First glass purchase

[Rahb]

It may not be L...or professional grade, but it's a good start for me. All I hat was a kit lens from my Rebel xs 35mm and an older canon 100-300mm f4/5.6

Well I dropped into ole' B&H online and ordered an EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens for ~$80. Now I got my eye on a starter Flash. A Sigma EF 500 DG ST.

Maybe I can start producing some better pictures with the equipement

What does everyone thing about these two products to start off with?

 

[Unimaxium]

That's a great lens to have. At that kind of price, no photographer should be without one :thumbup:

I don't know much about that flash, though.

 

[Skully]

I agree with unimaxium the EF 50mm II is a excellent lens. THE LENS IS SHARP & FAST, however limited due to it being a prime lens fixed @ 50mm. Rahb in the future consider a EF USM 24mm to 85 or EF USM 28mm to 105mm II. Im a pro wedding photographer and use these two lens for every for wedding I shoot and always get excellent results. Although Im a hard core Canon user I did try the Sigma 500 DG flash and it does work well. Exposures were on, supports E-TTL, possesses plenty of power for any shooting situation and it has custom functions ie. flash compensation, hi speed sync etc.. The down side is that the Sigma is a large flash like the Canon 550ex so when mounted to your Rebel the camera will be somewhat top heavy. May I suggest a Canon 220ex or a 430ex both are smaller the 220 is a basic E-TTL flash but the 430 is powerfull and full feature like ths Sigma. Please note that I feel the Canon flashes are better built to take the daily bumps that the flash sometimes gets. The Canons are more solid feeling and tightly constructed compared the the Sigma.

 

[markc]

I can't comment on the flash, since I don't use them, but I think the 50mm is a great purchase. A prime will allow you to shoot with a shallow DOF and in low light. If you are new to photography, I would suggest shooting most of the time with it. On the film camera, it will see as your eye sees. On the digital, it will be similar to using an 80mm on film.

Focal length affects composition in ways that people new to photography don't realize, so I think it's good to get basics down before introducing another variable. If you do shoot with the zoom, I would suggest only using certain set focal lengths, like 35mm, 50mm, and 80mm. For the 100-300, only use 100, 135, 200, and 300. This will let you get used to and see how each focal length look and affects the shot. It's a composition element, and not something that saves you from walking. Choose the focal length based on the effect it has on the image, then walk to frame the image. Don't just stand there and zoom back and forth until the subject fits in the frame. And as a bonus, 35mm on digital = 50mm on film. 50mm on digital = 80mm on film, and 80mm on digital = 135mm on film.

 

[thebeginning]

i'll agree that your new 50mm is a great catch. i just got one for a trip I recently took and I was pleasantly surprised at the image quality it produced. the build quality is utter garbage, and the autofocus isn't that great...but it still takes nice sharp photos. my only other complaint is the bokeh, which is rather rough because of the lense's 5 blade aperture.

 

[saulmr]

Maybe it has a cheap build, but It produces very sharp images and it's great for low light. Since I don't use flash, that's a great lens to have. I've been using it to take tons of pictures of my new baby girl and I'm very happy with it!