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Post by Canucks on Apr 12, 2008 22:28:45 GMT -8
Ok I just got a Canon S5 IS and was reading the manual and it mentioned add-on lenses. There is a telephoto and wide angle lenses available. After searching the net trying to find answers about what they do and whether they are useful for ferries I found everything to be in "camera lingo". If someone could explain to me in simple terms it would be much appreciated. Here are my questions:
1. What do telephoto wide angle lenes do.
2. Would they be helpful in taking ferry pictures.
2. Are they worth $170 a piece.
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Post by Scott on Apr 12, 2008 22:54:55 GMT -8
I'm pretty illiterate in photography lingo too but here's my two cents...
Telephoto, I believe, would be zoom. I find this quite useful in ferry photography since it can really expand your options in where you can take pictures from. You can get telephoto lenses with various amounts of zoom. The higher the zoom, the more likely you'll need a tri-pod since your movements get exagerated the further you go.
Wide angle kinda means you can fit more into your image... broadens your borders a bit. Good for close up shots. I've had one for about half a year and I appreciate it quite a bit, for getting large panoramic vistas or closeup-shots of the kids;) Not sure how much it improves ferry photos... other than being able to fit the whole ferry in the frame where you wouldn't be able to with your average 35mm camera.
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Post by Canucks on Apr 12, 2008 22:59:18 GMT -8
Thanks for the info John. It sounds like a telephoto lens would be a good idea especially taking shots at Piper's lagoon.
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Post by Political Incorrectness on Apr 12, 2008 23:03:52 GMT -8
I do not think it is necessary on an S5 IS since it is not a digital SLR. It already has a 12x optical zoom and that is good enough for a prosumer level digital camera. NewFlyer has an S3 IS which takes some good shots too. If you want to improve shots, when you get enough money, you can join us Nikonians of the board in purchasing a DSLR. John H, Scott, Chris, orcasnative, and I own Nikon DSLRs.
If you do not have the money, just stick to the S5 IS. It's one of the best in terms of prosumer cameras. Once you become what I like to call a serious amateur in terms of photography, it might be worth it to dump some on a DSLR.
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Nick
Voyager
Chief Engineer - Queen of Richmond
Posts: 2,078
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Post by Nick on Apr 12, 2008 23:25:35 GMT -8
In my opinion, you should try the 12x out, and see if you want to be able to zoom in more when you are taking your photos. If you feel like you are constantly missing out on the good shots because you can't get in close enough, then it might be worth spending the extra $170 on the attachment. I honestly can't say that I've had times when I wished I had a wider lens when I'm taking ferry photos. Having said that, I don't take a lot of interior photos, which is where you might want a wide angle lens.
I do use a telephoto lens quite frequently, but as mentioned, 12x is a pretty good zoom already.
And I guess I'm the only Canon user around, eh?
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Post by Political Incorrectness on Apr 12, 2008 23:40:10 GMT -8
No you are not Nick, in the DSLR, maybe, but I just said that Canucks uses an S5 IS which is a Canon and NewFlyer has an S3 IS which is also a Canon. It's just good old rivalry between Nikon and Canon. For those who want alot of zoom yet not a DSLR, here is something for you.
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Post by Barnacle on Apr 13, 2008 7:00:08 GMT -8
And I guess I'm the only Canon user around, eh? Nah, I still love my Canon. The difference is that mine needs one battery about every ten years, but that weird light-sensitive plastic stuff that you have to dunk in chemicals and then take a picture of, again, and dunk the paper in more chemicals... ...film isn't very environmentally friendly, is it?
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Koastal Karl
Voyager
Been on every BC Ferry now!!!!!
Posts: 7,747
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Post by Koastal Karl on Apr 13, 2008 9:16:51 GMT -8
My Panasonic Lumix has a 12x zoom and it is great for photos that are taken far away from the subject.
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Post by Canucks on Apr 13, 2008 9:49:49 GMT -8
Thanks for the advice everyone. I think I will save my money as I just found out that shipping costs and taxes are pretty hefty. As for the whole Canon vs. Nikon debate I have always had a Canon and never had any problems with them. I am a bit scared of Nikons because I have heard some stories about them being difficult to use.
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Mill Bay
Voyager
Long Suffering Bosun
Posts: 2,886
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Post by Mill Bay on Apr 13, 2008 10:41:04 GMT -8
I do use a telephoto lens quite frequently, but as mentioned, 12x is a pretty good zoom already. And I guess I'm the only Canon user around, eh? Nick, you're not the only one... I'm a Canon user too, thought not an SLR user.
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Nick
Voyager
Chief Engineer - Queen of Richmond
Posts: 2,078
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Post by Nick on Apr 13, 2008 15:09:36 GMT -8
OK, good to hear, although I was stuck inside my little DSLR box as I didn't clue in that the S5 IS was a Canon, even though I spent a little bit of time looking up the stats on it.
As far as Canon vs. Nikon, I really don't think there is a difference when you compare apples to apples (ie Canon Digital Rebel XTi vs. Nikon D40x).
And Canucks, I think you made a good choice. $170 plus shipping etc. is a lot of money for that little bit of extra zoom. I use my mom's sony DSC-H9 with a 15x zoom sometimes, and I very rarely need to zoom in that much.
