Recommended SLR Camera Gear for the Uncompromising Beginner

So you want to put together an excellent camera kit without spending much money one gear. This is what I would recommend for general purpose shooting.

Camera bodies keep advancing at a very fast pace. What you get today will probably get replaced with a more feature rich model in 18 months. Therefore if you have a strict budget, it is not very advisable  to go for an expansive camera body. However lenses are almost made for ever. A good lens today would be just as useful 10-15 years from now. In my opinion, its better to invest in good glass than a pro body when u start with photography. You can always upgrade you body later and still use the same good lenses on it. I suggest some of the best affordable lenses that you can buy. Two of the three mentioned here are from the Canon's Luxury L series

 

• Canon EOS 400D / Rebel XTi

This is the best value for money when SLRs are considered. Plenty of features. The Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi has a newly designed 10.1 MP Canon CMOS sensor plus a host of new features including a 2.5-inch LCD monitor, the exclusive EOS Integrated Cleaning System featuring a Self Cleaning Sensor and Canon's Picture Style technology, all in a lightweight, ergonomic body. The EOS Digital Rebel XTi is compatible with all Canon lenses in the EF lineup, ranging from ultra-wide angle to super telephoto lenses, and including Canon's EF-S series lenses, manufactured specifically for Canon's APS-C sized digital sensor. An EF-S 18-55mm is included in the EOS Digital Rebel XTi Lens Kit. 1.6x Lens Focal Length Conversion Factor Image Sensor Type - High-Sensitivity, high-resolution, single-plate, CMOS sensor 3 - 2 Aspect Ratio Recording Format - JPEG, RAW, and RAW+JPEG simultaneous recording provided USB 2.0 Hi-Speed Interface, mini-B port, NTSC/PAL for video output Viewfinder Type - Eye-level SLR with pentamirror Shutter Speeds - 1/4000 to 30 seconds Self-timer - 10 seconds delay, 2 seconds delay with C.Fn-7-1 (mirror lockup) Continuous Shooting Speed - Approx. 3 fps (at shutter speed of 1/250 sec. or faster)

 

• Canon EF 17-40 f4 L lens

Excellent for Wide Angle, General Purpose and Landscape photography. a bit short for portraits in my view.

• EF mount; ultra-wide zoom lens
• Super Ultra-low Dispersion glass; inner focusing; aspherical lens; full-time manual focus
• 17-40mm focal length
• f/4 constant maximum aperture
• Ring-type UltraSonic Motor (USM)

 

• Canon EF 50mm f 1.8 

Lightweight and affordable, this sharp lens with a fast f/1.8 aperture is an excellent first lens for those who prefer a fixed focal length, and makes an excellent addition to any photographer’s system for available-light shooting. A traditional Gauss-type optical design ensures sharp performance even wide open, and it focuses as close as 18 inches/0.45m.

A medium telephoto lens with a large aperture brings the subject closer, creates excellent background blur, gives a longer flash range, and affords a faster shutter speed to freeze the action. A standard zoom lens, with its natural angle of view and perspective, captures the subject plainly, with no special effects. However, you can use standard lenses in creative ways by varying the subject distance, aperture, and angle.

• Great general purpose lens for low light shooting. Also good for portraits. Excellent deal when you consider the price is only 80$.
• Strongly recommended for most general-purpose photography
• Designed exclusively for use with Canon SLR cameras

 

• Canon EF 70-200 4 L USM

This is Great telephoto lens for a great price. I often use it for outdoor portraits and even for landscapes.  This high performance L-series telephoto zoom lens ensures excellent image quality for every photographic situation and milieu. Filter Diameter - 67mm Lens Construction - 16 elements in 13 groups Minimum Aperture - f/32 Focus Drive - Ultrasonic 76mm x 172mm 705g

• EF mount; telephoto zoom lens
• Ultra-low Dispersion glass with Fluorite elements; inner focusing ring; full-time manual focus
• 70-200mm focal length
• f/4 constant maximum aperture
• Ring-type UltraSonic Motor (USM)

Turret Arch - Arches National Park, Utah - Tips for photos and travel

Turret Arch is a very well known geological structure inside the Arches National Park, Utah. Arches National Park contains the world's largest concentration of natural stone arches. Once you are here, you can plan to Hike, Bike, Do rock climbing, horse riding, ATV off-road tours etc. Perhaps even take the Guided tours .Unfortunately I reached there around noon. The flat light will make the pictures dull. If you can reach there for sunset you can really make the pictures pop. Here is a map of the location.

