Beginner Starter Camera + Lens for a beginner?

Terrry

Terrry

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Terry
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I'm pretty much poor at the moment and will have to save in order to buy anything (I was signed off work due to mental health issues, but that's another story). I've been doing a lot of lurking around the internet and watching YouTube vlogs concerning cameras and equipment - Such as Tony/Chelsea Northrup and Phlearn etc.
For about 12 years I've been using Photoshop and Lightroom to edit images for friends but I've never been the one behind the camera and I would really love to learn how to take beautiful digital photography (and/or aim towards a career in photo-journalism).

The cameras I've been looking at, compared to the users of this forum, aren't the greatest but I don't really have the cash to just impulse buy something amazing (or else I would) but they are as follow:

Canon 760D / Rebel T6s - It seems like a great entry level camera with a fairly decent price tag, has enough bells and whistles packed in to give it some sort of longevity. Pop-out Touchscreen, Video recording and Wi-Fi are all nice features.
Canon 750D / Rebel T6i - Not as fancy pants as the newer model but still a solid piece of kit, not to mention for the same price as the upgrade you can find this bad boy in a decent amount of bundles which loads of extra goodies thrown in such as tripods, extra lenses and memory cards.

I know they are, in all honesty, amateur pieces of kit compared to the gear that some users have, but I have to make do with what means I have.

The lenses I've been interested in getting are:

Canon EF 50mm F 1.4 USM - I really like the boke capabilities of this lens and think it would work wonderfully for street photography as it pretty much replicates standard human vision. Has a tasty price point on it too.
Canon EF 85mm F/1.8 USM - Seems like a nice lens (from what I've read around the internet and seen in videos) for portrait photography.

I'm not much of a landscape, scenery or wildlife kind of person. I much prefer up close photography and seeing people go about their day to day life, just capturing moment that happen naturally.
Sorry if this post is in the wrong thread/sub-thread - I did have a look around but I couldn't see any sort of equipment area that wasn't a discussion for specific items.

Thanks for any replies in advance, I know I'm a new member here but I do have a genuine passion for photography and a keen intention to learn!
 
Terrry said:
I'm pretty much poor at the moment and will have to save in order to buy anything
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Have you got an actual budget in mind?

Terrry said:
Canon EF 50mm F 1.4 USM - I really like the boke capabilities of this lens and think it would work wonderfully for street photography as it pretty much replicates standard human vision. Has a tasty price point on it too.
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It's very much longer than standard human vision when paired with a crop sensor camera. Something closer to 30/35mm would be a more natural focal length with the bodies you're considering

Terrry said:
I'm not much of a landscape, scenery or wildlife kind of person. I much prefer up close photography and seeing people go about their day to day life, just capturing moment that happen naturally.
Sorry if this post is in the wrong thread/sub-thread - I did have a look around but I couldn't see any sort of equipment area that wasn't a discussion for specific items.
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I've two suggestions for you to consider (in the absence of a definite budget):
  • Canon 40D, yup it's an older camera but it's semi-pro build quality and ergonomics make it a joy to use. It loses out in low light high ISO conditions vs. a more modern camera, but you're talking about £100 or so for one in good condition. Pair it with a 30mm or 35mm prime and a 18-55mm "kit" lens.
  • A Fuji X-series body, with the 27mm pancake lens and the 16-50mm zoom. The older models are well priced and frequently available refurbished direct from Fuji UK, they (older model) haven't got the fast autofocus response of an SLR but they do have excellent low light performance. These are very compact cameras, easy to carry and discrete.
 
Alastair said:
Have you got an actual budget in mind?


It's very much longer than standard human vision when paired with a crop sensor camera. Something closer to 30/35mm would be a more natural focal length with the bodies you're considering


I've two suggestions for you to consider (in the absence of a definite budget):
  • Canon 40D, yup it's an older camera but it's semi-pro build quality and ergonomics make it a joy to use. It loses out in low light high ISO conditions vs. a more modern camera, but you're talking about £100 or so for one in good condition. Pair it with a 30mm or 35mm prime and a 18-55mm "kit" lens.
  • A Fuji X-series body, with the 27mm pancake lens and the 16-50mm zoom. The older models are well priced and frequently available refurbished direct from Fuji UK, they (older model) haven't got the fast autofocus response of an SLR but they do have excellent low light performance. These are very compact cameras, easy to carry and discrete.
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Saved me some typing.:D

(I've still got a 40d and I really enjoy using a Fuji xe1 which is a little bargain, though the lenses can get expensive)

All I'd add is that 90% of the worlds greatest photographs were taken on kit inferior to everything mentioned in this thread so far.
 
Alastair said:
Have you got an actual budget in mind?
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I'm not presently working but I am actively seeking work so hopefully I will find something soon enough, I guess my in mind budget, presently, is about 600-800 GBP

Alastair said:
Have you got an actual budget in mind?
It's very much longer than standard human vision when paired with a crop sensor camera. Something closer to 30/35mm would be a more natural focal length with the bodies you're considering
Click to expand...
Ah, I was fed false information then haha, thanks for clearing that up!

