Digital SLR

[hellohelenhere]

The Tamron lens does feel better engineered than the Sigma did.

[katynewbie]

I got a deal and am now the proud owner of a Canon 450D EOS. Two lenses, one is a really big one and one not so big.

You see? I really do not know what I am talking about! One is a Tamron and the other is not.  I am not with the camera atm, will report back when I have all the numbers in front of me!

 

[kenkew]

"One big and one not so big".......Katy you drive me to drink.........

[lightyears]

i reliase the op has already got the camera but for future refernce people may want to consider Pentax, they have been making slr's for years and have now got a decent but very good priced range of DSLR's. they also take any lense pretty much ever made by pentax in the last 30 years or so.

[Barnowl]

I find it frustrating that my original Canon lenses don't fit the EOS range...bought Tamron for the EOS 300 (film)

[katynewbie]

 

Ok, so, the lenses are a Canon EF-S 18-55mm and a Tamron AF70-300mm. I am told these will give me a good range of possibilities. I am in the Lake District for a couple of days next week and hope to try it all out properly!

 

[Bjerreby]

Oh! Thank heavens......I thought for a moment you were into obsolete military hardware!

[kenkew]

Ok, so, the lenses are a Canon EF-S 18-55mm and a Tamron AF70-300mm. I am told these will give me a good range of possibilities. I am in the Lake District for a couple of days next week and hope to try it all out properly!

 

That's a good all-round set, Katy. If you want to add to it consider wide-angle and Macro.

[katynewbie]

 

Now there's a word...the 70-30 says LD Macro 1:2. What does that mean then? I will read the instructions soon, promise!!

 

[Larkshall]

I'm very happy with my Panasonic FZ50, it does exactly what it says on the tin . Also gives you the option to override all the automatic settings if you need to.Had some great pictures from a variety of settings, particularly good outside for sporting competitions. Is available now for under £400, I paid over £500 for mine

I am still very happy with my Pana Lumix DMC FZ10 (five years old in June), the Leica lens is superb, 12x zoom, 1:2.8 throughout the zoom range. Macro at 50mm or add a 1 dioptre supplementary lens and it goes down to 1mm (six times life size). I bought it soon after they were launched, paid £399 for it. The initial import stock was sold out but I eventually managed to locate one dealer who had one left.

There was one snag (or so I thought), the video recorded as a .mov format and Windows media player wouldn't play it. However, I have now changed to Ubuntu/Linux and use Elisa Media Player which seems to cope with anything (and all for free).

[!mpetuous]

Now there's a word...the 70-30 says LD Macro 1:2. What does that mean then? I will read the instructions soon, promise!!

 

1:2 in the old days meant that you could get close enough for the image on the negative/slide to be half life size - so pretty close.  1:1 was the same size on the neg.

Oh, and for flash in close up work, you need to get the flash off the camera.  Ideally, a ring flash round the lens is the best.

[Kea]

Ring flashes (macro photography) give a very flat looking picture, use reflectors. You don't need anything fancy you can use scrunched up aluminium foil flattened out and stuck onto card and white card to reflect light onto the subject, cloudy days often work better than bright sunlight and blue skies. Wind is a big problem in outdoor macro photography. A tripod and shutter release is a good idea and use mirror lock-up.

[kenkew]

Ring flashes (macro photography) give a very flat looking picture, use reflectors. You don't need anything fancy you can use scrunched up aluminium foil flattened out and stuck onto card and white card to reflect light onto the subject, cloudy days often work better than bright sunlight and blue skies. Wind is a big problem in outdoor macro photography. A tripod and shutter release is a good idea and use mirror lock-up.

I couldn't have put it better myself.

[hellohelenhere]

I've been meaning to try a home-made ring diffuser on my Powershot:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/photophool/185168674/

I don't know if that would work on your camera, though. But just so I don't lead you into trouble here, if you use any kind of diffuser, make sure it isn't able to harm your flash: http://www.flickr.com/groups/canonpowershots5is/discuss/72157605853791974/ (That guy damaged his with a sheet of A4 paper!)

You could join a Flickr discussion group for your specific camera, great place to pick up tips and ask if you have any questions.

[Kea]

Thanks Ken...was waiting for all the ring flash fanatics to jump on me and beat me up. But I will admit if you want to phtograph insects that may move quickly you probably do need the ring flash.

[kenkew]

Horses for courses of course, Kea. But it isn't always the thoroughbred that wins the race, Eh?