Just purchased a Canon 550D (Rebel T2i)

[GRColin]

Was it the right choice of DSLR? I plan on doing a lot of landscape shots and action shots (Zara and our dog). I wanted a camera that handles natural lighting well and does 1080p video at 24FPS and does it well. No other cameras in that price range seemed to compare but I may have overlooked some.

Funny thing is, I don't know jack about high end photography. Here's hoping the T2i is newb friendly and I learn quickly!

 

[Bretimus_v2]

I know next to nothing about cameras, that's my wife's department. All I know is it comes down to learning how to use lighting. Find a local forum. My wife did and went to a free class taught by two professional photographers in the area. Actually, she might have received a CD with their presentation...I'll check and send you a copy if it exists.

Pulled from my commmunal spouse knowledge bank. It all comes down to light. Learn to master it's use and how to adjust the camera properly and you've won. Don't be a chump and use "AUTO", otherwise you just spent a bunch of money for no reason. You'll get more out of $ spent on lenses than cameras. (We just bought a new short range lens that takes awesome pictures up close. Crisp, clear, amazing.) You're going to meet a lot of self-proclaimed "experts". Take all advice with that in mind.

Other than that, practice, practice, practice. My wife has improved the most when she's just snapping away and filling the card, going home and looking at the raw files on the computer to verify quality.

 

[Hexagram]

IIt all comes down to light. Learn to master it's use and how to adjust the camera properly and you've won. Don't be a chump and use "AUTO", otherwise you just spent a bunch of money for no reason. You'll get more out of $ spent on lenses than cameras. (We just bought a new short range lens that takes awesome pictures up close. Crisp, clear, amazing.) You're going to meet a lot of self-proclaimed "experts". Take all advice with that in mind.

QFT. In most cases, lighting can make or break a photo. And as for lenses, I would recommend a used Tamron 17-50mm for your action shots. The lens kit that came with the T2i is actually perfect for landscape shots IMO. You CAN get something that will deliver a higher quality but that depends if you want to spend more when what you have already delivers a crisp, clear HD shot.

T2i is a pretty good camera so I'd say you made the right choice. Only bad thing I can say about it is that the video function doesn't have continuous auto focus, meaning you have to manually focus (or hit the AF button) every so often.

If you've never used DSLR it isn't overwhelming for a newbie so don't worry.

 

[NickKmet]

My journalism class in high school had 2 of those. Very good camera. You just need to get the right lens to go with it.

 

[Bretimus_v2]

Found the CD, talked directly to my wife and she said that is a great camera to learn on. Ours is pretty similar and you'll enjoy it. PM if you want that presentation.

 

[De-Ting]

Lethean, pics or it didn't happen.

 

[GRColin]

Haha okay De-Ting.

Hex, thanks for the advice. That lens will likely have to wait a bit due to finances (seeing as how I just got the camera heh). I want to get the f1.8 50mm lens as well. I did read that about the video so I'm expecting some initial frustration with that.

 

[Bretimus_v2]

Lethean, pics or it didn't happen.

Agreed, I expect a duckface bathroom mirror shot, PRONTO.

 

[used44]

Cool I've got a Canon EOS 400D Digital Rebel XTi. It's about a five year old model now, but still mighty fun and perfectly suitable for my needs. I agree with everyone else, practice makes perfect. And get some digital photo books and magazines. I'd recommend the mag I'm subscribed to, but it's mostly advertisements and is starting to annoy me.

Also, get a good photoshop program.

 

[GRColin]

Here's some I took yesterday of some leaves hanging over our balcony. They look better at a higher resolution but Picasa sized them down. Should be able to go to the album and zoom in if you really want to though. https://picasaweb.google.com/1140442939 ... directlink

 

[Green_Lantern]

Check out imgur.com...It hosts your photos at the full resolution if you are looking for something like that.

 

[De-Ting]

Awesome quality. Congratulations.

 

[GRColin]

Thanks! I'm pretty pleased with it. Night time shots are a little bit harder to get the hang of when it comes to shutter speed and whatnot but I'll get there!

I forgot about this one - Which I think is my favourite:

 

[De-Ting]

^Definitely the best. But promise me you won't just use that camera for taking pictures of beautiful, soaking wet leaves. Heheh.

 

[GRColin]

No! Definitely not. It was just hanging over the balcony so it was easy to shoot while being lazy lol.

 

[Longo_2_guns]

I've got something beautiful and soaking wet for you to shoot pictures of.

 

[NickKmet]

I've got something beautiful and soaking wet for you to shoot pictures of.

oh god.

 

[De-Ting]

I've got something beautiful and soaking wet for you to shoot pictures of.

oh god.

His duck.

...what?

 

[WickedLiquid]

The water drops on the leaves were making me thirsty for some reason... then I read Longo's reply... Now I'm scarred.