Photography

5 Things You Need to Know About SLR Lenses

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief February 7, 2007 · 2 min read

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Check out this article from TheTechLounge via Digg for some basic stuff you’d need to know about SLR lenses. Something I should have read and fully understood before buying lenses left & right.

Anyway, while Jayvee & I accompanied Sasha to Hidalgo to get her new Canon 400D yesterday (which is down to Php40k now), we took some time to take pictures of the kids along Quiapo Church.

Our last stop was at the PhotoWorld exhibit at Glorietta where we got several lens filters and Gary Fong’s LightSphere.

We’re gearing up to this Saturday’s Hot Air Balloon Festival in Pampanga so if anyone’s interested to tag along, just leave a comment. I got all my gears ready for the shoot:

Canon 350D Rebel XT
Canon EFS 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
Canon EFS 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5
Sigma DC 18-125mm f/3.5-5.6
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
Sigma APO 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG Macro
Canon RC1 Remote Control
Canon Speedlite 430EX

We’re also hoping we could do some photoshoot for bloggers who wants some creative shots they could use whenever they’re asked to send in pictures for interview. Just check out the recent issue of Marie Claire to see what I mean (Connie & Noemi are on that issue along with other femme fatale bloggers like Wysgal).

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Abe Olandres

Editor-in-chief

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and is considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines.

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40 Comments

karla · 19 years ago

@ markku
yeah, i’ll be using the 17-70mm (hopefully soon :D)
as for now I don’t see any need yet for the telephoto lens hehe
and yes, i have the 50mm lens already..
i have a photo set in flickr with pictures shot using my 50mm lens :)

rain · 19 years ago

markku: She got one of them 50mm’s already :)

markku · 19 years ago

Rain, I do agree with you regarding the 17-70’s strengths. However, since Karla only has the kit lens right now, I think she’s better off filling the void in other focal lengths before replacing the kit lens. Unless of course she has an idea what focal lengths she really prefers to shoot at.

For a lot less money compared to the 17-70’s SRP, she can get the 50mm f1.8 or any of the cheap 70-300 zooms.

Just my two cents. :)

rain · 19 years ago

Hey, I made that suggestion to Karla (after Kim of Litratista made that suggestion to me, and also after Markku wrote a blurb on his blog about it [I was aiming for a Tamron 24-70mm sana]), so I’ll defend it :p

The Sigma 17-70mm will be THE kit lens replacement. Faster, with a little more telephoto power, I know Markku will agree that its a very, very good general purpose lens.

As for the 10-22mm Canon EFS lens, I read that one would cost a whopping 35k. The equivalent Sigma (10-20mm) is around 6k cheaper :) Unless you’re a landscape hog, or you always view things cine-wide, the 17mm on the aforementioned Sigma is already quite capable -and reasonably fast- on the wide end :)

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief · 19 years ago

@ Karla

Yeah, it greatly overlaps with your existing lens. Unless you want to sell the old one, may I suggest the EFS 10-22mm?

@ Ruth

Will have to ask Connie, Paul or Punzi for that.

@ Sid

Ay, that’s expensive nga! I got that one for Canon at around $USD80 only.

Sidney · 19 years ago

I paid 172 Euro in Belgium for that lens last Christmas.
The 50mm 1.8D is relatively cheap. It is the 50mm 1.4 which is very expensive.
I wanted this lens for shooting very sharp portraits but my DOF is now very harsh (not smooth).
I get better results with my standard lens 18-70mm.
Yes, it is for my Nikon D70.

I would feel a bit unconfortable shooting nude streetchildren ( I would frame them decently) but I think it is the duty of a photo journalist to record what is around him.
I don’t have any second thoughts about taking pictures of children and people in general (and post them on my website).

Sorry, but if you are outside in the streets you are fair game for photographers. You are only protected on private property.

markku · 19 years ago

Karla, I have that lens, you’re gonna like it. But that overlaps with your kit lens for now, so think about it.

Elber, sige studio tayo!

Elber · 19 years ago

I wanna shoot, too! Let’s have a studio day. We’ll need a studio-for-a-day, our flash units, our cameras, and lots of batteries. We can also just keep charging them onsite.

karla · 19 years ago

wow… a lot of gears ey. :D
i’m planning to buy a sigma 17-70mm lens, the one rain suggested and a speedlite 430ex

no need for telephoto lens as of the moment :D

jhay · 19 years ago

The Cannon 400D down to 40K? That’s great to hear! :)

I heard Quiapo is a good place to look for SLR cameras both digital and film.

Any tips in picking one?

Dave Starr · 19 years ago

No I wasn’t thinking in terms of law against taking pictures, but there are certainly laws that govern what you can do with that image in public. Especially in a commercial venue which this site certainly is. In the pro photo world it’s called a model release, a release of their rights, either for money they get for posing, or of their own free will, and since a child legally has no free will, only a parent could give permission.

That’s one of the things that stops me from photographing all the wonderful faces that surround me … I don’t want the legal hassles. Guess I’ll make a point to ask some of my legal friends next time I run one down. Ooops, better not run one of them down, they might sue me LoL. Thanks.

jayvee f. · 19 years ago

you know me, im always game. and guess what? I have all these fantastic filters .. :D

ruth · 19 years ago

i think there are indeed laws against it, yuga, even in the philippines. just that most people don’t know their rights, and don’t have the means to fight for them.

rain · 19 years ago

First thing you should know about lenses (and cameras, photography gear):

Prepare your bank account/credit card/car/house, for its not -by a loooooooooong shot- a cheap hobby.

Then again, as some local photographers would sometimes point out: its NOT the pana, its the indian! ;)

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief · 19 years ago

@ Sid,

How much did you get the 50mm 1.8D for? That’s for your Nikon D70 right? I loved the Photoworld exhibit because I was able to try out dozens and dozens of lenses and compare them right there and then.

@ Noemi

Yup, it could be a meet-up too!

@ Dave

Nah, it never crossed my mind but yes when I was in Boracay, I noticed that the westerners aren’t taking pictures of the kids as the locals do. There’s no law against that here, unless of course the pictures are crossing the borderlines of nudity.

Dave Starr · 19 years ago

Yuga,

Nice photos. I have a technical/legal question. As you know I’m an American so I take pretty great pains to watch my step and maybe be even a little hyper-cautious about getting on the wrong side of the law here in my “guest” country. I’m explaining this because I don’t want to sound like a dumb legal type … but in the US taking pictures of kids on the street and then posting them on the ‘net would be a recipe for legal disaster, unless you had a legally sound model release signed by the parent or legal guardian. Do you do anything along those lines, or just publish and not worry about it?

RE: the balloon fest, spouse and I (and a whole car load, too) will be there by 0530 Friday, 8 Feb. I have links to the schedule of events, maps of the venue, etc. on my PhilFAQS.com site. Whomever is going, don’t forget the real action is the balloons and they will fly by about 0530 and be completely done with launches before 0700, so it’s a real ‘get up early’ event. Should be well worth the early morning drive, though. Anyone who wants to hook up on Friday email me at: davestarr (at) gmail (dot) com and we can exchange texting numbers.

noemi · 19 years ago

The photo shoot could be a blog meet in itself.

Sidney · 19 years ago

I recently bought a 50mm 1.8D
A big disappointment since I donâ€™t get a lovely DOF (Bookeh).

When you look at the picture of the boy on the right you can see what I mean. The white spot just next to his face should be much smoother.
Lovely faces but the DOF isn’t perfect.

I wonder why I spend money on my new lens since I get a better DOF with my standard lens. :-(

I agree with you, think twice before you purchase a lens. Or better try to borrow one first and see if you really like the results.