New Photographer on a Budget.

Anti_Steeze

Anti_Steeze

Active member
Alright M&A, I have finally bitten the bullet and joined this awesome (but extremely expensive) hobby of photography/videography. While pulling my hair out trying to read reviews on different lenses and other associated accessories I thought it would be a good idea to make a thread which discussed some of the more budget accessories that are still GOOD but not necessarily "top of the line"; because lets face it, not everyone has the budget to shell out 600+dollars for a lens.

In a nutshell, I own a canon t2i and am looking for a few lenses (wide angle and long(er) range) and other accessories (such as a tripod, intervalometer, and eventually an external shotgun microphone). My question to you guys is, while keeping in mind a poor college student's budget, what are some affordable/ decent quality accessories that I should look into to expand within this hobby? It doesnt make sense for me to spend benjamins on a manfrotto tripod or tokina 11-16 2.8/canon 70-200 f4L because I wont be able to use them to their full potential. I am looking for stuff to learn/expand on before I get into any of the more serious lenses/accessories.

Also I am looking for a good camera backpack, so recommendations along those lines will also be greatly appreciated!

Thanks guys
 
i'd say, take your money and invest into ONE item, and then learn around it, use it a ton, and really utilize it. Then you'll figure out what you need/want/like/prefer to shoot
 
HMMMM where to start.

Well everybody on here is going to tell you to stuff you already know. i.e. dont cheap on a tripod, never buy kit lens etc.

but ive found you can cheap out pretty easily and not suffer too much. I still havent bought a new lens for my D3100 and its not really been a problem. I'd love a new one though.

I bought a pretty decent $60 sunpak tripod that is alright, but the head is a pistol grip and un-usable for filming, so i just ordered a SLIK U212 which im excited about.

You should also buy a UV filter for lens protection which are like $10 and maybe a ND filter for filming skiing.
 
The problem with buying cheap lenses early on is that you'll outgrow them almost instantaneously. Then you'll find yourself spending more money on lenses than you would've by buying nice glass in the first place.

And idk why you need to "learn" how to use a lens. I'll teach you how to use a lens in like a couple sentences:

There's a switch that toggles autofocus, you can use it to shoot either manually or have the camera focus for you. Focus ring focuses and zoom ring (if on a zoom lens) zooms in and out. Bam, you are now capable of using any lens efficiently to an extent.

Acquire Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 Good starter lens and covers a nice focal length. Then get either the tokina 11-16 and the canon 70-200
 
im not talking about learning how to use a lens...its not that difficult, but Id first like how to learn how to use my camera/get more out of it before i drop a shitload of money on glass. I understand you need better lenses to get more out of your camera, blah blah blah, but i think it makes sense to learn how to take different kinds of pictures/videos before I buy these extremely expensive lenses, does that make sense? Maybe I should have clarified what i meant when i said accessories...i meant tropods, filters, intervalometers, bags, grips, etc....things that are more of a necessity than 1000 dollar lenses.
 
The tripod, bag, and filters are important. but intervalometers and grips are not more important. You can still learn how to use a camera regardless of what glass you use. It really makes all the difference to have nice glass. All the things that you're talking about learning can be done regardless of glass. you can use a different lens every single day and you would still progress in terms of using a camera, and your skill as a photographer, both are developed over time regardless of what lens is used.

As a skier I can see why you have that mentality: the concept of "buying eric pollard's pro model won't make you ski like eric pollard" doesn't really apply to lenses, maybe bodies and other gear but definitely not lenses in my opinion. You really will be better off in the long run buying nice glass. And I think you're mixing up nice glass with expensive glass. There's plenty of lenses that for under $500 will do you great.
 
the Intervalometer is more of a personal thing because I think that time lapses are fucking awesome and I want to do them lol.

Keying in on that last sentence, what would be a good, sub $500 longer-range lens that I should look into purchasing? The tokina 11-16 is a reachable goal for me to set with regards to saving for a nice lens, but 1400 for the 70-200 is not something I am planning on doing any time soon.
 
It's really a great lens, and in my opinion, everything below that is meh, and to my knowledge all have non-fixed apertures which can be a dealbreaker for a lot of people
 
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