Help with 550d

mit2011 · Mar 4, 2011

Hello. I recently bought a 550d and whilst I am happy with outdoor shots, I am disspointed with the indoor shots. I also bought the 420ex flash gun and was taking pictures if my daughter in portrait mode and manual I found the picture lacked clarity and sharpness. At times pictures looked animated. I have also started shooting pictures in raw and am using the packaged software to process. However that also was well disspointing.

I feel like it was money not well spent. I am using the kit lens and was thinking of upgrading to the 50mm F2 and 18-200 efs or the 24-105L, will this help or should I move onto the nikon d7000.

tyler_h · Mar 4, 2011

Example pics? that way there is a good chance of identifying what is causing the issues.
Also; what settings generally?
The 50 f/1.8 II is a great cheap fast prime for portraits on crop; for its price it certainly worth grabbing; the kit lens is worse at the long end so it compliments nicely as a cheap bit if kit.

Big Mike · Mar 4, 2011

Welcome to the forum.

I feel like it was money not well spent. I am using the kit lens and was thinking of upgrading to the 50mm F2 and 18-200 efs or the 24-105L, will this help or should I move onto the nikon d7000.

Throwing money at the problem, probably won't help. Instead, I'd suggest that you invest in yourself and learn more about photography. Get some books, take a class or devote some time (maybe here at the forum) to really learning why your photos aren't what you want...and what you can do it change them.

Issues like this are almost always user error...maybe not 'error', but if you don't have a good grasp of how exposure works, it's easy to make mistakes without knowing it.

And yes, posting up some examples will go a long way to letting us help diagnose the problem.

mit2011 · Mar 5, 2011

thanks for your replies....I have been experimenting with shutter speed etc..and am noticing an improvement. I have dummies for 550d book, find it to be a glorified manual. Could you recomend a good book?

Also would it make sense to replace the kit lens if so, is the ef-s 17-55 f/2.8 or the L series 24-105mm. Or the ef-s 18-135 f/3.5. Which would be the best buy?

I am not to worried about focal distance just a good lens to replace the current kit. I intend on buying the 50mm f1.8 for portraits.

KmH · Mar 5, 2011

The Canon users manual or a manual from a 3rd party is a good place to start.

The users manual describes all your camera's features and functions. You have at your disposal a number of automatic and semi- automatic shooting modes plus manual mode, 4 light metering modes, 3 auto focus modes, a couple of auto focus area modes, and several automatic or semi-automatic ways to use the flash gun.

The more you are able to effectively take control of the camera/lens/lighting the closer your photos will look to professionally made photos.

Photography is no where near as difficult as rocket science, but it is more complex and involved than many people realize.

Big Mike · Mar 7, 2011

Could you recomend a good book?

The usual recommendation is for 'Understanding Exposure' by Peterson.

Also would it make sense to replace the kit lens if so, is the ef-s 17-55 f/2.8 or the L series 24-105mm. Or the ef-s 18-135 f/3.5. Which would be the best buy?

The EF-S 17-55mm F2.8 IS, is a great lens and would be the ideal replacement for the cheap kit lens.

emagana02 · Mar 7, 2011

The usual recommendation is for 'Understanding Exposure' by Peterson.

+1 on the book..great book with a lot of great information.

Also would it make sense to replace the kit lens if so, is the ef-s 17-55 f/2.8 or the L series 24-105mm. Or the ef-s 18-135 f/3.5. Which would be the best buy?

You can't go wrong with the 17-55 on a crop body, probably one of the best out there, IMO. You can also look into the Sigma 17-50 which is about 300-400 less than the canon.

I would recommend that you rent each of the lens you are wanting to buy to see which focal length and IQ you like better.

Big Mike · Mar 7, 2011

I think you meant the Sigma 18-50mm F2.8....I would also add the Tamron 17-50mm F2.8.
Both are very good and much cheaper than the Canon 17-55mm...but I'd also say that neither is quite as good as the Canon.

emagana02 · Mar 7, 2011

Big Mike said:
I think you meant the Sigma 18-50mm F2.8....I would also add the Tamron 17-50mm F2.8.
Both are very good and much cheaper than the Canon 17-55mm...but I'd also say that neither is quite as good as the Canon.

No, I actually did mean the Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC OS HSM for Canon Mount

As for the Tamron 17-50, ive heard the non-VC Version is a lot sharper than the VC version. It also is a lot louder when focusing.