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3rdEye

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Hello all, firt post in this forum.

I'm currently a prosumer camera user so please understand my rather insuffiecient knowledge.

I've been thinking about purchasing a 10D (or its successor) and I've been trying to figure out which lenses I should start out with. Only problem is I don't completely understand them.

For starters, I keep hereing that the "L" lenses offer the best quality, is this true? First I didn't think I could find any "L" lenses cause it seemed all the lenses are marked "EF".

I'm beginning to think this is just the name of the mount tha lens have, correct?

If so where are the "L" Lenses.

To further complicate things the lense all have apertures marked on them. Is the aperature controlled by the lens or the camera? What I mean is if a camera has the ability to go to F16 but you have an EF 55-200mm f4.5-5.6 II USM lens does that mean while that lens is attach you can only ustillize aperatures f4.5-5.6? I realize I may be way off base here and actually hope that I am. If I am wrong (which I think and hope I am) what does the aperature designations on lens represent?

I would like to get as much zoom as I can from a single lens. Is there any drawbacks from getting 28-300mm zoom lens other than costs?

Is there any reason why some of Canon's lenses are a grayish-silver color? does a lens of that color disignate that it is somehow different or is it done just to confuse people such as myself?

Hopefully this is my last question. One thing I really admire about SLR's is that I'm told that I'll be able to keep my lenses for a long time to come and just upgrade the camera body when the time comes; true?

I know I've asked a lot of questions buy I would like to make an informed purchased and I have yet to find a better resource than dpreview.

Thanks in advance
 
what is a DO lens? I've only seen one in Canons lens lineup.

and I'm guessing IS stands for Image Stabilizer or Image Stabilization; is it worth it?
 
3rdEye,

I'm no pro, but I can at least try and answer your questions. ;)
If others disagree or think they can help you better, they'll you know.
3rdEye said:
For starters, I keep hereing that the "L" lenses offer the best
quality, is this true?
Click to expand...
Yes.

The "L" indicator is for Canon lenses. You will find the indicator behind the aperture. For instance: Canon ef 14/2.8 L usm
The L-lenses all have the gray color which answers another question.

See: http://www.usa.canon.com/html/eflenses/technology/lseries.html
3rdEye said:
To further complicate things the lense all have apertures marked on
them. Is the aperature controlled by the lens or the camera?
Click to expand...
It's controlled by the lens, camera or you. :-)
See further.
3rdEye said:
What
I mean is if a camera has the ability to go to F16 but you have an
EF 55-200mm f4.5-5.6 II USM lens does that mean while that lens is
attach you can only ustillize aperatures f4.5-5.6?
Click to expand...
No. It means that the maximum aperture (smallest number) for 55mm = 4.5 and for 200mm = 5.6

The higher the number, the more light you will need to make a picture, so the longer the exposure will be.
There's no limit to the smallest aperture (highest number) that can be used.

So, in this respect, the maximum aperture is controlled by the lens.

When taking a picture, you can let the camera automatically decide what aperture to use, but it's also possible to select an aperture yourself (considering the limitations of the lens).
3rdEye said:
I would like to get as much zoom as I can from a single lens. Is
there any drawbacks from getting 28-300mm zoom lens other than
costs?
Click to expand...
In general:

Quality.
The higher the zoom factor, the lower the quality.

With this I mean: 28-300 has a zoom factor of over 10. When you take a picture at 300 mm, the quality of that pciture will be less than when you take a picture with a lens that has a fixed focal length of 300mm.

Light
The higher the zoom factor, the more light you will need when you zoom in.
3rdEye said:
Hopefully this is my last question. One thing I really admire
about SLR's is that I'm told that I'll be able to keep my lenses
for a long time to come and just upgrade the camera body when the
time comes; true?
Click to expand...
Yes.

Well, actually not quite. There are special lenses out there for digital cameras (like the 18-55mm lens that comes with the 300D or the Sigma 18-125mm) that are designed for digital camera's with a crop factor.

