[countrydi]

I have a Canon Rebel XS 1000D camera. I have different lens. The one that came with it is a 18-55mm. I will be the first to admit....I don't know much about lens and how they work. After talking and meeting some of the gals here a couple of years ago, I bought a Nifty-Fifty lens. Which I'm ashamed to say hasn't gotten much use either. so since one of my goals this year is to improve my knowledge of my camera and lens, take more pictures, some off auto-focus even, I need to figure some things out.

If I am in the house, taking pictures of things, or the grandkids.....would I use the nifty-fifty lens? When is it that you would use that lens?

Also someone sold me a lens that I'm pretty sure I didn't need and now am clueless how to use....it's a HD DSLR MC AF 0.45X Wide Angle W/Macro. He told me it was a macro lens and I bought the lens (this was a few years ago and I knew nothing . And I thought I was getting a huge bargain. I guess it's true, you get what you pay for, cause I have no idea how to use it except that's it's not a regular macro lens. I have found that much out. (when the camera shop laughed at me)

I also have a 75-300mm lens that I love for distance that I use alot. Especially with a tripod. I'm good on that one I think!

But I still struggle with the 3 smaller lens. I know they are not good quality lens but they are all I can afford so I am happy I have them. And I want to learn to use them to the best of my ability!
Any and all help would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!
Thank you!

[jenrou]

I can't help much, because I am trying to learn how to use my dslr with two lens. I can use it on manual and in a few other instances, but it's luck when I try to do anything else. I had an old Canon slr film camera and knew how to do all sorts of things, but not this one. Good luck.

[Barb Eugene]

I use my nifty-fifty lens for all kinds of photos; people, flowers, my grandkids, my puppies. What I like about the lens is that it blurs the background very nicely. It's a fixed lens, meaning you have to move closer or farther away from the subject. I suggest you play with it until you become familiar with what you can expect from the lens.

[countrydi]

jenrou, on 23 February 2013 - 02:02 PM, said:

I can't help much, because I am trying to learn how to use my dslr with two lens. I can use it on manual and in a few other instances, but it's luck when I try to do anything else. I had an old Canon slr film camera and knew how to do all sorts of things, but not this one. Good luck.

Thank you Jean!

[countrydi]

Barb Eugene, on 24 February 2013 - 01:01 PM, said:

I use my nifty-fifty lens for all kinds of photos; people, flowers, my grandkids, my puppies. What I like about the lens is that it blurs the background very nicely. It's a fixed lens, meaning you have to move closer or farther away from the subject. I suggest you play with it until you become familiar with what you can expect from the lens.

That helps some Barb! Thanks! Having a blurred background would be nice. I will start playing with it.

[JenniferZ]

Hi Di!
What is the aperture of your nifty fifty? If it has a wide aperture (1.2? 1.4?) it will be an excellent lens for indoor shots or other low-light situations where you can get relatively close to your subject. Since it is a fixed lens, you will have to use "foot zoom" to frame your subject to your liking.

I don't know anything about wide angle macro lenses. With wide angle lenses you can take great landscape photos, but I am confused about the "macro" part. Macro lenses are usually for close, close, close-up photography of really small things (flower centers, bugs, pebbles, etc.) so I am not sure how a wide-angle fits in there.

As far as the lens that came with your camera -- 18mm is pretty wide in and of itself. That lens would be great for outdoor landscapes or photos where you need to capture alot of extraneous scenery. A lot will depend on the aperture of that -- I'm guessing it's around 3.4 or something, which is good for outside light or photos that take a flash.

When I first started getting into my SLR (back then I used a Nikon N2020 -- and a film camera to boot!) , I got The Complete ***'s Guide To Photography. It focused on SLR (and nowadays DSLRs) -- how it differs from a point and shoot, how it works, what all the numbers mean (shutter speed, aperture and lens lengths, etc.) and then how all those factors work together to create the image you want. It was SUPER helpful and really helped me to figure out how to get the most out of my camera.

Have fun in your explorations!

[JenniferZ]

OK -- The Complete I*D*I*O*T'S Guide To Photography was edited out of my post...

[jenrou]

JenniferZ, on 24 February 2013 - 01:42 PM, said:

OK -- The Complete I*D*I*O*T'S Guide To Photography was edited out of my post... />

I'm going to look for that book, myself! Thanks.

[countrydi]

JenniferZ, on 24 February 2013 - 01:39 PM, said:

Hi Di!
What is the aperture of your nifty fifty? If it has a wide aperture (1.2? 1.4?) it will be an excellent lens for indoor shots or other low-light situations where you can get relatively close to your subject. Since it is a fixed lens, you will have to use "foot zoom" to frame your subject to your liking.

I don't know anything about wide angle macro lenses. With wide angle lenses you can take great landscape photos, but I am confused about the "macro" part. Macro lenses are usually for close, close, close-up photography of really small things (flower centers, bugs, pebbles, etc.) so I am not sure how a wide-angle fits in there.

As far as the lens that came with your camera -- 18mm is pretty wide in and of itself. That lens would be great for outdoor landscapes or photos where you need to capture alot of extraneous scenery. A lot will depend on the aperture of that -- I'm guessing it's around 3.4 or something, which is good for outside light or photos that take a flash.

