Suggestions? No lens, no money.

[Chiuy]

Sorry man... I bought my first camera in high school. A Minolta SRT 101 with a 50mm f1.8 lens. I shot for both the school newspaper and the yearbook, including the tennis team, the golf team, basketball games and football. I did portraits, candids, and whatever I was called to do. All with that one camera and lens. It meant getting creative and getting in close. Running up and down the side lines.

There was no auto focus and the exposure had to be set manually also. And I didn't have the luxury of choosing my ISO from shot to shot. I shot Tri-X film, ISO 400... My cheapie flash didn't adjust for exposure, I had to do that manually too...

Technology is rapidly changing. You cannot compare this to the past. It's the same thing as cellphone. When I got my first cellphone, it was black and white and now these days, kids are having iPhone touch screen as their first phone.

 

[Chamelion 6]

Sorry man... I bought my first camera in high school. A Minolta SRT 101 with a 50mm f1.8 lens. I shot for both the school newspaper and the yearbook, including the tennis team, the golf team, basketball games and football. I did portraits, candids, and whatever I was called to do. All with that one camera and lens. It meant getting creative and getting in close. Running up and down the side lines.

There was no auto focus and the exposure had to be set manually also. And I didn't have the luxury of choosing my ISO from shot to shot. I shot Tri-X film, ISO 400... My cheapie flash didn't adjust for exposure, I had to do that manually too...

Technology is rapidly changing. You cannot compare this to the past. It's the same thing as cellphone. When I got my first cellphone, it was black and white and now these days, kids are having iPhone touch screen as their first phone.[/QUOTE]

Of course I can... Football is football, then and now. It's not any harder to shoot now than it was then. The dynamics have not changed at all. The gear you have now is light years more advanced than anything I could have imagined. You have advantages in shooting that I could only have dreamed of back then.

But in spite of it, I got good shots. I found a way. By the time I graduated I had several awards for my photography. I was less concerned with what I couldn't do and more concerned with what I could do. It wasn't until my 2nd year of college that I started really upgrading my stuff and even then it was far short of highend glass.

There's nothing out there I couldn't shoot with that old camera and lens just as well as ever. All that technology may make things easier, but none of it makes it BETTER.

 

[manaheim]

Thanks guys for the suggestion. I know that a good photographer doesn't need those fancy lens. But I've been using my canon xsi with the 18-55mm for the past 4 years! It gets boring, even though 18mm is wide, I take a lot of panoramic pictures and landscapes. I borrowed a 10mm lens before and it was pretty amazing cause I was able to capture more details.
I also rented a 70-200mm f/2.8 IS USM for one week on a online website for $70 and after using for a week, the pictures I took was incredibly sharp and perfect compared to my 18-55mm.
And yes, I know the reverse lens and been using it for over a year now. But the reverse lens, I got some dusts in my lens so it's really not the best so I prefer a actual lens. Never tried an actual macro lens though. I also tries some cheap adapters macro tube, it's alright, not the best.

And also, how will I ever advance to the next level if I am unable to experiment with different lenses? It's like technology, if you don't ever advance, you will never reach the future. A slow comp vs a fast speedy computer that can do a lot more stuff

Ugh. Dude. Seriously.

Advancing in photography has NOTHING to do with technology (at least within reason). Obviously a pinhole camera is going to be pretty limiting, but your Canon and kit lens kicks the crap out of technology that was used decades ago and the famous photographers of old could out-shoot you (and me) any day of the week.

Also, check out this pic...

Pretty decent, huh?

Taken with an absolute piece of crap sub-$100 lens. Not even a good quality cheap lens like a 50mm 1.8. No this is a 28-100 3.5/5.6 that I'm amazed doesn't fall apart in my hands most times when I use it.

And some years ago I took another picture of that VERY scene with the SAME lens and it was HORRIBLE. The key difference? 3 years of experience and practice... with crap lenses.

Advanced equipment does not make you better. Advanced equipment allows you to go further more easily. If you want to REALLY learn photography on a limited budget, learn how to work around the limitations of the gear you have now.

 

[Chiuy]

You cannot compared football to technology because they are separated categories. AND LIKE I SAID BEFORE, different lenses serve different purposes. I'm not getting a lens to help me shoot better picture but to help me in different situations. You can give a very expensive camera gear to a newbie and he/she will probably take crappy picture and a professional can shoot better with a standard camera. Yes, that part I agree. The reason why I want a new lens is to experiment and help me in different situations.
Please do tell me how you are able to take a picture of macro picture of an ant if you only have a 75-300mm lens?

 

[manaheim]

You cannot compared football to technology because they are separated categories. AND LIKE I SAID BEFORE, different lenses serve different purposes. I'm not getting a lens to help me shoot better picture but to help me in different situations. You can give a very expensive camera gear to a newbie and he/she will probably take crappy picture and a professional can shoot better with a standard camera. Yes, that part I agree. The reason why I want a new lens is to experiment and help me in different situations.
Please do tell me how you are able to take a picture of macro picture of an ant if you only have a 75-300mm lens?

Oh, I dunno... use google?

Taking Macro Photography Without a Macro Lens!

You also don't have to actually buy anything. Buddy of mine does it with tape. *shrug*

 

[Chamelion 6]

You cannot compared football to technology because they are separated categories. AND LIKE I SAID BEFORE, different lenses serve different purposes. I'm not getting a lens to help me shoot better picture but to help me in different situations. You can give a very expensive camera gear to a newbie and he/she will probably take crappy picture and a professional can shoot better with a standard camera. Yes, that part I agree. The reason why I want a new lens is to experiment and help me in different situations.
Please do tell me how you are able to take a picture of macro picture of an ant if you only have a 75-300mm lens?

