Starting out on DSLR

[james]

I was browsing thru's this section and got me interetsed in Photography.

Suppose one decided to go for a DSLR, what is the Len to get "started" with... to practise before progressing further (more lens and accesories :P).

Cheers!

[Simon]

James, depends on the subject you wish to explore. Macro, People, Landscape.. blah blah blah :P for different subjects, u need different lenses, but some lenses can be used for various subjects, take for example, macro lenses can be used for portrait shots, wide len can also be used.. it all depends on your needs and budget of coz :P the latter is the biggest obstacle to pass :P also, getting a DSLR means you gotta to invest in flash, lenses...

just my 2cts, mabe Naturetan and benny can give u a better advise :P

[litesky]

In my opinion, the best way to get started would be to just actually mess with the camera itself without buying any new lenses. If you just started to get interested in photography, then maybe learning how to use a DSLR would be the first step that I'd recommend. Hopefully you're digital SLR comes with a Macro function(CLOSE UP) and you can automatically mess around with that without paying the extra macro lenses, but I'm not too sure if that is provided on a DSLR. Just get comfortable with the one you get first. Look at your pictures, and decide what kind of pictures you would like to take. THen throw the money in to that specific area. Good Luck and have fun.

[naturetan]

Usually for starter, I would recommend getting a normal range zoom lens. That would be somewhere around 28mm to 80 or perhaps 105mm. This can be used for multi-purpose, ranging from wide angle landscape to average tele portraiture, allowing you to explore different subjects.

As a guide, do avoid those zoom range that is higher then 4X, that is more then 105mm. Remember, when lens range increase, quality will reduce, but more versatile for you.

Depending on your budget, since you might use this lens quite often in future, get the best quality and brightest lens that you can possibly afford. It will reward you well in the long run, though weight might be a concern to you.

Not to worry about macro lens. With the best normal zoom lens that you buy, attaching it with cheap extension tube, you'll get a rather high quality macro shots in different magnification for your close-up purpose.

Thus, this normal zoom lens is enough to cover many areas in photography to get started. Next time when you develop your style and get crazy/serious about this hobby, you'll automatically know what new lens or accessories to include for your collection and purpose.

[james]

Thank you...Simon, litesky and naturetan

I managed to borrow to books from the library..

• National Geographic Photography Field Guilde (Secret To Making Great Pictures) - Peter K. Burian and Robert Caputo
  Understanding Exposure - Bryan Peterson

To a beginner like me, these two has lots of useful information.

[hwchoy]

do note that what naturetan has quoted for focal length is for 35mm format (normal 35mm film). For DSLR there is a scaling factor because the image sensor is much smaller than a 35mm film. If you get a "digital" lens such as the EF-S 18-55 that comes with the Canon 300D, it is actually equivalent to about 28-90 in 35mm format.

HOWEVER, if your lens is a "standard" lens i.e. one that is useable on both film and DSLR then it would be stated in 35mm format already.

also in DSLR the macro "function" is not in the camera body, but in the lens itself.

[naturetan]

[quote:c8e38337f6="james"]I managed to borrow to books from the library..

• National Geographic Photography Field Guilde (Secret To Making Great Pictures) - Peter K. Burian and Robert Caputo

To a beginner like me, these two has lots of useful information.[/quote:c8e38337f6]
Glad you find this book useful. Actually, this book and several others was recommended by me year back. Use to recommend lots of books to the library often to improve their collections. So if you find any books that are interesting and unavailable, do make some recommendation, for the benefit of ourselves and many others.

[tawauboy]

with dslr, don't forget that you'll need some post processing.
since you are new to photography, you'll have quite a lot to learn.
alternatively, get a film camera and learn the basics first.
leave the processing part to labs.

[kc]

I don't quite agree that beginner should take up analog camera first. I took up photography long ago and maybe before some of you were born.

I'm not an expert on Digital photography but I got some bit of experience on photography techinque itself. I just got a simple Cannon A75 and I find that the learning curve for beginner will be much shorter using Digital. You can check your shot instantly for exposure, compositions, etc. Retaking shots are practically free, not need to waste rolls of film and spend time in darkroom. Furthermore the setting are imprinted in the jpg files for postmortem.

[loupgarou]

sigma came up with a new 105mm macro (go check it out on dpreview.com)
or canon's 100mm macro

my take: birding, astro , outdoors: sigma 50-500 for its sheer versatility
landscape: sigma 12-24 for its lack of ca,rectilinear distortion and Ultra wide angle (which you will need for the lack of crop).

for streetshooting, the sigma 12-24 may still do, or you may want a 28-135 is or 28-70 (some say tamron's is great here).

--
^ you can't go wrong with the above since it covers a range from 12mm to 500mm (and if you throw in a 1.4x tc, up to 700mm), don't bother with 2xTC's unless your lens is a L lens with f/2.8 or something.