Which DSLR for me?

S

Sk8ermaiden

New member
Now which lens to buy next?

I did a brief search, but didn't see anyone with quite the same question recently. My mom knows I want a DSLR and wants to buy me one - or part of one, lol.

The thing is, I am not a photographer. I do take lots of pictures of my kid - I do this with a low-quality but serviceable P&S. I envy the extremely sharp, high quality images my friends with DSLRs get - even the ones who have never learned their camera and only shoot on auto. They are not as good as the images taken by those who HAVE learned their camera, but they're way better than mine!

In the beginner DSLR category, what would y'all recommend? I don't have brand preferences or anything. I mostly take action shots of my kid. Something that has nice pictures from auto?

I'd love to take a class and lots are offered here, but I am not sure how practical adjusting settings will be when I am trying to get pictures of a tasmanian devil!

Any advice is welcome. :)
 
Last edited:
We have a Canon T3i and love it. Hubby is very good with all the dials and buttons and fancy stuff. I mostly take photos on either the automatic setting or the sports setting and have been extremely happy. The plan is for me to learn more about the capabilities of the camera. I'm sure others here can suggest cameras that aren't dSLR that would give you some great crisp pictures, but if you think you MIGHT want to learn how to take pictures someday using the more advanced settings, I think this is a great camera. I can see the difference between the photos that my DH takes and my own, but I am still pretty happy with my pictures. If you watch the sales, you can find the Canons at good prices.
 
I have a 60D right now, but I agree that the Rebel is a great starter DSL to learn on. Good luck in your search!
 
They don't make mine anymore- I've had it for 8-9 years. But I LOVE my Nikon D50. I'm not sure what the equivalent is to it now- or if there even is one?
 
SmallMoments said:
They don't make mine anymore- I've had it for 8-9 years. But I LOVE my Nikon D50. I'm not sure what the equivalent is to it now- or if there even is one?
Click to expand...

HA! I started out with a Nikon D60 and they don't make those anymore either.

I would totally recommend a Canon Rebel (any of them). If I had to do it all over again in the beginning, that is what I would of got.
 
I've had the T4i for a couple of months - love it and am still learning about it.

If you don't think you will use the manual settings that much with a DSLR, definitely check out the more sophisticated P&S cameras. There is a thread about that on here somewhere.
 
Thanks for your help guys. Went to the camera exchange today. I had been looking online at the T3i, but I was able to buy a used T1i, plus upgraded lens, memory card, case, and charger for much less.

So I have a T1i and a 50mm lens. I am a little concerned about the lack of zoom, considering so many of my shots are at gymnastics or the park, etc, but the zoomier lenses were SO much more. Maybe Christmas.

I am looking into classes. The community college offers what I need, but it's an hour away during rush hour, The stuff online seems way more expensive than the local stuff. Anyone know of any free classes or directional stuff for using the camera?
 
I love my Rebel T3i & get the insurance if you can. Mine was trashed in our accident and I had to wait a while but I got a brand new one. Relief of my stress once i got the call.

I usually google or Pinterest it has lots of wonderful info. search how to use ....
 
i have a nikon D3100. i have no idea how to use it. one of my summer goals is to buy a book and teach myself to use it. i personally would have preferred a canon, because all my P&S cameras have been canon, and i've used a canon rebel before. but my hubby-to-be wanted a nikon, so that's what we got. i like it so far. it takes lovely photos, but i have to learn about general photography before i can use it to the full potential. he, on the other hand, took photography in high school. so he says it's a great beginner camera.

enjoy your new canon!

does your town do classes? i know that back home, the recreational department of my hometown does "enrichment" classes of sorts, and sometimes offers photography as one of them. they always have info at our library on stuff like that. i'm sure the city here does it too, i just never looked into it cause i just got the camera, and haven't had time to take any courses. you could always check the library or even call your town/city hall, and see if they do something like that or have any info on it (:
 
I'm trying to get a handle on how much the next lens will cost. I have a f2.8 50 mm. It's awesome. I already tried it out and got some shots with it and my P&S and OH MY! The difference is incredible.

