New Photographer from Central FL here...Let's Talk Lenses

[DanielTylerFL]

Good evening everyone!

So, I purchased a EOS Rebel T3i Kit off amazon 3-4 years ago, and it's been sitting in its bag during that time also.  The initital purchase was for my financee at the time (now my wife) and she just shot on Auto mode.  I've had some interest in getting off auto mode and now have started learning about the triangle of photography and started playing around with it.  What is a good lens for closeups?  What would be a good starter lens for most everything?  I would think two lenses would suffice for now untill I grasp the concepts more and get more advanced.  The lenses in the kit included; EF-S 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS roman numeral II, and EF  75-300mm 1:4-5.6 roman numeral III.  I have no idea what each of these numbers/letters mean?  I would like a lens for closeups - portraits - and one that would be great for short distances to long zooms.  I'm not sure what i'm talking about yet, but maybe some of you could point me in the right direction.  Thanks in advance!

I've found the Canon lens 50mm F1.8 and Yongnuo 50mm F1.8.  They seem to both be great lenses for large aperture shots, but is that a good lens for that application?  Both seem to have good reviews on youtube, and some-most seem to lean towards the Yongnuo because of price and quality is so so close.

I haven't found anything for the every day carry lens---any help would be wonderful!

[DanielTylerFL]

For sure will be revisiting the manual, I actually just found it tucked away in the camera bag...Great advice, Thank You! 

While on the topic of established pros...which authors you would recommend for information? 

[ebiggs1]

"YouTube is going to be a lot of hit and miss, a lot of dorks blathering on and on, as they struggle to figure out what they want to say. Mostly they are vloggers, chronic forum dwellers and spec sheet warriors whose "photography" consists of making test shots and comparing graphs and charts."

John is absolutely correct on this one.  Some people's professional friends all have a YouTube address. It is evident, you can tell just from their posts, even on this site.  They never did anything but look at YouTube or read reviews.

Also, Robert is spot on with his explainition about why the 85mm or 50mm on a cropper are good portrait lenses.

[John_SD]

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@DanielTylerFL wrote:

For sure will be revisiting the manual, I actually just found it tucked away in the camera bag...Great advice, Thank You! 

While on the topic of established pros...which authors you would recommend for information? 

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I recommend "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. You will be hard-pressed to find a better book on the exposure triangle, which is crucial in understanding what you are doing. And I also have learned a great deal from "John Shaw's Guide to Digital Nature Photography." Shaw is a no-nonsense type that appeals to me. Some might find his tone off-putting, but I have learned more about outdoor and nature photography from that book than any other source and I highly recommmend him. 

[Waddizzle]

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@DanielTylerFL wrote:

For sure will be revisiting the manual, I actually just found it tucked away in the camera bag...Great advice, Thank You! 

While on the topic of established pros...which authors you would recommend for information? 

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If the manual came with the camera, that may or may not be the full User Guide.  Adding a 300+ page book to the camera kit is costly.  Including the full User Guide adds too much cost to a camera kit in the highly competitive, entry level DSLR market.  

Download the document at John's link, and compare it to what you have in print.

[ebiggs1]

"The lenses in the kit included; EF-S 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS roman numeral II, and EF  75-300mm 1:4-5.6 roman numeral III. ... I would like a lens for closeups - portraits - and one that would be great for short distances to long zooms.  ... you could point me in the right direction. ...

I've found the Canon lens 50mm F1.8 and Yongnuo 50mm F1.8.  ... some-most seem to lean towards the Yongnuo because of price and quality is so so close."

I will try to answer these in order.

What you have will go a long way to teach you how to use the gear.  It is photography you need to learn first.  Then you decide what lenses most solve your specific requirements.  Right now you don't know!  As discussed above the 50mm FL range is maybe not best but good for portraits.  You already have that FL in your 18-55mm zoom. You don't need another 50mm lens right now.  You never need the Yongnuo!  They are too hit and miss. QC is out to lunch.  The Canon offering is a great lens for it's price. Highly recommend it.

Avoid buying any camera gear from Amazon or any place where they package a kit or bundle of junk. Buy exactly what you want or need. When you decide to upgrade the lenses you have which are all on the low quality side, check out the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art Lens for Canon EF, my favorite right now, or the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens. Both very good, fast and constant apertuers.

[wq9nsc]

John_SD wrote:

"I recommend "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. You will be hard-pressed to find a better book on the exposure triangle, which is crucial in understanding what you are doing. And I also have learned a great deal from "John Shaw's Guide to Digital Nature Photography." Shaw is a no-nonsense type that appeals to me. Some might find his tone off-putting, but I have learned more about outdoor and nature photography from that book than any other source and I highly recommend him. "

And I second John's recommendation, Peterson does an excellent job with the topic.  Additionally, books are often much superior to video when trying to comprehend complex new material.  A picture IS often worth a thousand words in many cases and sometimes that is also true of video but often not.

If you are involved with sports photography, a great book is: "Peter Read Miller on Sports Photography: A Sports Illustrated Photographer's Tips, Tricks, and Tales on Shooting Football, the Olympics, and Portraits of Athletes."  I believe that this book is out of print and it can be expensive to buy but if you have a larger public library near you it is likely available there.  It is one of those rare books that is very informative and simultaneously entertaining.

My bottom line on glass is buy the best that you can afford because you will still be using it many camera bodies later if you make a good first choice.  About half of the glass I own now was purchased in 2005 around the time I bought my 1D Mark 2 and it continues to do a great job with my 1DX, 1DX 2, and 5DS R bodies and will do the same for my in transit 1DX 3.  I will probably acquire a Canon EF 200-400 F4 1.4X in time for Spring HS soccer season and I expect that I will use it in the future with a 1DX Mark IV 🙂

Rodger