edthebedhead wrote:I prefer Canon too. I tried to use Nikon's before I purchased my Canon. Great camera, great lens choices. Great for all scenarios. If you're a photo nut, then think about the higher cameras than the rebels, but I reviewed the T4i, and it is one heck of a camera. If you need a faster shutter (1/8000 second, instead of 1/4000), or larger main battery, or more images/second, or larger buffer (if you just hold the button, and take 20+ pics at a time), then get a better camera (60D, 7D, etc).

If you like taking videos, the T4i is great, b/c it'll autofocus as it takes video, the others won't.

I have a 70-300 zoom, and polarbear22 - does yours have the IS (image stabilization)? If not, just go buy a new lens. It is that much better. My mom has the old one, and it just doesn't compare.

I also have an 18-135, but my favorite is the 10-22 Wide angle zoom. It takes beautiful pictures, especially inside. And it takes great pictures of the stars.



With any Canon (and nikon too) you can get adaptors if you want to hook it up to a telescope. Fun doing that too.

Edit: added image.

Thanks for the info!

I think I want to go with the 60D. I don't see myself as ever becoming a huge fanatical photography, but would like to take better pics than my point and shoot or else holding my iPhone up to the binocular lens to try to take a zoom pic.

There's a special on amazon where you can get the 60D with an 18-200mm lens, and can then get $300 off the 70-300mm lens as well (or should I go with the 18-135mm lens if I get the 70-300?). Seems like a good deal, but I honestly don't know what I'm getting or if it's worth it beyond the deal factor. Lastly, I'm assuming the 70D will be out soon given that it has been 2 years that the 60D has been out? Thoughts?


edit: Sparkly vampires!

ddeuddeg wrote:
All day free shipping is nice, so once I unlocked it with an order, bahwm had me order some stuff from kids.woot for the little tykes. I remembered to change the shipping address from FedEx depot to home address for all but the last of 4 purchases. Realizing my mistake, I emailed support within 5 minutes after placing the order, asking them to change the shipping address. This was the reply I received:

Thank you for taking the time to email us. We appreciate your concerns as well as your business.
In an effort to streamline our shipping process, orders are now processed to ship much faster. As a result, unfortunately, we are unable to alter or cancel your order. Please understand this does not necessarily mean your order has shipped but rather that it has reached the point in processing where it is unable to be cancelled.
We apologize for any inconvenience
Tyler

Five minutes, and the order has been processed beyond anyone's ability to alter it. Moral: don't make a mistake when placing a woot order, because their advertised policy of allowing order cancellations is pretty much an illusion.

End of rant.

I have had no issue with this on wine.woot an have had to change addresses several times after I placed an order.

otolith wrote:Thanks for the info!

I think I want to go with the 60D. I don't see myself as ever becoming a huge fanatical photography, but would like to take better pics than my point and shoot or else holding my iPhone up to the binocular lens to try to take a zoom pic.

There's a special on amazon where you can get the 60D with an 18-200mm lens, and can then get $300 off the 70-300mm lens as well (or should I go with the 18-135mm lens if I get the 70-300?). Seems like a good deal, but I honestly don't know what I'm getting or if it's worth it beyond the deal factor. Lastly, I'm assuming the 70D will be out soon given that it has been 2 years that the 60D has been out? Thoughts?


edit: Sparkly vampires!

All lenses involved are IS (Image Stabilization), so no issue there. And both the 18-135 and 18-200 have the same aperature range, so no loss there.

If you are buying both lenses, I'd recommend the 18-135. There has to be a weight savings, and likely a smaller size. So easier to carry around with the primary lens. You still have good overlap. And the $100 savings is half the cost of the second lens after discount.

The 18-200 may get you through nearly everything. Not sure how often I shoot in the 200-300 range with my lenses. (you get a 1.6 form factor with the camera, so this is really 320 to 480 range on a 35mm, so pretty good zoom). So if you only want one lens, go with this one.

Should be a great camera.

polarbear22 wrote:All lenses involved are IS (Image Stabilization), so no issue there. And both the 18-135 and 18-200 have the same aperature range, so no loss there.

If you are buying both lenses, I'd recommend the 18-135. There has to be a weight savings, and likely a smaller size. So easier to carry around with the primary lens. You still have good overlap. And the $100 savings is half the cost of the second lens after discount.

The 18-200 may get you through nearly everything. Not sure how often I shoot in the 200-300 range with my lenses. (you get a 1.6 form factor with the camera, so this is really 320 to 480 range on a 35mm, so pretty good zoom). So if you only want one lens, go with this one.

Should be a great camera.

Went with the 60D and bought it locally for essentially the same price + tax. I think the salesman was just as happy as I was that I bought it. lol Plus, there are free classes to learn how to use it, which is a bonus that I'm looking forward to.