I didn't compare football to technology.

I compared shooting football then with a bottom of the line manual film camera with a single 50mm f1.8 lens to you shooting football now with an autofocus, autoexposure camera and lenses ranging from 18mm to 300mm.

And you're complaining...

True macro, probably not. But why let that stop you from shooting the ant? And that's the difference. I'd have wasted a whole roll of film a gallion of chemicals and a box of paper trying to get that shot if I wanted it. Sometimes it worked, sometime it didn't. Photography, as a hobby, was expensive back then. Failure cost money.

The limitations of my gear forced me to think through what I was shooting in ways I probably wouldn't have otherwise. I learned to compose full frame as 400 ASA film is very unforgiving when you try to crop it or enlarge it. And I had no choice, I had to be ready to shoot in mid-day and midnight on the same roll of film. ISO 400 was just flexible enough to get by in both situations.

I'm taking a photograph class... One of our assignments was to shoot someing in macro. I mentioned my stuff, I have no macro lens. I got the shot anyway. I used my 55-250. Is it true macro? No. But I understood what the lens could do and took advantage of it.

If you keep thinking you need "X" lens to shoot a certain situation, then you're always gonna be limited in what you shoot and how you see it. Learn to make the lens fit the situation and you broaden how you shoot.

 

[Overread35]

Please do tell me how you are able to take a picture of macro picture of an ant if you only have a 75-300mm lens?

Raynox DCR 250 As mentioned before

EDIT - or reversing ring - mount your 50mm onto your 70-300mm giving you up to 6:1 magnification

Though if the 75-300mm is all you have then its all you have and you can't take aportrait of an ant with that. You'd have to either forgo the shot or adapt your composition to a wider angle of view.

Also no one is arguing against specific gear for specific events = but you still have 0 budget so its a moot argument since you can't significantly expand upon your own current setup/ Saying get a 70-200mm f2.8 and a 300mm f2.8 are pointless because they are beyond your budget

 

[usayit]

1 take your current gear
2 practice, improve, learn... become the best photographer in your area
3 start selling photographs
4 fund your gear

?


btw .... Chiuy already knew about the reversal lens macro technique..... he posted to a thread on such topic. why he brought it up? no idea

 

[Chamelion 6]

Also no one is arguing against specific gear for specific events = but you still have 0 budget so its a moot argument since you can't significantly expand upon your own current setup/ Saying get a 70-200mm f2.8 and a 300mm f2.8 are pointless because they are beyond your budget

Exactly... If I had an answer that would make you happy, I wouldn't be shooting with a handful of entry level lenses either.

But like you, I can't afford better, so I push what I have as hard as I can. :thumbup:

 

[Chiuy]

Before things gets intense, I'm ending this topic. Thank you to everyone who gave me a suggestion. And for the last time, yes I know having an expensive lens does not make you a better photographer. I know how to use my 18-55 in most situation but it's a pain when you want extra zoom though. I know how to use my 18-55 in reverse lens, I know how to make a gigapixel photo, I know how to take a 360 degree picture, I know how to create a HDR photo, I know all of my functions on my camera, etc and know how to take a night picture and know how to use my cheap $30 external flash.

 

[Overread35]

Knowing how to use the gear technically for a shot is one thing - most of us learn and get close to mastering this.

Knowing how to use it creatively for a great photo is quite another -and most of us spend decades chasing it - heck I know I'm only just starting this aspect!

 

[Mbnmac]

Before things gets intense, I'm ending this topic. Thank you to everyone who gave me a suggestion. And for the last time, yes I know having an expensive lens does not make you a better photographer. I know how to use my 18-55 in most situation but it's a pain when you want extra zoom though. I know how to use my 18-55 in reverse lens, I know how to make a gigapixel photo, I know how to take a 360 degree picture, I know how to create a HDR photo, I know all of my functions on my camera, etc and know how to take a night picture and know how to use my cheap $30 external flash.

so where are these photos?

You've not posted a single one for C&C, yet you say you want to improve

Get out of the forums, get outside and take photos

 

[manaheim]

Can you just end a topic like that?

Cool!

 

[enzodm]

Before things gets intense, I'm ending this topic. Thank you to everyone who gave me a suggestion. And for the last time, yes I know having an expensive lens does not make you a better photographer. I know how to use my 18-55 in most situation but it's a pain when you want extra zoom though. I know how to use my 18-55 in reverse lens, I know how to make a gigapixel photo, I know how to take a 360 degree picture, I know how to create a HDR photo, I know all of my functions on my camera, etc and know how to take a night picture and know how to use my cheap $30 external flash.

Something is missing from the list: are you able to take good pictures? I did not found samples among your previous messages, so I cannot respond by myself.

 

[12sndsgood]

Before things gets intense, I'm ending this topic. Thank you to everyone who gave me a suggestion. And for the last time, yes I know having an expensive lens does not make you a better photographer. I know how to use my 18-55 in most situation but it's a pain when you want extra zoom though. I know how to use my 18-55 in reverse lens, I know how to make a gigapixel photo, I know how to take a 360 degree picture, I know how to create a HDR photo, I know all of my functions on my camera, etc and know how to take a night picture and know how to use my cheap $30 external flash.

well sence it sounds like you obviously know everythign there is to know about taking perfect pictures then why do you need the site? the site isn't going to give you money for the lens. they have allready told you what you should do. but its apparent that your high school education has taught you everthing there is to know.

hell i want a ferrari because it will get me to work a hell of a lot faster, but without the money i wont have one. i dont whine to people on the internet who try to make me realise i dont NEED to have one.