[HELP] Canon Rebel - need lenses - n00b

hello all!

i am in the market for some new lenses for my digital rebel.

I am looking for a good Macro lense that will allow me to get incredibly close up shots of things (like bugs for example)

And also a wide angle lens - for taking those great sunset pictures or ocean view pictures - ithink that is what i would need? or would i need a telephoto lense for that?


Also, can anyone suggest a very good relable online place to which i can purchase items such as the above?

Currently all i have is the lens that came with the camera a

Canon EFS 18-55mm

And i bought this one when i got the camera.
Canon Ultra Sonic Zoom Lense EF 55-200mm 1:4.5-5.6 II USM

:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mathiau

hello all!

i am in the market for some new lenses for my digital rebel.

I am looking for a good Macro lense that will allow me to get incredibly close up shots of things (like bugs for example)

And also a wide angle lens - for taking those great sunset pictures or ocean view pictures - ithink that is what i would need? or would i need a telephoto lense for that?


Also, can anyone suggest a very good relable online place to which i can purchase items such as the above?

Currently all i have is the lens that came with the camera a

Canon EFS 18-55mm

And i bought this one when i got the camera.
Canon Ultra Sonic Zoom Lense EF 55-200mm 1:4.5-5.6 II USM

:D

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For macro, it is hard to beat the Tamron 90mm macro lens. I have this lens and it is great. The Canon is faster focusing but you should manually focus macro anyway!

okay think i am confused

wouldnt a 90mm lense mean the closest i could get is 90mm ? which wouild be further way then my 55mm ?

i am sure i am lost here and got it all backwards..lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mathiau

okay think i am confused

wouldnt a 90mm lense mean the closest i could get is 90mm ? which wouild be further way then my 55mm ?

i am sure i am lost here and got it all backwards..lol

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No. The focal length is 90mm, not the distance away. A macro lens will give you a life-size image (1 cm in real life is 1 cm on the sensor), 1:1. With 90mm, you can stand further away to get life size. Most people prefer that. With 55mm, you have to move closer to the subject to get the same life size as 90mm.

Here is a pretty good site I stumbled across the other day:
http://www.beautifulbugs.com/howto.htm
I has a lot of explaination about Macro photography in pretty easy terms.

perfect okay thanks :D now i understand - will be checking out that link.


Now, any sugegstions on a nice lens for taking wide angel shots of scenery?

The 18-55 should be wide enough for most of your needs. Stopped down it is pretty sharp, not L quality but not too bad for a $100 lens. With the crop factor it has the field of view of a 29mm which is a nice wide angle. If you feel you need wider Sigma makes a 12-35 full frame lens, it's not cheap though. If you are dissappointed with the 18-55, the 17-40 L is a great lens, but it is expensive at $700, and it doesn't give you a much wider fov. I personally have the 17-40 L and like it very much.

For an initial low investment in your bug shots, I'd suggest a set of extension tubes. They normally come in sets of three, although you can buy singles. They're fairly inexpensive, and since they contain no optics, you can feel confident in non-Canon brand tubes. Here is a link to a set of Kenko tubes (I have these) at B&H for $129:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...u=71515&is=REG

You can get some surprising results with your 55-200mm lens, I would guess. I've used them on a 50-500mm Sigma to get some great dragonfly pix. No, you won't get as good an image as with a true macro lens, but you can do a pretty good job. You can try them on both of your lenses, but my guess is that you'll get better results on the 55-200.

An advantage of the extension tubes on a telephoto is that you can be farther away from the subject, so it is easier to light it with single strobe on top of your camera without the risk of lens shadow on the subject.

B&H is a very reputable online dealer. I've also been happy with newegg.com and digitalfotoclub.com. One place to get a read on online dealers is at resellerratings.com.

The sample image below was with the Sigma 50-500 (aka "Bigma") at 500mm with the 36mm tube and a Canon 420EX speedlight. Wind was gusting12-15mph, and the dragonfly was clinging with all six legs and stabilizing himself with constant flitting of his wings. The end of the lens was about six feet from the dragonfly. Shot at RAW at ISO 100, f10 and 1/200th (flash set on HS sync).

thanks - just stumbled across B&H lots of good rating - i was in canada and asked about a wide angle lens and they told me baout $1000 for one!!

are thay all that expensive?



that is a great pic of the dragon fly!!! that is what i want to do - i will post some bugs pics ihave taken with the lenses i got and some landscape...

here is on i took with my 18-55mm at night time with the g/f holding a flashlight close by. - but i was as close as i could get to the thing with out the camera going out of focus.

http://fuzzy.phpwebhosting.com/%7Ema...01.pics/01.jpg


So now, by getting that kit - it will allow me to stand further away from my victom to take the pic - also lessing the chance of scarying them off.

another one taken using the 18-55 - but again had to get as close as i could! - images shrunk down from original 3000 X res to 800 x
A barazilian hissing cockroach - biggest ones in the world@ guess they like to Vacation in costa rica :)

http://fuzzy.phpwebhosting.com/%7Ema...01.pics/02.jpg

it's me again

Now, i have moved onto to night shots, more so of the sky and moon, any suggestion on a good lense that could get my clear good shot of the moon? :)

in Costa Rica every night the moon is out and it is bright!

here is what i was able to take with the standard lense that comes with the rebel, if i can tonight or the next few nights going to try with my other lense (see first post) it was a windy nigh so the clouds were moving fast and alsmot blew me off my roof.

this i overlooking San Jose / Escazu area of Costa Rica.

if i may make a quick suggestion to the cockroach picture, it seems that you need a bigger depth of field. The body of the roach is in focus, but the head isn't. To get a larger depth of field, simply select a smaller aperture on your camera. to do this with a digital rebel, you can either use the manual mode (M) or aperture value mode (Av) To select aperture value in manual mode, hold down the "Av +/-" button, and turn the dieal located right near the shutter button. In Av mode, you just simply turn the dial. the bigger the number gets, the larger your depth of field.

thanks for the help :D i alwasy use the manual setting :D well 99% of the time, so that is a helpful hint, will have to play with that when i fnd some more bugs :D