Advice sought for camera gifts (noobie)

[FaxFan2002]

Hi All,

Wondering if you could give me some advice...

My wife is wanting some more camera equipement of her birthday so far she has:

350D with stock lense (18-55mm?)
Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 EX
canon ef 75-300mm f4-5.6 III USM
Polarizing filter

She is asking for:
A lense hood (can you get a one size fits all??)
Macro lense (60mm canon for mifsuds?) - to quote "for medium work"..?
IR filter
Flash gun (depending on cost!!)

Help and advice is sought, she is a beginer and will starting at college in september doing a photography course.

I have all the computer bits, although I am thinking of investing in something to bring the colour up to speed on the monitor (iMac) and maybe a new photo printer.


Looking to spend upto £500.

Thanks in advance.

[h4rri]

Originally Posted by FaxFan2002

She is asking for:

Alot, tell her to be happy with flowers

Originally Posted by FaxFan2002

A lense hood (can you get a one size fits all??)

Nope

Originally Posted by FaxFan2002

Macro lense (60mm canon for mifsuds?) - to quote "for medium work"..?

Definately would be my choice.

Originally Posted by FaxFan2002

IR filter

Just this? I would opt for one of the Cokin kits and get her a couple of extra bits. Got to be a little suprise to her present

Originally Posted by FaxFan2002

Flash gun (depending on cost!!)

Around £180 for the Canon 430EX last time I looked. Good unit and should see her right for a long time.

[ched]

Maybe a surprise present of a tripod? It might be useful on her course?

[Brammers]

All prices coming from Jessops.

Originally Posted by FaxFan2002

She is asking for:
A lense hood (can you get a one size fits all??)

You'll need lens hoods for the Canon lenses. The Sigma will have it included.

18-55 takes EW-60C, £17.99.
70-300 takes ET-65B, £17.99

Both of those seem way over the odds (most manufacturers toss in the hood for free), so maybe you can get some generic alternatives off ebay for a fiver or so.

Macro lense (60mm canon for mifsuds?) - to quote "for medium work"..?

If she's saying medium work then the 60mm is apparantly highly reccomended, at £349.

Also worth looking at are:

Sigma 70mm macro, £349.
Sigma 50mm macro, £229.

Were she to want a longer macro lens there are plenty available, ask the question

IR filter

These come in various sizes. They screw onto the front of each lens and are used for protection. Personally I don't reccomend one for the 18-55 or 70-300 lenses - if you buy a poor quality UV then it can mess up your pictures in certain circumstances and to buy a high quality one will be approaching the cost of replacing the front element - cheaper to send the lens in for a repair. That is my opinion and others will disagree.

I would put a filter on the Sigma. You'll need one in 77mm flavour, from Jessops a bog standard one is £35, going up to £50 for a multi coated Hoya (superior quality).

Flash gun (depending on cost!!)

Many options. What does she want to use it for? I tend to dislike on-camera flash, but unfortunately to take the flash of the camera on Canons you need to buy more accessories, either cables or wireless systems. For macro work a cable will probably be fine, for more 'energetic' uses she'll probably appreciate a wireless system in the future. Here's some options:

Canon 220EX - £113 (basic)
Canon 430EX - £200 (intermediate)
Canon 580EX - £400 (advanced)

Canon ST-E2 - £150 (will allow wireless control of the 430 or 580 above. Not sure if it will work with the Sigmas or Metzs)
Canon Off Camera Shoe Cord OC-E3 - £45 (Does the same as the above but uses a cable rather than Infra Red. You need 1 per flash - if you're going to use more than 3 flashes it's cheaper to buy an ST-E2. Will work with Sigmas and Metzs)

Sigma 500 ST - £120 (basic but more powerful than the 220 above)
Sigma 500 Super - £200 (slots somewhere between the 430 and 580. Reccomended.)

Metz54 MZ4 - £300 (Serious alternative to 580)
Metz44 - £179 (less powerful, still fully featured)
The Metz are both Thyristor type flashes - this means that rather than rely on the camera for metering, they measure the light themselves and then decide how strongly to fire. This often produces very accurate flash output levels.

So - there's your options, how to spend the money? You've not got enough for everything, so I guess ask her what she wants most.

If you use Hong Kong suppliers (1stop digital is excellent) then you can seriously cut the prices, at the cost of possibly having to send products back to Hong Kong for any warranty claims. There are also UK based suppliers that will do it cheaper than Jessops, I only used them for pricing because they have a decent website

Enjoy!

[Pirate!!]

Ahoy!

Just go to OneStop Digital and research there first. Then buy.

Sigma EF-500 DG Super = £126.99
Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM = £218.99 (example). There are many others from Canon and third party manufacturers. Details from the Canon website.
Hoya IR Filters @ Amazon circa £20-£30 sovs.

So lets see, based on the above items suggested . . £500 . . less . . . equals . . less . . . hmm! . . carry the one . . . OK . . so you still have £154.02 for an IR filter, lens hood(s) and other items.

Have you thought about a vertical battery grip? Darned useful for portraits, especially if you have a flashgun mounted. Would help to balance the camera and make shooting much more comfortable.

Also consider a diffuser for the flashgun (item: 330141952640) for example.

Handgrip. Looks good to me! Also, have a scan here. Plenty of lens hoods on eBay as long as you know the diameter required.

They way I see it, you have enough for ALL on your list depending from where you buy from.

[FaxFan2002]

Thanks for all the brilliant suggestions!

She has also mentioned a "sturdy" tripod, she has one already which obviously isn't good enough - so tripod suggestions?

[alphaomega16]

Onestop has the 430EX for £146

[Pirate!!]

Not up to speed in that department mucker. Maybe a blimp on Amazon might help, then cross-check models/prices on eBay. 7dayshop has a decent selection though. Even on my calculations, there ought to enough in the kitty afford a tripod. Maybe the 'Homer Simpson' method will do . . a wooden barbeque and a lot of imflamable fluid!