New to digital SLRs, not to SLRs

dakid

dakid

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Hiya all,

Hoping that I can get some advice please. I'm looking to buy a new camera in a few weeks' time, and I am trying to get as many opinions, experience and advice as I can before I take the plunge.

I'm intending to do primarily landscape, but also some general purpose photography. I've had a couple of film SLRs, but haven't regularly used one for maybe 10 years or more.

Based on current experience and preferences, below is the current thinking in terms of what I want to spend money on. While I'm not on an incredibly tight budget, I have already doubled my intended spend to cope with the below, so suggestions of upgrades, to a 5D for example, will probably push it just a tad too far :)

Thank you in advance for any comments :)

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That looks a well thought out list to me. Ignoring the full frame route, which would be an advantage for landscape, the only change you should perhaps consider is to the Canon 17-40L, not that the Tamron is a bad lens, it's just that the 17-40 is superb and weather proofed, which coupled with a a 40D body is a desirable feature in the wet.
 
One other thing i'd recommend is the BG-E2N battery grip.
 
Looks like a good list to me. The 17-40 is a good recommendation though. A lens pretty much well loved by all that have one.

The only other thing that stood out is the ball head for the tripod. Lots of people swear by them for the speed of adjustment but for landscape work particularly, I've never liked them. A 3 way head where you can adust one axis while the others remain fixed can be far more useful for the finer adjustments of landscape composition.

Just my 2p's worth. :)
 
Thanks for the comments, guys. I did try to do a fair bit of research first, so it's nice to know it wasn't all in vain!

The Canon lens is certainly more expensive, but it's not £1200 at least (like I think the Canon 18-50 f2.8 IS one is!), so I shall have to have a look at that.

I chose the tripod for the height. I'm 6'2", so would prefer not to bend over when taking landscapes (even if the 40D does have live view). However, the tripod and the filters are the things I know least about, so if anyone has any other tripod or head suggestions, I'd be very open to hearing them. The point about ball head against 3-way-head is certainly a strong one. Were there any specific tripods/heads that you would recommend in my price range?
 
Welcome to the forums

I'd save some money on the battery and buy the compatibles from 7day shop or similar.

That is an expensive polariser! Not suggesting there is any reason not to get it...just surprised at the price.
Another vote for the 17-40L here. Very nice on full frame too if you do go that way in the future.
 
I'm after getting decent-quality filters, but not necessarily buying the best (that can wait a few years ;)). What would you recommend instead?
 
a fool and his money are easily parted. If you look about you can get some of items cheaper elsewhere. Last i looked a 4gig sandisk exteme for about £30 off amazon, remote & battery were cheaper and amazon isnt always cheapest.

Also before you fork out so much cash, maybe look at colkin filters, do without flash for a while and see if you like digital photography, then take plunge
 
Very thought out list.

I know the 105mm CPL is expensive but as it fits the Lee holder you'll only ever need 1 of them, so in the longer term it will save you money and due to it's size you can forget about vignetting.

Only 2 things related to the Lee's

1) I don't see the Lee filter holder on the list
2) you appear to have selected the ND filter set but I don't see any ND grads on the list.

I presumed you have these already but worth mentioning just in case you don't

As others have said you can usually get a better deal on memory cards and batteries elsewhere (usually via the channel islands as they try to keep below the £18 limt so that they don't have to charge VAT).
 
Re Lee Filters:

I'd not get the technical filter set is just full ND filters not grads. More useful would be the ND Grad filters, but the set comes in at about the 120 price mark. The Lee Pol is ok, I've got the Heliopan, which is slighty cheaper and has a narrower ring to aviod vignetting (also Joe Cornish uses these). It works with the Lee filter set and adaptor.
 
natjag said:
Re Lee Filters:

I'd not get the technical filter set is just full ND filters not grads. More useful would be the ND Grad filters, but the set comes in at about the 120 price mark.
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D'oh! Thanks for pointing that out, natjag and SimonTALM!! :bonk:

natjag said:
The Lee Pol is ok, I've got the Heliopan, which is slighty cheaper and has a narrower ring to aviod vignetting (also Joe Cornish uses these). It works with the Lee filter set and adaptor.
Click to expand...

Cool, thank you ... will have a look :)
 
D'oh! Thanks for pointing that out, natjag and SimonTALM!!
Click to expand...

That's OK. I'm just glad you're going for the Lee filters rather than the French :razz: rubbish, who try and flog Grey Grads as NDs - true they cut the light but they also cause a colour cast.

You could look at the Lee Digital Starter set - contains the Filter Holder, a glass 0.6 ND, a 0.6 ND Hard Grad, a cleaning cloth and the 3 filter wallet to keep the filters safe in your bag - it does cost about £170 IIRC but it saves a bit on buying separately.
 
SimonTALM said:
they also cause a colour cast.
Click to expand...

I'm going to chase you round the forum and say "My cokins dont cause any colour cast at all!" each time you say that :p


on a more serious note:

dakid - that looks like a good list. Another vote for the 17-40 here though, I used one once and have wanted one ever since! (hopefully getting one soon with a 40D) - afraid I no nothing about tripods apart from that the 3 way heads have always made more sense to me that ones that seems to flop around a bit.

P.S Welcome to the forums!
 
I had cokins before Lee, and they do have a colour cast, I didn't realise until I had both for a while and did comparisons. Wish I'd saved the shots to post for the web now. In some shots it was nice in others it wouldn't have been wanted.
 
So looks like it will be worth the money getting Lees then.

Anyone have experience on the tripod/3-way-head question?
 
Lees are brilliant - and IMHO well worth the cash (the best Pros don't use anything else).

As for Tripods:

I personally have the 055ProB (the one before the XProB, so I don't have the simple switch to horizontal), it is solid as a lump of granite. To be fair it's not the lighest of tripods but a solid tripod is never featherweight - get a carry strap or a carry bag and you'll forget it's their. If you want lighter (by a few grams) look at the 190XProB but it goes no where near as tall.

As for the head, I personally have 322RC2 head and I can't imagine ever going back to a standard ball head. To my mind it has the ease of use of a 3way with the adujustability of a ball head. Plus the 322RC2 includes the QR plate (essential in my mind). IMHO 3 way heads are only really ideal for panning.

However, do your research in to what you'll use it for and what ever you decide you'll make the right decsion for you.
 
That 322RC2 looks very impressive. My only hesitation is that I'm likely to want to do panoramas as part of my landscape photography, and that really will probably mandate the earlier suggestions of a 3-way. Still, definitely something to think about. Thanks! :D
 
For the best panoramas you'll need a special tripod attachment that allows the camera to rotate around the "nodal" point of the lens. Just keeping the head level will work but may find there are problems with parallax differences between shots if there is a lot of depth to the image.

It is worth noting that the 332RC2 head has a small bubble level on it so you can ensure the head is level whilst taking shots - if that helps at all in your decision.
 
Not as worried about distortion caused by that, as I'm fairly competent in Photoshop, but obviously would prefer to avoid it. I don't think I'm so worried that I'd get a head specifically for panoramas though.

Am off to London in a few weeks to browse camera shops, so might see if I can get a look at all the heads mentioned.
 
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