I know very little about cameras, but that doesn’t stop me making random purchases!

Latest waiting at collection office is a 7D complete with a nifty fifty, which suits what I like snapping, but what would pair well to stop me running towards things, for around a hundred, maybe more if worth it, second hand?

Ta very much.

A pair of shoes and use your legs to provide the zoom.

Minolta 7D or Canon 7D?

Thanks glup, helpful. What shoes though?!

Not expecting much for budget, might abandon idea based on any feedback! Canon btw.

A £100 zoom lens is not going to do a 7D justice (don’t even think you can get one for that money tbh).

What do you want to do with it? What range do you want?

Cheers

Danny B

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000V9D5LG

You’re welcome.

I have a canon 75-300mm in very good condition with box that I could do for £65 posted, email in profile if you are interested.

Should have been clearer, I’m not looking one to match the ability of camera, but one that would give decent results for…ok, max £200. If it’s not worth it, I’ll abandon idea and just start moving more with the 50mm.

Do with it? Just for any occasions I want to zoom up on any unsuspecting garden birdies.

7d, good camera. However it can produce noisy images, and using a cheap lens will only add to this.

Look at the link below. Lots of good in depth reviews. For £100 expect a lens that won’t do your camera justice. When it comes to a lens spend as much as you possibly can. Why? Because a cheap lens means crappy image quality, a good lens is one you will keep for years and years. If you can’t afford L glass (The 7d really needs it)get the best you can.

Or walk closer.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/

Edit: I should learn to use ebay properly.

Thanks seavers, you’re right, I should remember the whole glass thing. I had a 5d classic with a 24-105 and wish I’d never sold it, but that’s what you get with being a habitual random impulse buyer/seller!

I guess I should stick with the 50.

*ready to click buy*

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-S-55-250mm-f-4-5.6-IS-Lens-Review.aspx

I had a 5d classic with a 24-105

I had the same combo, was amazing. Went for the 7d for the video capabilities over the 5dmk2 (work thing).

Sadly I just don’t like it as much. Takes a lot of work to get rid of the noise sometimes. I shoot RAW and use capture one pro 7. Does a good job. Have fun with your camera!

I have been told the newer 18-55 mm kit lenses are reasonable optical quality these days but have not tried one myself. Don’t get the orig 2nd hand version they first made as they were not great.

http://www.acecameras.co.uk/asp/web/ph/cat/prodtype/1302/prodtype.asp

To be honest unless you strike lucky at a car boot sale or find someone naive selling a lens well under true price you are not going to get a lens worth having at that price – even ‘cheap’ lenses are dear.

If you are interested in macro photography or close ups you could get some ‘close up’ lens filters to put on your 50mm or a set of extension tubes which would be a cheap way to get more from the 50mm. You could go wider with a 28mm 2.8 which is fixed focal length and cheapish 2nd hand – I have one I really like. Other than that I would save the money and buy something better later – I speak from experience with this, its easy to waste money on rubbish glass and then wish you had waited longer for something better. Read lots of reviews and understand what you are buying before making a choice – remember that the research and shopping is half the fun!

You could also shop around the Tamron and Sigma lens web sites, many of their kit is reviewing very very well and undercuts Canon for price and you could try these manual focus lenses which seem to be reviewing surprisingly well
http://www.rokinon.com

Whatever you do, AVOID the 75-300 consumer level lenses from Canon as they are really rubbish and in my opinion the worst lenses in their line up.

Just an additional thought – you could get a remote release for your camera and simply set it up closer to the bird table, watch from further away and trigger it. Some of the radio releases are quite reasonably priced now.

*ready to click buy*

Thing is, it’s all relative. Is that the best lens Canon ever made? No. Is there anything better at even remotely the same price point? No.

It batters the non-IS 75-300 (though at £65 ^^ I’d give it serious consideration, buy a Pod as well), and the recommended alternatives in that review cost upwards of a grand.

I had the same combo, was amazing

You’re right, it even made a total plum like me take great pics.

