Recommended Extras

[musado]

Hi All

I've just bought a Canon 350D [upgrading from my Canon S3IS to full DSLR] and would like to know what extras [lenses, filters,external flash, extra battery etc] I should look out for

TIA

[dpSparhawk]

UV Filter, Circular Polariser. UV to protect the front element from scratches (unless using a hood) and a CPL to enhance blues in skies and reduce glare and reflections on metal and water. A couple of neutral density filters wouldn't harm either. Full or graduated. Graduated helps reduce overexposed skies whilst maintaining definition in land when doing landscapes.

Giotto Rocket Blower for removing dust particles.

Couple of extra CF Cards - Don't go for the largest ones. Get a few small sized ones. They read quicker and if one fails, it's less photos lost.

You could buy a couple of spare batteries. Just like the one that it comes with and to compliment them you could buy a battery grip.

As for lenses. You buy lenses based on what you want to shoot. Want to do some portraits with nice blurred backgrounds, a Canon 50mm F1.8 Mk II is a great lens, cheap and cheerful but nice and sharp. Most of us on here have one.

If you want to shoot Macro, you can't go wrong with a Sigma 105 EX DG. Retail in at just over £300. The 105 can also be used as a nice portrait lens too as it drops to F2.8 which can provide those nice soft backgrounds (where soft BG's are required in portraiture)

Want to shoot long distance. A 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens is what you need. As for what model. Depends on how much you want to spend.

If you want to shoot extra wide angle stuff. The Sigma 10-20mm is a superb lens. Check out Neo's shots. This one is also retailing at around £350 ish. There's a new version out which is £450 upwards.

Then if you want an all round lens (if there is such a thing), you could keep your kit 18-55 lens or you could go for something like the Canon 17-85 which pulls back a tiny bit wider but gives you that little bit of extra reach. You could consider a 24-105 L but that's serious kit and serious money

As for external flash. Canon Speedlite 430EX Mk II is a good unit. I have one and it's a great piece of kit.

Ooh, and a Tripod is an absolute no brainer. Would recommend Manfrotto.

Software: Photoshop CS3 (or CS4) and Lightroom. although Lightroom isn't essential. If you can't get Photoshop, Canons own software can be useful.

[musado]

Thanks, VERY comprehensive response

Wrt extra batteries, Canon's own? Or any of the after market ones any good?

I already have a half decent tripod & monopod [that's if Jessops own brand are any good]

Any potenial know "issues" with the 350D I should be on the lookout for?

[dpSparhawk]

Don't waste money on Canon's own batteries. £60 for a unit is far too expensive. However on the other side to that, I personally would say avoid paying for those £8 compatibles. I bought two and returned them (with a bit of trouble I might add) after both of them failed.

I settled for two ANSMANN compatibles which were £19 each delivered. They've not failed me yet and last for ages.

Most tripods are fine and Jessops own are fine enough to use and you should be fine with them. Manfrotto are the choice of most 'toggers. I'd say wait until you're out on a windy day. If your camera is shaking and your images are suffering a bit of camera shake, then you may need to consider something more sturdy.

Personally, I don't know of any issues with the 350D. I have the model after (The 400D) and it's been fine.

[dpSparhawk]

Ooh, add onto your list a Canon RC1 IR remote shutter release. Can be picked up for less than £20 from various online retailers...or £3.99 from some HK Ebayers but with £15 delivery

[BertRoot]

The 350D is a fine camera so good choice. As above I always buy Annsmann batteries and they are the bollocks and last easily as well as Canon ones. Try Battery Force. Good prices and usually send out offers regularly. Ian's advice above is all good though do look at other lenses as well as the Sigma 10-20, Sigma are not renowned for quality control so I would never touch an imported one. The Tokina 12-24 gets very good reviews. Plumped for the Tokina 11-16 personally and it produces great shots at f/2.8.

[musado]

Ooh, add onto your list a Canon RC1 IR remote shutter release. Can be picked up for less than £20 from various online retailers...or £3.99 from some HK Ebayers but with £15 delivery

I'm currently bidding on a Canon RC5 remote on ebay

[dpSparhawk]

The 350D is a fine camera so good choice. As above I always buy Annsmann batteries and they are the bollocks and last easily as well as Canon ones. Try Battery Force. Good prices and usually send out offers regularly. Ian's advice above is all good though do look at other lenses as well as the Sigma 10-20, Sigma are not renowned for quality control so I would never touch an imported one. The Tokina 12-24 gets very good reviews. Plumped for the Tokina 11-16 personally and it produces great shots at f/2.8.

Decent points from Bert.

There's also the Canon 10-22. It's L Glass but they don't brand it as such. However it's a tad more expensive than the others. It's a very good lens though.