Got it all charging up. Can't wait to start using it!

otolith wrote:Went with the 60D and bought it locally for essentially the same price + tax. I think the salesman was just as happy as I was that I bought it. lol Plus, there are free classes to learn how to use it, which is a bonus that I'm looking forward to.

Got it all charging up. Can't wait to start using it!

Buying local always has benefits. And I still have things on the camera that I have to learn.

What lens(es) did you buy? How big a memory card?

It's gonna be fun.

polarbear22 wrote:Buying local always has benefits. And I still have things on the camera that I have to learn.

What lens(es) did you buy? How big a memory card?

It's gonna be fun.

Lenses: 18-135 and 70-300mm
Ordered a 64GB card and backpack from amazon. I should have an SD card around the house that I could use in the interim.

otolith wrote:Lenses: 18-135 and 70-300mm
Ordered a 64GB card and backpack from amazon. I should have an SD card around the house that I could use in the interim.

Congrats on your purchase! Just popped in now. I'm glad that you got the 70 -300mm lens. Mine came with a an 18 - 55 mm and a 55 - 250mm. My old SLR Pentax had a lens that went to 300 mm. I loved it and was able to get some amazing pics in the cathedrals of England. ddeuddeg just mentioned that the 300 mm that they have been marketing with the Canonn T3i doesn't have IS.

ddeuddeg picked up a Lowepro backpack for my camera that I much prefer over the big bulky case that came with the camera, that shouts Canon on it. However, I would love to have a mesh area on the pack to carry a water bottle. Other than that, it served me well on the tour and in Spain this summer. Now, to take some time to seriously go through my pics and do something with them! WineFarm asked me to do some photography during the dinner at their place, and I haven't had a chance to do anything with those pics yet. Maybe over Christmas break . . .

This is the bag that I find I go to now. Lowepro Passport Sling .

Holds the camera, my long lens in a separate case if needed. Room for several other travel items, and a water bottle.

polarbear22 wrote:This is the bag that I find I go to now. Lowepro Passport Sling .

Holds the camera, my long lens in a separate case if needed. Room for several other travel items, and a water bottle.

I got the Lowepro Slingshot 100 when it was on sale for half price. Nice roomy bag. Took a while to figure out the best way to wear it, though.

polarbear22 wrote:This is the bag that I find I go to now. Lowepro Passport Sling .

Holds the camera, my long lens in a separate case if needed. Room for several other travel items, and a water bottle.

I like this bag. Looks like a typical messenger bag but is built for cameras, good idea because it isn't obviously a camera bag so it isn't an instant target for thieves.,

ddeuddeg wrote:I got the Lowepro Slingshot 100 when it was on sale for half price. Nice roomy bag. Took a while to figure out the best way to wear it, though.

I forgot to mention that this bag also has a really neat pull out waterproof hood to pull over the bag in case of rain. And, it really works! It also has some nice clips to secure the zipper when in crowded subways or busses.

polarbear22 wrote:This is the bag that I find I go to now. Lowepro Passport Sling .

Holds the camera, my long lens in a separate case if needed. Room for several other travel items, and a water bottle.

Nice looking bag.

cortot20 wrote:I like this bag. Looks like a typical messenger bag but is built for cameras, good idea because it isn't obviously a camera bag so it isn't an instant target for thieves.,

On target. One of the things that attracted me. And easy to get in and out of compared to a backpack type bag.

I knew I should have asked about bags, too! I ordered an Amazon backpack, but now that I look at it, it looks huge! I think I'd go for the lowepro bags. Will have to try to cancel the order...

otolith wrote:I knew I should have asked about bags, too! I ordered an Amazon backpack, but now that I look at it, it looks huge! I think I'd go for the lowepro bags. Will have to try to cancel the order...

I have a couple of bags that I use. I have a backpack (Lowepro) that holds all my equipment -- flash, filters, special effects, remote release, etc. keeps it all together and easy to put in the car. But too heavy to carry around. Sling bag is for taking what I want to carry around. The polarizing filter comes with, but all the special effects stuff stays in the backpack.

And you should buy a UV Haze filter for each lens. About a $10 investment to protect the lens.

polarbear22 wrote:I have a couple of bags that I use. I have a backpack (Lowepro) that holds all my equipment -- flash, filters, special effects, remote release, etc. keeps it all together and easy to put in the car. But too heavy to carry around. Sling bag is for taking what I want to carry around. The polarizing filter comes with, but all the special effects stuff stays in the backpack.

And you should buy a UV Haze filter for each lens. About a $10 investment to protect the lens.

So, before I throw an order together, what more do I need?

Bag--lowepro
UV Haze filter--can you show me a link?
What else???

The kit had an extra battery, as well as a mini hdmi to hdmi cable, and a lens hood.

