Help with my gear?

[Nickanoor]

Hi everyone, I recently bought a Canon T2i DSLR and unfortunately didn't have enough to invest in some high quality glass. But I'm curious as to what potential my gear has at the moment. It hasn't arrived just yet, but with the camera and these two kit lenses (And I don't expect a kit lens to deliver) :
Canon 18-55mm EF-S IS LENS & Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS EF-S LENS I would like to know. Could anyone post some pictures or something that will show me? I'm not trying to be spoon fed, so I apologize.

Thank you for all of your help!

~Cheers!

[Ads]

[Morpheuss]

I'm not sure about the camera's capabilities but looking at the specs on the glass it looks like it should be pretty good glass.

[TJ K]

You're already miles ahead of the quality you could get from a point and shoot. It's what you do with it that really counts. A couple issues ago the cover of Range Finder Magazine ( a great photography mag btw) had an awesome landscape shot. The shot was taken with a regular point and shoot camera. So you have all the potential in the world, now use it! GL
TJ

[sovietdoc]

You may find it interesting and read the reviews for your lens.

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS Lens Review

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens Review

But even with the kit lens, like someone said, you're waaaay ahead of PS.

[Vinny]

+1!

A lot of emphasis is given to the gear but it really is up to the individual to excel; eventually, you may need better lenses but that may be years from now. Learn to use what you have to take great photos, if you get to the point you want/need better lenses buy them then.

You're already miles ahead of the quality you could get from a point and shoot. It's what you do with it that really counts. A couple issues ago the cover of Range Finder Magazine ( a great photography mag btw) had an awesome landscape shot. The shot was taken with a regular point and shoot camera. So you have all the potential in the world, now use it! GL
TJ

[Nickanoor]

Thanks everyone, my biggest concern was the fact that they're kit lenses. So it should be fine then? I really appreciate everyone's help!

Oh and Sovietdoc, thank you for those links they were very helpful!

[Dao]

Yes, they are kit lenses. And they are also slow lenses. However, they are great lenses for learning photography. Once you find the limitation of the kit lens, you will try to work around it and that how you learn.

Optically, both are not too bad. I saw great photos on the net that were taken with the kit lens.

Now, make sure you try to spend some times to read the camera manual once you have the camera. There are a lot of references on the net. And take a look at the Tutorial thread in the forum as well.

If you do not know much about exposure, the book "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson maybe a good start.

[Bitter Jeweler]

Both of those lenses are pretty soft and have have quite a bit of distortion and CA.
Great for learning, though. For the price, they will teach you what you want out of a lens, and what lenses you want when you are ready to step up your game.

[Lazy Photographer]

Good photos, and bad, are taken by people, not cameras. You really need to get over this obsession that without the best gear you won't be able to take good photos. I've seen kickass photos come out of an iPhone. Honestly. No camera on the planet is going to replace the need to learn what you are doing. I notice you made no mention of buying any of the books that were recommended. Here's what you can expect from those kit lens, or from $2,500 Canon L glass lenses, if you had bought them instead -- at first you'll get the same photos you got from your old point & shoot, because when it comes to things like composition and framing and use of light, nothing has changed. The camera and its lenses don't make those decisions, you do. In time, after reading one or more of those books you didn't buy, you'll slowly begin to get better photos because you'll begin to learn how to get better photos. The thing is, it won't matter what camera or lens you're using; for instance, you'll get better photos from the old point and shoot too. Why? Because it's all about you, not your tool. Get me?

Think of it like this: If you get two people to sweep out the same room and one of them is a really good worker while the other is a lazy slob, you'll be able to readily see the difference between the two jobs, right? Do you think that's because the hard worker has a better broom? If you gave the broom used by the hard worker to the lazy guy, do you think the lazy guy would suddenly do a better job? Of course not. The broom is only a tool. The quality of the sweeping job is the result of the person doing it, not the broom he used.

Consider this: Some of the world's bestselling novelists still create their books on old typewriters. Some still use a pen and paper. If I get the same pen and paper they use, will I be able to write bestsellers? Not likely. A lot of your questions are along the line of: "Please read this passage from Stephen King's bestseller, Carrie, and tell my what type of pen and paper he used to write this book so I can buy it and start writing great novels too."

