Thanks for the replies guys.
Couple of complete noob questions:
Prime lens? I've been searching dpreview but can't work out what this is all about
IS = Image Stabilisation? So this is actually a function of the lens itself?

I've obviously got a hell of a lot to learn...

Sorry to interrupt the discussion

A couple 3 piece shots from the weekend.

Conners wrote:Thanks for the replies guys.
Couple of complete noob questions:
Prime lens? I've been searching dpreview but can't work out what this is all about
IS = Image Stabilisation? So this is actually a function of the lens itself?

I've obviously got a hell of a lot to learn...

Prime lens = fixed focal length, ie not a zoom. 50mm prime is just that... no zooming in or out. Bear in mind that in your budget range cameras are going to have a smaller sensor, commonly referred to as a 'crop sensor' which will effectively magnify the focal length. In Canons the magnification ratio is 1.6x so in effect, 50mm becomes equivalent to 80mm.

IS in Canon and Nikon is lens specific but Sony build it into their bodies.

Tugboat wrote:

Conners wrote:Thanks for the replies guys.
Couple of complete noob questions:
Prime lens? I've been searching dpreview but can't work out what this is all about
IS = Image Stabilisation? So this is actually a function of the lens itself?

I've obviously got a hell of a lot to learn...

Prime lens = fixed focal length, ie not a zoom. 50mm prime is just that... no zooming in or out. Bear in mind that in your budget range cameras are going to have a smaller sensor, commonly referred to as a 'crop sensor' which will effectively magnify the focal length. In Canons the magnification ratio is 1.6x so in effect, 50mm becomes equivalent to 80mm.

IS in Canon and Nikon is lens specific but Sony build it into their bodies.

Gotcha.
So with regard to the crop sensor, I guess that means when you trade up to a full sensor down the track then your might need some new lenses as well? (to get the same functionality you had before). How far up the range do you have to be to get into full frame sensors?

And is that seen as a good thing for Sony bodies? (IS I mean). What's the general opinion of them? (I've always been a fan of their stuff generally - but unsure of their SLR range)

Primes (fixed focal length lenses) are usualy a lot sharper and a lot faster than zooms ( faster as in let more light in , larger aperture). Primes are usualy f1.4 to f1.8 whereas a fast zoom is f2.8.

They also have less distortion usualy, faster focus and are cheaper(ish , sometimes).

IS is nice to have but not a need to have IMO, just the new IS kit lens is opticaly better than the older non IS canon kit lens.

IS helps against camera movement (handshake) so no use with subject movement or if usinga tripod/braced. In canon its a function of the lens, you can switch it on or off (or sometimes a mode 2 for panning). It helps in limited situations, helps more for longer focal lengths.

Conners wrote:And is that seen as a good thing for Sony bodies? (IS I mean). What's the general opinion of them? (I've always been a fan of their stuff generally - but unsure of their SLR range)

Sony bought Minolta and have put a small fortune into developing serious competition for Canon and Nikon but IMO their glass is overpriced and a real drawback is the range that is available. It's going to take them years to develop the range of glass that's available from Canon and Nikon, or through third parties like Sigma... and the associated 2nd hand market that goes along with it.

RJD wrote:Primes (fixed focal length lenses) are usualy a lot sharper and a lot faster than zooms ( faster as in let more light in , larger aperture). Primes are usualy f1.4 to f1.8 whereas a fast zoom is f2.8.

They also have less distortion usualy, faster focus and are cheaper(ish , sometimes).

IS is nice to have but not a need to have IMO, just the new IS kit lens is opticaly better than the older non IS canon kit lens.

IS helps against camera movement (handshake) so no use with subject movement or if usinga tripod/braced. In canon its a function of the lens, you can switch it on or off (or sometimes a mode 2 for panning). It helps in limited situations, helps more for longer focal lengths.

RJD is right about primes being sharper, any zoom will invariably have differing degrees of sharpness throughout its focal range with an optimal point of sharpness somewhere in the middle.

That they are cheaper is not true however except in the case of Canon's 50mm f1.8 and f1.4 (don't know enough about the Nikons to comment). Any prime other than that is going to made with professional quality optics and priced accordingly. Faster primes will cost a tonne more than slower ones too especially for the longer focal ranges. For example you can pick up a new 400mm f4L for under $3k but if you want a 400mm f2.8L then you better be prepared to part with more than $13k!

Tugboat wrote:That they are cheaper is not true

For a similar level of perfomance and speed at the primes focal length primes are cheaper, you can have a 3-4 primes in the same range as the 24-70f2.8L for the same price, 851.8 + 200/2.8 for the price of a 70-200/2.8L etc. 400/5.6L is cheaper than the 100-400L. The long and fast ones yes aer hideously expensive but there are no zooms that compete (ignoring sigmas 200-500f2.8)

LOL ... You are both excellent photographers from your recent posts but you're not helping conners here.
Conners is on a budget and he wants to take nice pictures. My suggestion was a 450D body and a 35MM 1.8. Maybe a 50MM.
I think this will best give him a very nice image within the budget he has. Possibly the IS zoom but I have no experience with that.

Thanks guys

And yip, ArjanH has hit the nail on the head. I'm after something to get me started which I will hopefully not find lacking in a few years time. The 450D body is pretty much the level I was looking at, and your advice/suggestions on lenses have been taken on board. As I said before this is all relatively new to me, so I'm just sponging up as much as I can at the moment.

Cheers

also check out http://photography-on-the.net/forum/ .... its the canon users forum ... some excellent advise in there none of which I wrote so you can pretty much well use it . I found it very helpfull and insperational with lots of how to's and reviews on every single bit of Canon equipment out there.

Conners wrote:Thanks guys

And yip, ArjanH has hit the nail on the head. I'm after something to get me started which I will hopefully not find lacking in a few years time. The 450D body is pretty much the level I was looking at, and your advice/suggestions on lenses have been taken on board. As I said before this is all relatively new to me, so I'm just sponging up as much as I can at the moment.

Cheers

or look at second hand http://www.trademe.co.nz/Electronics-ph ... 282832.htm

then look at up grading lata or better glass lata then update body

these were takin with a 10d and 28 -80mm cheap lens
last pic 10d with 100-400mm l 04 season

Cool! I like it!

I have the Canon 450d, and am very pleased with it.
I can see that the limiting factor for the next wee while will be my skills and the glass I put on it. On my previous cameras, the biggest problem was wether or not to use flash! A whole new can of worms once you get a DSLR and switch it to manual!!
I would go along with what others have mentioned here, in that the best option would be a 450d body, the IS kit lens if it comes with the camera ( often cheaper to get just the body only) and a fast prime lens. Depending on what you plan to shoot most is how you should determine what length and what speed prime to go for, keeping in mind that the 450d has a cropping sensor, so a 50mm prime (as others said before) is equivalent to about 80mm, roughly.
As for video, I have only seen samples of the new HD video coming out on Canons, the quality is very good but im some what of a purist, and believe a camera is a camera and video is video

Hope my 2c didnt confuse you even more.