Map of Arches National Park

Tips for getting good photos here

• The best times to visit and photograph this location is early morning or late evening. The color of the red rocks will be enhanced by the good lighting.
• Watch for the forecast as it rained the day we went there and we lost much time.
• Pack your lunch and snacks and get lots of water. Rest rooms and Drinking water are available only in very select locations inside the park.
• You would need a tripod and a polarizing filter to get good shots
• If you have a neutral density filter, that would help when the sky is real bright.
• Try out multiple exposures for HDRs and experiment with Panos
• Make sure that you don't obstruct other persons view when u shoot

The park has a nominal entrance fee of 10$ per vehicle which is good for 7 days. Make sure that you book your accommodation in advance as The nearby town of MOAB will get filled easily on summer weekends. The downtown has some excellent shops to buy Native Indian art and some good restaurants. Make sure that you grab a copy of the Downtown guide from your hotel. Its is also available in the shops along on the sidewalk. While you are there, please don't forget the Other major parks there like the Canyonlands National Park and Zion

I would Suggest getting one of the following books that would help you understand more about the park and the state

More Information

http://www.nps.gov/arch/

Preview - Canon EOS 400D / Rebel Xti

Canon EOS Rebel XTi - 400D

What's Hot about this ?

Canon's latest Entry level Digital SLR that packs a lot of punch

• 10 MP CMOS Sensor

• 3 point dust reduction technology

• dust shake off from the low pass filter

• construction from dust resistant materials

• software based dust mapping and removal

• 2.5 inch LCD

• RGB Histogram as well as Brightness Histogram

• Continuous shooting at 3 frames per second

• Large image buffer that holds 27 JPEG or 10 RAW images

• Nine point Auto Focus

• Picture Styles (previously available in 5D)

Recommended for

If you are serious about phtography and upgrading from a point and shoot camera.

One of the best entry level SLRs available.

If you want to learn photography and improve your pictures.

(The previous model of this camera Rebel XT is also still popular and really worth looking at as its available much cheaper than the XTi)

I have owned this camera for over an year. Checkout My Flickr Gallery for more sample pictures taken with it

Other cameras that you might want to consider

Nikon D40X, Canon Rebel XT (350D)

Buyer Beware: There are a lot of scam operators trying to sell cameras at a very low price. Keep away from them and buy from reliable dealers only. I recommend going to websites like http://welcome.bbb.org/ and http://resellerratings.com before making the purchase

Or buy it from a reputed store like Amazon

Scenic Drives of the Wild West

This picture is featured at Deviant Art http://www.deviantart.com/print/1831418/

This is one of the many scenic drives that you com across in the vast open roads of America। You may drive for miles and miles on these roads and not see a single human being for hours.


There is so much Dynamic range in this Photo. This is not an HDR. I have done is some minor Level and color saturation adjustments to get this. Propoer HDRs are impossible to do when u are moving at 70 miles an hour because you cannot get multiple exposures from the same point/camera position. It is possible to fake an HDR by using a single RAW image as input.

This was taken from a car moving at over 70 miles per hour. We were coming back from the Arches National Park, Utah.

The Road was very scenic with the Hills on the left , open Roads and beautiful cloud formations. A Hoya Multi coated Circular Polarizer was used.

What you need to remember for taking these kind of shots:

1) When you are moving, as in this case, i am moving in a car, the shutter speed should be atleast inverse of 3 times the focal length u are using. Here i am using a focal length of 54 mm and my shutter speed is 1/200 this saves me from camera shake

2) Keep the horizon straight. It may not me easy when you are moving, you can always correct it later.

3) Rule of thirds is more like a guideline and not actually a rule. If you have the time to compose the shot try to follow it. In this case i was in a car moving at over 70 miles an hour. Composing was not really an option. In these cases you can always frame the shot loose and then correct it later.

Tecnical Details:

Camera:	Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi
Exposure:	0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture:	f/11
Focal Length:	54 mm
ISO Speed:	100
Exposure Bias:	0/3 EV

Preview: Canon Powershot G9

Canon Powershot G9

Key Features:

RAW Shooting Capability

12.1 mega pixel resolution

6x optical zoom with Optical Image Stabilizer

Large 3 inch LCD Screen

Face Detection

23 Shooting modes

RAW+JPEG Shooting

DIGIC III Image processor

Takes powerful Speedlite Flashes

Recommended for:
If you are serious about photography and dont want to carry a lot of camera Equipment. Also a good second camera for SLR owners.

Detailed Reviews at:
http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/canon-powershot-g9/4505-6501_7-32471273.html
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0708/07082005canong9.asp

When looking for a new camera, Beware of fraudulent sellers who advertise very low price
Buy from a reputed store like amazon.