New 50D Owner - advice...

[ShadowCaver]

Hello! Have acquired the Canon 50D camera one week ago, came with the 28-135 lens, and then also bought the EFS 55-250. SanDisk Extreme III 8GB CompactFlash card to store the images. First week, have taken ~250 photos, mostly at hockey game [Go Blues! :thumbsup:], and then my other passion: sunsets, landscape, nature, macro, sports.

Curious as to the following:
1. To better acquire quality shots, which lens(es) would be recommended for...?
a) nature/landscape - all types of weather, lighting, settings
b) sports - mainly kid playing soccer [outdoors], few hockey games [indoors]
c) sunrises & sets
d) macro

2. What is the opinion on these two lenses? Good for general amateur, but should I upgrade to get improved quality? [I've seen the 'equation': B camera + A lens > A camera + B lens, and realize much truth in that... but also there is the variable regarding the skill of the photographer themselves too] - but I digress some; thoughts on these two that I already have? Given the replies to 1st question above, just wondering if should trade/upgrade these for L-series or other option? [yea, lol, here the fool already is looking to upgrade, only 1 week after getting these...]

3. When taking photos of sunrises/sunsets, can there be harm done to the camera, sensor, etc.? Have read a few quite conflicting articles... But overall, my thought is NO - unless leave the shutter open for many many minutes, directly pointing at the blazing orb.

4. I've Apple 24" previous gen iMac and previous gen MacBook [both still running Tiger, awaiting Snow Leopard] - what would be recommended software to manipulate, enjoy, etc. the images from this camera?

5. Right now, am planning on just playing with JPEG's - at the L 'smoothed' setting... thoughts/recommendations, given the type of shooting I prefer?

6. Have UV filters on each lens... any recommendations for other filters?

7. I have the standard battery, what is opinion/recommendation for back-ups? Stick w/ Canon, or off-brands just as good, for 1/3-1/4 the cost?

8. One thing that I much enjoyed w/ my Fujifilm camera was panoramic shots... is there best/easy/quality means to do such w/ the 50D?

So far, am VERY pleased with this camera - the shots that have taken and reviewed on the iMac are quite good, comparatively. Camera itself is user-friendly, feels good in the hands. I've debated for a few years, waiting for the 'right' time to get one - and debated also between Nikon and Canon... for whatever reason, this just felt 'right'.

Thanks MUCH in advance, and appreciate patience as I learn this great new device.

[Loupey]

Wow - lots of great questions - you've put a lot of thought into this :thumbsup:

I won't attempt to give you my opinions on all of them (just the first 3). So far you've got 28mm to 250mm covered so I would advise you to wait and really use them (hard) to see where your needs will be. Of the list in #1, I think you have everything somewhat/adequately covered except for possibly the wide angle stuff (landscapes, sunsets, etc.) and macros (high level at least). So use what you got and you'll soon find what you need.

As for #2, again wait to see what you need. If you are constantly pushing your equipment to its limits, then an "L" series may definitely be one answer. But if you never need to enlarge or print or if you can't get consistently good results with the equipment you already have, then there is no point getting something that requires even more skill to pull out every advantage that that equipment potentially brings.

As for #3, as long as you are properly exposing the shot, there is no damage to the sensor. A "white" can only go so white, so there is no reason to expose to "extreme white" where damage becomes a concern. So go photograph an arc welder - as long as you're somewhere in the 1/4000s, f/16, at ISO 200 range, your sensor will never know how bright it actually was.

[drg]

Welcome to Photography Review!

Digital Photography requires fewer filters than the 'old stuff', consider acquiring a Circular Polarizer(CP) for the 28-135 (they use a 72mm I believe) and consider a Neutral Density (2 stop) or a Neutral Gradient filter. The CP also will function as the later.

The CP in outdoor settings, among other things, cuts/alters glare and unwanted reflections, 'enhances' the sky at right angles dramatically, and aids the with conditions that otherwise are not as conducive to 'getting the shot'.

The ND filters, (grads too) can drastically improve those sunrise/sunset shots by cutting down on the intensity of the sun or bright areas. The alter the Dynamic Range of the image in ways that make for a more pleasing and better exposed image.

Stick with the Canon battery. If you need many more than a spare or two (I don't know of too many reasons other than being away from power for days) then you might consider one that is branded by a major store, such as those from Adorama. Still charge them on a Canon charger for safety reasons. A car adapter or small inverter to charge the battery cell you are not using when roughing it is probably a better investment. Horror stories abound about off brand or relabeled OEM cells, but the real problem is they just don't last as long!

Panoramic shots with the lens choices you currently have will be a bit more difficult, even at 28mm.

The Pano shots and future explorations will probably mean adding a software package or two to assist your post-processing. Pano's 'can' be created via adding several images together. More on that elsewhere/later. Check the Photography Software & Post Processing forum.

Lots of good questions, indeed! That's the way to learn!

Again, Welcome and we will look forward to seeing some photos and when you are ready add your review of your camera!

[random one]

i'll also only take a stab at a couple of your questions.

as far as UV filters which are pretty much only used on DSLRs for the protection aspect, i bought a decent multi coated one (Hoya) and it made lens flare much worse. certain long shutter night shots (10-30 secs) the flare would be unbearable. i exchanged it for a Hoya circular polarzier which is have used a bit and it does what it says. i won't buy another UV filter ever.

and i as well thought i'd just shoot jpegs at first (which i did for about a month), but after switching to shooting RAW i wish i had done it from the beginning. the ease of editing the picture afterwards (i just use canon's digital photo professional, which can with my 40D)

it seems everyone with an SLR wants a new lens no matter what they have already. i only have my kit lens (17-85 ef-s) and there are about 3 lenses that i want right now. i think you should wait at least a few months and take a wide variety of shots to see what type of lens would benefit you the most. but from the examples you gave of what you shoot, it sounds like you would benefit from a lot of different lenses.

[adamsti]

Number 1a. 17-40 f/4L and 24-70 f/2.8L. Since the 50D is 1.6 crop you may consider the EF-S 10-22, a good lens, not L, but good, had one and sold it.
1b. Bright sun for soccer, the 100-400 L will do, crappy light outdoors and inside you need fast glass 300 f/2.8L.
1c. See 1a above.
1d. I don't do macro.

Number 2, the kit lenses can in no way compare to L glass. The 55-250 is not even close to being the lens that the 70-200 f/4L is. The non-IS, 70-200 f/4L is the best bargain at just over $550.

Number 3 has been answered.

Number 4, one word, Photoshop.

Number 5, one word, RAW, learn it, do it, forget jpeg.

Number 6, lose the filters, absolutely no way I would ever put a UV filter on a lens. Use hoods, ALL THE TIME. Only filters I use are a polarizer, or ND's for landscape.

Number 7, cheap generics work fine, been using them for the last 5 years.

Number 8, never done panoramics, but it's on my to do list.

[ShadowCaver]

Just a quick post-midnight note to say THANKS very much for all the replies & suggestions - will digest these over the next bit and, sorry to say for ya all :blush2:, will be back w/ some additional questions... There is a lot to learn, to experiment with - but its just fun, and exciting, having such a camera, finally, in my hands. :thumbsup:

[ShadowCaver]

Still experimenting, shooting, and learning... another quick question:

When taking macro shots, is it possible to force the flash to 'off' - w/o putting the dial to the 'flash off' setting? Frustrating, cause I can take some pretty good up-close photos in other settings of the same flower, etc., under same conditions, but when put into 'macro' mode, durn flash may desire to pop up and fire.