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Advice for a digital SLR newbie
#1

Good morning (or afternoon depending),

Yesterday I was finally able to purchase my digital SLR. I had been wavering between the Nikon D40 and the Canon Rebel XTi. In the end, I picked up the Canon and so far, I am very pleased with it. I wanted to get some advice on accessories for the camera based on what kinds of photos I am wanting to take.

One of my hobbies is tying dry flies for fly fishing, so I will need some sort of macro lens for these shots.

In the warmer weather, I am the designated photographer for the group when we all go wakeboarding/waterskiing. I will need some sort of zoom lens or telephoto lens for these shots. In addition, I will probably be taking landscape shots and/or wildlife shots.

Can you all give me some recommendations of lenses that would be suitable for me with what I am wanting to do? My budget is not extremely tight, but is somewhat limited. Photography is a budding hobby for me, so I do not want to sink a bunch of money into lenses if I decide that I do not have the knack for photography.

Besides lenses, are there other accessories you would recommend? I already have a very nice tripod and accessory bag, but I am wondering about filters and so forth.

Thanks a bunch!

Jon
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#2

I am not familiar with Canon lenses,but the Tamron 90mm DI macro (available for Canon mount) is absolutely exceptional, sharp as a tack, and will cost much less than a Canon lens.
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#3

The Tamron 70-300 which I have, will take macro shots but not from very close to. Depending on F/L 3/4 - 2 Metres distance from subject. But some say the canon 70-200 is better.
But for £99.00 sterling who cares.Big Grin

Lumix LX5.
Canon 350 D.+ 18-55 Kit lens + Tamron 70-300 macro. + Canon 50mm f1.8 + Manfrotto tripod, in bag.
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#4

Rather than a lens you might want to consider a set of extension tubes. Focusing on closer objects requires that you move the lens further from the film/sensor plane. Macro lenses simulate that with movable internal elements that bend the light rays to focus on closer objects. An extension tube however, physically moves the lens out. It is simply a hollow tube with the necessary electronic connections to make your camera controls work. If you have a sharp prime lens it would be cheaper to get a set of tubes than to invest in more glass. The one potential problem is if you are using the stock EF-S lens that comes on the XTi, it won't fit on the EOS extension tubes. The tubes fit the body and you can put any of the EOS EF (film camera) lenses on them but not the EF-S digital only lenses with the back focus feature. There are non-automatic tubes (no electronic connections for AF and f/stop control) advertised on eBay but I have yet to see any automatic tubes made for the EF-S lenses. If you have an EF lens that you can manually control the f/stops on you probably want to control the focus manually anyway on macro shots.
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