Sorry, had not seen that someone offered a 75-300 until after I posed. Was not trying to be unkind to anyone or to be rude.

I would say they were offering it at a good price if its in good nick.

Thanks everyone, really appreciated (and that 75-300 is a great price).

I’ll save my money and stick with the 50 that helped make purchase such a bargain; might even force me to learn more!

The lens I’d put with it is the 70-200 F4 L (£400 on import).

However, I wouldn’t totally dismiss the idea of a cheap zoom to get you by. My Sigma 70-300mm F/4-5.6 APO DG Macro is perfectly decent and cost £120 new.
It also has a macro setting allowing a little more fun.

It might not be as good as my other lenses, but it occasionally gets me a shot that I might otherwise have missed.

(one even got on the telly)

Lens sample photo archive
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=107

These might be of interest if you want to see what can be achived:

50 1.8 – photos people have taken with it
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1059085

50 1.4
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=139085

The lens I’d put with it is the 70-200 F4 L (£400 on import).

V good lens. I have the 2.8 IS version and it does produce lovely crisp images. However the point you make regarding cheaper alternatives is a good one. There are some gems out there but research is the key.

Um another question; which CF card would anyone recommend, first video enabled camera so thinking cheapo may not be a great idea? Ta 😳

I’ve got a Canon 28-105mm lens, always get excellent reviews, bit old now, but give excellent pictures! Looking for £85 posted for it, email rossphelps@gmail.com for more info!

The lens I’d put with it is the 70-200 F4 L (£400 on import).

This is what I have for my 7D. Worth the cash in my view, and prob worth saving for.

Cheers Rossp but I’ve decided to just stick with the 50 and just move more 🙂

bearnecessities – Member

Um another question; which CF card would anyone recommend, first video enabled camera so thinking cheapo may not be a great idea? Ta
I think the 7D will use 53mb/sec – so 60MB/s cards are needed.
I’ve always gone for Sandisk, and was going to recommend them until I saw the price!!!
Compact Flash cards are a bit dearer than they used to be.
So I would probably go for this – probably 2 of them.
http://www.mymemory.co.uk/Compact-Flash-Cards/Transcend/Transcend-16GB-400X-Premium-Compact-Flash-Card-90-MB_s

which CF card would anyone recommend

Branded, I favour Sandisk but anything that’s not a happy shopper card should suffice. Depends how valuable your photos are. I’ve had bargain basement cards and always regretted it, false economy.

I’d suggest a couple of smaller cards rather than one big one, minimise your losses if it dies. But shooting video, you might want a big fast card if you plan on doing that a lot.

Can’t really go wrong with the Canon EF-S 55-250mm IS, remarkably good for the price.

Bought one a while back as a stop gap and surprised how good it was, had to spend a fair bit to get anything considerably better

Thanks both, what’s the mb/s thing? The rate it records? Will it fail spectacularly on video if I just get 30, or just have jerky video? Ta

I don’t honestly know about video as I haven’t got video on my 40D.
If I use a slow card on my 40D it just doesn’t manage the fast frame rate of stills. It fills it’s own buffer then stalls while it saves them to the card. Still usable for short bursts though.

Should’ve spent less on the camera and more on lenses!

Should’ve spent less on the camera and more on lenses!

You say that like I should think through purchases.

It goes “I want, it’s cheap, buy it”.

Any considerations of neccessity, usage and subsequent relevant purchases are usually at the start of the regret stage, which inevitably is just before the re-sale stage.

Hi, I am the guy who brought your 5D Classic, I was massively undecided whether to go FF 5D classic or all singing all dancing crop sensor 7D. Over all massively impressed with the 5D and glad I rolled with it, the quality is just beautiful, I’ve snapped a few 4X races with it which is new to me, got some ace shots but the auto focus system of the 7D would have benefited me, hey ho can’t have everything (well not for my budget, a 5D mk3 would be ideal).

Anyway a few of my shots….(L glass of course)

http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/9845540/
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/9845566/
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/9754565/
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/9764385/