A whole bunch of photography questions!

DarkShadow · 8 Apr 2007 at 21:04

Right, I have a fair amount of questions so I'd appreciate it if you guys could offer some help! I've bought the Canon 400D so these questions are related!

1) I've been looking at some lens and as you imagine, to a newbie all these lens numbers are scary! How can I start to make a differentiation between them, any resources I could read or even better could anyone shed some light on where I'd start on a limited budget!

2) Whilst browsing around on the web I came across many types of memory cards. I've come across some good value memory cards then again I've across cards Sandisk Extreme III card's that are almost double the price. Whilst I realise there is a difference is speed, how relevant are they for photographers and more important are they worth it viewing it from the bang/buck ratio?

3) Are there any recommend websites for tutorials on beginners photography?

4) Could you recommend any popular website that run competitions often along with a large, resourceful e-community.

5) Any recommended apps I should get hold of and/or plug-ins for Photoshop?

I'm sure more questions will creep up.

Thank you for your time

Jotun · 8 Apr 2007 at 21:19

1) What lens to buy will really depend on what you plan on shooting. The larger the focal length, the closer in to your subject you will be, so for things like small birds you ideally want a big focal length (400mm or more). 50mm is about what you see with your eye.

2) The more expensive cards can be accessed faster, however your camera has a buffer which will be used first for short bursts, and if you don't fill the buffer then the speed of the card won't be much of an issue other than when you are copying them to your PC later. If you are planning to be taking lots of shots in rapid succession, then the speed of the card will be more important (eg in sports taking lots of pictures quickly) but if you are shooting landscapes, then you can afford to take a bit more time.

Also watch out when buying cheap cards from ebay as there are a lot of fakes out there, and I would recommend paying a few pounds more and buying from a reputable dealer.

3) http://www.morguefile.com/archive/classroom.php

4) I visit http://photography-on-the.net/forum/ quite regularly

5) Personally the only other app I use is Irfanview for viewing images, over the default windows program.

Hope that's some help to you

alexisonfire · 8 Apr 2007 at 22:26

The f/number on the lens for example, f/3.5-5.6, (kit lens with 400D) means the 2 lowest apertures at each range of the focal length. So the lowest possible aperture at 18mm is f/3.5, and the lowest aperture available at 55mm is f/5.6 (in fact it will also be f/5.6 around 48-50mm.) The higher the aperture the less light the lens lets in, meaning you will have to increase the shutter speed. So lens with a fixed aperture of f/2.8 across the entire focal range are expensive because of this. If you want a lens that will perform well in bad light with a fast shutter speed, you need to be thinking about getting a prime lens with a fast f/stop. These are mostly inexpensive, and the popular 50mm 1.8 prime offers excellent low light performance with a very small price.

Im guessing you already know about focal lengths but just in case i'll say it anyway. The 18-55mm on the lens is the focal length and will decide how far in or out you can zoom. Smaller the number the wider the angle and further you are zoomed out, the higher then number the smaller the angle and the further you are zoomed in on your subject.

Canon lenses have IS which is image stability while nikon lens have VR which stands for vibration reduction. These both help reduce camera shake, which is inevitable while hand held at 100mm+.

USM on Canon lens means ultrasonic motor, this is the latest auto focus technology on canon lenses and enables you to manual focus even while in auto focus mode, its also fast and very quite. Nikon's equivalently is AF-S, and Sigmas is HSM.

The "L" on Canon lenses im not entirely sure about, i think it has something to do with the grade of glass used, and i believe L is the best available (professional level).

Canon EF i believe means the type of camera mount used on the lens, it has generally enabled canon to produced faster opticals. It also does something clever with apertures, as you can tell i know nothing about canon lens

divine` · 8 Apr 2007 at 22:51

dark_shadow said:
2) Whilst browsing around on the web I came across many types of memory cards. I've come across some good value memory cards then again I've across cards Sandisk Extreme III card's that are almost double the price. Whilst I realise there is a difference is speed, how relevant are they for photographers and more important are they worth it viewing it from the bang/buck ratio?

The speed isn't hugely important but I have found myself thinking 'damn, if only that would write faster' more than a few times with my plain SanDisk. Get an Ultra II, a 2GB card is only like £12 (from decent retailers, check out SanDisks site for a list of approved genuine retailers), hardly a bank breaker. Stick to well known brands like SanDisk/Lexar though if possible, for the sake of £2 or £3, the safety of all your pictures is more than worth it.

dark_shadow said:
4) Could you recommend any popular website that run competitions often along with a large, resourceful e-community.

Talk Photography is a very good community with owners from all sides of the brand pool.