Bought A new Camera

**ArmyWarrant** · 03-01-2009, 01:45 PM

Well I've been going back and forth in my head about spending the money on a decent camera. I finally decided to do it yesterday. I am down in Florida right now with the Army and awaiting the shuttle launch. I want to get some good pics, we will be out on the water with the satellite tracking system on the deck of our boat and should be a good oppurtunity to get some pics.

Anyways I bought a Canon EOS Rebel XS. I need to buy a better lens then the 18-55 but the 75-300 is another 190. I hope to get it before the launch.

Bo, I know you are awesome with a camera and was wondering if you could give a rookie some guidance. I have always used point and shoot cameras and this is new to me.

**MBH** · 03-01-2009, 07:03 PM

You bought a good camera, and honestly, 190 is not an expensive lens by any means. Different lenses have different sweet spots and all kinds of other stuff that goes into them. Different distortions and contrast and sharpness and bokeh and all kinds of crazy stuff.

Since its a canon, I'd recommend signing up on http://photography-on-the.net/forum/ and searching around a lot.

Also, with telephoto lenses, they will take LONGER shutter speeds simply because of the nature of the lenses, so to capture quick motion, you will need A) a lot of light B) possibly need to raise the ISO (you could just set it into sports mode and it will do it automatically I believe) and C) a lens with a lower F stop value (the lower it is, the more light it can let in, the faster it can take essentially the same picture as a comparable lens)

There are some very good and some very bad deals on lenses. Its all a matter of what you like to shoot. If you tell me something specific you have a question about, I can either tell you whats up or look it up if you're having trouble with it.

Also, welcome to the Canon family :)

**MBH** · 03-01-2009, 07:10 PM

very good first read, especially before you start shopping for lenses
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=249006

best "starter" lens poll, keep in mind this is for under $700 a lens (most are well under)
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...ad.php?t=56747

I have a Tamron 28-300, and while it's not the sharpest it is an extremely good walk around lens because of the HUGE amount of versitility between its min and max zoom gives you. With that said, its just not wide enough for walking around with at a car show, but if you see a hottie in the distance you can double check your eyes pretty easily hahaha j/k (but I do have some interesting pics from vegas with that lens...)

Also, you'll find that most of the guys on those forums have their heads up their asses, and they will split hairs and be brand loyal till their blue in the face

**MBH** · 03-01-2009, 07:39 PM

one more thing. If you see a deal online that is "too good to be true" it is. There is a pretty small margin on camera equipment, so if you see something for a really good price, you're either going to get scammed or you're going to need to buy a bunch of EXTREMELY over priced accessories (example: a 2GB memory card for $150, instead of $25)

Some good websites to search for gear are amazon.com(if the price is good), www.bhphotovideo.com, and www.adorama.com

I've bought a few things from adorama through amazon and have been very happy with everything. Also, Ritz or any type of camera shop you see at a mall is going to be a HUGE rip off 90% of the time!!!!!

**97LaserRed** · 03-01-2009, 09:11 PM

Post up the pics from Vegas baby! Haha!

Nice buy man. I recently got a canon rebel xsi. Its decent. Exactly what I need and nothing more!

**ArmyWarrant** · 03-01-2009, 10:32 PM

Thanks for the links Bo, I'll read them and poke around the forums to get myself familiar with things.

I wanted to get the xsi but couldn't come off of 800 for just the camera and the base lens. I paid 650 for the xs with the base lens and got a bag also.