Newbie about to ask some ridiculous questions

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Barnesy

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Hello everyone. Firstly id like to say hello as this is my 1st post on what looks like an excellent forum. Think ill be spending a lot of time here.

Anyway, moving on. I've recently purchased a Canon 400D camera which is the best camera I have ever owned. All my previous ones have just been 100-200 quid compact type jobs so for me the 400D is a big step up.

Been looking around the forum and found some superb advice on ROT and HDR which id previously never heard of. However i've not found answers to some really stupid questions that im afraid I need to ask.

Now, my camera came with an 18-55mm lens. I've already taken some great shots with it and I find it pretty good. However the 18-55mm part means nothing to me. What exactly does it mean?

Secondly, if I was to buy another lens what should I look for? Am I right in thinking that if I bought a lens of a lower mm than 55 it would be better for pictures close to me, and if I bought one with a higher mm rating it would be more suited to long range shots? Can anyone suggest an appropriate lens that kind of covers me for all types of shots while I get to grips with my camera?

Im sorry to ask such stupid questions but this is a whole new world to me which im keen to learn about. Im afraid my knowledge only extends to golf, cars and water treatment plants lol.
 
:wave: welcome!

18-55mm refers to the focal length of the lens, i.e. where it'll focus on subjects.

Put really simply, the longer the lens, the further away you can take pics of stuff.

But you can get different designs of lenses that allow longer lenses to be used close-up (macro).

It really depends on what you intend to be shooting as to what lenses you might want to purchase in the future. If you get into wildlife photography, you'll probably need a longer lens, but if you get into portrait photography, you might only want a 24mm prime lens.

Does that help? I'm usually crap at explaining stuff :lol:
 
Yeah that pretty much tells me everything I wanted to know thanks mate. I've just been looking at lenses and I see that Canon do a 55-250mm lens. I think that'll be my next purchase as I live in the countryside and most of my pics will be looking out at scenery. I think my 18-55mm will be adequate for taking pics at car shows etc, and then i'll probably look at a 24mm or something similar in the new year for close up stuff.

Thanks for that. Now just beed to learn how to take a picture at night lol.
 
Hello and welcome! Don't feel that you need to be shy about asking questions - we've mostly been there and done that at some stage and you'll find that people on here will be more than happy to answer any questions you might have and offer advice.

For the time being I would suggest that you keep the kit lens for the wide angle through to mid range stuffm and perhaps add something like the Sigma 70-300mm APO DG Macro for an addition to your kit bag. You can pick them up brand new for around the £135 mark I think you'll find, and it'll be a good lens for you to get used to the camera with. If you do look at those though be sure to look for the APO version specially as it's a better lens than it's non-APO brother.
 
That's excellent thanks Witch. That's exactly the sort of thing I was hoping to hear. Found that lens for £135 delivered so I think ill invest in one of them.
 
These shots were taken with mine last year Barnesy.

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Welcome Barnesy :thumbs: - the 70-300mm Sigma APO is a good choice, plenty of folks on here have it. Good for long range shots, and macros too - here's a close-up shot with mine:

fatsia.jpg
 
WOW, that lens will do me then. Where's my credit card lol. Glad I joined this forum rather than just spending £1000 on a Canon lens haha.

Thanks very much everyone. Beggining to love this forum already.
 
Barnesy said:
WOW, that lens will do me then. Where's my credit card lol. Glad I joined this forum rather than just spending £1000 on a Canon lens haha.

Thanks very much everyone. Beggining to love this forum already.
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Can I have half the difference? :lol:

Witch said:
They do have SERIOUS cute factor don't they!!
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Yeah definately!
 
I'll give you half the difference around the same time I would have had a grand to buy a Canon lens lol, which will be in about 10 years.
 
You should know that im a huge exaggerator mate, it would really have been 20 years before I had a grand lmao.
 
Well that's it, just ordered one. This new hobby could get expensive.
 
Barnesy said:
then i'll probably look at a 24mm or something similar in the new year for close up stuff.
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I think you've got yourself in a muddle about focal lengths.

Basically, heres a run down.

50mm is 'standard'. Its basically, what your eye sees, this lens sees exactly the same.

50mm+ is zoom. This is used to zoom in on objects. These objects might be 100m away, or, if you're taking macro (close up) pictures, they could be only 50cm away.

50mm- is wide angle. This is mostly used for landscape photography, since it is what it says on the tin - wide angle - and you can get as much of the landscape in as your lens will let.

Here are some examples from this forum:

This is by PPP - you can see it was taken with a wide angle lens since it has got a fair amount of the view in it
gardenhdr1000.jpg


This is by dellipher - you can see it was taken with a zoom lens since it has zoomed right in on the action
1903395631_3bafa8a281.jpg


This is by Roody262 - You can see it was taken with a zoom macro lens, because it has zoomed for a close up on something quite close to the camera
1863893556_bbe4b96780.jpg


Hope thats cleared it up a bit for you :) :thumbs:
 
Yeah that's excellent thankyou. Makes sense when it's put as simply as that.
 
Well my lens arrived yesterday, well happy with it at the moment. Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow so I can have a go with it.
 
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