hi i'm new! questions about lenses and flash for canon 350D

[no1smiles2000]

Hi everyone,

I have a canon 350D i've had for a few yrs, i cant afford to upgrade it but i'd like to get a new zoom lens, i am fed up for trying to take photos and not being able to zoom enough.

i am thinking of this one:

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS Telephoto Zoom AF Lens: Amazon.co.uk: Electronicsr this:

Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III Lens: Amazon.co.uk: Electronicsr this but abit out of budget:

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM Lens: Amazon.co.uk: Electronicsan someone explain to me the USM feature? is it worth spending alot more for? i dont mind spending abit more for a better lens as i will most probably stick with canon if i ever upgrade so the lenses can be transferred.

Will 200mm give a good zoom distance? i want to be able to take nice wedding pics etc for family and friends weddings.

I am also after a flash, for general use as i dont always find the built in one sufficient. any recommendations would be greatly received

thanks

 

[KmH]

USM is the auto focus motor.

From CanonUSA.com - Canon U.S.A. : Lens Performance

Ultrasonic Motor (USM)
Canon developed the world’s first lens-based Ultrasonic Motor (USM) to power the lens autofocus mechanism. Instead of large noisy drive trains powered by conventional motors, Canon USM lenses employ the minute electronic vibrations created by piezoelectric ceramic elements. The focusing action of the lens is fast and quiet, with virtually instantaneous stops and starts. USM lenses also draw minimal power from the camera, ensuring longer battery life. Canon makes two types of Ultrasonic Motor lenses. Ring-type USM lenses, found in large aperture and supertelephoto designs, permit manual focusing without first switching out of the auto mode. Micro USM designs bring the performance benefits of Canon’s USM technology to a wide assortment of affordable EF lenses.

Canon EF-S lenses cannot be mounted on Canon EF camera bodies.

Wedding photographers most often use a zoom lens having a focal length range of about 24-70 mm, but typically have 70-200 focal length zoom as a second, but less used lens. Most professional wedding photograpers use 2 camera bodies so there is no need to do a lens change on a single camea body.

 

[Big Mike]

Hi everyone,

I have a canon 350D i've had for a few yrs, i cant afford to upgrade it but i'd like to get a new zoom lens, i am fed up for trying to take photos and not being able to zoom enough.

i am thinking of this one:

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS Telephoto Zoom AF Lens: Amazon.co.uk: Electronicsr this:

Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III Lens: Amazon.co.uk: Electronicsr this but abit out of budget:

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM Lens: Amazon.co.uk: Electronicsan someone explain to me the USM feature? is it worth spending alot more for? i dont mind spending abit more for a better lens as i will most probably stick with canon if i ever upgrade so the lenses can be transferred.

Will 200mm give a good zoom distance? i want to be able to take nice wedding pics etc for family and friends weddings.

I am also after a flash, for general use as i dont always find the built in one sufficient. any recommendations would be greatly received

thanks

There are several versions of the 70(75)-300mm lens in Canon's line up.

Your second link was to the cheapest one, without USM. (Ultra sonic motor, as mentioned above).
You can get one with USM, it's only a little more Canon EF 75-300mm F/4.0-5.6 USM III Compatible with: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics
So you can see that USM itself, doesn't add a much to the price as you thought.

But the big difference between your second link and the third is the 'IS'....Image Stabilization. Canon in-lense image stabilizers — for easy photography without blur caused by camera shake
That is why one lens costs a lot more than the other. So is it worth it?....sometimes, to some people.

IS will help to get sharper shots at slower shutter speeds, provided that the subject isn't moving too much. For shooting weddings etc., it's better to have a faster shutter speed, than it is to have IS on your lens. So how do you get faster shutter speeds? Part of the solution is to use lenses with a larger maximum aperture...and that is where all of these lenses fall short.

When I shoot weddings, I have a 70-200mm F2.8 IS lens. The maximum aperture is F2.8, which is 4 times larger than F5.6, which allows me to get a much faster shutter speed than if I was shooting with one of those 70-300mm lenses. But the problem with that, is that it cost more than all of those other lenses combined.

For a flash, look at the Canon 430EX.

