Few Questions Regarding 500D Gear

[Sethos]

Hey guys,

As a few of you might know, I acquired a Canon 500D just before Christmas and I've been taking a ton of pictures, getting to grips with it etc.

Now I reached a point where I'd like to get a hold of additional kit for it. I bought the bog-standard version with the 18-55mm lens and it does have

its limitation to what I'd like to do.

Though I would like to apologize for the cringe-worthy way of asking questions, I know very little of the various photography terms.

Now, I'd like a lens that's able to focus on objects and blur out the background - I believe the lens is called Nifty Fifty or "Canon EF 50mm f1.8 II" and from

what I can see, the lens can acquired very cheap and I'm guessing the quality is thereafter? Perhaps I'm looking for another type of lens and I'm completely

off the path here.

Secondly, I'd like a remote trigger for my camera, preferably something cheap as most of my night-shots turn out slightly blurred because I have to press

the button. So a few name suggestions as I have no idea what to look for specifically.

I also need a new SD Card, as I'm using a cheap card with only 2GB - So what can be recommended in the 8GB range that has the best price / performance ratio?

And the key word for everything is price because I don't have the kind of money photographers usually spend on gear :laugh:

So I appreciate any suggestions and replies (Y)

[lawtai]

While I don't know the specifics of Canon, being a Nikon person myself, I can answer some of your questions.

You're looking for a lens that will produce good bokeh (object in focus, blurred background). You're typically able to get bokeh from fast lenses (f stop being 2.8 or less) The 50mm f/1.8 is a good cheap lens to get this affect as it should run you no more than $100, and should be a staple lens in everyone's bag.

For a remote, I would go with whatever Canon sells as my Nikon remote only cost me $15.

As for an SD card, I would go with a card at least with class 6 speed. Something like Transcend 8GB class 6 cards I believe can be had for around $25 on Amazon.

These prices are all in dollars, not sure how expensive things would be in Denmark...

[Argote]

For the card, yes, get something that is Class 6 or above. This Class 10, 8GB SDHC card is just 27 dollars: http://www.amazon.com/Patriot-Class-Flash-Memory-PSF8GSDHC10/dp/B002TA7VO2/ref=pd_cp_e_2

For the remote shutter release, check this out: http://www.amazon.com/Opteka-Release-Digital-Powershot-Digtial/dp/B001CMEXSK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1267048266&sr=8-1 (not sure if it has a lock mode for bulb though) I bought a remote release for my Sony Alpha A200 and it's something that is really nice to have.

Finally, for you main question; getting a blurred background depends on the focal length, the distance to the focused subject and the aperture.

• Bigger Aperture = More Bokeh
• Longer Focal Length = More Bokeh
• Closer Distance to Focused Subject = More Bokeh

The 50mm f/1.8 lens can give you nice Bokeh (I really don't like calling it a "nifty fifty"). However you can also get this from a Macro or Telephoto lens. How much are you planning on spending on the lens?

[invisible69]

Hey guys,

As a few of you might know, I acquired a Canon 500D just before Christmas and I've been taking a ton of pictures, getting to grips with it etc.

Now I reached a point where I'd like to get a hold of additional kit for it. I bought the bog-standard version with the 18-55mm lens and it does have

its limitation to what I'd like to do.

Though I would like to apologize for the cringe-worthy way of asking questions, I know very little of the various photography terms.

Now, I'd like a lens that's able to focus on objects and blur out the background - I believe the lens is called Nifty Fifty or "Canon EF 50mm f1.8 II" and from

what I can see, the lens can acquired very cheap and I'm guessing the quality is thereafter? Perhaps I'm looking for another type of lens and I'm completely

off the path here.

Secondly, I'd like a remote trigger for my camera, preferably something cheap as most of my night-shots turn out slightly blurred because I have to press

the button. So a few name suggestions as I have no idea what to look for specifically.

I also need a new SD Card, as I'm using a cheap card with only 2GB - So what can be recommended in the 8GB range that has the best price / performance ratio?

And the key word for everything is price because I don't have the kind of money photographers usually spend on gear :laugh:

So I appreciate any suggestions and replies (Y)

As a Canon 500D user, I'd recommend these lenses:

The EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens - one of the best "walk around" lenses available at its price point.

The EF 50mm f/1.8 II is very sharp, I'm buying it later on this week most probably, since it's perfect for portraits.

