Abt lens for newbie with tight budget


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55-200mm f4.5-5.6 costs around $200++ am i right?

and 50mm f1.8 has no image stabiliser? cost around $100+?

ok. I just read bad things abt service at alan photo.
Cos i have been looking at prices on their website. Tot of going there.

But now, guess i will turn to ms color. Good choice?

And my budget just had drastic changes. looks like i have to get eos 1000D...

Get EFS 55-250 for slightly better IQ, and IS. I know you tight in budget, 2nd hand should around $300

50 mm has no IS, and IS is not needed for 50 mm, usually. New set should be around $125-135
 

buy what you need. If you require a 500D but buy a 1000D instead, its just a waste of money imo.

ya, i did a comparison and big struggle with myself.
As a consumer i want the machine and its technology to last for at least 3-5 years. 500D would be able to do that with its new features.

Hmm. But i dun really need HD videos. nor would i shoot raw images in continuous mode at fast speed. A slighter bigger sensor. i saw 500D pictures at 3200 iso with quite some noise at night, so i guess i wont be always hiking up the thing to 3200, ijust stick to 1600 or lower if possible with help of flash. And it has 9 af points..that maybe is one of the bigger concerns.. but i can overcome it if i use the live mode to shoot, or manual focusing rite?

Digic 3 and 4 is the only difference which i cant tell from any photos i browsed.

Pls advise if i am wrong. Thank you! :)
 

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Get EFS 55-250 for slightly better IQ, and IS. I know you tight in budget, 2nd hand should around $300

50 mm has no IS, and IS is not needed for 50 mm, usually. New set should be around $125-135

Thanks for the quotations. lol
yes la, tight budget. and i dun wanna miss photo taking on lightings and scenaries and ppl and nice xmas.
 

start with a fixed lens, aka prime lens.

get a good 50mm lens so that u learn how to do compositions.

getting a zoom would let u be distracted.

if u are serious about getting good pictures, take note, most of the pro i know learn this way,

start with a good prime lens, and then move on to other prime lens, and then u would realised that u get much better quality pic from a zoom.

skip this learning process, and ... well, seriously, u would miss out on seeing with that lens fixed in your eye / head.

i got a few architecture friends who till this day produce crap pictures, because they don't see what a lens at a certain focal length sees.

thus, they express themselves poorer than folks with fixed lens.

legends, like robert capa worked with a prime lens only too, just in case u need someone good to validate the use of prime lens.
 

start with a fixed lens, aka prime lens.

get a good 50mm lens so that u learn how to do compositions.

getting a zoom would let u be distracted.

if u are serious about getting good pictures, take note, most of the pro i know learn this way,

start with a good prime lens, and then move on to other prime lens, and then u would realised that u get much better quality pic from a zoom.

skip this learning process, and ... well, seriously, u would miss out on seeing with that lens fixed in your eye / head.

i got a few architecture friends who till this day produce crap pictures, because they don't see what a lens at a certain focal length sees.

thus, they express themselves poorer than folks with fixed lens.

legends, like robert capa worked with a prime lens only too, just in case u need someone good to validate the use of prime lens.
although this is the traditional way of learning. I dont really recommend this way.
although prime lenses are of much higher quality, it requires much skill to use.

and at first you'll most likely get stuck to 1 prime. means you only know how to view the world in 1 focal length. and when you want to purchase more primes, you find that you doubt you can perform with the new prime since you only know 1 focal length and you have no idea if the big price tag justifies your reason to buy it.

With a zoom, you can view from 18mm to 55mm, and see which perpective you like. does wide suit you? or does portrait/close ups suit you. with a zoom lens you get to explore. with a prime you get limited in exchange for better performance. and when you get comfortable with a certain length, then its time to upgrade to the prime of that length.

another aspect that primes lenses can never match zoom lenses is versatility/variability. If you need it, you need it. theres no way primes can replace that. (unless you carry 6 cameras with 6 different primes like the picture on another thread)
 

cool. No i have never doubted prime lens. in fact, my friend too, encouraged me to get 50mm f1.8. And i am quite interested in it for the image quality, the nice bokeh, and due to its affordable price as well
 

IsenGrim said:
although this is the traditional way of learning. I dont really recommend this way.
although prime lenses are of much higher quality, it requires much skill to use.

and at first you'll most likely get stuck to 1 prime. means you only know how to view the world in 1 focal length. and when you want to purchase more primes, you find that you doubt you can perform with the new prime since you only know 1 focal length and you have no idea if the big price tag justifies your reason to buy it.

With a zoom, you can view from 18mm to 55mm, and see which perpective you like. does wide suit you? or does portrait/close ups suit you. with a zoom lens you get to explore. with a prime you get limited in exchange for better performance. and when you get comfortable with a certain length, then its time to upgrade to the prime of that length.

another aspect that primes lenses can never match zoom lenses is versatility/variability. If you need it, you need it. theres no way primes can replace that. (unless you carry 6 cameras with 6 different primes like the picture on another thread)

I agree.

