Buying a new camera: Advice?

[Dave Bennett]

Need to buy a new digital camera for event and trip coverage, website work etc.

Have about a $600 budget. Been looking at the Canon EOS Rebel T3i...

I'm NOT a photographer, but want to buy something that wont need replaced in 2 years as I get more skills. Advice?

 

[Scott Brady]

T3i is a great camera with sufficient resolution and good low-light performance. The video quality is also adequate, particularly for web.

Slightly over your budget, but has a better lens. The 135mm will be important for portraits and subject/environmental compression.
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Digital...UTF8&qid=1362353086&sr=8-3&keywords=rebel+t3i

As you develop your photography skills, this camera will grow with you and not create frustration.

 

[Dave Bennett]

T3i is a great camera with sufficient resolution and good low-light performance. The video quality is also adequate, particularly for web.

Slightly over your budget, but has a better lens. The 135mm will be important for portraits and subject/environmental compression.
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Digital...UTF8&qid=1362353086&sr=8-3&keywords=rebel+t3i

As you develop your photography skills, this camera will grow with you and not create frustration.

Thanks Scott, great feedback.

I see several "bundle" type deals on Amazon with various lenses. Can someone please tell me the uses or advantages with each of these lenses:

18-55mm

55-250

75-300

 

[Scott Brady]

I would highly recommend you start with only the 18-135mm IS, as the bundle will fit your budget and provide the best overall performance/value.

If you had more money to spend, I would recommend the 24-105mm over the 18-135, primarily because of durability. Your interests really demand durability, so you will need to be extra careful with the 18-135, as it lacks the dust sealing of the L glass.

Trust your pal Scott and get the T3i and the 18-135mm. Work with that a bit, then buy your first prime, a 50mm 1.4 (only about $300), which will make for a great portrait lens and ideal for shooting vehicles. The 1.6x mag factor will add to the scene compression. Great lens for the money.

Buy a circular polarizer for the 18-135mm, and have that available for mid-day shooting. It is hard to avoid shooting mid-day, but the polarizer will save you when it is high sun. Only about $60 for the filter.

Extra battery and a few 16gb SD cards.

Always shoot in RAW with a large JPG. It may not provide a bunch of value for you now, but if you get a killer shot, you will be glad the RAW was available.

Best of luck!

 

[Scott Brady]

Can someone please tell me the uses or advantages with each of these lenses:

18-55mm

55-250

75-300

IMHO, none of those lenses will be a worthwhile investment. They are all pretty poor performers and will just disappoint. Save your pennies for the 70-200mm F4 L (about $700). Tack sharp and gives you plenty of reach with the sensor mag. factor of 1.6x

Even the 18-135mm isn't perfect, but it is a fare PJ (photojournalist) lens that will give good (not great) image quality and the benefit of image stabilization for handholding. That whole kit will work just as well in the truck as off the moto.

 

[Scott Brady]

T3i with 18-135: $650

Polarizer Filter: $25 WOW, that is cheap for a Tiffen

(2) SD Cards SANDISK: $40 for both

Battery Kit with (2) batteries and a 12v ready charger: $25

Stage 2:

50mm F1.4: $330

70-200mm F4 L: $674!!!

Best of luck! Look forward to seeing your images

 

[Dave Bennett]

Knowledgeable and gracious as always, thanks Scott. The T3i it is then.

 

[Frostymug]

Keep in mind that camera bodies have a limited life, just like computers. Buy the best quality glass you can afford. Lenses hold there value, camera bodies are disposable.

Cliff

 

[Hopeless Diamond]

If you're getting a DSLR with interchangeable lenses expect a learning curve coming from a point and shoot. Shoot, shoot , shoot. Learn to get away from the green box (completely Auto - it's evil ). Take the time to learn how to use the different settings and why, lots of good books that do a very good job of explaining

The T3i is a great camera, very good sensor and can get you started down a very slipper slope (expo and photography go so well together, too bad they can both suck up so many loose dollars). Adorama and BHPhoto are two very reputable sites that also have a lot of information.

 

[Dave Bennett]

Thanks for the insight.

On another note, what are you guys using for photo editing software?

 

[nwoods]

Thanks for the insight.

On another note, what are you guys using for photo editing software?

Most people use Lightroom for the majority of post processing, combined with Photoshop for heavy duty manipulation if necessary. On the flip side, Aperature on the Mac is like combining both LR and PS into one app, but Aperature 3.0 is a little long in the tooth these days, hard to tell if Apple is still committed to it. Can't go wrong with Lightroom

 

[DiploStrat]

... On the flip side, Aperature on the Mac is like combining both LR and PS into one app, ...

I would never argue with a pro, but that's actually giving Aperture too much credit; it has exactly the same relationship with PhotoShop as does Lightroom. In fact, most think that Lightroom has a slightly deeper set of tools. A lot depends on which tool you want. For my money, the real reason to use Aperture is a better user interface and a better database. But if I had to switch I could make the jump in less than a week. Both make photography much more fun than any of the traditional approaches like Bridge + PhotoShop, etc.

Been using Aperture since 2006. Use PhotoShop Elements for those times when I need layers, text, etc.

While Lightroom and Aperture make it as easy to shoot RAW as to shoot JPEG, if you have a Mac, and especially if you plan to shoot only JPEG, just start with iPhoto. It is much more powerful than you would imagine.

 

[nwoods]

Hmmm...maybe I should drink a little less Koolaide, eh?

 

[Scott Brady]

I would never argue with a pro, but that's actually giving Aperture too much credit; it has exactly the same relationship with PhotoShop as does Lightroom. In fact, most think that Lightroom has a slightly deeper set of tools. A lot depends on which tool you want. For my money, the real reason to use Aperture is a better user interface and a better database. But if I had to switch I could make the jump in less than a week. Both make photography much more fun than any of the traditional approaches like Bridge + PhotoShop, etc.

I would agree. We are so dang deep into Aperture (6+ years) that a switch will be painful. If we don't see a strong upgrade by year end, we are going to Lr and Ps.

 

[ttora4runner]

Gonna hi-jack for a moment but what are your guys thoughts on the Panasonic DMC-G5?