Want Pre-Purchase advice from experienced photographers

[dwhanson]

I am an amateur photographer, and am interested is getting a serious camera. I've been using a 10 megapixel Olympus SP565UZ for a couple of years now, but it is no longer serving my needs. I've decided to commit to the Canon brand.

I have two main areas of interest at this time, and know that I will need the capability of changing lenses. Money is very much a concern, so I'll be entering the Digital SLR arena on the low end.

My first interest is in photographing birds that I'm feeding in my front yard. I want to be able to take close up photographs that I can print out in an 8x10 format. This is where my current camera is failing me. It has a 20x zoom, but the birds are still very small in the photo at maximum zoom. As well as closeups, I want to catch some good action shots, such as birds flying just before landing on the feeder.

The second area of interest is in photographing bull riding events. Some of these will be outdoors in the daytime, but the majority will be indoors. While the indoor events are fairly well lit, I'm sure there will be challenges where lighting is concerned. I won't have access to strobes or anything like that. I'll have to use existing lighting. In this arena I'll want closeups, and also will be taking sequential shots. Each ride is limited to 8 seconds, and I want to get as many photos as possible, trying to find one GREAT shot.

This is where I'm at. My purchasing power is going to be pretty much maxed out at $1000. This puts me in the EOS Rebel line of cameras.

My first impulse is to come up with the money and buy the EOS Rebel T3 18-55mm IS kit, and save up to buy the telephoto lens later. But I'm thinking that for my needs I may want to spring for another $200 and get a higher end model.

My problem is that I'm a beginner, and still learning the basics about photography. The features and numbers that describe these cameras overwhelm me to the point that I don't know what the right choice would be. What I know is that the Rebel line has interchangeable lenses, but I'm not clear on what lens choices would be correct. It may be that I could buy a body and telephoto lens that would work for me, and use the Olympus for everyday shots that don't require so much zoom.

I've described what I want to photograph, and made clear I have a small budget. I welcome advice from those of you that have knowledge of the Canon line of cameras and their capabilities. I could have spent a few weeks trying to learn all this stuff just to choose a camera, but I thought it would be better to come to the experts for help.

So please, help me understand what I need to know to choose the right camera and lens combinations that will do the job. Birds and bull riders are the target. And don't be afraid to explain things in baby talk.

Thank you ahead of time for your help. Don

[zona5101]

Hi and Welcome.
At the price range you are at you will have limitations that you'll have to deal with. Since most of your situations can be addressed with good glass, I'd concentrate a good portion of your budget on a good lens... Problem is the low end of the good, fast telephotos and zooms are $1000. The upside is spending money on good glass is probably a better long term move that a body as bodies get upgraded more frequently than glass. So I think I'd stay away from the kit lens and buy a body and lens separately. Like the T3 and for a lens you might want to look at 3rd party choices from Tamron, Sigma & Tokina.
Good luck.

[oldwolf]

Originally Posted by zona5101

Hi and Welcome.
At the price range you are at you will have limitations that you'll have to deal with. Since most of your situations can be addressed with good glass, I'd concentrate a good portion of your budget on a good lens... Problem is the low end of the good, fast telephotos and zooms are $1000. The upside is spending money on good glass is probably a better long term move that a body as bodies get upgraded more frequently than glass. So I think I'd stay away from the kit lens and buy a body and lens separately. Like the T3 and for a lens you might want to look at 3rd party choices from Tamron, Sigma & Tokina.
Good luck.

Have to agree with this 100%

[dwhanson]

Thank you for the replies. I have heard the term "fast glass" used. I don't know what this means. Is it something I need to know about when purchasing a lens?

[oldwolf]

fast glass is a lens with an f/stop of 2.8 or lower. for zoom lens it's a fixed 2.8

[inkista]

Originally Posted by dwhanson

Thank you for the replies. I have heard the term "fast glass" used. I don't know what this means. Is it something I need to know about when purchasing a lens?

Yes. This will be as important (if not more so) than the focal length of the lens. Each lens is usually describe by two different numbers (or sets of numbers). The first is the focal length of the lens, which is kinda/sorta the same as to how much "zoom" a P&S has. In SLR terms, "zoom" simply means a lens that can vary its focal length.

P&S zoom factors simply divide the highest focal length of a zoom lens by the shortest focal length of a zoom range, to get the factor. So, a 10mm-100mm lens is a 10x lens. But so is a 20-200mm, or a 1-10mm. All three of those lenses will give you vastly different coverage and magnification, though. This interactive Canon focal length comparison gives you a feel for what focal length means.

Both of the subjects you mention: birding and indoor sports, tend to require longer lenses. The ones we call "telephoto" (as opposed to "normal" or "wide angle"). So, the lens you're most likely to need is a "telephoto zoom". Something like a 70-200 or 70-300. (If you were shooting wild birds instead of feeder birds, though, you'd really want to start with a 400mm lens, which can cost an astronomical amount).

Secondly, a lens is also described by its maximum aperture. The aperture is the setting of the iris opening in the lens. It's given as an f-number, and (here's the weird bit), the lower the number is, the BIGGER the opening is.



The bigger the opening, the more light you get, and the faster your shutter speed can be. So, lenses with a max. aperture of f/2.8 or wider are known as fast lenses. And low-light fast action pretty much requires that you have one, otherwise, your subject will be motion blurred and/or require additional lighting.

And unfortunately, you chose indoor sports are your other main area of interest. Low-light fast-action photography is without a doubt THE most demanding subject matter for lenses, when it comes to cost. Reach costs, speed costs, and in combination, they cost A LOT. The ideal lens for what you want is the EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM II. It's more than double your budget.

The cheapest alternative I can think of would be the Tamron/Sigma 70-200/2.8 non-stabilized equivalents, which are in the $800 range.

Seriously? I think your budget's just a little too low to get a new dRebel and the lenses you need for the subjects you state above, if you're shopping new. You might be able to do it shopping used and looking for an older camera body, but chances are good you're still going to need more than $1k to get outfitted for what you envision. dSLR gear can be very very expensive. Best you accustom yourself to the sticker shock, now. Individual lenses can easily outstrip the cost of your camera body.

And one more thing. Your Oly has the 35mm equivalent of a 26-520mm lens. That would be equivalent to 16-320mm on a crop-body in terms of FoV. So, if you're not getting enough reach for your feeder birds with the Oly, chances are good, you're going to be just as out-of-reach with a dSLR. You could try to get a 400mm or 500mm lens, but, as mentioned above, they start around $1000. You can also crop. Or (and this is likely to be the most successful and cheapest method) you could work on your birding skills, move the feeder closer to you, or set up your camera to fire on remote. 400mm should be sufficient even for wild birds, if you know what you're doing.


Canon 50D, EF 400mm f/5.6L USM. iso 800, f/5.6, 1/640s. handheld. cropped.
White-tailed kite, juvenile. Elanus leucurus.

[dwhanson]

Very informative, in depth lens information. Thank you. I'm going to study more and learn all I can about this subject.