Musado, welcome to wondering where the hell all your money is going to .

Photography is very fun, very rewarding if not very expensive once you get the bug . That said, great shots can be produced with the standard kit so you never lose out

[musado]

Thanks for the excellent advice so far guys

Is this worth bidding on?

Item number:280410809347

Canon EF 35-105mm F4.5-5.6 AF Zoom Lens for EOS SLRs

[neo2810]

Thanks for the excellent advice so far guys

Is this worth bidding on?

Item number:280410809347

Canon EF 35-105mm F4.5-5.6 AF Zoom Lens for EOS SLRs

Depends what you want. It's an old lens, not optically great, very noisy and slow to AF. On the flip side, it's cheap....

[musado]

Depends what you want. It's an old lens, not optically great, very noisy and slow to AF. On the flip side, it's cheap....

Thanks, saved me wasting my money then

I've just moved up from a bridge camera [Canon S3IS with 12x optical zoom] to the Canon 350d with no zoom, so am not quite up to speed on the lenses I better off getting yet.

This one any good then?

Item Number: 270471131394

Canon EF 35-80mm F4-5.6 USM AF Zoom Lens for EOS SLRs

Btw, this is the top end of my budget for now as the missus doesnt' know how much I've spent yet

[dpSparhawk]

Being honest mate, that 35-80 is a 19 year old lens. That is, it was first marketed then. Reviews say it's soft and very slow. I'd be concerned as to the quality of the actual unit itself if you received one.
A couple of sample images I've seen aren't very good. It was designed primarily for a film camera, although many people do use such lenses on DSLRs because if they've been well looked after they should be fine.

However, it's cheap so on one of the reviews it says the pros are:

You don't care if you drop it and can be converted into a cheap macro lens (that is probably with extension tubes).

Did you get a kit 18-55 lens with your 350D? If so, that will be fine for anything you need at the moment. I'd hide some cash under the floorboards, add a little to it when you can and get a better lens when you get the chance.

[musado]

Did you get a kit 18-55 lens with your 350D?

I did & just got the RC5 remote as well

What sort of zoom lens should I be looking for once I've stashed some more cash under the floorboards then?

[neo2810]

As Kry says, it's more about budget really. I can recommend tons of lenses which I've had or have, but most of them are £500+.
Best thing to do is decide what sort of photography you're inclined towards while using your kit lens (buy a Nifty now since it's under £100 and awesome IQ). Your general choices are landscape, architecture, sports, portrait (studio work, environmental, or street), automotive and still life (incl macro). once you know which route you're likely to take, you can start looking at lens choices and use your limited budget more wisely.
It's easy to want tons of different lenses but you soon find you'll never use half of them. Find out what you need first.

[neo2810]

And ffs, stop looking at cheap shit on Ebay

[musado]

And ffs, stop looking at cheap shit on Ebay

Already have

The 18-55mm kit lens really sucks! I can't get a shapr focus on anything, so, till my budget improves somewhat is it worth me getting one of these?

Tamron 55-200 F4/5.6 DiII

[musado]

It doesn't.
Someone else might be able to explain or give you a solution but the kit lens far from sucks.

Oh, ok

But as I stated above I cannot get a sharp focus using either auto or manual focus. Hopefully someone will tell me where I'm going wrong

[BertRoot]

Not all lenses are made equally and quality control on kit lenses isn't the best. I had a nice sharp one but a mate of mines was wank cos I tested it on my 400D for him and it wasn't good. It could have had a nudge in transit that has knocked its ability to focus off at some point. Print yourself a focussing chart off and test is as directed and that will tell you if it has problems.

Try the one here which comes with instructions. You will need to print the last couple of page of the PDF off.

[{{909}}]

the kit lens should be ok, although i think the one bundled with newer entry level ones is better than the one on the older 350D you have. It should be reasonably sharp though regardless.

I think you will have to bite the bullet and splash some cash, there are no decent lenses, either mid or long range that cost 35 quid i'm afraid. You would be wasting your money (and your camera)

Im not sure on canon, but generally half decent entry level lenses start at about 150 but bear in mind, to upgrade from that again is going to cost ALOT more. Are you sure you wanted a DSLR now

[musado]

Thanks for all of the replies so far guys, all useful info

I "think" I've solved the focusing issue..I had the focusing points all wrong, a newbie error

Wrt to lenses, I picked up an immaculate used Tamron AF55-200mm from milfsuds.com for £49 + delivery and it aint to bad..

But, today I got the dreaded "Err99". I tried all of the recommended fixes & nothing worked. Then on the off chance I swapped out the brand new Ansmann battery for the original Canon one & no more "Err99"...weird!

The Ansmann battery has been working fine from the day I got it, then today things just go weird!