Len/s Kits for DSLR's

[MACyMouse]

G'Day!

Been a while since I posted, but am getting myself acclimated to living down undah. I'm lovin' it!

Anyway, looking at purchasing a DSLR but I need some more knowledge into lens kits and such. I'm looking for lenses to take macro shots and for shots that I can't get close enough to get for close ups (such as wildlife).

Anyone got any good educational websites about the different types of lenses? Like what does 55mm - 80mm mean? or .35m/1.3ft (saw this imprinted on the camera I was looking at).

Thanks in advance for any help.

~Aussie Dee~

 

[MBasile]

55-80mm is the length of the lens. For macro shots you're obviously going to want a macro lens which has a very small aperture range for very shallow depth of field, as well as a really short minimum focusing distance (meaning it can focus when you're closer to the subject than with other lenses). For wildlife you're going to want a telephoto lens like a 300 (I have a 75mm-300mm) because that will allow you to zoom close to the subject without spooking it.

If you have the money you're better off getting just the camera body and then getting nicer lenses individually since the kit lenses aren't always the best.

Also, stay away from "kits" like these as the lenses are usually "grey market" lenses, meaning they are knock-offs: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000V7I9FU/?tag=macforums0e4-20

As with all deals now adays, remember...if the price seems too good to be true, it probably isn't true. With the cost of photography equipment its easy to get drawn to the great deals, but don't get suckered in!

Here's the photography forum I use: http://thephotoforum.com/
There may be better ones out there, but I haven't investigated it much.

 

[MACyMouse]

Thanks for the quick reply and for the information. A great place for me to start at.

Much appreciated.

 

[Village Idiot]

Thanks for the quick reply and for the information. A great place for me to start at.

Much appreciated.

First you really need to decide what body you're going to go with. Each manufacture has different lenses so we can' say, go buy the Canon 60mm f/2.8 macro if you're going to buy a Pentax camera.

Macro can be very intricate and you can do things like get extension tubes which minimize the minimum focusing distance of a lens. You can stack multiple lenses. You can eve get rings that screw into the filter mount of a lens and mount to the camera so you can shoot with a lens in reverse. Plus once you start getting really close you have to start worrying about lighting and there's techniques where you take multiple photos with the focus on a different point of the subject then stack the photos in photo shop so the whole object looks in focus.

And for wildlife, well any type of lens that you're looking at, you get what you pay for. A $150-$300 75-300mm lens is going to seem like a bargain, but the optics aren't going to be the best. Photos can turn out soft and the lens can suffer from chromatic abberations where light reflecting off a subject can cause purple and blue artifacts. But then again, you can spend $3000 on a 300mm f/2.8 lens with image stabilization that will correct for any movement you're making.

It all depends on how serious you are about your hobby and how much you want to spend.

And the milimeter measurements refer to focal length, not the length of the lens.

Overly detailed explanation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_length

 

[MACyMouse]

Thanks V.I.