When you now get the 300D for instance, and in the future you decide to buy a camera without a crop factor (full frame), you won't be able to use those lenses anymore.

To understand what the crop factor is, I recommend doing a google search. ;-)

See for instance http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/dslr-mag.shtml

There are numerous sites on the internet that can teach you the basics of photography.
Do a search and start reading. It's fun. ;)
And ofcourse ask here if you don't understand.

--

Pieter van Dieren
http://www.pbase.com/pidi
 
Hello,
I can briefly address your questions to get you on the right track.
3rdEye said:
For starters, I keep hereing that the "L" lenses offer the best
quality, is this true? First I didn't think I could find any "L"
lenses cause it seemed all the lenses are marked "EF".
I'm beginning to think this is just the name of the mount tha lens
have, correct?
Click to expand...
L lenses generally offer the best quality, but most people don't need such big and expensive lenses. "EF" is the name of the Canon mount. You will find the L letter somewhere towards the end of the long lens names. Here's one: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=162616&is=USA

...
3rdEye said:
If I am wrong
(which I think and hope I am) what does the aperature designations
on lens represent?
Click to expand...
The aperture designation is the maximum aperture that particular lens is capable of. Most lenses are capable of stopping down to f/32 or even f/64, but these settings are not as interesting. When two apertures are given, like f/3.5-5.6, the first one is the max when zoomed to the widest focal length and the second is for the most narrow (longest) setting.
3rdEye said:
I would like to get as much zoom as I can from a single lens. Is
there any drawbacks from getting 28-300mm zoom lens other than
costs?
Click to expand...
Primarily I think people complain about poor image quality. Good quality wide-range zooms really costs alot. Another big drawback is the limited max aperture.
3rdEye said:
Is there any reason why some of Canon's lenses are a grayish-silver
color? does a lens of that color disignate that it is somehow
different or is it done just to confuse people such as myself?
Click to expand...
The "white" lenses are the long L lenses (that is, the most expensive ones most people are ever going to see). I guess the color mainly serve the purpose of conveying that piece of information. ;)
3rdEye said:
Hopefully this is my last question. One thing I really admire
about SLR's is that I'm told that I'll be able to keep my lenses
for a long time to come and just upgrade the camera body when the
time comes; true?
Click to expand...
That's the idea, yes.
3rdEye said:
I know I've asked a lot of questions buy I would like to make an
informed purchased and I have yet to find a better resource than
dpreview.
Click to expand...
When I got my 300D, I found it worthwhile to search out a number of sites... Anyway, good luck.

Anders
 
If you are not totally green and know how to utilize aperture and shutter you may turn out great. Canon, as well as a few others have lenses that for the most part have aperture controls built into the lens barrel. Canon decided to allow the camera body to control the amount since they were changing to an electronic mount system. It answered a few pro's quest to keep the aperture consistent when they changed lenses in the field during rush moments. Mount any lens at aperture 5.6 or less and you will have all the lenses automatically set to the chosen aperture. "L" lenses are named so due to the manner of manufacture, whereby Canon spares no cost to make a lens that would stand up to greater abuse than the relative norm, also its optical quality is (attempted to) remain consistant across the (optical) plane. DO is a Canon term to signify a different type of glass and cut allowing them to show that they have worked out a new formula for lenses thereby, allowing a lighter weight.

Finally, having a lens whos aperture change or not throughout its zoom range is the reason for the aperture indications on the lens barrel. In the field there is little time to worry about what zoom setting a pro is at, so Canon make a fw zoom lenses with consistant apertures.
 
... Pro or not, I found your info very helpful.
thanks for the links too.
Pidi said:
I'm no pro, but I can at least try and answer your questions. ;)
If others disagree or think they can help you better, they'll you
know.
Pidi said:
For starters, I keep hereing that the "L" lenses offer the best
quality, is this true?
Click to expand...
Yes.
The "L" indicator is for Canon lenses. You will find the indicator
behind the aperture. For instance: Canon ef 14/2.8 L usm
The L-lenses all have the gray color which answers another question.

