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450D owner - need new lens and flash, advice please! :)

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MA0984

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Hello everyone! I am sure this has probably been asked 100 times on the board. I apologize for being redundant, however I have read and each case presented is quite unique.

So, I'm a beginner with DSLR and I recently bought the 450D with the kit lens 18-55mm. I've seen on the board the recommendations for the lens and flash a rookie should use, mainly the "Canon EF 55-250 mm IS" and the "Canon 430 ex II".

My question is, is Canon brand the only reliable and compatible brand to use on the 450D? I have heard of other brands that are cheaper and wonder if they provide the same if not similar quality as would the Canon brand. Considering that I'm a rookie and is it worth it to invest on Canon right away... are their other brands that are more affordable and worthwhile?

Suggestions? Thanks in advance!

---
Mel
 
MA0984 said:
Hello everyone! I am sure this has probably been asked 100 times on the board. I apologize for being redundant, however I have read and each case presented is quite unique.

So, I'm a beginner with DSLR and I recently bought the 450D with the kit lens 18-55mm. I've seen on the board the recommendations for the lens and flash a rookie should use, mainly the "Canon EF 55-250 mm IS" and the "Canon 430 ex II".

My question is, is Canon brand the only reliable and compatible brand to use on the 450D? I have heard of other brands that are cheaper and wonder if they provide the same if not similar quality as would the Canon brand. Considering that I'm a rookie and is it worth it to invest on Canon right away... are their other brands that are more affordable and worthwhile?
Click to expand...
The Canon 55-250 is an excellent telephoto zoom - best for the low price

flashes are different, there are many choices depending on your needs, budget, subject, etc.you might want to ask in the lighting section here at or in this forum http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum
 
I've been using the Sigma 18-200mm stabilized lens on my 400D for the last couple of years and find it great. Also a very cheap Canon 50mm prime, and recently the Sigma 10-20 wideangle, but mostly the 18-200. So I don't think you have to stick to Canon products to get a good lens for everyday use.

Flashguns are a different story, from my experience. I've tried third-party, but my new Canon 430EX II is giving much better results - colour and exposure are more consistant and accurate (especially with Picture Styes set to Neutral)

So, shop aroung for lenses but get a Canon flashgun, would be my recommendation :)
 
For a second lens to complement your kit 18-55 IS, the Canon 55-250 IS can't be beat with its quite good image quality, low price, and light weight.

For a flash, consider the Nissin Di622 instead of the Canon 430EX. The Di622 is about $150 and can act as a (manual) slave flash to the camera's pop-up flash as well as being used on-camera ETTL.

I have examples of using the Di622 in another thread:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1025&message=33258131
 
Thanks for the link to that site! It's amazing.

I really gotta think about it, I tend to be impulsive...lol

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Mel
 
You haven't mentioned what you want a lens for. Telephoto, wide angle, macro, portraits, boat anchor......

What is your budget? (don't answer) For example if you are trying to get rid of 10K as fast as you can vs. pennies count. There is no point in getting a 55-250 only to find out in 2 weeks you wanted something better

I wouldn't buy anything until you find yourself wanting the tool to get a particular job done.

If you can afford it stick with canon flashes and lenses.
--
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/33755787@N03/show/

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I do a lot of basic indoor/outdoor shooting of people and nature. I'm still not sure what lens is appropriate for that. If anyone is willing to explain, I'm all ears! :)

---
Mel
 
Your kit lens should be ok for closeups. If you want to be candid, don't use a flash.
 
I already own the 18-55 mm kit lens. That picture was taken by myself with that lens.

I'm curious for a companion lens... I want to take candids of people at farther distances. Also, I enjoy nature and would like to be able to capture birds on tree tops.

--
Mel
 
Ok portrait lens (considering you're on a crop body), the 85mm 1.8 is amazingly hard to beat for price/image quality. Not super cheap but fantastic glass for the price.

The 50mm 1.8 is again, nearly impossible to beat for price/performance.

BOB or BIF (Bird On Branch or Bird In Flight) is a whole different animal. The 55-250mm IS is the board consensus unless you know what you want. After that and the 75-300mm (which the board hates but I rather like) you are starting to get into serious money and weight.
MA0984 said:
I already own the 18-55 mm kit lens. That picture was taken by myself with that lens.

I'm curious for a companion lens... I want to take candids of people at farther distances. Also, I enjoy nature and would like to be able to capture birds on tree tops.

--
Mel
Click to expand...
 
