Topic: Looking to purchase my first DSLR - what to look for?

[Frank in JC]

played around with a d300 the other day.  Had some bling factor to it, lots of bells and whistles.  However, I was more than happy to hand it back and grab my full frame 5d   

Not to hate too much, it is a nice camera. 

I only have one thing to say: D700

 

Haven't been over on fm or dgrin lately.  Is that the new nikon coming out?  Or the rumored?  Like the 5d markII 

I should just sell my taping gear and buy a 1ds mark III 

The Nikon D700 is for real, announced on July 1st... hard to believe actually.  It looks almost identical to the D300 but it's full-frame.  At $2k less than a D3, it's not that far out of reach.

[stirinthesauce]

played around with a d300 the other day.  Had some bling factor to it, lots of bells and whistles.  However, I was more than happy to hand it back and grab my full frame 5d   

Not to hate too much, it is a nice camera. 

I only have one thing to say: D700

 

Haven't been over on fm or dgrin lately.  Is that the new nikon coming out?  Or the rumored?  Like the 5d markII 

I should just sell my taping gear and buy a 1ds mark III 

The Nikon D700 is for real, announced on July 1st... hard to believe actually.  It looks almost identical to the D300 but it's full-frame.  At $2k less than a D3, it's not that far out of reach.

Yup, I haven't been keeping up with the new stuff.  Got my full frame so I'm happy for the time being.  Start reading about the new stuff and I start lusting! 

[fanofthemule]

I finally made a decision and purchased the Canon EOS Rebel XSI w/ the 18-55mm zoom lens

I also purchased a 55-250mm zoom lens to get some longer shots

Any basic advice for settings?  I'm going to a show tonight and would like to get a couple of decent pictures of the band.  The venue is decent to low light and I'll be 20-25' from the stage on average.

Thanks again for everyone's responses, t's all around!

[evilchris]

^ Av mode w/ the Aperture stopped down as far as it can go.

[fanofthemule]

^ Av mode w/ the Aperture stopped down as far as it can go.

thanks for the quick response.  av mode w/ apeture down to -2.  should i mess with the white balance or leave on auto.  will the av mode also leave the flash off?  i don't want to use the flash at all.

[evilchris]

^ double-check what you're doing.

Av mode is on the dial (along side M, Tv, P, etc.) and it sounds like you're setting your exposure compensation instead of your Aperture.

[fanofthemule]

Some pictures from my first time out.  I'm still learning the settings but a few came out pretty good.

Any advice on what other settings I should be using?

http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,107644.0.html

[jdawg]

Try shooting in manual mode next time. Keep the aperture to the lowest number you have for those lenses. Then bump the ISO way up! I see many of those shots are at iso320, 200, etc. Should be no less than 800, and you might as well try some at 1600 to see how well it handles the noise. My 40D is always on 1600 for concerts. Other than that, great start, keep it up!

[restevezes]

another first timer here.... looking for good prices, spotted what it looks to me a great deal, the good old Canon 350d (XT) plus a EF 28-90mm f4-5.6 Lens for 400$
What is your advice? Is the 350D still a good option (that lens looks great range to me), or better save money for a superior model?

thanks

[divamum]

Congrats!

I just got a 55-250IS and I am BLOWN AWAY by the clarity on this lens - I find it even sharper than my 50mm 1.8.  I have a Rebel XT, fwiw.

If the 18-55 EF-s lens is even half as good, I'll be trying to score one of those as well - what's your feeling, since you have both lenses?

Cheers!

[evilchris]

^ if this is true, either for aperture is too low (DOF @ f/1.8 is razor thin) or you got a bad copy of the 50/1.8.

[divamum]

It's not so much that the 1.8 is soft, but that the 55-250 is sharper. The speed on the 1.8  is obviously a huge plus, and I'd have to say it offers slightly (but only slightly) richer colour and contrast, but the actual clarity on the zoom is consistently sharp beyond any other lens I've tried on this camera.  I'll try to post some comparison pix between it and the 50mm at some point.