What to buy next? Your Help Please!! :-)

TurnipFarmer

TurnipFarmer

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Aaron
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I am trying to build up my equipment as still be very new to the DSLR scene.

There are a few things that I am thinking about getting to go with my Sony A200. First is a monitor calibrator (Xrite Eye Display 2) as I dont think my monitor is showing me the right colours etc or a new lens ideally a fixed 50mm Minolta Prime as I got a 'Beercan' lens couple months ago or a decent tripod for travel.

Which should I go for? Which would be most benifical at the moment?

I feel that I should get the lens but if my computer is not showing me the right things I can't post edit the photos well or correctly.
 
monitor calibration doesnt need to be expensive, and besides PP is only needed on photo's that have issues in the first place sao common sense says to buy some lenses.

i bought the minolta 50mm f1.7 of someone from here and its a brilliant lens, i love primes now and im now going to get a sony 30mm f2.8 macro, sony 50mm f1.4 and the tamron 90mm f2.8 macro.
 
Personally I'd buy the lens and see if someone can lend me a calibrator for a few hours!
 
With winter just being round the corner, with it's shorter days and poor light, I'd be temted to start looking for a tripod to allow for longer exposures unless you can afford the very fastest lenses. At least then you'll be able to keep practising and trying new directions (go through the tutorial section for ideas).

That should give you about 4-5 months to save for the glass and maybe borrow a screen calibrator (or buy second hand then sell again at same price)

What glass do you already have and what do you shoot?
 
GarynLea said:
With winter just being round the corner, with it's shorter days and poor light, I'd be temted to start looking for a tripod to allow for longer exposures unless you can afford the very fastest lenses. At least then you'll be able to keep practising and trying new directions (go through the tutorial section for ideas).

That should give you about 4-5 months to save for the glass and maybe borrow a screen calibrator (or buy second hand then sell again at same price)

What glass do you already have and what do you shoot?
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The glass that I have at the moment is the kit lens Sony 18-70mm f3.5-5.6 and Minolta AF 70-210 F4 'beercan' lens. They are the only two that I have at the moment. The stuff that I mainly shoot and really interested in is architecture (buildings/objects with straight lines) and bit of other stuff like widelife/animals/people. Landscapes I have least experience in at the moment. Have a look at my flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/turnipfarmer/ and this will give a better idea of what I shoot.
 
mastertrinity said:
monitor calibration doesnt need to be expensive, and besides PP is only needed on photo's that have issues in the first place sao common sense says to buy some lenses.

i bought the minolta 50mm f1.7 of someone from here and its a brilliant lens, i love primes now and im now going to get a sony 30mm f2.8 macro, sony 50mm f1.4 and the tamron 90mm f2.8 macro.
Click to expand...

wow, that's really loving the primes.

i'm hoping to save up and get a 50mm f1.8 for the nikon

although i'm tempted to save more and get another tamron 28-75 f2.8
 
p1tse had a look at those lens you have for sale, they are very nice but a bit out of my price range at the moment.

I have been looking at ebay for the Minolta 50mm and there seems a few on there. Is it best waiting for the 1.4 or the 1.7 version? Also what is the adantage of havinga fixed 50mm? what can this lens do over my standard kit lens at 50mm?
 
TurnipFarmer said:
p1tse had a look at those lens you have for sale, they are very nice but a bit out of my price range at the moment.

I have been looking at ebay for the Minolta 50mm and there seems a few on there. Is it best waiting for the 1.4 or the 1.7 version? Also what is the adantage of havinga fixed 50mm? what can this lens do over my standard kit lens at 50mm?
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go to the thread and post offers ;-)
 
TurnipFarmer said:
anything else that I should get before these that I have missed?
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IMHO if I were you I would learn to use what you have at the moment. Keep shooting, practising and figure out what you like to shoot. From there you may find you are not getting exactly what you seek to achieve in your photography, ie do you need a wider lens or a longer lens etc. Then you may be able to make your decision based upon where the "gaps" are. HTH:)
 
TurnipFarmer said:
Also what is the adantage of havinga fixed 50mm? what can this lens do over my standard kit lens at 50mm?
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A fixed 50mm prime has a fixed apature of say 1.4 / 1.7 etc, your standard kit zoom lens will have an appature of 3.5-5.6 say, so the fixed lens will be much wider at 50mm than your kit zoom lens at 50mm - this would probably be 4.5 or 5.6.

Hope that makes sense :thumbs:
 
well to just give everyone an update but I have just got a Minolta 50mm 1.7 on ebay for £82 which I believe is a fair price. I think this will go inline with my beercan and my kit lens quite well and gives me a good range for shooting. I believe that it is better spending on glass than on monitor calibration at the moment.
 
Just got my new lens today :D, just gonna try it out however I have noticed that there is a bit of dust on the rear part of the lens as I think the rear lens cap came off during posting, which is the best way to clean the rear lens? At the moment I have a proper lens cloth will that do if I use it lightly? or do I need a blower? will it be safe to use with my camera with a bit of dust on the rear lens or should I wait?
 
TurnipFarmer said:
I have been looking at ebay for the Minolta 50mm and there seems a few on there. Is it best waiting for the 1.4 or the 1.7 version? Also what is the adantage of havinga fixed 50mm? what can this lens do over my standard kit lens at 50mm?
Click to expand...

primes will almost(if not)always give you better image quality.also,because of their wide aperture,will give you fast shutter speeds in low light situations,plus a shallow D.O.F.

the downside(if you can call it that) of primes is that you have to walk back and forth to zoom in or out...;)

as for 1.4 v 1.7...depends on your needs!
 
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