Hi Jambo, I've got the canon 55-250mm on the same camera and I can vouch that it is a very good lens for the money. My copy is very sharp - was very pleased shooting flying birds and animals at the zoo. The lens is less than £150 on Amazon - bargain IMO.
I too have a 550D and 55-250mm and it's a very fine lens, well worth the money. I bought mine here on TP which made it even better value. As a telephoto zoom to start out with I would highly recommend it.
I got my 550D for xmas last year and I thought it was brilliant. The weight and feel about it was really good, especially when I got a grip on it, the kit lens that came with it produced a good, clear, clean and colourfull image even from Jpeg (which I use most of the time). I was very happy with the focussing and when I got some quality lenses the IQ was stunning. I came into some money earlier in the year and decided to get a 7D and a 5DMkII and a few other L lenses but I had to give up my 550D as I had no room in my bag for a third body, so I decided to get the wife interested in photography and gave it to her with the 18-55 IS and a 55-250 IS just so I didn't have to sell it.
Well hello all you Canon people. We've added the 500D to this thread because it is similar to the 550D. Coincidentally I've just got a 500D. It was swapped for my D200 and I expected something like the Nikon D3100 but I was very pleasantly surprised by just how good this little baby Canon is. Being a Nikon pro user I am more used to the larger models so I bought D40x and D60 cameras for the kids. I have had a good play with this camera and I am impressed. The quality feels better and the feature list is better than the Nikon equivalent. I think I might be advising people differently for the smaller bodies now I got this camera to test my new product with canons as well as nikons and I will be converting it to IR as part of my other hobby which is astronomy.
Why convert to IR for astronomy? I know that some IR can get some results but it's not usual or did you mean for Ha which gives a better response in red?
I'm removing the three filters that are there and replacing them with a 2mm glass plate. I can then fit either a screw on filter onto the end of the lens to block unwanted ir and uv, a terrestrial ir filter such as the Hoya for traditional ir photography or remove the lens and fit a clip in filter for astro. The clip in filter depends on what is being photographed. The baader one for example allows more ir than the standard filter as this enhances certain objects whilst other filters enhance others. I think they do about 5 different clip in filters for different targets. There are a couple of areas of the spectrum that are normally virtually blocked by the standard filter inc h alpha and ir. I'm not an expert yet but I've done some research.
Ok, thanks. Usually a compete filter removal is used for spectroscopy, although this mod will make the camera much more sensitive at both ends of spectrum focussing will be problem as IR will not come to focus at the point as visual RGB. The clip filters work okay but also add to focussing issues! Having said all that, these problems can be overcome and IR can help with luminence shots. Not sure where you can get a 2mm optical filter from? But I guess they should be available. Hope it goes okay.
I used to own a 500d and I was sad to see her go. It's a great started camera with lots of features. Ive made some of the best shots to date with my 500d.
Here are a couple more shots with the 550D and Tammy 17-50 non VC: Old Kodak by andywest1, on Flickr Old Coronet by andywest1, on Flickr And the 60mm macro: YUM!! by andywest1, on Flickr Old Kodak by andywest1, on Flickr
OK big lens time. I've got the std 18-55 IS kit lens. 55-250 IS (a good decision in my book) and would like a bit more reach which is what we all want. Has anyone tried a Sigma 120-400 mm F4.5-5.6 or even the 150-500 and are these realistic lenses for the 550D? BB
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79286414@N08/7229241668/in/photostream this i took earlier with my 50mm lens
Got my 550D over a year ago, I got it with the 18-55 is kit lens and a couple of weeks later I bought the 55-250. I sold both lenses and bought a Tamron 17-50 F/2.8 VC **** was supper sharp but very stiff to zoom, it almost came off the camera as I tried to zoom in n out so I returned the lens and exchanged it for another one which was supper smooth to zoom but produced very soft images even @ f/8 so that went back too and I have been the very proud owner of a Canon 15-85 IS USM F/3.5-5.6. No constant aperture but a very sharp and consistant piece of glass. Ps: I love my 550D
I tried the 120-400 but I wasn't that impressed with it and it took about 10 minutes to AF. But the Tamron 70-300 vc USD is a very good lens and much better than the canon 55-250 and canon 70-300 is usm (non L)
Had my 500d almost two years now, have got. Some cracking shots with it and the nifty fifty and a 70-200 f4 L. Will have to sort some and post them. Tamron 17-50 needed next I think.
I couldn't have looked properly, after getting rid of all my m4/3rds I needed a replacement body and there seemed to be at least £100 between the 500D and 550D. I ended up buying the twin lens 500D kit from Jessops for £469 (I had a 50D which I stupidly sold when I went for all the m4/3rds hype, so I was happy and used to the output from the 15MP sensor). All things considered, I'm quite happy with the output from the 500D.
I know the 50D is more robust, has 2 wheels and a top LCD but otherwise the IQ must be almost identical.
All true, and if I'm honest, I actually prefer the handling on the 500D (but I do have an old arm injury that's playing up, so the lower weight is a godsend). The 500D feels more robust than any of the earlier xxxD bodies I've had.
What are people's views on external flashes for the 500D ? My main camera equipment is Nikon but I have a 500D which I bought to test the Photo Triggers control unit. I have been mightily impressed by just how good Canon's lower end cameras are. Anyway I'm planning on using the 500D as a take it anywhere, including work, type thing.... With this in mind I am looking at a flash with TTL metering. I've seen the cheap Jessop and Yuongho flashes for Nikon, are these any good on the 500D ?
I've used the Jessops 360AFD and found it ok, I have a 380EX now (after selling the bulk of my gear last year) and am really happy with it. Cost me £30 or £40 and I find it nicer than the Jessops, does everything I used the 420EX for except it does not swivel. Even has an HSS mode that works very well.
Sounds pretty good. The flashes made by the camera manufacturers are normally better quality than the aftermarket ones. I might end up with a 60Da so I think I'll have a look for the 380EX and see what comes up.
I recently bought the nissin di866 mkii for my 500d and I must say I'm really happy with the flash. The nissin is cheaper than the 430ex ii but it suppose to be better.
I might well sell my Nikon SB600 and get one of the decent Canon flashes as I will be selling the D300 and 18-200 towards the 60Da
Open it with DPP and its pretty simple, just mess with the sliders in the raw tab and see what they do. Tutorials from Canon are HERE
I upgraded to the 550D last year from my first dslr, canon 400D. This is a superb camera and came with the IS lens kit 18-55 & 70-250and I recently added the canon IS?USM 300mm lens to my kit. The weight is just perfect and handling is perfect for someone with big handsand I am sure that even a newbie would find this camera perfect with its ease of use and controls not forgetting the amazingly clear 3'' screen. Now all i need to do is work out how to add some pix to this reply :bonk:
I did a tutorial a while ago, it is about if you look. Can't search at mo as on phone. Basically to insert an image you just wrap the image's address in image tags so.. [img]address/image.jpg[/img] When you upload an image it has the image's address on screen.
Using the image you were trying to post, this is how to do it..... [img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8383/8474902398_98a5c53772_c.jpg[/img]