I've wanted an SLR for years, and am pretty happy so far. All I had to do was add it to the cart, and then when SWMBO saw it, she just asked if I was going to buy it, which was permission enough for me. Glad to find it locally as well.

otolith wrote:So, before I throw an order together, what more do I need?

Bag--lowepro
UV Haze filter--can you show me a link?
What else???

The kit had an extra battery, as well as a mini hdmi to hdmi cable, and a lens hood.

I've wanted an SLR for years, and am pretty happy so far. All I had to do was add it to the cart, and then when SWMBO saw it, she just asked if I was going to buy it, which was permission enough for me. Glad to find it locally as well.

Tiffin filters are good and cheap and will protect the glass on your lense. Anti-haze or uv protection is fine. But more importantly keeps your lenses from being dirty and from breaking.

For sizing check the mm on the specs page of the lense. It will be a single number seperate from the zoom range listed.

You should get 1 per lense you are buying. just get a basic one in the $5-$10 range.

otolith wrote:So, before I throw an order together, what more do I need?

Bag--lowepro
UV Haze filter--can you show me a link?
What else???

The kit had an extra battery, as well as a mini hdmi to hdmi cable, and a lens hood.

I've wanted an SLR for years, and am pretty happy so far. All I had to do was add it to the cart, and then when SWMBO saw it, she just asked if I was going to buy it, which was permission enough for me. Glad to find it locally as well.

Here is the one that should fit your 18-135 lens (67mm).
filter.

And for the 70-300, looks like you need a 58mm filter.

I found them by looking up the lens on Amazon and other items list the filters. Tiffen for both, which is the brand I use most.

The other filter that I use a lot is a circular polarizer. Great when shooting near water, like behind your house, to cut reflective glare. It rotates to eliminate whatever angle the glare is coming from. Link should fit the 18-135 lens.

cortot20 wrote:Tiffin filters are good and cheap and will protect the glass on your lense. Anti-haze or uv protection is fine. But more importantly keeps your lenses from being dirty and from breaking.

For sizing check the mm on the specs page of the lense. It will be a single number seperate from the zoom range listed.

You should get 1 per lense you are buying. just get a basic one in the $5-$10 range.

Thanks for the info. Was looking on amazon, and it seems people have a lot of trouble with reflections from these filters. Have you found this to be the case?

edit: thanks as well to polarbear, who must have typed as I was. I'm curious about your thoughts to the question above as well.

otolith wrote:So, before I throw an order together, what more do I need?

Bag--lowepro
UV Haze filter--can you show me a link?
What else???

The kit had an extra battery, as well as a mini hdmi to hdmi cable, and a lens hood.

I've wanted an SLR for years, and am pretty happy so far. All I had to do was add it to the cart, and then when SWMBO saw it, she just asked if I was going to buy it, which was permission enough for me. Glad to find it locally as well.

You said that already had a card, so I assume that you have a card reader for it. I prefer that to hooking up the camera. I had a friend fry an older camera several years back by not disconnecting it properly. So I just avoid connecting the camera.

otolith wrote:Thanks for the info. Was looking on amazon, and it seems people have a lot of trouble with reflections from these filters. Have you found this to be the case?

edit: thanks as well to polarbear, who must have typed as I was. I'm curious about your thoughts to the question above as well.

I haven't noticed it i have a Nikon D3100 with a tamron 18-270mm with a teffen uv protection filter. I think I got it for $5 on amazon recently. I primarily shoot with no flash in lower light so that maybe why.

otolith wrote:Thanks for the info. Was looking on amazon, and it seems people have a lot of trouble with reflections from these filters. Have you found this to be the case?

edit: thanks as well to polarbear, who must have typed as I was. I'm curious about your thoughts to the question above as well.

Never been an issue that I noticed.

And I have achieved black square and stocked up on hopefully enough sipping chocolate to last the winter.

ddeuddeg wrote:
All day free shipping is nice, so once I unlocked it with an order, bahwm had me order some stuff from kids.woot for the little tykes. I remembered to change the shipping address from FedEx depot to home address for all but the last of 4 purchases. Realizing my mistake, I emailed support within 5 minutes after placing the order, asking them to change the shipping address. This was the reply I received:

Thank you for taking the time to email us. We appreciate your concerns as well as your business.
In an effort to streamline our shipping process, orders are now processed to ship much faster. As a result, unfortunately, we are unable to alter or cancel your order. Please understand this does not necessarily mean your order has shipped but rather that it has reached the point in processing where it is unable to be cancelled.
We apologize for any inconvenience
Tyler

Five minutes, and the order has been processed beyond anyone's ability to alter it. Moral: don't make a mistake when placing a woot order, because their advertised policy of allowing order cancellations is pretty much an illusion.

End of rant.

Wonder of wonders, the other 4 items I ordered within minutes of each other have been shipped, while the one they couldn't change still awaits shipping. Can't wait to see how this plays out.