Canon Rebel X

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I just got a Canon Rebel X and was wanting to know (I am new at this) what lenses I could get (CHEAP) for extreme close-ups such as for flowers, what lense I would get for long distances, and for ordinary everyday pictures but a little closer up? (I like to see who I am taking a picture of very well) I was wondering which companies from Walmart to BH Photo had the best prices for new lenses & accessories for this particular camera. What are the disadvantages of this camera? What size of filters & filter holders fit on this camera or is it just anyone I buy the holder for? Pros & cons of glass vs. gel filters? Thank you very much to anyone who responds to this question! I really & truely appreciate this!!!

-- Jennifer (trinity101979@yahoo.com), August 09, 2001

Answers

There are no cheap lenses that will give you what you want. But the cheapest lense of pro quality is the 100-300 L zoom lense. Then buy yourself a few extension tubes for a reasonable close up. The focusing is slow but the quality is so superb! Randy http://pawprintphotography.com/

-- Randy (smowwolfe@gci.net), August 09, 2001.

The Sigma 70-300mm APO Macro will give 1:2 repro at 300mm. I think that might cover what you're asking for. Would I personally recommend the lens? I have one for sale....:-/...it has its limitations. I replaced it with a Canon 70-200 F4L, which is not CHEAP. As for places to buy things, only buy from camera shops. They will give you the best deal, the best service, and the best choice.

-- Isaac Sibson (isibson@hotmail.com), August 09, 2001.

You didn't mention what lens you have now. If it the standard 35-80, I think it takes 52mm filters. It's either that or 58mm. In any case, it will state the filter ring size on the end of the lens. For a cheap solution to filters for multiple lenses with different size filter rings, you can use a Cokin filter mount with adapter rings to fit any lens you buy. Cokin filters are of so-so quality, but you can also get other manufacturers filters that fit the Cokin mounts.

You can buy cheap close-up filters that attach to the end of your lens. The quality isn't the best, but it doesn't cost much to try it. In fact Cokin makes some for their filter mounts too.

As far as lenses for long distances, you probably want a "long" or telephoto lens. 50mm is usually considered normal length so anything longer than twice that is a long lens. There are 70-300 lenses made by several manufacturers, that will fit the purpose quite well. I prefer the Canon made versions because of future compatibility and relatively good performance and durability for the money.

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), August 10, 2001.


Jennifer, Although I don't own this one personally, one lens that has a reputation for very high quality optics at a bargain price is the Vivitar 100/f3.5 macro. The build quality is not supposed to be so great, but should hold up with some care. This lens gets you to 1/2 life-size by itself or life-size with the supplied close-up filter (I believe, if anyone who owns the lens knows differently, feel free to corect me). This is also a great focal length for portraits and other "ordinary everyday pictures". I'm pretty sure the price is somewhere in the range of $150 or so. Best to check with B&H or similar stores on this. Good luck and have fun, Jim

-- Jim Simon (jsimon724@aol.com), August 10, 2001.

The above mentioned Vivitar does indeed come with the close up lens as standard. It is also available under the Phoenix and Cosina brand names, depending on where you are geographically.

-- Isaac Sibson (isibson@hotmail.com), August 12, 2001.


Jennifer,

It looks like everyone has taken care of most of your questions regarding lenses & filters. Of lower quality & cost telephoto zooms with macro than the Sigma -- Tamron has a 75-300mm LD Macro which is being bundled with a (cheap) 1.4x teleconverter, selling for about $230 US.

Your other questions:

1. The Rebel X -- No disadvantages other than it is part of Canon's entry level SLR line, the most recent of which is the Rebel 2000. As a low cost "consumer" SLR body, it doesn't have the high shutter speeds, high frame advance speeds, light metering options, and is considerably noisy (I probably wouldn't use it to take wedding photos, especially when winding a new roll onto the takeup spool) when compared to it's more advanced & more expensive cousins (the Elans, A20, EOS-1/1n/1v, EOS-3). Like all Rebels, it has a mirror box rather than a glass pentaprism to bring the image up to the eye- piece – which means that the viewfinder is not quite as bright. On the plus side, it has built in flash, it “pre-winds” the film when you put it in – and as you take pictures they go into the film canister (so if you accidentally open the camera back you don’t ruin the pictures you’ve taken). It has full manual exposure control, as well as aperature priority, shutter priority, and a number of fully automatic modes. It accepts the full range of Canon’s largely excellent EOS auto-focus lenses (so if you ever move up to a more expensive body, you won’t lose your investment in lenses). There are other minor advantages & disadvantages, but I think I’ve gone on too long as it is. :)

