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  #1  
Old Posted Jan 4, 2014, 2:46 AM
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tower tower is offline
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FINALLY bought an slr and i have some questions (plz help)

i've been dabbling with photography for YEARS and have finally purchased a digital slr less than a week ago. i retain as follows:

canon rebel t3i
18-55m lens
75-300mm lens

i absolutely love the camera and what i can do with it within my limitations thus far. i am still left with a small regret...should i return this for the t4i? i'm entry level all the way at this point and am content with that. i've ruled out t5i as not having a significant enough difference from t4i, but still went with the t3i as it's a great camera for the price. i still have time go return it for t4i but am not sold that it will be that great of a difference besides touch screen and ability to hone quicker in on action shots. so my question is, is it worth it?

also since i am relatively new to slr's, i am new to having different lenses AS WELL, so i must ask in addition to what i already have, what lower priced lenses would be essential to start out with?

in addition:

i am used to traversing the landscapes of our fine world with a point and shoot, which retains the edge for ease of use when traveling. how many lenses do you take with you on a typical shoot? i can imagine carrying several $$$$ lenses through a seedy neighborhood as risky business. how do you proceed with your gear on a shoot in general, and how do you modify your sessions when entering blighted neighborhoods? i am not a stranger to the hood but have never walked around with heavier photo gear.

that's all i can think of right now and any feedback would be greatly appreciated
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  #2  
Old Posted Jan 4, 2014, 7:26 PM
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Daveography Daveography is offline
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^ The upgrade from the T3i to the T4i is minimal, few people would notice the difference in your resulting images, and I imagine you saved a few bucks already by going with a previous generation. I would get comfortable with the gear you've got now before considering another upgrade, and at that point you might as well make it a true upgrade such as to a more advanced camera like a 70D - or even better to a full-frame sensor - rather than an incremental upgrade with maybe a couple new features and a few more megapixels.

As for lenses, you've got your basic ranges covered, but I would consider a couple of primes, starting with a "nifty fifty" (50mm 1.8 or 1.4). Primes give you unparalleled sharpness, with the tradeoff that you don't get any kind of zoom. The other benefits are wider apertures which will let you do some creative stuff with bokeh, and they perform superbly in low light (a 1.4 especially). Going prime will also really help you learn to better consider composition since you will have to "manually zoom" by moving closer or further from your subject, or make creative decisions about what can be included or cut from the frame.

As for travel, I tend to be crazy and take nearly all of my lenses with me wherever I go (insert pitch for a good and comfortable camera bag here), but if I was knowingly going into a potentially unknown/bad area alone I would probably just bring your two zooms since they give you maximum range and kit lenses tend to be inexpensive; if pressed to choose just one for greater paranoia, I would take the wider 18-55mm, since I find wide tends to be more useful in cities than telephotos.

These are of course just my opinions, your mileage may vary. Hope you find it helpful, though!
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Old Posted Jan 6, 2014, 11:29 PM
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diskojoe diskojoe is offline
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Your motor is fine for now. Nothing wrong with a t3i. Get the 50mm f1.8 or the 50mm f1.4 if you can afford the extra.

And if your worried about getting robbed then dont go there OR carry a weapon. I carry one of these with me.

And you dont have $$$$ worth of lenses. You have $ worth of lenses. The pawnable value of your gear is pretty much non-existent.
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Last edited by diskojoe; Jan 6, 2014 at 11:44 PM.
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  #4  
Old Posted Jan 7, 2014, 11:36 PM
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tower tower is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by diskojoe View Post
Your motor is fine for now. Nothing wrong with a t3i. Get the 50mm f1.8 or the 50mm f1.4 if you can afford the extra.

And if your worried about getting robbed then dont go there OR carry a weapon. I carry one of these with me.

And you dont have $$$$ worth of lenses. You have $ worth of lenses. The pawnable value of your gear is pretty much non-existent.
as times goes on i assume i'll collect a few more so i'm thinking ahead of myself

thanks for the advice diskojoe and rta. looking into a 50mm f1.4 will be my next move
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  #5  
Old Posted Jan 9, 2014, 11:41 PM
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diskojoe diskojoe is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tower View Post
as times goes on i assume i'll collect a few more so i'm thinking ahead of myself

thanks for the advice diskojoe and rta. looking into a 50mm f1.4 will be my next move
The 50mm F1.4 by canon is far superior to the f1.8 they make which is basically a chunk of plastic.

This is a good place to shop lenses on the cheap(er)

http://www.sigmaphoto.com/sigma-outlet/shop-lenses

Troll this site too. I see nice deals pop up a lot from faux-tographers that bite off more than they can chew and have to end up selling their gear.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/buy-sell/
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  #6  
Old Posted Mar 9, 2014, 9:09 PM
baba1983 baba1983 is offline
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give me a call i will explain you
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  #7  
Old Posted Oct 24, 2014, 2:20 AM
dewE dewE is offline
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The equipment you have is fine. Learn how to use it first before buying more lenses. I still consider myself a beginner and like you desired (and bought) a lens I didn't really need (ended up selling it). Carry your manual with you and get to know your camera. If you want to upgrade at a later time, stick with Canon and the knowledge you learn from the T3i will make it allot easier with a new purchase.
If you think you will be doing allot of video, perhaps you could invest in a cheap prime like the nifty fifty.
Hope that helps.
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