New to photography - advice???

[cgratti]

If you want to do macro, the 50mm f/1.8 and a set of extension tubes will do wonders. The tubes cost about $130 for the whole set of 62mm tubes. You will have to get pretty close to focus, but if you want to do a lot of macro the Canon 100mm or Sigma 105mm are the way to go. I can send you sample pics of the Sigma photos if you PM me your email address.

 

[emaja]

cgratti, now that is the type of advice I come here for! Not only did I not know about these extension tubes, but they seem to do what I want for a very reasonable price.

We are definately getting somewhere!

A thousand thanks from this newcomer.

 

[The Mad Kiwi]

My advise is really boring, just get the camera and kit lens (and possibly the grip (they really are a most useful extra)) and use it for a while.

 

[lucero1148]

Canon's 350D is a great camera. AS a Canon user myself (1D-MK IIN) I got a 350D for my daughter 2 months ago and its very intuitive to use. As for what lens you should get the 18-55 is a must as it gives you a lot of flexibility in what you can cover from a short wide angle to short telephoto. As for Tamrom or Sigma as long as you're going for their premium lenses you can get very good quality images at a much lower cost than a comparable Canon lens.

As for the Cf card a 1 Gb card is sufficient and cheaper. For the most part you won't need to shoot large files a medium resolution file size will be good enough for the majority of the shots you'll take and for prints up to 8x10. Usually after I finish a shoot I'll copy my CF files to my Mac, process my images and then save it to a CD. Then I'll clear my CF card and start anew.

For future equipment purchases I'd save up for 10-22mm and the 70-200/f2.8 and if you're serious about Macro photography the 60mm Canon macro is ideal. Additonally even though your 350D has a on camera flash get a off camera flash like Canon's 430 flash. It'll give you more flexibility and better lit flash photos (if you should ever teach yourself how to use the flash effectively) and not use up yor camera battery power as well.
good luck
Patrick