Canon Extras

[Drobbins]

Hey Guys,

A few months ago i got myself a Canon 400D and have been using the stock lense and flash for most of my shots for a while now but i want to be able to take some better pictures of 'people' and blur out the background and this feature is currently not available to me on my current lense does anyone have any suggestions. I am also going to spain in the summer and want to take some landscape shots is their a lense that would work for this also.

Also the flash i have got the stock one running at the moment and when taking 'people' pictures it always seems to cast a shadow behind the subject if i got a external flash i could adjust the angle of the light to 45 or lower and rebound light of a white surface to avoid a shadow, which flash would be good.

Many Thanks
Drobbins

[Bobster]

your lens is more than capable of bluring the background when taking portrait shots etc, i suggest before you purchase a new lens, you buy yourself a good course on photogaphy, or purchase a good book from amazon

flash - 430EX or if you want to splash, 580EX

[Drobbins]

your lens is more than capable of bluring the background when taking portrait shots etc, i suggest before you purchase a new lens, you buy yourself a good course on photogaphy, or purchase a good book from amazon

flash - 430EX or if you want to splash, 580EX

Got any recommendations on them books?

Also thanks for the flash!

[Bobster]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Basic-Photog...e=UTF8&s=books

looks like it has everything

[charleski]

For blurring the background, use aperture-priority and set the aperture to the lowest number (which is largest aperture - probably f3.5 on your lens). Use a focal length around 50-80mm.

To avoid harsh shadows, use a flash diffusor (needs a more powerful flashgun, as you lose a couple of stops of exposure).

[Bobster]

you forgot that he needs his subject a good distance away from whatever the background is so it actually is a blur

oh and forget those kind of Diffusors, accept the best buy a Lightsphere II

[charleski]

you forgot that he needs his subject a good distance away from whatever the background is so it actually is a blur

Actually, it's true that at reasonable portraiture focal lengths the stock lens probably only goes down to f4 or more, which might end up giving you too much depth of field. If you want a cheap solution, buy the Canon 50mm f1.8 lens (£65 on amazon), which will provide loads of background blur when you open it up. The 50mm f1.4 lens is better in many ways (though has more barrel distortion), but costs a lot more.

oh and forget those kind of Diffusors, accept the best buy a Lightsphere II

Dome diffusors like that do provide a more even spread of light, but at a far higher exposure penalty and really need a powerful flash.

BTW, for landscape shots you'll want a short focal length lens. Sigma does a cheap 18-50mm lens (around £70), and at 18mm it will be fine for landscapes. You can always take several shots of a scene, turning 60degrees or so between shots, and then stitch them together in software.

Obviously you can buy better lenses for a lot more, but I'm guessing you don't want to spend too much.

[Hans Voralberg]

Buy a 17-85, it cover pretty much the range for landscape and portraiture. THe 430EX is also more than enough. If you have the money, the extra 50 1.8 like Charleski suggested is also a good lens to have. IMO for lens you get what you pay for, so invest in something decent and will last you a while.

[SpriteFeedback]

While the 17-85 is a good range I am not overly impressed by the max f-stop range (f/4-5.6) while it has IS that is not going to do anything for your attempts to blur the background. A friend has the 18-55 sigma 2.8 which is a nice enough lens then also do a 28-70 with a constant max f2.8 which would be a better by for your needs i think even though its not so wide you can always use the kit lens if you need to go between 28 and 18.

the 50mm 1.8 is a great piece of kit for the money. Wouldn't go for the 1.4 unless you are sure you will get the benefits.

As for the on camera flash Canon is miles behind nikon i have the 420ex and the only controls it has is the on button. i think the 430ex might be a little better.

sf

[5lab]

50mm f1.8 is the one you want, but the kit lens should do waht you want too - just use the right f-stop on it..

[Hans Voralberg]

As for the on camera flash Canon is miles behind nikon i have the 420ex and the only controls it has is the on button. i think the 430ex might be a little better.

sf

430EX and 580EX is miles better than any old canon flash