 

[jaomul]

If you stick with a crop body when you upgrade the EF-S 55-250mm is good value, but as already said its not very fast, IS will help a bit. Maybe not exactly what you asked but it may help to get this lens and a version of something like "noise ninja". It would enable you to use higher ISO on your existing camera and take the noise away later. I'm fairly sure you can do a good, not quite pro job like this,as you said its mostly friends( I am assuming your not the main photographer and its a hobby, if you are this method wont be good enough).
There are Yonghua flashes on e-bay. They are cheap and cheerful and good value, not as good as the main canon ones but a fraction of the price

 

[no1smiles2000]

USM is the auto focus motor.

From CanonUSA.com - Canon U.S.A. : Lens Performance

Canon EF-S lenses cannot be mounted on Canon EF camera bodies.

Wedding photographers most often use a zoom lens having a focal length range of about 24-70 mm, but typically have 70-200 focal length zoom as a second, but less used lens. Most professional wedding photograpers use 2 camera bodies so there is no need to do a lens change on a single camea body.

Hi are you saying the EF-S isn't compatible with canon 350D?

I found this on their website:

The EOS 350D Digital is compatible with more than 60 Canon EF lenses, including Canon’s EF-S lenses. Built with the EOS 350D Digital photographer in mind, the EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM and EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM cover an exciting range of popular focal lengths, while the EF-S 60mm f/2.8mm Macro USM lens lends a new dimension to the world of insects and plants.

Just don't want to buy the wrong one.

I really am a very novice photographer but want to start improving my skills.

Thanks for all replies

 

[Big Mike]

Hi are you saying the EF-S isn't compatible with canon 350D?

What Keith meant to say, is that EF-S lenses are compatible with most Canon EOS cameras, while EF lenses are compatible with all EOS cameras.

EF-S lenses are compatible with the cameras that have an APS-C sized sensor (sometimes called 'crop' sized sensors/cameras). All of the Rebels (three and four digit names), the two digit models (50D, 60D etc.) and the 7D....are all compatible with EF-S lenses (and EF lenses).

Cameras with larger sensors, like the 5D series, 1D series and 1Ds series, are not compatible with EF-S lenses, only EF lenses.

So yes, your camera is compatible with EF-S lenses....nothing to worry about.

The only concern is that if you someday plan to upgrade your camera to something like the 5D or 1D series, then you will want to avoid buying EF-S lenses, and stick with EF lenses only.

 

[Josh66]

Canon EF-S lenses cannot be mounted on Canon EF camera bodies.

Which she does not have, so it's kind of a moot point... Still something to consider though. If you plan on going full frame eventually, try to avoid EF-S lenses. Like Mike said...

 

[no1smiles2000]

Ok thanks, now thinking about future too is there any benefit of EF-S over EF? Are the better? Would a EF take just as good puc as EF-S?

 

[Tomasko]

EF-S is no better than EF, it's just designed for smaller sensors, nothing else. Don't judge a lens by looking at EF-S/EF name on it. Mount type doesn't affect IQ. If you can't find money for upgrading your camera and 115 pounds is out of your budget, I don't think this thing about EF/EF-S should bother you any time soon
There's only downfall of using EF-S - you can't use them on fullframe cameras.

 

[no1smiles2000]

wow there is lots to these cameras!

So i Dont really want to upgrade because i'm happy with this camera.

So what does the F figures account to on the lens?

 

[Big Mike]

The F number on the lens, is the maximum aperture.

The aperture of a lens, is like the pupil in our eyes. It's a 'hole' through which the light passes and it can be adjusted to suit the lighting conditions. It's one of three things that we use to control exposure (the others being shutter speed and ISO).

The aperture is represented by the F number, which is a ratio between the focal length and the diameter of the entrance pupil. The lower the F number, the larger the aperture. I'll say that again....The lower the F number, the larger the aperture.

So for example, you might set your lens aperture to F8, you could then make it 'one stop' larger by adjusting it to F5.6

So when you see an F number in the name of a lens, that is the maximum aperture (lowest F number). When you see a range in the lens' name, it means that the maximum aperture with vary, depending on the zoom of the lens. For example, many lenses are F3.5-5.6, this means that at the widest zoom position, the maximum aperture is F3.5 and as you zoom out to the longest focal length (most zoom) the maximum aperture will only be F5.6.

The better quality lenses, usually have a 'constant' maximum aperture. For example a 24-70mm F2.8 lens has a maximum aperture of F2.8 anywhere in the zoom range.