Interested in New Lens, New Case, and some basic help?

meganwebb · Mar 4, 2011

I am interested in getting a new lens for my camera, i currently have the canon rebel xs with the kit lens 18-55mm and a 70-300 mm lens both are canon brand.
I want a lens that can take landscape photos , wildlife photos and possibly macro photography (ie birds and flowers ) with the speed and precision of the kit lens. i find my 70-300mm lens is really slow auto focusing and such which is really a nuisance so it hardly gets used because it causes me to miss out on wildlife opportunities.
Any ideas ?

Also looking at getting the Kata 321 go 20 Camera Bag anyone know if this is a good bag?

Can anyone tell me how make my photos a smaller size as well my photos are all huge around 3 Mb each . can anyone help me make them a size for using in contests and such?

Also sorry to be so annoying but how do i upload photos for critiques here ? Currently i only have my photos on my facebook page, i do not sell my photography so i haven't set up a website or anything. If you have any suggestions as to if i should set up a website can you tell me a good place to do so?

I used to have "Youth Ventures" business selling postcards with my photography but noone uses postcards anymore so that didnt go the greatest.

Thanks for your help

PJL · Mar 4, 2011

meganwebb said:
I am interested in getting a new lens for my camera, i currently have the canon rebel xs with the kit lens 18-55mm and a 70-300 mm lens both are canon brand.
I want a lens that can take landscape photos , wildlife photos and possibly macro photography (ie birds and flowers ) with the speed and precision of the kit lens. i find my 70-300mm lens is really slow auto focusing and such which is really a nuisance so it hardly gets used because it causes me to miss out on wildlife opportunities.

Any ideas ?

If you like the 70-300 range, Canon makes a slightly more expensive 75-300 IS in the $600 range with USM. They also have one that's around $1,000, and an L series that's right around $1,500. For wide angle landscape stuff, what's wrong with your kit lens? None of those lenses do macro, by the way, although for bird photography you're not really doing macro; in that case you just want a telephoto that can get you close enough so the bird fills the frame. A really good, relatively inexpensive macro lens is the Canon 100 f/2.8, which will get you true 1:1 lifesize macro.

Also looking at getting the Kata 321 go 20 Camera Bag anyone know if this is a good bag?

Kata makes good bags.

Also sorry to be so annoying but how do i upload photos for critiques here ? Currently i only have my photos on my facebook page, i do not sell my photography so i haven't set up a website or anything. If you have any suggestions as to if i should set up a website can you tell me a good place to do so?

Flickr and Photobucket seem to be the two most popular free hosting sites. I use imageshack mostly. You upload the image and then copy the direct link with

on either side. You can't post pics until you have at least five posts, though.

Big Mike · Mar 4, 2011

Welcome to the forum.

I agree with PJL. You are not likely to find a lens that does all of what you're asking about. Also, you didn't give us a budget...are you willing to spend up to $1500 on a lens?
And while your 70-300mm lens is a fairly 'cheap' lens, it can work well in many situations...but it takes a little more knowledge & skill to really get the most out of it. For example, you really need to watch your shutter speed, which likely means using a higher ISO level than you're used to.

meganwebb · Mar 4, 2011

I know its not much my budget is around 300 dollars, as i am going back to school so im kinda tight budgeted. I mostly want a lens that i can take nice landscapes and animal pictures with while at the same time if i want to catch some action like a whale or something i wouldnt have to wait for the lens to adjust , the kit lens is like the perfect spee while i find the other one not nearly fast enough.

PJL · Mar 4, 2011

meganwebb said:
I know its not much my budget is around 300 dollars, as i am going back to school so im kinda tight budgeted. I mostly want a lens that i can take nice landscapes and animal pictures with while at the same time if i want to catch some action like a whale or something i wouldnt have to wait for the lens to adjust , the kit lens is like the perfect spee while i find the other one not nearly fast enough.

You may be able to find the better Canon 70-300 IS USM lenses used for that price, but that's really the best you can hope for. Even the off-brand stuff (Sigma, Tamron, etc.) in that price range has problems with slow focusing.

enzodm · Mar 4, 2011

In that budget perhaps you may go with 55-250IS, which should be better than 70-300. However, as already pointed out, you will not do landscape and macro with such a lens (macro on birds means having their eye filling half picture: you need a macro lens).

meganwebb · Mar 4, 2011

Well the macro is more for flowers and stuff , i dont do a lot of macro photo , perhaps im better off focusing on my landscape and animal photography and using croppping for macro? suggestions?

Big Mike · Mar 4, 2011

The speed at which a lens focuses, is a result of the lens itself...but also the camera and the available light. So just getting a different lens (especially a cheap one) may not get you what you want. It's probably focus pretty close, so while it's not a macro lens, it could be useful for flowers etc. It can also be a decent landscape lens. The 18-55mm range covers a lot of bases, which is why they use that as the 'kit' lens.

I don't know that you'll find a better telephoto lens within your budget. So I'd suggest sticking with your 70-300mm lens and just learning to live with it's limitations.

enzodm · Mar 4, 2011

By the way, when shooting wildlife, are you using continuous AF? If not, try it.

meganwebb · Mar 4, 2011

Yes i always use autofocus.

PJL · Mar 4, 2011

meganwebb said:
Yes i always use autofocus.

No, he means continuous autofocus.

Canon SLRs generally have three different autofocus settings -- one shot, AI focus, and servo. One shot means the subject is still and the autofocus will act in such a way that it does not expect the object to move. AI focus is kind of an "intelligent" AF, meaning that it expects the subject not to move, but if it does, it will probably track it. Servo mode is used when the subject is moving, so the AF is constantly readjusting, (hopefully) tracking the subject. If you're taking pics of wildlife, children, or any other subject that may move toward or away from you (changing the AF distance), servo is probably the way to get the best results.

meganwebb · Mar 4, 2011

i have my lens set on AF and my camera says continuous so i assume that means yes? sorry im so noobish

PJL · Mar 4, 2011

meganwebb said:
i have my lens set on AF and my camera says continuous so i assume that means yes? sorry im so noobish

Press the "AF Mode" button on the back (it's the one that's on the right). Choose "AI Servo AF." It's page 60 of your manual. "Continuous" may mean that the camera will continue to take pictures as long as you hold down the shutter release.

If you don't have a manual, here's a link.

http://media.the-digital-picture.com/Owners-Manuals/Canon-EOS-Rebel-XS-1000D-Owners-Manual.pdf

And it's OK. I just jumped into my first DSLR after several years of shooting film. They're a completely different beast, even if the basics of taking pictures are the same.