Alastair said:

    • Canon 40D, yup it's an older camera but it's semi-pro build quality and ergonomics make it a joy to use. It loses out in low light high ISO conditions vs. a more modern camera, but you're talking about £100 or so for one in good condition. Pair it with a 30mm or 35mm prime and a 18-55mm "kit" lens.
    • A Fuji X-series body, with the 27mm pancake lens and the 16-50mm zoom. The older models are well priced and frequently available refurbished direct from Fuji UK, they (older model) haven't got the fast autofocus response of an SLR but they do have excellent low light performance. These are very compact cameras, easy to carry and discrete.
Click to expand...

I've only ever used Canon cameras in the past and don't have any experience with anything other than them, sounds stupid I know, but it's what most of my friends use so it's just what I've gotten used to. I do really like the look of the 40D, I've used one before and it just feels more comfortable in the hand due to the shape of it. I never knew the price had changed so much, I remember back in the day it costing over £1,000. I might have to get one sooner than I first imagined.
 
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Phil V said:
Saved me some typing.:D

(I've still got a 40d and I really enjoy using a Fuji xe1 which is a little bargain, though the lenses can get expensive)

All I'd add is that 90% of the worlds greatest photographs were taken on kit inferior to everything mentioned in this thread so far.
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Oh, I know it's not the camera that makes the photographer. I'm just looking for a piece of kit that is up to date with modern technology and will not need replacing for some time to come. (That sounded like I was being rude, it wasn't my intention)
 
Terrry said:
Canon EF 50mm F 1.4 USM - I really like the boke capabilities of this lens and think it would work wonderfully for street photography as it pretty much replicates standard human vision. Has a tasty price point on it too.
Click to expand...

I would get the Canon EF 50 f/1.8 STM instead. Lighter, sharper, and cheaper. The only thing it doesn't do is f/1.4 but the EF 50 f/1.4 is not great at that aperture anyway.
 
maarten.dhaese said:
I would get the Canon EF 50 f/1.8 STM instead. Lighter, sharper, and cheaper. The only thing it doesn't do is f/1.4 but the EF 50 f/1.4 is not great at that aperture anyway.
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From what I've been told about the 1.8 - the contact on it is made of plastic and can wear away from frequent interchanging, whereas the 1.4 has a metal contact. This, obviously, is just what I've been told and I have no experience with either of them.
 
Terrry said:
From what I've been told about the 1.8 - the contact on it is made of plastic and can wear away from frequent interchanging, whereas the 1.4 has a metal contact. This, obviously, is just what I've been told and I have no experience with either of them.
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There are 3 versions of this lens:
Canon EF 50 f/1.8 MkI (metal mount)
Canon EF 50 f/1.8 MkII (plastic mount)
Canon EF 50 f/1.8 STM (latest version - metal mount)

The MkI used to command a premium second hand because of the metal mount, but since the STM version has become available all of the previous tradeoffs no longer apply because the STM simply outperforms them all including the EF 50 f/1.4 USM.

The 50 f/1.4 USM is an old design and mine broke down at some point despite buying new and very light use. The guy who fixed it said the lens was prone to breakdown.
 
Terrry said:
From what I've been told about the 1.8 - the contact on it is made of plastic and can wear away from frequent interchanging, whereas the 1.4 has a metal contact. This, obviously, is just what I've been told and I have no experience with either of them.
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It seems that your sources of info aren't too reliable. ;)

The new 1.8 STM has a metal mount, more aperture blades than the previous versions (better bokeh) and a better focus motor than the 1.4.

But all that said, for a crop camera, I'd not bother, it's the wrong focal length.

With a limited budget, and a desire to shoot Canon, I'd buy a 17-55 2.8 IS, (maybe the Tamron non VC instead), the 85mm 1.8 and whatever budget is left to get an xxd body (or the 760d)

But as I've said a lot recently, if I was starting from scratch now, I'd buy Nikon. Canons crop sensors are way behind in IQ, and frankly they left it too long to address the issue.

(To qualify that, I've owned 8 canon DSLRs and probably twice that many film SLRs, and never owned a Nikon)
 
If you were thinking of a Nikon crop then the D3400 apparently has an amazing quality sensor for an entry level camera. I'd probably pair that with the 35mm 1.8 DX lens (about £100 used) and the 18-55 kit zoom.
 
Taking the advice of Alastair, I'm currently holding the highest bid on eBay for a Canon 40D body with a couple of spare batteries, bag and memory card. Current bid is at £70 so I'll save some clams to get myself a couple of lenses as well.
 
Terrry said:
Taking the advice of Alastair, I'm currently holding the highest bid on eBay for a Canon 40D body with a couple of spare batteries, bag and memory card. Current bid is at £70 so I'll save some clams to get myself a couple of lenses as well.
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When I had my 40D the Sigma 30/1.4 EX made the perfect companion to it, I probably took 80%+ of my shots with that combination and even took a couple of holidays taking no other lenses.
 
Alastair said:
When I had my 40D the Sigma 30/1.4 EX made the perfect companion to it, I probably took 80%+ of my shots with that combination and even took a couple of holidays taking no other lenses.
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Nice! Seeing as my account here is pretty new, I don't yet have access to the 'buy - trade - sell' forum yet, can you recommend any websites where I can acquire decent second hand equipment? So far, the people I've came across on Gumtree and eBay haven't been very honest in regards to item condition and defects.
 
MPB, LCE, Ffordes, SRS Microsystems, Harrington Cameras. Second hand resellers will normally give a 14 day return period where you can send back the gear if it isn't right for you (providing you don't alter the condition).
 
WEX does used too, although I've generally done ok on eBay over the years.
 
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