Need advice on my equipment

[ltilley]

Here is my equipment:

My Equipment:

Cameras:
Canon EOS, Elan IIe
EOS Digital Rebel (a.k.a. 300D), 6.3 Megapixel, SLR, Digital Camera

Lenses:
Canon 18-55mm EF-S Lens
Canon 100-300mm EF Lens
Canon 28-80mm EF Lens

Flashes:
None

#1 - Do you think that my cameras are too remedial to get most of sharp pictures I see here?

#2 - What lenses should I focus (no pun intended, really!) on getting? I know I need a 50mm - and I think I want a wide or a fisheye. But I don't know whats most important.
I really want a couple good lenses.

Thanks so much for any advice... and I will try not to ask any more questions. THANKS!!!

Lisa

[Michael Fanelli]

#1 - Do you think that my cameras are too remedial to get most of sharp pictures I see here?

#2 - What lenses should I focus (no pun intended, really!) on getting? I know I need a 50mm - and I think I want a wide or a fisheye. But I don't know whats most important.
I really want a couple good lenses.

Thanks so much for any advice... and I will try not to ask any more questions. THANKS!!!

Lisa

#1 - The equipment is fine. Quality comes from the talent of the photographer, not from the equipment. More expensive lenses may show you a tiny difference in rare circumstances. You pay very big bucks to squeeze out that last 5%. Spend the time and money on obtaining photographic skills and learning how to do post-processing.

#2 - Once again, use what you have unless you have a very definate and factual reason to buy something new.

The 50mm lens is not magical in any way. The recommendations for always having a 50mm lens comes from the very old days when lenses were not as good as they are today. The 50mm lens was the easiest and cheapest to build to excellent quality. If you absolutely love 50mm as a focal length, buy it. If you have no reason you can think of, skip it for now. Set your zoom to 50mm and see it that's the focal length for you. You may decide that a short tele or a wide angle fits your style better.

You seem to have no clear vision of what you want to do with photography. Don't buy anything new! Take your existing cameras, go out and practice, practice, practice! New equipment won't improve your photographs.

[Asylum Steve]

Hi Lisa,

First of all, there's no need to apologize for asking questions. This entire web site and specifically this forum were established primarily to share information and answer questions about photography.

Keep in mind there are many here who really enjoy answering questions and helping other members, so feel free to fire away whenever...

As Michael pointed out, the equipment you have now is fine. To put it in perspective, your EOS Rebel body is not much below what I use as a working professional, and your EF lenses are virtually the same type I use.

Improvements in equipment only benefit those who have outgrown what they presently own, and the higher up you go the more money you have to invest simply to get subtle improvements. Also, much pro grade equipment is priced as high as it is because of durability factors.

Your system as it is is perfectly suited to an experienced amateur or even a beginning pro. So yes, the best advice would be to go out and shoot and learn how to use what you already have...

[ltilley]

Wow!!! Thanks! I really appreciate the excellent feedback! And I always love hearing I don't need to spend any more money.

About 5 years ago when I bought my Elan, all I did was go out and photograph. Every Saturday I went out and shot something different. I took a few classes, etc. After meeting my husband - I just spent less time doing all that. And I really let my skills get a little rusty. I love the advice and can't wait for the weekend to get out and just practice.

Thanks again, for taking the time to answer my questions so thoroughly!

Lisa

[another view]

I agree with what Steve and Michael said. I use a 50mm fairly often on my dslr, and it's a bargain for a really sharp fast lens. It does come in handy for a lot of situations, but without knowing what you're shooting it's pretty hard to recommend anything. Sounds like you've got a pretty good set-up but maybe at some point you might add a wide lens - 18mm isn't very wide on a dslr. I say this because you mentioned it already... I'd love to get a 12-24 zoom or 14 prime, but just can't seem to drop the money on one.

Equipment doesn't make the photographer - it's experience, skill, and probably more than anything else just going out shooting. If you need new equipment, you'll know it. A good time to buy something is because you recognize that you can't do a type of shot that you want and the equipment is keeping you from it (i.e. lens not wide enough). Buying just to upgrade isn't going to help the end result.

The sharpness that you see with digital images has to do with editing. It may take place in the camera, a program like Photoshop, or a combination of the two - but an unsharpened digital file is actually pretty soft. Many people prefer not to sharpen their images in camera - or at least not much; this leaves the options open later because an over-sharpened image is a bad thing. Instead of adding equipment, you might want to spend some time learning more about Photoshop and what it can (and can't!) do for you.

[Lionheart]

Just echoing everyone else's posts. I started out with less stellar equipment than you have now, and I got along just fine (EOS 630 and EF 28-70 f3.5-4.5, 50mm f1.8, 70-210 f4). There is a point you reach in your pursuit of photographic excellence when it will be time to think about some pro caliber equipment, but now is probably not that time. It was 11 years from the time I first took up photography as a serious pastime before I finally got pro caliber equipment (EOS-1V HS, 28-70 f2.8L USM, 70-200 f2.8L USM), but the time was right, and I had outgrown my current equipment at the time. Today's equipment is so much better than what I had 16 years ago, even at the entry level, that I doubt you'll need much upgrading for a little while. When your equipment becomes the limiting factor for whether or not you can capture the image you need, then it will be time.