If you want to see photos from a T2i, you can check out my blog. Just keep in mind that my T2i would produce far better photos in the hands of a professional and far worse photos in the hands of someone who isn't at the level I'm at. The photos on my blog were not taken by my camera, they were taken by me. As for those kit lenses you're getting, they're great and I'm sure you'll be very pleased with them. I have the 55-250mm and I really like it.

[KmH]

Could anyone post some pictures or something that will show me?

Go to www.flikr.com and find a Canon T2i group. You can probably find Flickr groups for each those lenses too.

Failing that you can also use any of several search engines to find the specific kind of images you want to look at.

Here is the kicker though. Even with high quality gear an unskilled photographer will still produce crappy looking photos, so looking at photos really doesn't tell you all that much about the gear, it only tells you about the photographer.

It's not the camera, it's the photographer.

[MrBarney]

Here's what you can expect from those kit lens, or from $2,500 Canon L glass lenses, if you had bought them instead -- at first you'll get the same photos you got from your old point & shoot, because when it comes to things like composition and framing and use of light, nothing has changed.

I actually ended up with WORSE photos when I first picked up a DSLR.

I hadn't finished reading the manual to understand the camera settings
The depth of field was so much narrower, and there was more than one point for autofocus that I ended up with focus problems.
There were far fewer "scene" modes to help me out when I didn't know what settings to use.

It took a couple of weeks or learning to just get back to where I started. It's worth it, but it was frustrating. After all, this is a much better camera, how could my photos be worse?!

[Lazy Photographer]

Here's what you can expect from those kit lens, or from $2,500 Canon L glass lenses, if you had bought them instead -- at first you'll get the same photos you got from your old point & shoot, because when it comes to things like composition and framing and use of light, nothing has changed.

I actually ended up with WORSE photos when I first picked up a DSLR.

I hadn't finished reading the manual to understand the camera settings
The depth of field was so much narrower, and there was more than one point for autofocus that I ended up with focus problems.
There were far fewer "scene" modes to help me out when I didn't know what settings to use.

It took a couple of weeks or learning to just get back to where I started. It's worth it, but it was frustrating. After all, this is a much better camera, how could my photos be worse?!

Yeah, I hear you. One of the things I was sooo looking forward to when I bought my T2i was shooting night photography. I'd had a lot of success with my wee point & shoot and assumed the quality of my night shots would only improve. Like you, however, I was still making my way through the manual and hadn't gotten to the part where it says to disable your Auto Lighting Optimizer feature when shooting in low light or the camera will try to correct for it. I snapped shot after shot that evening and for the life of my couldn't figure out why my dusk shots kept coming out like bright daylight shots. I'd considered throwing the camera with great force onto the ground, as this often helps to settle my frustration, but in the end I simply went home pissed off and then forced myself to finish the manual quickly.

I've now been through the manual and one third party book on the Canon T2i and am currently working my way through another.

[Nickanoor]

Good photos, and bad, are taken by people, not cameras. You really need to get over this obsession that without the best gear you won't be able to take good photos. I've seen kickass photos come out of an iPhone. Honestly. No camera on the planet is going to replace the need to learn what you are doing. I notice you made no mention of buying any of the books that were recommended. Here's what you can expect from those kit lens, or from $2,500 Canon L glass lenses, if you had bought them instead -- at first you'll get the same photos you got from your old point & shoot, because when it comes to things like composition and framing and use of light, nothing has changed. The camera and its lenses don't make those decisions, you do. In time, after reading one or more of those books you didn't buy, you'll slowly begin to get better photos because you'll begin to learn how to get better photos. The thing is, it won't matter what camera or lens you're using; for instance, you'll get better photos from the old point and shoot too. Why? Because it's all about you, not your tool. Get me?

Think of it like this: If you get two people to sweep out the same room and one of them is a really good worker while the other is a lazy slob, you'll be able to readily see the difference between the two jobs, right? Do you think that's because the hard worker has a better broom? If you gave the broom used by the hard worker to the lazy guy, do you think the lazy guy would suddenly do a better job? Of course not. The broom is only a tool. The quality of the sweeping job is the result of the person doing it, not the broom he used.

