Do I need a zoom lens?

[mollysummer]

I've convinced myself that I need a telephoto zoom lens for taking pictures close-up while we are outside, of my toddler. I also take a fair amount of photos of my pets, and my parents pets, which I need to be far from to get the best shots.

But then I read through some of the threads here and people are all over the 50mm 1.8 lens for everyday photography especially inside...? I'm so confused. I am only just learning the settings on my digital rebel. And I'm not getting the hang of it very well,. What I have found, though, is that i often (especially when outside, or in an indoor enviro where I'm far from my subject) long for a telephoto shot.

I'm so confused about where to start. I have done OK so far with my out of the box lens- I upload all my pics to flickr and some are OK, some are not.
http://flickr.com/photos/mollysummer/

Can anyone help me sort this out?

[JSPhoto]

Well if you can't get close enough to the subject a lens like 75-300 may help you. It won't be real good in low light, but should work well in daylight, and it's a whole lot less expensive that the lenses I use most of the time 70-200 USM IS f2.8 and 28-300 USM IS f3.5-5.6 at $1800 & $2400 respectively.

JS

[Peter_AUS]

Molly it would be good to know what equipment you do have and then people might be able to start suggesting what might suit your meeds better. Also what your budget might be as well, as everyone has different funds and requirements.

[Franglais]

I've convinced myself that I need a telephoto zoom lens for taking pictures close-up while we are outside, of my toddler. I also take a fair amount of photos of my pets, and my parents pets, which I need to be far from to get the best shots.

But then I read through some of the threads here and people are all over the 50mm 1.8 lens for everyday photography especially inside...? I'm so confused. I am only just learning the settings on my digital rebel. And I'm not getting the hang of it very well,. What I have found, though, is that i often (especially when outside, or in an indoor enviro where I'm far from my subject) long for a telephoto shot.

I'm so confused about where to start. I have done OK so far with my out of the box lens- I upload all my pics to flickr and some are OK, some are not.
http://flickr.com/photos/mollysummer/

Can anyone help me sort this out?

OK for the pictures of the baby goat by itself it's clear you need a longer telephoto. But as soon as the mother comes into the picture then the frame is pretty much filled. I looked at your pictures and these are the thoughts that come to mind:

1. You could use a decent flash. A lot of your pictures are done in difficult light (mottled sunshine, shade with light coming through the trees behine, indoors). The flash built into the camera is useless beyond 7 feet or so. A more powerful flashgun would allow you to fill in the light better and give you more even results. Look at one with a swivelling head that you can use to bounce the light off the ceiling indoors.
2. A lot of your pictures are done with the subject exactly in the centre of the frame and a lot of clear space around it. Perhaps that's how it looks right to you in the viewfinder. Try to frame more closely, and put your subject off-center. Getting closer might help (not closer than 5 feet for an adult).

I assume you're using the 18-55mm that came in a kit with the camera? This lens can already do 50mm (equivalent to an 80mm in film terms). I don't find this sort of lens very useful at all in everyday use, except for portaits indoors without flash.

Charles

[mollysummer]

Thank you all for your replies. I have a canon EOS rebel 6.3 megapix. I'm a total novice. The lens it came with is 18-55mm 3.5. I just learned how to adjust the aperature.

My budget-I don't really know, at this point. I don't think I could justify spending more than $650 or so. And it would be OK if I spent that on 2 different lenses. Do I need 2 different lenses or perhaps just a bounce-flash and a longer telephoto lens?

I do take a lot of pictures in low light inside, and I'm constantly frustrated with the shots. I want so badly to use natural light.

BUT. I ALSO really enjoy taking outdoors shots of people and animals, and especially babies. My child grabs for the camera when I get close to her, so I'd love to be able to get further from her and still get her face.

I am reading all through the forum to get a better understanding of the vocabulary here-faster lenses, fixed length, etc. I'm starting to get it. I really wish I could find a digital photography class locally.

[EOSThree]

With that budget and your current lens, I wouldn't hesitate to go to B&H's website and purchase a Canon 70-200 f/4L and Canon 50mm f/1.8 right now. Neither will dissappoint. Sharp, contrasty, decent range. The 70-200 isn't the fastest lens, but will provide excellent shots outside enabling you to zoom in on your toddler while isolating her/him from the background. The lens will do the same for pet photos. The 50 f/1.8 will allow for you to shoot indoors using bright natural light, and improve your shutter speeds indoors to help stop action on that toddler. Both of those lenses will compliment your kit lens until you are ready to upgrade it to the 17-40 f/4L or 17-85 IS...;)

[JBPhoto]

Molly - I just posted for sale the lens that JS referred to. It's a Canon 75-300 f/4-5.6 that I purchased in July of '05. I'm selling it because I just purchased a 70-200 f/2.8. Please contact me if you're interested in learning more.

[Franglais]

...
I am reading all through the forum to get a better understanding of the vocabulary here-faster lenses, fixed length, etc. I'm starting to get it. I really wish I could find a digital photography class locally.

Let me explain briefly some of the basics for your case.

When you take a picture you are allowing a precise amount of light to fall on the camera sensor.

- The amount of light coming through the lens is controlled by an iris which we say has a certain "aperture". Some typical aperture settings are f2, F2.8, F4, F5.6, F8, F11, F16. Each one of these settings allows half as much light to pass as the previous one. Each lens has a maximum aperture (which varies on your 18-55 from a little bit more than f4 at 18mm to F5.6 at 55mm). If a lens has a wider maximum aperture than another one then we say it is "faster". However we don't usually use lenses at their maximum apertures because thats when they are least sharp
- The length of time that the sensor is exposed is controlled by a shutter - what we call the "shutter speed", expressed in fractions of a second. Some typical values are 1/1000, 1/500, 1/250, 1/125, 1/60, 1/30. Each one of these settings allows the light to pass for twice as long as the previous one.

In other words - if you set the camera at 1/60 f8 this will give exactly the same amount of light as 1/125 f5.6. But the result will not be exactly the same.

- 1/125 is a "faster" shutter speed than 1/60 so it is better at freezing movement, both of the subject and you moving the camera.
- However there is an optical effect called "depth of focus". The wider the aperture on the lens, the smaller the zone that is sharp in front of and behind the point on which the lens is focussed. f5.6 has less depth of focus than f8. And by the way, the more telephoto the lens, the shallower the depth of focus.

Ah yes, telephoto and wide angle - this is a way of expressing the view you get with a given lens on a given camera. It's determined by the "focal length" of the lens, which is variable on a zoom lens and fixed on a prime lens. Some focal lengths on your 350D:

18mm = wide-angle, useful for landscapes
35mm = "normal" view, rather like the perception of the human eye
55mm = moderate telephoto, useful for doing an upper body portrait
125mm = telephoto, useful for just a head shot
200mm = long telephoto, useful for animals at a distance

Finally the ISO setting - it's an indication of the sensitivity of the sensor to light - the amount of light it needs to be correctly exposed. Some typical values - 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, each value needing half as much light as the previous one. However the higher the ISO setting, the more you tend to see "noise" - a sort of digital grain which shows up in big enlargements.

Charles

[mollysummer]

Charles, thank you so much! I will definitely be coming back here for reference as I learn more about the settings on my camera. I really, really appreciate you taking the time to explain these terms to me.