I do think that the "prime lens is the best way to learn photography" ideology is a bit dated.
Bearing in mind that there are MANY more photgraphy "newbies" now than there were say... 10 years ago due to the proliferation of the DSLR...
A large majority of them just wanna take better photos than with their old PnS cams, not achieve Ansel Adams standard.
 

although this is the traditional way of learning. I dont really recommend this way.
although prime lenses are of much higher quality, it requires much skill to use.

and at first you'll most likely get stuck to 1 prime. means you only know how to view the world in 1 focal length. and when you want to purchase more primes, you find that you doubt you can perform with the new prime since you only know 1 focal length and you have no idea if the big price tag justifies your reason to buy it.

With a zoom, you can view from 18mm to 55mm, and see which perpective you like. does wide suit you? or does portrait/close ups suit you. with a zoom lens you get to explore. with a prime you get limited in exchange for better performance. and when you get comfortable with a certain length, then its time to upgrade to the prime of that length.

another aspect that primes lenses can never match zoom lenses is versatility/variability. If you need it, you need it. theres no way primes can replace that. (unless you carry 6 cameras with 6 different primes like the picture on another thread)

Yes i got ur point. Its a tradeoff betwn quality and versatility.

i will consider this 55-200mm 4.5-5.6 && 50mm F1.8 for some time BY THIS WEEK cos i going to buy this coming weekend. Cos 50mm f1.8 is obvious winner for quality and speed.
 

think hard! Don't anyhow spend money!
50mm f/1.8 is like the cheapest nikkor prime lens out there, and hence most people get that as their first prime lens. A lot of people then sell it off though, probably due to the fact that the angle of view is a little too 'tight' on a DX-crop camera.
Seems like the 35 f/1.8 is the one to get though, but I wish it wasn't so expensive.
 

hoho85,

i'm a newbie and just got my hands on 500D.
have you been actively seeking out prices at the recommended stores? MS Color, Cathay, John....etc
if yes, its within yr budget... get it, even thou you don't use HD vid.
if no, its not within yr budget, i would recommend you - www.parisilk.com. (pls dun flame me, i don't work there.)
i just got mine there. they do sell the 50mm prime lens at $123.

just my 2 cents
stevenkk =)
 

oic. thanks for ur suggestion.

i checked with ms color and cathay. around the same. just dunno which service better. i want a free camera bag and preferably free sdcard...

my budget only 1000. just nice foe 1000d and spare money can put on lens. =(
 

oic. thanks for ur suggestion.

i checked with ms color and cathay. around the same. just dunno which service better. i want a free camera bag and preferably free sdcard...

my budget only 1000. just nice foe 1000d and spare money can put on lens. =(

Get it from MS Color. Look for Florence.
 

Maybe TS should look into older body and getter lens. ;)
 

oic. thanks for ur suggestion.

i checked with ms color and cathay. around the same. just dunno which service better. i want a free camera bag and preferably free sdcard...

my budget only 1000. just nice foe 1000d and spare money can put on lens. =(
if tts the case, give parisilk a call and ask for the quote...
with yr 1k budget, sure can get the bag, SD card....maybe lens.
cuz i think they selling 800++...
 

do note that if u chooses to get the prime instad of the kit lens as your first lens... You will lose out on the wide angle aspect of photo-taking... especially if you need to take photos in a room or other "tight" spaces since u need a lot of distance to get at least one wall of the room in your viewfinder... haha

so do think carefully. There's a place for zoom lens... there's also a place for prime... If u need general photo-taking but has budget constrain. I would advise you start with the kit lens... haha

just my $0.02
 

do note that if u chooses to get the prime instad of the kit lens as your first lens...

nono, i will be getting with kit lens, plus 50mm 1.8 to use and learn, before any further investments. :)

Parisilk is ah-neh shop ah? haha. thanks stevenkk for the recommendation.
 

nono, i will be getting with kit lens, plus 50mm 1.8 to use and learn, before any further investments. :)

Parisilk is ah-neh shop ah? haha. thanks stevenkk for the recommendation.
LOL~ not really ah neh shop la... or maybe it is~ hahaha....
the sales person at Katong is ah neh... hEEE ^.^
 

ya its cool. will call them up to ask for quotations.

They put on their website saying their long history since world war 2, at first they sell silk, end up become bao ga liao. powerpack. haha.
 

nono, i will be getting with kit lens, plus 50mm 1.8 to use and learn, before any further investments. :)

Parisilk is ah-neh shop ah? haha. thanks stevenkk for the recommendation.

it's not nice to call them that...:nono:
 

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