2. Best prices for new lenses & accessories can generally be had from one of the reputable mail order houses such as CameraWorld.com or B&H Photo (http://www.bhphotovideo.com) -- though you must factor in shipping costs. B&H and some others also offer “gray-market” Canon lenses for less. These are lenses shipped in from over-seas without going through the CanonUSA distributor. Quality should be just as good, but you may have issues with warranty repairs. Lower cost accessories are probably better gotten locally to avoid shipping. A retail camera store provides you with the advantage of actually seeing & handling the items you’re interested in before purchasing, and many (though not all) have knowledgeable staff to assist you with your questions.

3. CHEAP lens – did your camera not come with a lens? Most people these days start with a general purpose zoom of the wide angle to short telephoto variety (28-80mm, 28-105, 28-135), though the purists will tell you to get a good new or used 50mm “standard” prime lens (prime lenses are ones that have just focal length – they don’t zoom). If you go that route look for a used Canon 50mm f/1.8 Mk I (you won’t be able to afford the f/1.4, even used)! For the kind of photography that you seem to enjoy, you may want to skip straight to the telephoto zooms that most people would buy as their second lens. This would be the 70-200mm, 100-300mm, 75-300mm variety. Again, if CHEAP is your prime concern, look at the Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 LD 1:2 Macro (Photozone & other sites rated it as average, which is actually good for such an inexpensive lens – it falls below the Canon 100-300 L in optical quality, but far above other Tamrons and no-name brands in the same category. Look for that specific lens, as other Tamrons took a beating in the reviews. Also, Isaac seems to be willing to part with his used Sigma 70-300 APO. ;-)

4. Filters & filter holders – size is solely dependent on the lens (es) that you have. Different lenses have different filter sizes (expressed in millimeters, i.e. 58mm – on the front bezel of the lens you may see a number like 58 with a circle with a line through it). If you plan to own several lenses of different filter sizes, you can reduce your total cost by going with the Cokin filter system and buying step-down rings to fit each particular lens. Lee Filters is the “pro” maker of such a modular system concept, and most likely way out of your price range. The advantage of such a system is lower total cost (only one circular polarizer, special effect filter, etc. – rather than buying one for each lens). Disadvantages are problems with light scatter & flare – you can’t really use a lens hood with the setups, and possible vignetting (darkening of the edges of the picture caused by the filter holder or filter rings – tends to occur with wide angle lenses, not telephotos). The filters that fit into the holders tend to be plastic, which may scratch easier than glass circular filters. Regardless of whether you choose to go with a modular filter system or circular filters, I strongly recommend that you purchase a UV glass circular filter to permanently mount on the front of each lens that you own. Just “put it on & forget it” Not only will it cut down on ultraviolet light scatter (causes haze) in landscape and distance shots, but it will protect your lens from damage by impact, grit, salt, etc.

4b. Glass filters are more expensive, but clearer and scratch resistant. Gel filters are inexpensive, and are easily scratched, but can be cut up for special effects, can be stacked more readily for changing hues, etc. The two most commonly purchased glass filters are UV (or Skylight 1b – which has a slight pink tinge to “warm up” pictures) and polarizers. Effective use of polarizers allow you to have dramatically blue skies with contrasty clouds, or allow reducing or eliminating reflections from glass or water surfaces. They cut down dramatically on the amount of light entering the camera, and so are only used for bright outdoor pictures (generally).

Well, I’ve just written a book, and likely annoyed or bored the regular visitors of this forum! :) If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact me directly. I hope that most of your questions were answered.

-- Hung James Wasson (HJWasson@aol.com), August 13, 2001.


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