Need help from camera experts

[Keith Wilson]

I have a couple of lenses that came with a Canon EA-1 Program camera that I inherited when my father passed away. Nice camera, but I'm not a big fan of film.

A Promaster 80-205 mm MC zoom / 1:4.5 lense and a Canon FD 50 mm 1:1.8 lense are in the bag. I had never heard of Promaster before, so I'm not sure of the quality of the lense.

I am seriously considering the purchase of a T3i, but it would be nice if the lenses that I have will work with the EOS series since it may (depending on the quality/functionality of the lenses that I have) affect which lense or lenses that I purchase with the T3i.

I have been a point and shoot guy, so this is a big step for me and I would appreciate any advice from experienced members.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Matt Tottle]

Unfortunately the T3i is an EF-s mount, and the AE-1 is an FD mount. Not only are they not interchangeable without an adapter, but the FD lenses do not have autofocus. Adapters also introduce their own quirks into the mix, costing you either an f-stop for one with glass or loss of infinity focus for one without.

 

[Keith Wilson]

It looks like I'll have to open the pocketbook a bit wider then. I haven't heard many great reviews about the "kit" lenses, with the 18-55 being the most popular/common. I've read that it is functional but not very good for storm or lightning shots. Since the lense makes the camera, I will probably buy the body and select a lense.

Anybody want to break the news to my wife?

Thanks for the info Matt.

 

[Dan Robinson]

I have the 18-55 kit lens, and while it's junk compared to higher end lenses, it's good enough. I have used it and a cheap 75 to 300 lens for all of my storm photos since 2008.

 

[Keith Wilson]

I've been reading up on lense options. Many say that the 18-55 kit lense is a good beginners lense, which is why it is the most common of Canon's kit lenses. It may not satisfy my desire for a wider field of view (I'm not looking for wide angle yet, but a happy medium) It looks like a good lense with which you can get to know your camera, and also help you figure out which way you want to go when you are ready to add a lense to your arsenal.
Quality pics are a matter of what you are used to getting in my case, as my Samsung p&s left alot to be desired.

Learning all of the settings options on my new camera will be a challenge, but I have pored over many of the old posts on the subject in here and they have been, and will continue to be, very helpful. I honestly didn't realize just how many lense options existed.
I love photographing lightning, storms, scenery, and my young granddaughters. I hate missed opportunities and bad shots.
Suggestions always welcome.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Nearly all of the photos on this page were shot with either the 18-55 or the 75-300 lens. The exceptions are the older film shots which were taken with a 28mm prime lens on a film SLR.

http://stormhighway.com/storms/lightning/viewall/

The cheap lenses really do a good job around F8-F11. You'll run into sharpness issues at wider open apertures.

 

[John Vandehei]

I love photographing lightning, storms, scenery, and my young granddaughters.

The 18-55 focal length should cover those things nicely. The main handicap with kit lenses (besides lower image quality) is speed. They tend to have smaller apertures, which means they do not perform as well in low light conditions (i.e., indoors, twilight). I have the Tamron 17-50mm DiII. It has a good working focal range for a crop sensor camera like the Canon Digital Rebel, and the f/2.8 aperture works well in low light. I spend a lot of time photographing the insides of dimly lit buildings, and this lens works great. It would work great for shooting your grandkids indoors as well as storm photography when the sun goes start going down. The non-vibration control model can be had for a little over $400. If this + the Rebel T3i is over your budget, you may consider picking a previous generation model Rebel. Usually, you can still find them new (especially on-line) for a good discount. Also, if you're really looking for bargain, consider refurbished. I picked up a Rebel XTi a few years ago refurbished for $300, when a new model of the same type was priced over $700. I've had no problems with the refurbished camera.

 

[Matt Tottle]

My Pentax K-x came with a 18-55mm and a 50-200mm. I haven't had extra money for better glass yet, but they are decent enough for my everyday use. As John said, their main disadvantage is the small aperture.. They both only go down to f/4.0 at 18/50mm, and f/5.6 at 55/200mm.

A great way to try out glass before you commit (or just get your hands on expensive glass for a special occasion) is to use a rental service. I've rented from www.cameralensrentals.com several times, and their service is nothing less than stellar. And given the retail on what you're borrowing, the rates are extremely reasonable. They have everything from primes to macros to the big honking 500mm telescopes that sports photographers use. They'll give you 10% off your first rental too. Check them out..

