ex2 do remote hss?

[briansquibb]

I believe the 60d doesn't support off camera hss. Get a 580EX/EXII for the extra power and HSS

You're correct - I didn't even notice it until now since I only use hss at tele range with the flash mounted. When I use remote flash, it's for macro, and in this case the shutter speed is slower than 1/250s anyway. The 580ex2 as a master makes the 480ex2 do remote hss?

Yes it does.

Options:

Get a master such as a:
580EX2
ST-E2 (just a IR controller)
MR14-EX (ring flash)
MT-24EX (macro flash)

The other way is to use other brand wireless controllers such as Pocket Wizard, Odins, Pixel King that give full eTTL control

The PW mini/flex system has its own HSS implementation that uses less power and gives faster recycle time. Their approach means the switch to HSS is seamless in that the shutter speed detirmines whether HSS is to used or not, whereas on the Canon system it has to be physically turned on

[Marsu42]

The PW mini/flex system has its own HSS implementation that uses less power and gives faster recycle time. Their approach means the switch to HSS is seamless in that the shutter speed determines whether HSS is to used or not, whereas on the Canon system it has to be physically turned on

Thanks for the information! Since the Canon radio tech is so expensive and still doesn't to remote 2nd curtain sync I guess it's still the best option to get the older IR tech with radio addons ... at the moment at least, when Canon starts only selling 600rt/440rt the 3rd party solutions might be a dead end?

Pushing one button on the flash thus isn't the biggest problem (it still does x-sync up to 1/250s), but it's indeed strange that Canon lets users push a button anyway now that you mention it.

[briansquibb]

The PW mini/flex system has its own HSS implementation that uses less power and gives faster recycle time. Their approach means the switch to HSS is seamless in that the shutter speed determines whether HSS is to used or not, whereas on the Canon system it has to be physically turned on

Thanks for the information! Since the Canon radio tech is so expensive and still doesn't to remote 2nd curtain sync I guess it's still the best option to get the older IR tech with radio addons ... at the moment at least, when Canon starts only selling 600rt/440rt the 3rd party solutions might be a dead end?

Pushing one button on the flash thus isn't the biggest problem (it still does x-sync up to 1/250s), but it's indeed strange that Canon lets users push a button anyway now that you mention it.

The PW approach means that any eTTL flash can be used - including for example the non HSS, non IR speedlite such as the Nissin 622 - which means cheap speedlites can be used.

Currently the Canon 600 doesn't support the old IR speedlights will need to be supported for some time. I currently use a mixture of Nissin/430EXII/580EX/580EXII speedlights. I need quantity of lights so the ability to utilise cheaper speedlights is good news for me.

At the moment 550EX are very cheap so I might be adding several of those.

It is the ability to seamlessly move to HSS which is a big plus to me - I shoot a lot at 1/1000 - and the low power take/quick refresh is important to me