New to the crowd!

[BrownSparrow]

Hi all,

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New year! This is my first post in this forum but i have long been an admirer of the talent and knowledge knocking around in here. As you have no doubt sensed, i was hoping i could have some help with some questions but first i'll give you some background.

I have always loved photography but realised whilst traveling for a while that compact/point-and-shoot/bridge cameras could no longer give me the results i craved and that i would need to purchase an SLR. Having had some experience with my dads old Canon film SLR, i knew it was the direction in which i needed to head. I like to photograph buildings, landscapes, and like to experiment with photograpy a lot.

So, as a new years present to myself i bought a nice shiny new Canon 40D at a very reasonable price from a camera specialist. Now this wasn't an impulse buy. I have been researching into investing into a new DSLR for some time, some will will say i should have started with the 400D and don't get me wrong, it's a great camera and have used a friends a bit, but it just felt a bit too small in my hands and i know it would have been the 40D i always wanted so i saved the money and here we are.

The Camera was body only, they threw in a 1Gb Sandisk C-flash card and i have ordered a nifty fifty, but as i said earlier, i am looking for some advice if someone would be so kind..

1. I'm looking for a tripod and head to get me going, it needs to be portable as i do a lot of walking and will be using it outdoors a lot. I was looking to spend around £100. Can i get an 'ok' starter for that?

2. Filters. I understand a polorising filter is a must and baring in mind i want to shoot buildings and landscapes what other filters might i need?

3. As i said, i love shooting landscapes. Any recommendations for good quality-£££ glass?

4. I'm going to need something to lugg this lot and my sarnies around in, i've used lowe-pro in the past and found their equipment to be good. Any suggestions for a good water proof rucksack style bag?

Thanks for any helpfull suggestions (or spelling corrections!), i look forward to learning and hope to show you my work as it improves over the year.

 

[dirtybeatfreak]

i would save up and buy a decent tripod first time round mate, you will only end up buying one anyway a manfrotto 190xb is a good start but a little over £100

for landsapes a great glass to get is the sigma 10-20, its a really fun lens to play with and you can get some fantastic results

welcome to the madhouse of ocuk's 'tog section

 

[V-Spec]

Welcome

1. I'm looking for a tripod and head to get me going, it needs to be portable as i do a lot of walking and will be using it outdoors a lot. I was looking to spend around £100. Can i get an 'ok' starter for that?.

A well known highstreet camera shop sell some of the entry level manfrotto tripods and heads, I bought my dad one for christmas, <forgot which model> came to exactly £100, think the tripod might have been a 190XB

2. Filters. I understand a polorising filter is a must and baring in mind i want to shoot buildings and landscapes what other filters might i need?

A polariser will be very useful at times, especially to bring out the contrast and colour whilst reducing haze in landscape shots, if you're shooting buildings and things with windows, it'll also get rid of a lot of reflection and glare, but remember a polariser can lose up to 2 stops of light depending on the effect, so low light situations can make things difficult, you might want to consider a skylight and UV filter.

3. As i said, i love shooting landscapes. Any recommendations for good quality-£££ glass?

Well you've bought a 40D which is a good body and worth of any of the L lenses, I use a 17-40L which I love because of the sharpness, however the 10-22 EFS might suit you better,its a very popular lens around here. if you want lens reviews check out the fredmiranda review forum for pretty much every lens ever made, and unbiased reviews and samples pictures.

4. I'm going to need something to lugg this lot and my sarnies around in, i've used lowe-pro in the past and found their equipment to be good. Any suggestions for a good water proof rucksack style bag?

Again from the highstreet camera shop, you might want to check out some of the lowepro stealth bags, pretty reasonably priced and the zips/pockets are very well designed, i've spent no end of time dragging my kit bag across sandy beaches and not having to worry... you'll struggle to go wrong imo.

 

[BrownSparrow]

Thanks for the replys guys.

Hopefully i'll be getting the bits i need over the next month or so, looks like i need to do some overtime at work!

I'll post some shots up here when i get my nifty fifty.

Cheers