another lens question

Fionn

i don't know if it's me or the kit lens i have, but i find a lot of my shots seem slightly out of focus or soft or whatever, not as sharp as i'd expect. If it's the lens then i would consider a purchase. i don't have a huge amount to spend, i have a really small amount.

anyway
my son will be coming home from the states in about 3 weeks. i've been eying up the Canon 50mm 1.8 web page which is nearly half the price it is here, does anyone think that i should go for anything else on the that page costing up to say $150????

EireRoadUser

Have a look at a site called fredmiranda ,if you haven't already.
Mostly american reviews from american users on most lenses available.

Most lenses in the states are manufactured in the states ,thats what I read somewhere.

Edit : on page 2 of the link you gave ,theres a 35mm 2.0 lense . I would think that would be great for both film and small Dslr.

Fionn

yeah i was looking at some of the things on the second page there.
sadly my budget is severely restricted. :mad:

so what i plan to get is the EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens for $74.00 and i also saw a Canon 430EZ Speedlite TTL Shoe Mount Flash in their secend user section for $129.00. that works out below €170.00 not sure what the taxes will be like tho. If it's not too dear i'll get both items if not just the lens.

Fionn

after asking my son to order the 50mm lens & a flash i discovered that i'd been looking at an older model of the 430 Speedlight Flash luckily B&H weren't accepting orders online for some reason earlier on today! so i was able to contact him before it was ordered.

i had mistaken EZ series which are really only for non digital cameras (pretty cheap prices too) for the new EX series which are compatible with the current digital cameras. I had to dig a little deeper to get the 430 EX Speedlight, still it worked out at nearly half the price of getting it here in Europe.

the reason i need a dedicated flash is because i was taking a group shot indoors last week (low light) and noticed i had to do a good deal of post processing to bring up the contrast shadows colour etc. because the onboard flash just isn't up to it.

so the moral of the story is - pay particular attention to detail and if things are too cheap theres usually a good reason for it.

Roen

Fionn wrote:

i don't know if it's me or the kit lens i have, but i find a lot of my shots seem slightly out of focus or soft or whatever, not as sharp as i'd expect. If it's the lens then i would consider a purchase. i don't have a huge amount to spend, i have a really small amount.

Which lens is it? And on which body? Some Canon lenses can suffer from back focusing issues.

JackKelly

The 50mm (1.8) is a bargain for its price, but it's not really a replacement for the kit as its fixed and all that.
It would be better have a bit of room to work with. Unfortunately there aren't too many quality lenses for under ~300E. I bought a Tarmon 28-75 while i was in NewYork and it's class. Cost about 400E at the time. Which is great for its quality.

Fionn

it's the Canon EF S 18-55 on a EOS 350, i've noticed on an outside shot of 6 people in a row that the person on the extreme left doesn't seem to be as sharp as the person on the right, i've checked in zoom browser the AF points and that so i presume it's the lens the people in the centre are ok but it's noticable (to me) on the extreme left.

Yes i understand that the 50mm is a fixed lens but i believe it is a very good lens especially for the price and is compatable with all the EOS range,
anyway the price worked out eventually at just below €50.00. so thats going to be the first in my collection (of two lens) for the moment.
if i hadn't needed the flash maybe i could have gotten a different lens, but until i win the lotto or something i'll have to do with what i got!!