My Canon 20D

[pto189]

I need your advices from my assumption:

<br>

<p>

My first set of lenses will be Canon 14-70 f4/L, Canon 50 1.8 II,

and Canon 70-200 f4/L & 1.4 II extender. I didn't choose 16-35, 50

1.4, and 70-200 f2.8/L IS because I'm a beginner. In addition,

they're heavy to carry arround and too expensive.

<br>

<p>

My second set of lenses will be Tamron 28-75 2.8 and Tamron 11-18

4.5-5.56. I choose the Tamron instead of Canon 24-70 f2.8/L becasue

again it's heavy and too expensive. I need Tamron 28-75 so I don't

have to carry many lenses while moving arround.

<br>

<p>

My macro will be Canon 100 2.8 macro. People say Tamron and Sigma

have better macro lenses, but I want to stick with Canon because I

like Canon quality and fast focus. Tamron 24-70 is an exception.

<br>

<p>

For speedlite, I decide to buy Canon 580 EX. I can get it for about

$375.

<br>

<p>

I need a good tripod yet cannot make up my mind. There too many

choices. I'm using Slik 300DX. It works for me but I don't know how

good is a good tripod.

<br>

<p>

When buying camera and gear, I try to only deal with B&H, 17th

Street, and Amazon. I found 17th Street has more friendly services,

but they use FedEx that is more expensice than UPS. Since I live in

NJ, it only takes a day to ship from NY to NJ using either UPS or

FexEd. So I buy more from B&H than from 17th Street. If you live in

the West side, I suggest you to consider Amazon. They have free

shipping and the best return policy. Their price however is a little

higher.

<br>

<p>

I would definitely don't even spend a second with Broadway Photo, AM

Photo World, 47st. Photo, Camera Express, and many others. The rule

of thumb is that you don't buy from a dealer that offer "too good to

be true" price. That is impossible. I would check their prices for

little things such as batteries, memories, and waranty. Many sell

1GB memory for $500. If you fall in those traps, I cannot help you.

I don't think you're a fool. I think your greed has blocked your

wisdom. You pay and learn.

[wakeforce]

I think you've got very good choices, but I envy that you can buy all of this at once =)

 

For a tripod, I don,t know how much you are willing to spend, but the bare minimum would be a bogen/manfrotto 190CL or 190PRO with a 144RC 3D head or a 486RC2 ball-head. If you want to get something better, get a Gitzo mountaineer (I think 1127 or something like that) carbon fibre tripod with a kirk or arca swiss ball-head. Or just get the good legs with a manfrotto 486RC2 for the time being and upgrade. If you do macro, I highly suggest getting a swivelling center collumn, there is also another Gitzo carbon fibre tripod which had a swivelling center collumn, they are called the "explorer" series. http://www.gitzo.com/products/metric/tripods/explorer/rightscreen.php3

[wakeforce]

BTW, I didn't emphasize that a good tipod is what makes good pictures, it is often the wekaest link that potographers have. Don't underspend on the tripod, you will regret it. You can have the best lenses and bodies, but if there's movement blur in your image, you will be pissed.

 

 

I also forgot to suggest a good monopod such as the manfrotto 679 for those occasions where tripod is too heavy/cumbersome.

[jimstrutz]

Wow! A Canon 14-70 f4/L. That would be sweet, but I assume you meant the Canon 17-40 f4/L. Nice lens, but nearly as nice as what wrote. :)

[pto189]

Thanks Jean. Your advice is greatly helpful. Jim, you're right. I meant 17-40 f4/L. May be I have been thinking of Canon 14-70 f2.8/L IS for my 20D. But it violates the triple zoom rule. I still dream of a one-size-fits-all lens such as 11-85mm 2.0/L IS USM 1x-5x true macro. =)

[bens]

beginner? buy the 50/1.8 and forget everything else, no matter how much money you have. first learn how to take and process a digital image, that's my advice. then add as you are ready. don't see how you can be ready for all those toys without shooting for awhile.

[pod]

Philip, that's a lot of stuff.

 

14-70 f4/L?

 

50 1.8 II

 

70-200 f4/L

 

1.4 II extender

 

Tamron 28-75 2.8

 

Tamron 11-18 4.5-5.56

 

100 2.8 macro

 

Canon 580 EX

 

--------

 

I just got a 20D kit, which I filled with 2 zooms and 2 primes.

 

I'm just a little lost at what you want to know? The first half of what you wrote is a list of lenses that make most people go green with envy, and the second half, your views and philosophies on purchasing camera equipment.

 

Furthermore - I dont wish to be rude, but when you ask a question, you don't answer it as well, as it defeats the purpose of asking the question in the first place. :P

[jespdj]

<p><i>"My first set of lenses will be Canon 14-70 f4/L, Canon 50 1.8 II, and Canon 70-200 f4/L & 1.4 II extender. I didn't choose 16-35, 50 1.4, and 70-200 f2.8/L IS because I'm a beginner."</i>

<p>That's a strange reason not to choose lenses.... so do you plan to sell the 17-40, 50/1.8 and 70-200/4 later and buy the "advanced" lenses? That's more expensive than buying the 16-35, 50/1.4 and 70-200/2.8 IS right away. There are no "beginner" and "advanced" lenses.