The EF 70-200m f/4 L IS USM is one of the cheapest L series lenses around, yet it is one of the sharpest.

If you want a macro lens, the EF 100mm f/2.8 is also excellent.

As for a Memory Card, I use the Sandisk Xtreme III 30MB/s 8GB card. You don't need anything faster than it believe me :)

As for a remote trigger I am also in need for one, I think the RC-1 or the RC-5 are best and cheapest options out there. About the blurriness, use the Mirror Lock Up option and set a 2 second delay before taking a photo, assuming you are using a tripod.

Hope this helped :]

[MillionVoltss]

One thing ive always done for night shots (with older camera's ) is set the shot timer to 5 secs before a pic, that way you get a stable camerashot as long as u use a tripod or camera is sitting on a level surface.

Have u tryed adjusting the F-stops, this will blur the distance.

Im also interested in recommendations, Also are there any comparisons with a Uber 18-55 lense to the standard canon one.

[Brandon]

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.5577

Remote for $3.50

[houlty]

if you want a super cheap remote, this might work:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Remote-shutter-trigger-for-Canon-Cameras/

not sure it would work on a 500d though...

[Sethos]

Really appreciate all the replies!

While I'm not getting this stuff right now, I've written it down and will purchase it as I go along. My budget is fairly tight, as I'm just going to be using 'spare cash' every month and slowly start building up my stock of gear of the camera. As for the remote trigger, one of the cheapest I could find in Denmark was the Canon RS 60E3 so I'll probably be getting that at some point.

I also checked out the price of that 50mm f/1.8 and my god it's cheap, especially compared to most other lenses which are way, way out of my budget - I'm just an amateur 'photographer' I don't have that kind of dough to spend :laugh: I did try messing around with F-stop on my standard lens and it looks nothing like what I've seen other lenses can do, like the 50mm f/1.8.

Also, I'll look for a price on the SD card when I'm about to buy it, they seem to vary in price constantly and sometimes you might get one for next to nothing on sale.

So that's the gear I have on my "To-buy" list for now. What about a UV filter or something for the camera? Currently I'm running without one and I heard it's quite useful, to avoid damage on the lens and to soften the images a bit from sunlight etc. Any recommendations there for a particular filter, as I read a thread a while back here at Neowin on how you should not be cheap with the filters as they can be worlds apart.

[lawtai]

If you look at sites dedicated to photography such as dpreview.com, you'll see a lot of debate over filters. Some people use them to protect their lenses, others wouldn't come anywhere near one since they think it degrades the quality of the photo.

I use filters mainly to protect the lens. Better to damage a filter than the actual glass on the lens itself. I think Hoya makes some pretty good filters, though they can be somewhat on the expensive side. (~$40-60 I think?)

If you're careful with your camera though, you can save some money and hold off on getting a filter.

[the evn show]

Assuming we're talking about UV filters and not polarizers or colour filters (which you'd use when appropriate):

If a quality UV filter is less than 10% of the price of the lens then I'll buy one, otherwise I'll do without.

It doesn't make sense to cheap-out on filters because it's another piece of glass between your subject and

the sensor. If you spent $2000 on a body and $2000 on a lens why risk muddling all of your pictures with

a $25 bit slapped on the end. Quality filters use very high quality glass: they're every bit as high precision

as the glass Canon is using in their lenses and the price reflects that.

It doesn't make sense to slap a $100 filter on the end of a $200 lens but it does on a $1,100 bit of glass.

I like B+W filters: I don't have evidence to suggest that they work better than other options, it's just what

I've been using forever. Some B+W are less expensive than Hoya equivalent (77mm UV) and some are more

expensive (77mm circular polarizer) but on average the prices converge.

Keep in mind that you need different filters for each lens unless they have the same filter ring size. The

50mm F/1.8 has a 52mm filter ring. The kit lens has a 58mm filter ring. The 70-200mm has a 67mm filter

ring. (most professional-grade lenses have a 77mm ring).

[MillionVoltss]

Can anyone recommend any more affordable lenses ? Looking for 200mm max zoom and not sure any more than that.

Edit, Anyone tried Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

[Razorwing]

hey man.. if you do get the EF50 f/1.8 II make sure you shoot in AV mode.. I gotten alot of bokeh (or Field of Depth or blurred background ..lol) with that. Now I'm glad I got it for $99 :D