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Best, cheapest DSLR, Now Pics!


Nanofreak79

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Nanofreak79

I pulled the trigger on the xt. From reading about ten different articles, I've come to the conclusion that this camera should work just fine, considering my budget. $94 shipped. I'll be looking into the best lenses for it now. Looks like I still have many options for lenses. Thanks for your help seabass!

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Nanofreak79

I didn't buy the kit lens from reading that it wasn't all that great. That lens looks nice! Plus for the price it would get me some pics quicker. :) I plan on buying a non canon/nikon macro too. Any suggestions? I heard the tamron was a decent lense for the money.

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Nanofreak79

What do you think of a 18-200? Would it be good for all around shooting, like kids sports and fish tanks, or even outdoors type photos.

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I didn't buy the kit lense from reading that it wasn't all that great. That lense looks nice! Plus for the price it would get me some pics quicker. :) I plan on buying a non canon/nikon macro too. Any suggestions? I heard the tamron was a decent lense for the money.

The go to macro lenses appear to be either the Canon 100mm: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-100mm-Macro-Lens-Cameras/dp/B00004XOM3/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399016010&sr=8-1&keywords=Canon+macro+lens

or Tamrom 90mm: http://www.amazon.com/Tamron-AFF004C700-90MM-2-8-MACRO/dp/B00A35WYJC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1399015910&sr=8-3&keywords=Tamron+macro

 

What do you think of a 18-200? Would it be good for all around shooting, like kids sports and fish tanks, or even outdoors type photos.

Yeah, for sports you'd probably want to be able to zoom to at least 200mm: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-18-200mm-3-5-5-6-Standard-Cameras/dp/B001ET6QFY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1399016458&sr=8-2&keywords=Canon+lens+200mm
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Nanofreak79

Those all look perfect. I'll probably do the macro and 40 before the 18-200. Simply for the fact the wife can use the new P/S for the games, for now anyawy. Thanks for finding all those and linking them. :)

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Another thing to consider is that kit lenses tend to have image stabilization. That might be important if you do a lot of hand held shooting. They are not terribly expensive (and you should be able to easily find them used). For as little as $47 ($62 for one rated excellent), you could get started shooting pics.

 

Or maybe better yet, the

f/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM. This would give you a decent macro, wide, telephoto, and an all around (image stabilized) lens. It's not as sharp or bright as the "nifty fifty", or as high of a macro magnification as the 100mm f/2.8 Macro; however, for $349, it doesn't seem like a bad compromise for your needs (plus, you'd always have the lens that you need on your camera)
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  • 1 month later...
Nanofreak79

Just ordered a nifty fifty for the rebel xt. Can't wait to get some nice pics up. I also ordered a macro extension tube kit. It had good ratings? Guess I'll see how it works out.

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Sweet. That's a very nice lens (good price too). Because your camera's sensor has a crop factor of 1.6x, a 50mm lens would be an 80mm equivalent. That should be reasonable for tank shots and outdoor pictures. However, it's not a very wide angle lens, so anything within close proximity might seem a little too zoomed in. But even when you get other lenses, I'm sure you'll still like this one. Image quality should be substantially better than a super zoom lens. I'll be interested to see how the macro extension tube works out for you.

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Nanofreak79

From reding it sounded like a very popular lens. I'm hoping it turns out to be a good choice. Yes, the price was right as well. I've read it's not all that heavy duty. I'm pretty careful with any of my things so hopefully there won't be any dropping. I knew it wouldn't get all the shots I wanted of the tank, but still do the job. I was more interested in being able to shoot all around photos. I'll be interested as well on the extension tube. I'm hoping it works out for close ups nicely. I read you can turn your 50mm backwards and get macro shots? I might try that.

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It's my go to lens for everything not macro related. It's crazy how good it is compared to how cheap it is.

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Nanofreak79

I wanna see some pics just as soon as you get your new lens!

Will do.

 

It's my go to lens for everything not macro related. It's crazy how good it is compared to how cheap it is.