See: http://www.usa.canon.com/html/eflenses/technology/lseries.html
Pidi said:
To further complicate things the lense all have apertures marked on
them. Is the aperature controlled by the lens or the camera?
Click to expand...
It's controlled by the lens, camera or you. :-)
See further.
Pidi said:
What
I mean is if a camera has the ability to go to F16 but you have an
EF 55-200mm f4.5-5.6 II USM lens does that mean while that lens is
attach you can only ustillize aperatures f4.5-5.6?
Click to expand...
No. It means that the maximum aperture (smallest number) for 55mm =
4.5 and for 200mm = 5.6
The higher the number, the more light you will need to make a
picture, so the longer the exposure will be.
There's no limit to the smallest aperture (highest number) that can
be used.

So, in this respect, the maximum aperture is controlled by the lens.
When taking a picture, you can let the camera automatically decide
what aperture to use, but it's also possible to select an aperture
yourself (considering the limitations of the lens).
Pidi said:
I would like to get as much zoom as I can from a single lens. Is
there any drawbacks from getting 28-300mm zoom lens other than
costs?
Click to expand...
In general:

Quality.
The higher the zoom factor, the lower the quality.
With this I mean: 28-300 has a zoom factor of over 10. When you
take a picture at 300 mm, the quality of that pciture will be less
than when you take a picture with a lens that has a fixed focal
length of 300mm.

Light
The higher the zoom factor, the more light you will need when you
zoom in.
Pidi said:
Hopefully this is my last question. One thing I really admire
about SLR's is that I'm told that I'll be able to keep my lenses
for a long time to come and just upgrade the camera body when the
time comes; true?
Click to expand...
Yes.
Well, actually not quite. There are special lenses out there for
digital cameras (like the 18-55mm lens that comes with the 300D or
the Sigma 18-125mm) that are designed for digital camera's with a
crop factor.
When you now get the 300D for instance, and in the future you
decide to buy a camera without a crop factor (full frame), you
won't be able to use those lenses anymore.

To understand what the crop factor is, I recommend doing a google
search. ;-)
See for instance
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/dslr-mag.shtml

There are numerous sites on the internet that can teach you the
basics of photography.
Do a search and start reading. It's fun. ;)
And ofcourse ask here if you don't understand.

--

Pieter van Dieren
http://www.pbase.com/pidi
Click to expand...
 
andpe said:
andpe said:
For starters, I keep hereing that the "L" lenses offer the best
quality, is this true? First I didn't think I could find any "L"
lenses cause it seemed all the lenses are marked "EF".
I'm beginning to think this is just the name of the mount tha lens
have, correct?
Click to expand...
L lenses generally offer the best quality, but most people don't
need such big and expensive lenses. "EF" is the name of the Canon
mount. You will find the L letter somewhere towards the end of the
long lens names. Here's one:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=162616&is=USA

...
andpe said:
If I am wrong
(which I think and hope I am) what does the aperature designations
on lens represent?
Click to expand...
The aperture designation is the maximum aperture that particular
lens is capable of. Most lenses are capable of stopping down to
f/32 or even f/64, but these settings are not as interesting. When
two apertures are given, like f/3.5-5.6, the first one is the max
when zoomed to the widest focal length and the second is for the
most narrow (longest) setting.
andpe said:
I would like to get as much zoom as I can from a single lens. Is
there any drawbacks from getting 28-300mm zoom lens other than
costs?
Click to expand...
Primarily I think people complain about poor image quality. Good
quality wide-range zooms really costs alot. Another big drawback is
the limited max aperture.
andpe said:
Is there any reason why some of Canon's lenses are a grayish-silver
color? does a lens of that color disignate that it is somehow
different or is it done just to confuse people such as myself?
Click to expand...
The "white" lenses are the long L lenses (that is, the most
expensive ones most people are ever going to see). I guess the
color mainly serve the purpose of conveying that piece of
information. ;)
andpe said:
Hopefully this is my last question. One thing I really admire
about SLR's is that I'm told that I'll be able to keep my lenses
for a long time to come and just upgrade the camera body when the
time comes; true?
Click to expand...
That's the idea, yes.
andpe said:
I know I've asked a lot of questions buy I would like to make an
informed purchased and I have yet to find a better resource than
dpreview.
Click to expand...
When I got my 300D, I found it worthwhile to search out a number of
sites... Anyway, good luck.