However, I take a lot of pictures at the park, and at gymnastics and things like that. I am pretty sure I am going to need a zoom lens pretty soon. Since it is action stuff I need to not go below an f2.8 for that one either, right? What range do I need? I don't know quite how to translate the MMs to how many yards away I can be. Is anyone aware of any budget lenses that will fit my need? I am OK getting something that will be "pretty good" for what I want if it is less than the "perfect" option. I am hoping that this and the 50mm will be all the lenses I will need.

Thanks. I've been reading old discussions and this seems like a really knowledgeable bunch.

ETA: Reading the old threads. Is an 85 mm f1.8 a better choice for someone on a budget? Or a 100mm 2.8? I have no idea.
 
Last edited:
If you are interested in online photography classes, check out the Candice Stringham classes offered on Jessica Sprague.com. She is a wonderful instructor and makes all of the lingo understandable. I've taken all of her classes & it's really improved my photography.
 
We have the 28-55 and 55-250. They're kit lenses and we are happy. We take photos at school concerts, dance recitals, baseball games, the park, etc. We do want to add a 50mm. Check your local library for instructional books. That's what we did. Our library even has books about photography to lend on Kindle!
 
I really had a hard time understanding the purpose/difference between lenses. It can be a looong discussion so let me give you my shorthand method ;)

1) You can choose a lens by the manufacturer of your camera (more expensive) or an off-brand (less expensive). You will need to do your research as to best buy. I (mostly) cannot afford Canon lenses so I buy Tamron (Sigma is another). But I always cross price both and check for online reviews on both.

2) You need to buy your lens based on what you need it to do. Sounds like you need a zoom lens. I have two ... a 3.5-6.3 18-250mm and a 2.8 28-75mm. The 18-250 zooms farther but needs more light (works really well outside on a nice day). The 28-75 is what is on my camera most of the time, shoots really well in lower light and doesn't zoom as far. I bought the 18-250 when I bought the camera because I needed a zoom to take photos of my grandchildren. As I became a better photographer, I realized the need for the 28-75. If what you need is to take macro shots of flowers, that would be a different lens. The advantage of a prime lens (your 85mm or 100mm) is that the aperture (opening for light) remains the same but there is no zoom other than your own feet :)

Hope this helps :)
 
Thanks, I will look into that online class!

Yeah, I would LOVE a zoom, but seeing the price and size on the zooms - wowza! IF I can make it work, it seems a prime lens is going to be my best option. I need to see if I can rent it to try the 85 and 100 mm and see how they work at gymnastics and outside. As long as it gets me "close enough" and I can crop my pictures, I'll be fine I think.

Actually my friend has an 18-200 I could borrow, but I'm not even sure I want to! No use getting addicted to things you can't afford! Plus it's probably an f 3.5 I'd think and that's not going to be as good for indoor sports, right?

Yeah, I think I see renting lenses in my future.
 
I started out with a Nikon D40x (don't make them anymore) and then upgraded to a D90 about 4 years ago. I am hoping to upgrade again to a D600 or a D800 within the next year.

As for lenses...get yourself a 50mm and a good zoom lens! I am saving up for a 70-200mm 2.8 lens....but it's going to be a while b/c they cost just as much as the camera does!!!
 
OK, I am in trouble, I just went outside with the kid to try out the lens again. 50 mm f.2.8. It can't get clear pictures of her in motion. So basically this lens is useless for me? I don't take portraits - I generally ONLY go for action pictures.
 
I mean this is incredible, but this is not generally what I DO with a camera.


And my point and shoot does better than this. And they all look like this.

 
Do you have the camera on continuous mode? That way you can snap a bunch of pics with one press of the shutter, esp outside with good light. If you put the camera in P mode, the camera will still do everything for you, but you can select Al servo and Continuous shooting which should work well for action shots. FYI - this is how it works on my t3i, hopefully it's the same on yours.

ETA - I've also found it helpful to manually select a focal point instead of letting the camera do it for me. I keep mine on the center point so I know that's always where the focus will be. Before I figured that out, I had trouble with the camera focusing on something I didn't want, esp. if my subject was in the background.
 
Last edited:
Another question since it looks like your daughter is swinging in the 2nd photo, what shutter speed were you using? With a moving subject, a shutter speed 1/200 and up (1/250, 1/320...) will be faster and prevent motion blur. Are you able to pull the EXIF data from your photo? The EXIF data will be helpful since it would tell us what shutter speed (1/250s etc), what aperture (f/1.8, f/2.8..), what mode the camera was in (manual, auto, AV, TV, etc), focus mode and a few other settings.
 
farrijc said:
Do you have the camera on continuous mode? That way you can snap a bunch of pics with one press of the shutter, esp outside with good light. If you put the camera in P mode, the camera will still do everything for you, but you can select Al servo and Continuous shooting which should work well for action shots. FYI - this is how it works on my t3i, hopefully it's the same on yours.

ETA - I've also found it helpful to manually select a focal point instead of letting the camera do it for me. I keep mine on the center point so I know that's always where the focus will be. Before I figured that out, I had trouble with the camera focusing on something I didn't want, esp. if my subject was in the background.
Click to expand...


I was JUST on auto. I just picked up the field guide for my camera at Half Price Books a few hours ago.

What is al servo? I did not know I could manually select a focus point! I will definitely want to do that.
 
Tronesia said:
Another question since it looks like your daughter is swinging in the 2nd photo, what shutter speed were you using? With a moving subject, a shutter speed 1/200 and up (1/250, 1/320...) will be faster and prevent motion blur. Are you able to pull the EXIF data from your photo? The EXIF data will be helpful since it would tell us what shutter speed (1/250s etc), what aperture (f/1.8, f/2.8..), what mode the camera was in (manual, auto, AV, TV, etc), focus mode and a few other settings.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I did find out this was my problem! I did a little googling and put in in Tv mode, and set the ISO to 1/800. That definitely fixed it. I need to figure out the lowest ISO I can use and still get the shot.

Am I correct in understanding that the smaller the ISO, the less of the image that will be focused? Like using a very fast shutter speed, being focused on eyes, will make the eyes in focus, but the body might be unfocused?

Anyway, not a great picture, but definitely as clear as I could want!!! She's going 1000 miles an hour - I twisted her up as far as the chains would go.
 
Sk8ermaiden said:
Yeah, I did find out this was my problem! I did a little googling and put in in Tv mode, and set the ISO to 1/800. That definitely fixed it. I need to figure out the lowest ISO I can use and still get the shot.

Am I correct in understanding that the smaller the ISO, the less of the image that will be focused? Like using a very fast shutter speed, being focused on eyes, will make the eyes in focus, but the body might be unfocused?
Click to expand...

ISO is a number like 100, 200, 400 etc. - it has to do with light. Less light needs a higher ISO.

Shutter speed is what Tronesia was referring to - it's how fast the shutter opens and closes. The 1/800 you talked about is shutter speed. Keeping the shutter speed at 1/125 or faster will generally stop motion blur.

When you are asking about focus, I think you are meaning aperture. A lower aperture (like an f-stop of 2.8) will make your subject in focus and the background blurry. A higher f-stop like 16 will keep everything in focus.

I know a little about my camera but not a lot! What I generally do is shoot in AV mode (aperture priority). It allows me to select my aperture (f-stop) and ISO, then the camera will select the correct shutter speed... in theory, lol. It does a pretty good job in my experience.
 
Sk8ermaiden said:
I was JUST on auto. I just picked up the field guide for my camera at Half Price Books a few hours ago.

What is al servo? I did not know I could manually select a focus point! I will definitely want to do that.
Click to expand...

Al servo means the camera is focusing on a a moving subject, as opposed to One Shot which is used to focus on a still subject. On auto, you won't be able to change that setting which is why I suggested you try P mode. Hope that helps!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Community platform by XenForo® © 2010-2026 XenForo Ltd.
Back
Top