The 55-250mm is a great start for a telephoto lens. It was my second lens after getting the 450D with the kit. But just like you, I wanted some long range nature shots and landscape so my third lens was the Sigma 150-500mm which was awesome... if your able to afford it. It is a great, more affordable alternative to the Canon 100-400mm. :)
MA0984 said:
I already own the 18-55 mm kit lens. That picture was taken by myself with that lens.

I'm curious for a companion lens... I want to take candids of people at farther distances. Also, I enjoy nature and would like to be able to capture birds on tree tops.

--
Mel
Click to expand...
--
Quickly shooter, draw your lens or prepared to get shot.
 
The OP asks whether it is just as safe to by a non-Canon lens. The general answer to that is "no". Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, ... none of them have access to the specification of the Canon body-to-lens communication protocol. They all do reverse engineering to try to find out how it works. And they have had it wrong in the past a few times. This causes older lenses (notably Sigma who are most popular) to not work at all on new Canon bodies (even though the protocol has not changed and older Canon EF lenses work fine). When the 20D was introduced there was again an AF problem in combination with an external flash (even a Sigma flash)...

So buying non-Canon is not safe towards the future, and it is uncertain how much of the AF protocol the current generation of Sigma, Tamron and Tokina lenses understand. There are many problems of inconsistent AF results. (With Canon there are mostly problems with consistent wrong AF results caused by miscalibration.)

I'm glad to hear that at least some people have no problems with some Sigma lenses. I have had my share of non-Canon lenses: a Sigma 18-125 which could not focus reliably (and many other people had that experience), a Tamron 17-35 which worked better regarding AF but very slow, and a Tokina 12-24 which worked fine.

At the moment I only have Canon and have no problems. But I'm not against buying non-Canon. In fact, I tried to buy a Tokina 11-16 but failed to find a copy that was sharp on all 4 corners. (Finding copies with 3 sharp corners was easy (-:...)
Philllister said:
I've been using the Sigma 18-200mm stabilized lens on my 400D for the last couple of years and find it great. Also a very cheap Canon 50mm prime, and recently the Sigma 10-20 wideangle, but mostly the 18-200. So I don't think you have to stick to Canon products to get a good lens for everyday use.

Flashguns are a different story, from my experience. I've tried third-party, but my new Canon 430EX II is giving much better results - colour and exposure are more consistant and accurate (especially with Picture Styes set to Neutral)

So, shop aroung for lenses but get a Canon flashgun, would be my recommendation :)
Click to expand...
--
Slowly learning to use the 450D and and the Canon G6.
Public pictures at http://debra.zenfolio.com/ .
 
MA0984 said:
I'm curious for a companion lens... I want to take candids of people at farther distances. Also, I enjoy nature and would like to be able to capture birds on tree tops.
Mel
Click to expand...
You've really descrbed two different needs there. For the first, the 55-250 is probaby an excellent choice.

For birds, there is NEVER enough lens. :) I spent a lot of time with the Sigma 50-500 (also known as the "Bigma" for reasons that will be obvious if you ever have to lug one around). That was used for this guy:



But even that is small potatoes - both physically and financially - compared to what the "serious" bird guys lug around. Don't even bother to go there until you've spent a good deal of time with the 55-250 and have a good idea of where you are really limited.

--
  • Woody -
Eqiupment: Enough. For now.

Quote: 'The only thing some people will believe is their own eyes. But in the realm of the quality of a printed image, is there really anything else that can be believed? '
 
First, in the price range and focal length range, the Canon 55-250mm IS lens is the best one available from anyone, at close to that price.

But, more broadly, Sigma, Tokina, and Tamron all makegood, very good and excellent lenses, the diffrence in quality often being related to price.

And, like different Canon models, sometimes there's a real bargain in the lineup. The Tamron 28-75mm lens is one excample of a great lens at a reasonable price.

Sigma lenses with EX in the name are excellent.

About flash -- more complicated.

Flash technology is very sophisticated, and to get ALL the features that a Canon camera can deliver, you need a Canon flash, or you need to spend extra money (Quantum), or you need to figure out which model to buy from a confusing lineup like Metz offers.

One of the two Sigma flashes is much more automatic than the other.

So the safe, and least confusing, thing to do is buy a Canon 430EX as your first flash, and if you want a second, then buy a Canon 580EX, which allows you to use the 430EX (you already own) off the camera, with no wired connection.

I have a 420EX (previous model) and it's good for its purposes, and a 580EX, which is excellent. And I have the 555-250, and am very happy with it.

BAK
 
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