 

[Keith Wilson]

Well, my wife played Santa and purchased the new T3i for me, complete with the 18-55 and 55-250 lenses. I nearly got slugged when I asked, "What? No tripod?" LOL.

No more time than I have had to play around with it, I can already see that I am going to love the camera. Some of the functions seem a bit awkward to access at first, but I'm getting used to it.

Thanks to everyone who responded to my cry for help, and I will definately keep the lense rental suggestion in mind Matt. I don't know why i didn't think of it myself since I tried out a couple of rental trucks prior to buying one. My daughter-in-law also got a T3i for Christmas, so we may do some future lense swapping.

 

[Matt Tottle]

Learning all of the settings options on my new camera will be a challenge, but I have pored over many of the old posts on the subject in here and they have been, and will continue to be, very helpful. I honestly didn't realize just how many lense options existed.
I love photographing lightning, storms, scenery, and my young granddaughters. I hate missed opportunities and bad shots.
Suggestions always welcome.

When I got my Pentax, I already had some background with film SLR, but I had been only using P&S digital since 1 megapixel was awesome so I was a bit rusty going into DSLR. I found a guy on Youtube who has a BUTTLOAD of very informative clips, tutorials, reviews, etc that I learned a lot from. He shoots Nikon, but the important stuff doesn't change between brands. He also goes into Photoshop and Lightroom processing, which is very helpful too. His channel is kind of a mess, but just search 'tutorial' in the channel search to get the good stuff.

Oh yeah.. ALWAYS shoot in RAW. It takes up 5x more room on the card, but you can correct a LOT more problems with a RAW shot than one that has been compressed into JPG. You can always convert to JPG later.

http://www.youtube.com/user/JaredPolin/videos

Well, my wife played Santa and purchased the new T3i for me, complete with the 18-55 and 55-250 lenses. I nearly got slugged when I asked, "What? No tripod?" LOL.

No more time than I have had to play around with it, I can already see that I am going to love the camera. Some of the functions seem a bit awkward to access at first, but I'm getting used to it.

Thanks to everyone who responded to my cry for help, and I will definately keep the lense rental suggestion in mind Matt. I don't know why i didn't think of it myself since I tried out a couple of rental trucks prior to buying one. My daughter-in-law also got a T3i for Christmas, so we may do some future lense swapping.

Awesome! You'll have a lot of fun with it.

 

[Greg Campbell]

Sounds like you're good to go!

IMO, you should try not to become too distracted with gear or post-processing. At the local photo meetup, I constantly hear the gear dweebs lecture beginners, "You need to learn HDR," "You need a better lens," etc. This is coming from people who couldn't make a pretty picture to save their lives, and can't begin to explain what an f/ ratio actually represents. People worry so much about hardware because the manufacturers have spent squillions on advertising that distorts and exaggerates the relative importance of their products. Don't believe everything you hear! Suggest you put at least as much thought and effort into the 'seeing' and composing end of the equation (You know, the part that represents actual photography!) as you do the gear and software.

That said...
The 18~55 kit lens is decent, but don't expect razor sharp images, particularly when wide open. In my experience, the lens also produces a fair amount of chromatic aberration when shooting lightning, even if closed 1+ stops. (My best lightning lens is an old manual focus Oly OM lens I bought for 15 bucks.) Don't fret about image quality today, but keep in mind that you will probably want a wider, sharper lens somewhere down the road. Most chasers eventually wind up biting the bullet and getting one of the superwide (~12 to ~24mm) zooms.

Enjoy!

 

[Keith Wilson]

Thanks Greg. Right now I am just learning to use the camera and getting the best possible shots with the accessories that I have. A tripod is a must, so I will be picking one up asap.
Christmas with the family gave me some good practice.

 

[Matt Tottle]

Don't cheap out on the tripod. Be prepared to spend a hundred bucks or more. First time you try to do a long exposure or use a heavy lens with a cheapo tripod you'll realize you wasted your money!

 

[Chris Sokol]

One lens you may want to consider is the 50mm 1.8, also known as the 'nifty fifty'. Nice bokeh when stopped down, very nice imaging, and the best part is it can usually be had for around $100. I use it for quite a bit of portrait work in addition to weather.

Chris