April 17, 2005

I feel like Shane... (or how I bought a new camera.)

Tonya and I bought a new camera. We bought a Canon Rebel XT. We also bought a Canon 75-300 IS USM lens to go with the Canon 18-55 that comes with the camera. I held off on any of the additional lenses I want or this one. I don't dislike the 18-55 lens but I can tell the difference between it and the 75-300 (and I'm not talking about the zoom). I would like to replace it with a comparable IS USM lens. Hopefully one that goes to 75 or higher so that I don't continue to have a hole in the range of my lenses.

I feel like Shane because I spent about a month asking people I know that are really into photography what they recommend and reading up on digital SLRs online. I decided on the Canon because it seemed that Canon was the best digital out there right now. Every person I talked to asked if I had lenses already. When I said, "no," they all told me to go Canon (keep in mind this was 4 or 5 people). A few crazy people told me to go with Canon L lenses. I didn't. That would have taken an expensive purchase and made it an insane purchase. (L lenses are $1500 + per lens.) Most people recommended real Canon lenses for my first few.

We bought the camera because of our honeymoon in Hawaii. We really wanted to be able to take good photos that would last a life time. 2Mp pics from my old Sony Cybershot just didn't seem like the best idea. Now that Cameras with greater then 5Mp are coming down in price to the point that mere mortals can own them it seemed like a good time to get the best camera I could afford.

Here is a link to the gallery of 259 pictures I look today. Keep in mind that it has been a very long time since I have used an SLR.

The above images were taken with the "big" lens. All photos in the gallery were taken with a UV filter on the lens. Most shots were taken in full auto with no real camera setup.

Posted by pqbon at April 17, 2005 12:17 AM

Comments

in order to feel like Shane, you would also have to buy two cameras, then return one a month later...

My two cents:

* The EFS 18-55mm is a great utility lens (if you don't want it I'll buy it ;) ). d usually carries the EFS lens and I carry a 70-200mm USM lens, and we can cover most types of photos we want to take. I wouldn't worry about the "gap" between the two lens, though if you are looking for another lens you may want to find one that's f/2.8 so that you can take low-light photos without IS.

* One of the greatest gear pieces my uncle takes to Hawaii and other tropical destinations is a glorified ziplock bag that's specially made for keeping digital cameras waterproof. Even if your 2MP Sony isn't as loved anymore, it's perfect for doing underwater photography.

* A polarizer filter would be a good piece of gear if you don't have one -- there'll be plenty of sky and water to photograph in Hawaii.

Posted by: kwc at April 18, 2005 12:20 AM