Sunday, January 13, 2008

New Camera Gear

Before I came to Thailand, I decided I would like to learn more about photography and graduate from the point and shoot method of picture taking. To that end, I bought a Canon Digital Rebel EOS 350D, an entry level SLR camera. Along with the kit lens, I bought a 70-300 zoom lens made by Sigma.

Now, I'll have to say that I was pretty disappointed in the pictures that I have been taking. Sure, there are some that I really liked, but if I stood at half court and heaved the ball a few thousand times, I'm sure I would have some swishes. I had two problems, me and the camera lenses.

I did a little reading, but really didn't pay a lot of attention to f-stops and shudder speeds. A lot of the problem with my pictures were that the shutter speed was too fast. In my defense, the vast majority of those bad pictures were shot in auto mode. But then again, if I wanted to shoot in auto mode, I should have just bought a nicer point and shoot camera.

Still, my own ineptitude was only part of the problem. The lenses that I was using were not only inexpensive, but they were cheap as well. Yeah, my zoom lens had a big range, but the quality was low. After some research, I realized that I needed to invest in some new lenses.

I found a nice website for Canon EOS beginners here. The site had a nice discussion on the different types of lenses available. I soon learned that there is a huge range in price and quality for camera lenses. Like so many things in life, you get what you pay for, and quality cost money.

The Cannon "L" series are their top of the line lenses. They are made with high quality material, durable, contain technological improvements, and quite frankly take the best pictures. The price for the "L" series lenses can be quite high. I really wanted to pick up a 24-70mm 2.8 L USM lens, but here it cost about $1,300. As I am still very much a beginner, I had a hard time justifying that expense.

As the "L" series was out, I tried to decide between buying a less expensive Canon lens or a third party lens. Sigma, Tamron and Tokina all make lenses compatible with Canon cameras. The quality of the Canon (and the warranty) were weighed against the better "numbers" of the third party lenses.

Tim and I headed out to the Fortune IT mall. This is a mall where you can buy all kinds of electronics, including computers, cameras, cell phones and more. They also boast a number of shops that sell DVD's and computer software for the low price of $3 - $5 per disk. How do they do it? Fortune was convenient because it also had a place that repaired laptops. (See my previous post).

We found a few stores that had a decent selection of lenses. They didn't have everything I would have liked, and the prices were a bit higher than I'd hoped. I would probably have done much better buying the lenses in Hong Kong for both price and selection, but we ran out of time and I really had not done my research.

In the end, I bought a few things. First, I got the Canon 50 f1.8 lens for $110. Yeah, you can get it cheaper in the states, but I'm here in Krung Tepe. My research showed that this is a very good lens for taking portraits. It has no zoom, but its really a good bargain.

As my "main" lens, I bought a Tamron AF 17-50 mm f2.8 lens for about $350. The numbers are really solid on the lens, and the price was very reasonable. I know I'm not going to take pictures that are going to grace the cover of magazines with this lens, but it should serve me well. Since I plan on upgrading to a nicer Canon lens within the next year, I don't feel so bad about spending $350 on this one. The one catch is that the warranty is only through the camera store. If I need it fixed, I have to take it there. If this were a lens that I planned on using for years and years, I would not agree to that (though of course, even Canon's warranty is only 2 years, and the 2nd year might only be for Thailand).

I also picked up the 430ex flash and a camera vest. A lot of my shorts have multiple pockets, but sometimes the heavier lens bangs against my knee. Okay, the real reason that I bought the vest is my secret desire to look like a complete dork, a desire that I am sure that I have never yet achieved. Screw you who say otherwise!

The upshot is that I'll be taking more pictures and posting them for you to see. Well, I'll post them once I get my laptop back this week.

No comments: