New to photography

Discussion in 'Beginner Questions' started by John c, Apr 5, 2021.

  1. John c

    John c New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2021
    Messages:
    10
    Equipment:
    Eos 400d
    Hello all. I would say at 47 I'm a bit of a late starter when it comes to photography but I've gone out and purchased a eos 400d with standard lense.
    My question is I'm looking at a Sigma Zoom K II 70-210mm F/4.5 Lens, will this fit on my 400d?
    It's a cheap camera I know little about, I've sent off for various filters etc and if I get the hang of this 400, il take the plunge and buy me a more top end canon.
    I've been looking at various other cameras over the last 18 months and found canon to be the best out of the rest of them. Il try this kit out and if i get the hang of it then the bank account will be much lighter. Oh, any other tips much appreciated.
     

  2. johnsey

    johnsey Site Moderator Staff Member Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Apr 21, 2017
    Messages:
    2,120
    Location:
    Fargo, ND
    Equipment:
    5dMk4, 5dsR, 5dMk2, 20D, 70-200 2.8L IS, 100mm 2.8 Macro USM, 50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.8, 17-40mm 4.0L, TS-E 24mm 3.5L II, Rokinon 14mm 2.8; Pixma Pro-100
    I believe you are referring to an old lens that they made for pentax K mount and canon FD mount. You can adapt these old lenses to newer EOS bodies but functions are limited since they are old manual lenses, the lenses are worth less than the cost of the adapter. You may be better off considering a modest priced zoom lens like the Canon EF-S 55-250mm made specifically for your crop sensor Canon.
     
    John c likes this.
  3. John c

    John c New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2021
    Messages:
    10
    Equipment:
    Eos 400d
    Thank you for that. Il have a look around.
     
  4. Caladina

    Caladina Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 30, 2020
    Messages:
    1,774
    Equipment:
    Canon M50
    Canon 18-45mm m, Canon 18-150mm m, Canon 55-200mm m, Canon 22mm m, Canon 28mm m macro,
    Sigma 100-400c ef, Sigma 18-35mm art ef,
    7artisans 7.5mm m, Laowa 100mm macro ef, laowa 9mm zeroD m, Vintage M42 Lenses:
    Ashi Super - Takumar 1.8 / 55mm,
    never too late to start, i started a year ago, (jan 2020) the canon M50 is my first proper camera, welcome to the forum John
     
  5. John c

    John c New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2021
    Messages:
    10
    Equipment:
    Eos 400d
    Thank you. I'm hoping it's going to be a great hobby and fill my past time with great things to do.
     
  6. GDN

    GDN Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2018
    Messages:
    2,166
    Location:
    South Island, NZ
    Equipment:
    A little Canon stuff
    You are never too young to learn something new. With my reply, if there is one thing that you take away from it, it is this.

    If you are going to invest in a new lens, if possible, spend good money here.

    If you are looking for a lens with a 70-200 focal length, I would agree with what Johnsey suggested, or have a look at the Canon 70-200mm F4 L IS. I have this lens. I would really recommend that you have a look at it. If you can, always put quality glass on the front of your camera. Not all lenses are created equal. If you put a lens that gives you soft images, you will end up being disappointed and frustrated. You then end up chasing your tail trying to get to the bottom of the issue. You should be able to enjoy your new hobby, not find it to be a path of frustration.

    With the camera that you have. I am sure that it will be just fine. You don't need the best top model to get great images. Learn how to use it, if you have questions, just ask here, we will chip in to help you out.

    Spend some time playing with your camera. Make mistakes. Find out what sort of images you enjoy taking. Then maybe find another lens that help you create the images that you are looking for.

    Let us know how your journey goes.

    Gary
     
  7. John c

    John c New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2021
    Messages:
    10
    Equipment:
    Eos 400d
    Thanks Gary. It's figuring out what the camera does, plus I've ordered filters and il see what they do but it's a journey I'm looking forward to.
     
  8. Craig Sherriff

    Craig Sherriff Well-Known Member Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2017
    Messages:
    3,171
    Location:
    Tasmania, Australia
    Equipment:
    60D, 10D, 50D 1dmark3, T70, AV1, lenses ranging from 28mm to 600 mm, canonet Junior, Canonet QL 25, Mamiya C3 and 3 lens sets,Mamiya 645 pro TL and 3 lenses. Pentax MG and various lenses, Toyoview 4 * 5 inch large format camera,Calimat C1 8*10 inch ultra large format camera.
    Welcome to the forum John, as Gary said take heaps of images and learn by your mistakes. If you have any questions, there is always some one on the forum who is wiling to give advice or the other source of information is You Tube. My suggestion for a lens is the 50mm F1.8. There are a lot of them around and they are cheap compared to a lot of other lenses. 50mm is a size that is close to what the eye sees. At F1.8 this lets a lot of light in, so it is good for low light situations and a excellent lens for just walking around and portrait shots. This lens may look cheap and nasty but it give great results, that is why it is call the plastic fantastic. With this and the other suggestion give look them up on You Tube, it will give you a idea as to what we are referring to or take your camera down to a good camera shop and try some of their lenses they have for sale there on your camera. Any good camera shop should let you do this. This will give you an idea and feel for the lenses.
     
    Last edited: Apr 5, 2021
  9. Caladina

    Caladina Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 30, 2020
    Messages:
    1,774
    Equipment:
    Canon M50
    Canon 18-45mm m, Canon 18-150mm m, Canon 55-200mm m, Canon 22mm m, Canon 28mm m macro,
    Sigma 100-400c ef, Sigma 18-35mm art ef,
    7artisans 7.5mm m, Laowa 100mm macro ef, laowa 9mm zeroD m, Vintage M42 Lenses:
    Ashi Super - Takumar 1.8 / 55mm,
    watch out for the rabbit holes, they'll get you.

    what subject matter interests you the most at the moment in photography John,
    wildlife, landscapes still life street etc?
    which country are you in John, if you in the uk mpb.com are a good company to get second hand lenses from, used them quite a bit
     
    Last edited: Apr 5, 2021
  10. John c

    John c New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2021
    Messages:
    10
    Equipment:
    Eos 400d
    I'm from the UK but will have a look around. I can't wait to start taking pictures. The lense thats coming with is a 28-80 so hoping that will keep me busy till I get another few lenses
     
  11. John c

    John c New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2021
    Messages:
    10
    Equipment:
    Eos 400d
    Does anyone know if these will fit my camera. Still waiting for my camera to arrive, been a week now and just itching to start using it.
     

    Attached Files:

  12. GDN

    GDN Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2018
    Messages:
    2,166
    Location:
    South Island, NZ
    Equipment:
    A little Canon stuff
    Nope. Sorry John, but these are Pentax K mount lenses.

    You are looking for Canon EOS mount.

    Gary
     
  13. John c

    John c New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2021
    Messages:
    10
    Equipment:
    Eos 400d
    Thank you Gary. Wasn't sure if it would fit. I'm née to all this so still a big learning curve for me.
    So as long as its a canon eos it should fit and work?
     
  14. GDN

    GDN Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2018
    Messages:
    2,166
    Location:
    South Island, NZ
    Equipment:
    A little Canon stuff
    There is no silly question.

    We all have been at the start of the learning curve.

    That is correct. You should be able to mount any Canon EOS lens to your 400D, and have no problems. You will find out there third party lenses from manufacturers as Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, and there are a few others. They make lenses with different mounts. So you can get a Sigma lens as an example that will fit a Canon EOS body, and a they will make the same lens, but with a different mount to fit a Nikon body. Just something to be aware of.

    Gary
     
  15. John c

    John c New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2021
    Messages:
    10
    Equipment:
    Eos 400d
    Thanks again. Once I've got the hang of this 400d il invest in a better canon. I've heard so many good hints about canon cameras, but again they been around for quite a while.
     
  16. Caladina

    Caladina Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 30, 2020
    Messages:
    1,774
    Equipment:
    Canon M50
    Canon 18-45mm m, Canon 18-150mm m, Canon 55-200mm m, Canon 22mm m, Canon 28mm m macro,
    Sigma 100-400c ef, Sigma 18-35mm art ef,
    7artisans 7.5mm m, Laowa 100mm macro ef, laowa 9mm zeroD m, Vintage M42 Lenses:
    Ashi Super - Takumar 1.8 / 55mm,
    you can mount some fully manual vintage lenses to eos canon cameras with the appropriate adapters like the M42 mount lenses.
    the + side is there are some amazing lenses for a few quid, like pentax Takumar lenses, a great way to find some good quality fast primes.
    the - can be that they are fully manual lenses,
    if you venture down the vintage path there are two types of adapter, flanged and non flanged, this refers to the little pin that sticks out the bottom of the vintage lens for the aperture blade operation, if the lens has a pin out the bottom you want to get a flanged adapter, mostly all my M42 lenses work with this type.
     
    Craig Sherriff likes this.
  17. John c

    John c New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2021
    Messages:
    10
    Equipment:
    Eos 400d
    How do you get a sky really blue. Took a picture last night with just the standard up filter and it don't look like the nice deep blue you see on some. I'm still trying to figure out what features does what. Is it a specific filter I need as I've seen some dark black filters and some purple ones but unsure what their true purpose is
     
  18. Craig Sherriff

    Craig Sherriff Well-Known Member Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2017
    Messages:
    3,171
    Location:
    Tasmania, Australia
    Equipment:
    60D, 10D, 50D 1dmark3, T70, AV1, lenses ranging from 28mm to 600 mm, canonet Junior, Canonet QL 25, Mamiya C3 and 3 lens sets,Mamiya 645 pro TL and 3 lenses. Pentax MG and various lenses, Toyoview 4 * 5 inch large format camera,Calimat C1 8*10 inch ultra large format camera.
    John, can you post an image and we can comment and give advice, next how do you process your digital images eg. photoshop, gimp etc. If you do not have a any thing, may I suggest download a free copy of Gimp as it is free and very similar to more expensive programs. a bonus is there is heaps of free tuition on Youtube and easy to use. My next suggestion is increase your settings by a few stops of light as all cameras and light meters tend to measure everything at 18 percent grey. An example of this is snow comes out grey looking. An extra 2 stops of light may over come this. Thus improving the blue in the sky. My last comment is how accurate is your computer screen as if the colour is off on the screen it may be cause of your blue being out. I have this problem as my screen died and no replacement yet, I use my TV as a replacement computer screen and its starting to show it's age. A easy test is take a coloured object eg. a red coke can, take a photo and then put it up on your screen . you have the coke can to compare the image to. If it is out adjust the screens settings.
     
    Last edited: Apr 15, 2021
  19. Craig Sherriff

    Craig Sherriff Well-Known Member Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2017
    Messages:
    3,171
    Location:
    Tasmania, Australia
    Equipment:
    60D, 10D, 50D 1dmark3, T70, AV1, lenses ranging from 28mm to 600 mm, canonet Junior, Canonet QL 25, Mamiya C3 and 3 lens sets,Mamiya 645 pro TL and 3 lenses. Pentax MG and various lenses, Toyoview 4 * 5 inch large format camera,Calimat C1 8*10 inch ultra large format camera.
    The filters you mentioned sound like the dark black filters as either a circular polerizer which removes the glare from glass or water and useful for landscape images or a neutral density filter, this is used to allow a slower shutter speed when taking images of water falls, waves on a beach or white objects on a very bright day. The purple filters you mentioned sound like a FLW filter which is used to correct the green cast produced by fluorescent lights when using daylight colour film. There is times when it is used for night time or low light shooting.
     
    Last edited: Apr 15, 2021
  20. Caladina

    Caladina Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 30, 2020
    Messages:
    1,774
    Equipment:
    Canon M50
    Canon 18-45mm m, Canon 18-150mm m, Canon 55-200mm m, Canon 22mm m, Canon 28mm m macro,
    Sigma 100-400c ef, Sigma 18-35mm art ef,
    7artisans 7.5mm m, Laowa 100mm macro ef, laowa 9mm zeroD m, Vintage M42 Lenses:
    Ashi Super - Takumar 1.8 / 55mm,
    i think i see the problem here....................:p

    i shoot in jpeg only so i just adjust the wb, i even have it on speed dial,
    i use it to correct for what i'm seeing in rl or to boost the colours a bit.
    sometimes i use w/b for artistic effect

    also try playing with the exposure time, when i was taking some sunset pictures the colours were changing when i altered the shutter speed, try seeing what does what without a filter first.
    i'm not big on landscapes my self though
     
    Last edited: Apr 15, 2021

Share This Page