<p><i>"In addition, they're heavy to carry arround and too expensive."</i>

<p>That's a more valid reason..... :-)

<p>Are you going to buy all that stuff at the same time? I think it's a good idea to start with the 20D and one or two lenses. Learn to use them and find out what you want next: maybe a telephoto zoom, or a wide angle zoom, ... If you buy a lot of equipment for a lot of money at once, you'll have a harder time to learn it all.

<p><i>"May be I have been thinking of Canon 14-70 f2.8/L IS for my 20D. But it violates the triple zoom rule."</i>

<p>There is no 14-70 f/2.8 L IS. It would be nice if there was.... Also, there is no "triple zoom rule". There is no fixed law that says that any zoom lens with a range of 3x zoom or more is bad quality.

[tzin_wang]

hi Philip,

 

Initially I bough 2 canon room lenses, the 28-70mm and 75-300mm usm III (both silver ring) from the ritzcamera. I used it for about 6 months then I bought canon 50mm f/1.4. Then I soon found out that 50mm f/1.4 gives much better pictures. So now I would like only to shoot on primes. But I think that I am losing my point now. Before I bought 50mm f/1.4, I did a lot of reading as comparing 50mm f/1.4 to 50mm f/1.8. As from my reading, I think that 50mm f/1.4 is a better buy even though it's more expensive. I have 50mm f/1.4 for about 1 year now, and I bascailly use it for everything now because it gives much much better pictures than my other 2 room lenses, and also because I can't afford to get any more new lences right now. By the way, I shoot with elan 7e, I don't know it it would make much different with 20D besides 1.4x ? factor on lenses. By the way, go with L lenses if you have much money to spend (i think it pays off in the long run), and get a decent tripod.

 

Happy shopping !

 

Cheers

[pto189]

Ben, Thanks for the input. I'm using Canon 50 1.8 II, Tamron 28-75, and Canon 100 2.8 Macro now. I love macro work, but my slik tripod doesn't good enough. You're right. I must learn how to process digital pictures becasue they aren't as sharp as pictures taken from my G5 or Minolta XT Si.

<br>

<p>

Peter, I apologize for the confusion. I spent a lot of time to deal, not to buy, with many non decent dealers to leartn how bad they are, and I would like to share with those who don't know about them. I posted this information before yet Bob deleted them. So I put those two paragraghs at the end of my message to make them "ligitimate". :)

<br>

<p>

Jesper, Thanks for clarifying the triple zoom rule.

<br>

<p>

TZin, Thanks for your input. I expect Canon 50 1.4 is better than 50 1.8. But I don't want to sell the 1.8 becasue it's so inexpensive and sharp enough.

<br>

<p>

I'm a Mathematic professor, thus I don't have a lot of money. However, I'm in the age of 50s and would like to use part of my saving to award myself by learning DSLR skills and techniques. I realize that I will need a long time to shoot a perfectly sharp picture. I keep learning and have made some improvements.

<br>

<p>

My next purchase is a good tripod yet still can't make up my mind. :(

[jim_larson1]

I agree that you don't need all the lenses at once.

 

Get one at a time and explore each one before getting the next toy.

 

I would buy the 17-40/4L first :)

 

BTW: with these lenses, you won't be a beginner for long. And I'm with you: The 2.8L lenses are awful big and awful heavy. I looked at the 24-70/2.8L yesterday, and my conclusion is that I will stick with F4L zooms and a few 1.8 and 2.8 primes for portrait work.

[micheleberti]

... and you are a beginner.... I cannot figure out what if you were a pro! :-)

[pto189]

Jim, you always show up with your thoughful advices when people need help. Thanks again.

<br>

<p>

Michele, I'm a mathematician; Math people don't lie. :)

<br>

<p>

I wish I'm a pro though I'm not. I've found that managing environmental light is all about photography, and it's difficult! I hope you can teach me some of your experiences about lanscape shooting. I like your work.

[pto189]

Ben, I took your advice and will go out to shoot using 50mm 1.8 II. Thank you.

[bens]

philip, you are obviously an avid student of photography, and i hope you find the joys of getting, developing a good photograph and sharing it with people. you can do that well any one of many different lenses. the pleasure is in the story telling for me. i worked mostly with the 50/1.8 for about two years, changing sometimes to a wide angle 24/2.8. by simplifying things down to one or two primes, i was able to concentrate on the many other things that go into the process -- composition, light, the story between the frame, where to place myself, what to do in photoshop. each of those things for someone doing this as a hobby is a large task. my suggestion -- come up with some still lifes or pictures of loved ones using natural window light around the house. use the tutorials on luminous-landscapes.com to start getting into photoshop (and definitely buy photoshop!), and start playing with the images you take. go out in the early morning to places you find interesting and take shots. over time you will develop a sense of what you like and don't like, and the best lenses for your purposes. that way, you won't get caught up in the management of your equipment as much as the development of your art. there's a big difference, and many, many people do much more of the former, making the latter that much less interesting.

[pto189]

Ben, thank you for your more valuable advices. I like your works a lot. Hopefully, I can shoot some pictures that are half as great as yours in a few years. I think it's impossible, but I'm allowed to dream it, right? =)

[bens]

oh phillip, you're kind to say that -- for me, the most valuable button on the canon dslrs is often the delete button! seriously -- thanks for the compliment. be patient with yourself and remember that its your hobby, so you get to follow what moves you -- good stuff will result. i've done some dreadful stuff, and three years ago i barely knew what i was doing. have a tough enough skin to make your work available for critique -- feedback is invaluable.