Anders
Click to expand...
 
... just new to SLR's. I've been contiplating getting one for sometime now. I've been using a Sony 717 and have been doing Sports, Portraiture, event and even a few weddings. For weddings, I always have to explain to the potential customer the limitations of my prosumer camera and even though they always endup happy witht he final product, I still find myself to limited durring the shoot especially when it comes to speed (shutter lag), a very shallow DOF and noise free images shot at ISO higher than 200.

Thanks for you input. The information is very much apreciated.
jpringlephoto said:
If you are not totally green and know how to utilize aperture and
shutter you may turn out great. Canon, as well as a few others have
lenses that for the most part have aperture controls built into the
lens barrel. Canon decided to allow the camera body to control the
amount since they were changing to an electronic mount system. It
answered a few pro's quest to keep the aperture consistent when
they changed lenses in the field during rush moments. Mount any
lens at aperture 5.6 or less and you will have all the lenses
automatically set to the chosen aperture. "L" lenses are named so
due to the manner of manufacture, whereby Canon spares no cost to
make a lens that would stand up to greater abuse than the relative
norm, also its optical quality is (attempted to) remain consistant
across the (optical) plane. DO is a Canon term to signify a
different type of glass and cut allowing them to show that they
have worked out a new formula for lenses thereby, allowing a
lighter weight.
Finally, having a lens whos aperture change or not throughout its
zoom range is the reason for the aperture indications on the lens
barrel. In the field there is little time to worry about what zoom
setting a pro is at, so Canon make a fw zoom lenses with consistant
apertures.
Click to expand...
 
for all the information and links. Now when I go back to the canon site, I'll know exactly what I'm looking at and looking for :-)

Sure, I'll be back with more questions, hopefully it won't be long before I will be posting images shot from a DSLR.
3rdEye said:
Hello all, firt post in this forum.

I'm currently a prosumer camera user so please understand my rather
insuffiecient knowledge.

I've been thinking about purchasing a 10D (or its successor) and
I've been trying to figure out which lenses I should start out
with. Only problem is I don't completely understand them.

For starters, I keep hereing that the "L" lenses offer the best
quality, is this true? First I didn't think I could find any "L"
lenses cause it seemed all the lenses are marked "EF".
I'm beginning to think this is just the name of the mount tha lens
have, correct?

If so where are the "L" Lenses.

To further complicate things the lense all have apertures marked on
them. Is the aperature controlled by the lens or the camera? What
I mean is if a camera has the ability to go to F16 but you have an
EF 55-200mm f4.5-5.6 II USM lens does that mean while that lens is
attach you can only ustillize aperatures f4.5-5.6? I realize I may
be way off base here and actually hope that I am. If I am wrong
(which I think and hope I am) what does the aperature designations
on lens represent?

I would like to get as much zoom as I can from a single lens. Is
there any drawbacks from getting 28-300mm zoom lens other than
costs?

Is there any reason why some of Canon's lenses are a grayish-silver
color? does a lens of that color disignate that it is somehow
different or is it done just to confuse people such as myself?

Hopefully this is my last question. One thing I really admire
about SLR's is that I'm told that I'll be able to keep my lenses
for a long time to come and just upgrade the camera body when the
time comes; true?

I know I've asked a lot of questions buy I would like to make an
informed purchased and I have yet to find a better resource than
dpreview.

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
 
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