When I first started getting into my SLR (back then I used a Nikon N2020 -- and a film camera to boot!) />, I got The Complete ***'s Guide To Photography. It focused on SLR (and nowadays DSLRs) -- how it differs from a point and shoot, how it works, what all the numbers mean (shutter speed, aperture and lens lengths, etc.) and then how all those factors work together to create the image you want. It was SUPER helpful and really helped me to figure out how to get the most out of my camera.

Have fun in your explorations!

Alot of great info Jennifer thank you! The nifty-fifty lens is (if I know how to read it) 1.8 so not sure how that measures up to what you said. And the lens that came with the camera is 3.5-5.6.
The book sounds great, I will be looking for that! It sounds really helpful and super easy for even me to learn from! LOL

[JenniferZ]

countrydi, on 24 February 2013 - 03:00 PM, said:

JenniferZ, on 24 February 2013 - 01:39 PM, said:

Hi Di!
What is the aperture of your nifty fifty? If it has a wide aperture (1.2? 1.4?) it will be an excellent lens for indoor shots or other low-light situations where you can get relatively close to your subject. Since it is a fixed lens, you will have to use "foot zoom" to frame your subject to your liking.

I don't know anything about wide angle macro lenses. With wide angle lenses you can take great landscape photos, but I am confused about the "macro" part. Macro lenses are usually for close, close, close-up photography of really small things (flower centers, bugs, pebbles, etc.) so I am not sure how a wide-angle fits in there.

As far as the lens that came with your camera -- 18mm is pretty wide in and of itself. That lens would be great for outdoor landscapes or photos where you need to capture alot of extraneous scenery. A lot will depend on the aperture of that -- I'm guessing it's around 3.4 or something, which is good for outside light or photos that take a flash.

When I first started getting into my SLR (back then I used a Nikon N2020 -- and a film camera to boot!) />/>, I got The Complete ***'s Guide To Photography. It focused on SLR (and nowadays DSLRs) -- how it differs from a point and shoot, how it works, what all the numbers mean (shutter speed, aperture and lens lengths, etc.) and then how all those factors work together to create the image you want. It was SUPER helpful and really helped me to figure out how to get the most out of my camera.

Have fun in your explorations!

Alot of great info Jennifer thank you! The nifty-fifty lens is (if I know how to read it) 1.8 so not sure how that measures up to what you said. And the lens that came with the camera is 3.5-5.6.
The book sounds great, I will be looking for that! It sounds really helpful and super easy for even me to learn from! LOL

1.8 is good and probably wide enough for standard lighting indoors. I just checked on Amazon and there is the Complete [censored lol!) Guide to Digital Photography as well as the regular Guide to Photography. I have the regular one (and you can get it for $1.50 on Amazon since it was designed for 35mm cameras) and it was very easy for me to apply that knowledge to my digital SLR when I switched over from film.

[countrydi]

JenniferZ, on 24 February 2013 - 03:13 PM, said:

countrydi, on 24 February 2013 - 03:00 PM, said:

JenniferZ, on 24 February 2013 - 01:39 PM, said:

Hi Di!
What is the aperture of your nifty fifty? If it has a wide aperture (1.2? 1.4?) it will be an excellent lens for indoor shots or other low-light situations where you can get relatively close to your subject. Since it is a fixed lens, you will have to use "foot zoom" to frame your subject to your liking.

I don't know anything about wide angle macro lenses. With wide angle lenses you can take great landscape photos, but I am confused about the "macro" part. Macro lenses are usually for close, close, close-up photography of really small things (flower centers, bugs, pebbles, etc.) so I am not sure how a wide-angle fits in there.

As far as the lens that came with your camera -- 18mm is pretty wide in and of itself. That lens would be great for outdoor landscapes or photos where you need to capture alot of extraneous scenery. A lot will depend on the aperture of that -- I'm guessing it's around 3.4 or something, which is good for outside light or photos that take a flash.

When I first started getting into my SLR (back then I used a Nikon N2020 -- and a film camera to boot!) />/>/>, I got The Complete ***'s Guide To Photography. It focused on SLR (and nowadays DSLRs) -- how it differs from a point and shoot, how it works, what all the numbers mean (shutter speed, aperture and lens lengths, etc.) and then how all those factors work together to create the image you want. It was SUPER helpful and really helped me to figure out how to get the most out of my camera.

Have fun in your explorations!

Alot of great info Jennifer thank you! The nifty-fifty lens is (if I know how to read it) 1.8 so not sure how that measures up to what you said. And the lens that came with the camera is 3.5-5.6.
The book sounds great, I will be looking for that! It sounds really helpful and super easy for even me to learn from! LOL

1.8 is good and probably wide enough for standard lighting indoors. I just checked on Amazon and there is the Complete [censored lol!) Guide to Digital Photography as well as the regular Guide to Photography. I have the regular one (and you can get it for $1.50 on Amazon since it was designed for 35mm cameras) and it was very easy for me to apply that knowledge to my digital SLR when I switched over from film.

Thanks Jennifer! I'll check it out!

[Sara Arell]

Wish I could help, Di - I had the nifty fifty recommended to me when I got my new camera and wish I had listened to everyone's advice - got something else instead and I never use it. I'm ashamed of myself cause the last year I've used my cell phone camera more than my beloved, expensive, gotta have it or I'll die camera!

Maybe I'll get inspired and pull my camera out again!