First DSLR - Please help me learn how to use it (1 Viewer)

[Scott Merryfield]

I had similar issues with my Canon 70-300mm IS lens wide open at 300mm, so it appears that Canon and Nikon have equal quality there. This was one of the main reasons I upgraded to the 70-200mm f/4 IS L lens. The lens is tack sharp wide open at all focal lengths, and still outperforms the 70-300 with a 1.4x TC attached.

However, in good light and stopped down, the 70-300 was a darn fine lens for the money.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Well, since none of the better 70-200mm lenses can do 300mm, that wouldn't be entirely fair to compare anyway. As I understand it, at

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The Canon 70-300mm gets better at less than 200mm wide open, but still does better stopped down.
I was surprised how well the 70-200mm f/4 IS works with a 1.4x teleconvertor. I get almost the same length as the 70-300mm, do not lose any light since both are now f/5.6 at the long end, and still get better image quality and auto focus performance. Of course, I leave the TC off unless I really need the extra reach.

Here is one of the few 70-300mm lens shots at less than 200mm examples I could find in my gallery that was wide open (120mm @ f/4.5):



Here is what the 70-200mm f/4 can do (100mm at f/4.0):

 

[Sam Posten]

The Ospreys were all at 300mm but most weren't wide open, I think I had it on 200iso and set to 1/500th so it was kicking mostly f6.3/f8 but a few were wide open at 5.6. I had to shoot spot metering and -3 EV otherwise everything was completely blown out. Matrix metering was just unuable in this case although I rely on Matrix for just about everything else. Was a definite learning day and I'm sure an experienced birder could have done a lot better than I did with this lens. Regardless tho, I dont think they would have been able to tame the CA that resulted.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Bird photography is a difficult skill to master, Sam. I'm terrible at it (especially birds in flight), and really need to work on my technique and practice my skills. Your shots were made more difficult because of the bright background (i.e. sky), which made metering tougher.

The first page of this gallery has a couple of shots of egrets in flight. That's the best I've been able to do so far. I took some shots of bald eagles in flight in the Canadian Rockies that were terrible.

 

[Carlo_M]

After successfully testing it out in Bel Air Camera (where the lighting was low, like in a museum), I returned my EF 50 f/1.4 for an EF-S 17-55 f/2.8. Oh, and I had to part with another seven bills :frowning:

True, the new lens won't perform as well in low light, and due to being a zoom it will have barrel distortion, but it is considerably sharper than my EF-S 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 kit lens and performs way better in low light especially at the far end.

The 50 f/1.4 was a beautiful piece of equipment, and if I ever go full frame...well first I'll cry for dropping a grand on the new lens because it won't work on that camera...but then I'll pick up the 50 f/1.4 again. If the reach wasn't so far on my XSi (80mm equivalent) I would have kept it and never bought the 17-55. But taking photos of museum art I found myself having to be too far away from the piece in order to take a photo with the 50mm and have it entirely in the frame.

Many thanks to everyone here (and especially Scott who steered me to this lens) for their help. I think I am now officially done with my purchasing until I'm ready for a whole new full frame rig (read: 4-5 years from now).

Off I go to learn the art of photography!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Congrats on the new lens, Carlo. It's expensive, but is an excellent piece of glass. I hope you got the lens hood as well. This is my most used lens, and I never use my 50mm f/1.8 prime since buying the 17-55.

As for barrel distortion, I rarely notice it on my copy. For those shots where you do notice it, Canon's DPP Raw conversion software has a lens correction feature for numerous Canon lenses, and I think the 17-55 f/2.8 is one of them (I personally have not played with this feature of DPP as yet).

 

[Carlo_M]

I will eventually get the hood. I bought most of my gear at Bel Air Camera because they're good about returns in-person and helped me while in the store. I was willing to pay a premium over internet prices for that (about 5% over the cheap, but not grey-market, net dealers). For my return of the 50 prime they didn't charge me a fee and gave a full refund. Because they let me play around with the XSi, and try out several lenses, it's worth it for me to pay the extra money for their help, flexibility and friendliness. Plus they have a 6 months equal payment, no interest plan.

However for accessories (extra battery, lens hood, SD cards) they absolutely fleece you on those. Their prices are like 20-30% higher. So for those, I'll be buying from Adorama or BH Photo. I'll include the lens hood in that purchase.

Anyone have any luck with 3rd party batteries for the Canon DSLRs? I'm not trying to save a buck, but Adorama has an LP-E5 knockoff with 1500 mAh which is almost 30% higher rating than the stock battery for the XSi. If it's cheaper *and* I'll get more shots, I'll buy it, but I don't want to zap my camera with an unreliable third party battery.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Check out SterlingTek for extra batteries for your Canon dSLR. I've used their batteries for both my old Rebel XT and my new 40D. They are higher capacity than the Canon batteries at about 25% of the cost. SterlingTek batteries have an excellent reputation, and I've never had an issue with the ones I've bought.

I went a similar route with my first dSLR purchase, Carlo. I bought my Rebel XT and lens from an excellent local shop -- Adray Camera -- because they were helpful, are good to deal with if I needed an exchange, and their price was decent for a local brick and mortar on the equipment I was buying.

Unfortunately, their prices on accessories and higher end Canon lenses are pretty steep compared to B&H and the other reliable Internet dealers, so my subsequent purchases have been with B&H.

 

[todbnla]

Scott, I just got a new Rebel XT so can you recommend some quality lens for it?