Yeah, I really do need a macro. I'm Trying out the extension tube thing, mostly because it was cheap.lol. I read a lot of good things about the lens, many of which saying it had a cheap price tag. That's perfect for me right now.
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Nanofreak79

Snapped a few pics. I was just now able to get the lens on the camera to put it to use. These are 3 of the 8 I took. I'm no pro and need some more help with aperture and ISO settings. These were taken on strictly auto mode. Anyway, gives you an idea. I'll try and update here if it's ok to do that.

 

http://flic.kr/p/nAJ1Di'>14176449859_dcfab7cdc5.jpghttp://flic.kr/p/nAJ1Di'>IMG_8278 by -Nanofreak79-

 

http://flic.kr/p/nAJ9f9'>14176475428_bc8ea52fd7.jpghttp://flic.kr/p/nAJ9f9'>IMG_8279 by -Nanofreak79-

 

http://flic.kr/p/nV16Qe'>14383286033_dcdd7c19d2.jpghttp://flic.kr/p/nV16Qe'>IMG_8297 by -Nanofreak79-

 

http://flic.kr/p/nT96NY'>14362213864_61f59d5ee2.jpghttp://flic.kr/p/nT96NY'>IMG_8296 by -Nanofreak79-

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The pictures look good. Not too shabby for a $100 camera body.

 

I'm no pro and need some more help with aperture and ISO settings. These were taken on strictly auto mode...

14176475428_bc8ea52fd7.jpg

You can see that the ears are just coming out of focus, so a smaller aperture (higher number) would give you a greater depth of field. The smaller aperture reduces the light to the sensor, so to get the exposure right you have to increase the shutter speed and/or ISO.

 

Using the aperture priority mode will allow you to adjust the aperture while still letting the camera determine the exposure (by automatically adjusting the shutter speed and ISO). This is an easy way to gain more control of your pictures.

 

Likewise, you can use shutter priority for moving objects. By setting the shutter faster, you can eliminate motion blur. Again a faster shutter speed will reduce light (which to achieve proper exposure, requires a larger aperture and/or ISO). The camera will make these adjustments for you in shutter priority mode.

 

High ISO will make your pictures look grainy, so keeping it low will make your pictures look better. But obviously it is a balancing act of getting enough light to the sensor with aperture and shutter speed (and potentially a flash).

 

Full manual mode will give you control over all three. Then you can determine the depth of field (aperture) and shutter speed, while using an ISO setting that is not too grainy. Getting the exposure right can take more work (trial and error, experience, and luck) than using one of the priority modes, but the payoff can be worth it. Just play with it, it will start to come to you.

 

Pics look good. Sounds like you're happy with it. That's great!

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Nanofreak79

Thanks for the help, all that info is great. I appreciate you taking the time to explain this to me. It's raining today so I'll have to take some inside pics. I'm trying out that tube today as well. I'll use this as a cheat sheet.lol

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I hope it helps. I'm not a particularly gifted photographer but I understand the basics. I use a Canon S120 (which is a compact point and shoot, but also has all these modes).

 

For JPG tank shots, figure out how to set your camera's custom white balance setting. Place a white piece of paper under your lights and point the camera at it (this will take the blue out of your pictures). There are ways to keep a little blue if you think that looks more natural, however, auto white balance almost never looks right. For RAW pics, you need to take a picture of a white (or gray) card so you can adjust subsequent pics in post processing.

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How are you liking this camera? Im on the look for one as well, tired of taking pics with my ipad. For $100 those are some good pics.

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Nanofreak79

Seabass......just drive over here and school me for a day. Lol. Your a very helpful member. Thanks for the link.

 

How are you liking this camera? Im on the look for one as well, tired of taking pics with my ipad. For $100 those are some good pics.
Besides not knowing everything I should about operating it, it's a good camera. It's not the most expensive obviously, but from what I can tell it'll be great once I become better at the settings. IMO, deffinetly worth the $94 I spent on the body and $110 on the 50mm lens.
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