Consider this: Some of the world's bestselling novelists still create their books on old typewriters. Some still use a pen and paper. If I get the same pen and paper they use, will I be able to write bestsellers? Not likely. A lot of your questions are along the line of: "Please read this passage from Stephen King's bestseller, Carrie, and tell my what type of pen and paper he used to write this book so I can buy it and start writing great novels too."

If you want to see photos from a T2i, you can check out my blog. Just keep in mind that my T2i would produce far better photos in the hands of a professional and far worse photos in the hands of someone who isn't at the level I'm at. The photos on my blog were not taken by my camera, they were taken by me. As for those kit lenses you're getting, they're great and I'm sure you'll be very pleased with them. I have the 55-250mm and I really like it.

Well, I do appreciate that everyone made an effort to help me better understand the lenses. I already knew it was the photographer and not the equipment that made the picture. I was just curious as to what was possible to get out what I had. I realize it's going to take me quite a while to learn. And I didn't mention the books that I bought because that wasn't part of my original question. I bought three. [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0817441816/ref=oss_product"]Learning to See Creatively: Design, Color & Composition in Photography (Updated Edition)[/ame], [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/032147404X/ref=oss_product"]The Digital Photography Book[/ame], & [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0817463003/ref=oss_product"]Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition)[/ame]. =]

[Lazy Photographer]

Good photos, and bad, are taken by people, not cameras. You really need to get over this obsession that without the best gear you won't be able to take good photos. I've seen kickass photos come out of an iPhone. Honestly. No camera on the planet is going to replace the need to learn what you are doing. I notice you made no mention of buying any of the books that were recommended. Here's what you can expect from those kit lens, or from $2,500 Canon L glass lenses, if you had bought them instead -- at first you'll get the same photos you got from your old point & shoot, because when it comes to things like composition and framing and use of light, nothing has changed. The camera and its lenses don't make those decisions, you do. In time, after reading one or more of those books you didn't buy, you'll slowly begin to get better photos because you'll begin to learn how to get better photos. The thing is, it won't matter what camera or lens you're using; for instance, you'll get better photos from the old point and shoot too. Why? Because it's all about you, not your tool. Get me?

Think of it like this: If you get two people to sweep out the same room and one of them is a really good worker while the other is a lazy slob, you'll be able to readily see the difference between the two jobs, right? Do you think that's because the hard worker has a better broom? If you gave the broom used by the hard worker to the lazy guy, do you think the lazy guy would suddenly do a better job? Of course not. The broom is only a tool. The quality of the sweeping job is the result of the person doing it, not the broom he used.

Consider this: Some of the world's bestselling novelists still create their books on old typewriters. Some still use a pen and paper. If I get the same pen and paper they use, will I be able to write bestsellers? Not likely. A lot of your questions are along the line of: "Please read this passage from Stephen King's bestseller, Carrie, and tell my what type of pen and paper he used to write this book so I can buy it and start writing great novels too."

If you want to see photos from a T2i, you can check out my blog. Just keep in mind that my T2i would produce far better photos in the hands of a professional and far worse photos in the hands of someone who isn't at the level I'm at. The photos on my blog were not taken by my camera, they were taken by me. As for those kit lenses you're getting, they're great and I'm sure you'll be very pleased with them. I have the 55-250mm and I really like it.

Well, I do appreciate that everyone made an effort to help me better understand the lenses. I already knew it was the photographer and not the equipment that made the picture. I was just curious as to what was possible to get out what I had. I realize it's going to take me quite a while to learn. And I didn't mention the books that I bought because that wasn't part of my original question. I bought three. [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0817441816/ref=oss_product"]Learning to See Creatively: Design, Color & Composition in Photography (Updated Edition)[/ame], [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/032147404X/ref=oss_product"]The Digital Photography Book[/ame], & [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0817463003/ref=oss_product"]Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition)[/ame]. =]

Good choices on the books. They will go a long way to helping you get the most out of your new camera. Again, best of luck.

[Nickanoor]

Thanks I'll do my best!