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Post by WettCoast on Apr 13, 2008 16:25:54 GMT -8
Ok I just got a Canon S5 IS and was reading the manual and it mentioned add-on lenses. There is a telephoto and wide angle lenses available. After searching the net trying to find answers about what they do and whether they are useful for ferries I found everything to be in "camera lingo". If someone could explain to me in simple terms it would be much appreciated. Here are my questions: 1. What do telephoto wide angle lenes do. 2. Would they be helpful in taking ferry pictures. 2. Are they worth $170 a piece. Canucks, Not withstanding the other answers given above, I will give you my opinion and experience of about 40 years experience with cameras. Most modern digital cameras come equipped with a 'fixed' lens. By fixed, I mean that the lens is permanently attached to the camera. It can not be removed/changed out for a different lens. This fixed lens, however, has a control allowing you to vary the focal length of the lens. We call such a lens a 'zoom' lens. Typically you can alter zoom lenses from a moderate wide angle setting to a moderate or 'long' telephoto setting. Your new camera is equipped with such a lens. In fact, you new camera has quite an impressive zoom lens with a 12 to 1 zoom ratio. It goes from a very modest wide angle setting to a very long telephoto setting at the upper end of its zoom setting. Unfortunately, your lens is typical of what you find on most modern zoom lens equipped digital cameras in that it provides an inadequate amount of zoom on the wide angle side, and maybe too much on the tele side. IMHO, a good zoom lens should have a (35 mm camera equivalent) range of at least 28 mm going up to about 250 mm (meaning about a 10 to 1 zoom ratio). To me, the ideal zoom lens, would have a 35 mm camera equivalent range of about 20 to 250 mm. Some here have advised you that you don't need wide angle. I disagree, strongly. I feel this way with regard to ferry photography just as much as I do with regard to general photography. A wide angle is not only good for getting much better interior shots. It is also essential for when you want to photograph, for instance, an entire ferry that is too close to you, and you are unable to move away from it. I remember many years ago being at the Peyto Lake view point in Banff National Park, Alberta (Canadian Rockies). I wanted to get a picture of the outstanding view before me and dammit, the scene would not fit into my SLR camera's viewfinder. As luck would have it another tourist just happened to be there with the same kind of camera as mine and he had a 20 mm lens which he lent me. Presto, I was able to get a good photo of the stunning view of Peyto Lake below me. In short, wide angle is essential for landscape photography. The extra lenses that Canon has as accessories for your camera are in fact converter lenses. They screw onto the front of the fixed lens and 'convert' it either making the focal length wider or longer. If you get either, you will also need to purchase a 'converter lens adapter' (part # LAH-DC) which is available for ~ $40 from Kerrisdale Cameras (and other fine photo stores). I would recommend that you NOT buy the tele converter as you already have enough*. On the other hand, the wide angle converter could be useful as it will allow you to get significantly wider, moving from the 35 mm equivalent of a 35 mm to 28 mm maximum zoom. This will allow for a 20% wider angle of view meaning that maybe you can fit the whole ship into the picture. This will cost you $40 for the adapter, plus another $150 for the converter itself, plus taxes, totaling at over $210. Every time you want to use it you will have to mount the adapter and then the converter. It is cumbersome & somewhat time consuming, but in some cases it is worth it. It is probably better just to live with the limitations of your new camera, as it is. Save your money, and in a few years you can get yourself a DSLR, where you have the freedom to choose and use lenses that better meet your needs. For anyone considering buying a new digital camera of similar design to the Canon S5 is I would suggest you follow Dan's (Polit. Incor.) tip above. That camera is priced in Vancouver at about $450, has 10.1 MP resolution, has a 18:1 zoom ratio, and best of all, the zoom starts at (35 mm equivalent of) 28 mm. More info at: www.kerrisdalecameras.ca/store/product.asp?shopper_id=N3SUQSEQDRPN8LREC26D9B241XNQ73G7&dept_id=5038&pf_id=025.16675&more=true For more info on camera lenses, focal length, angle of view, etc., see the following, and related entries on Wikipedia... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angle_of_view * Your zoom lens, when set at the maximum telephoto setting, has a focal length of 432 mm (35 mm equivalent). This is generally considered to be 'too high' for a hand held camera, meaning that it should only be used with a tripod. Your camera, howerver, has some sort of shake reduction system, which should be 'on' when you are using your lens at zoom settings greater than about 200 mm (again, 35 mm equiv). This shake reduction feature reduces the need for a tripod. Beware, that if your camera is used at a high zoom setting, with slower shutter speeds, on the vibrating deck of a ferry, you will get pictures that are fuzzy, due to 'motion blur'. The rule of thumb with 35 mm cameras was set your shutter speed at the next setting above the inverse of the lenses' focal length. That means that if your camera's zoom lens is set to a 35 mm equiv. setting of 432, you need to set the shutter speed at or above 1/432 of a second, or faster. For your camera, with shake reduction on, you should probably use a shutter speed of 1/300th of a second, or faster, when zoomed in to the max, and standing on the deck of a vibrating ferry.
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Post by WettCoast on Apr 13, 2008 17:40:41 GMT -8
For the record,
I am currently using a Pentax DSLR model K10D bought about a year ago). I also own another Pentax (ist-DL), bought in the fall of 2005. Before that I used a Nikon Coolpix E5700 (with a permanently attached 8:1 zoom) for which I did purchase a wide angle converter which I found to be cumbersome but essential. That camera was bought in August 2003.
Prior to that I had an HP Photosmart 2.1 MP point and shoot, with a 3:1 optical zoom. This was my first digital, bought in the spring of 2001. It showed me what digital can do and I have never looked back.
Prior to 2001 I owned several film SLR's. I bought my first one in ~1971 (a Pentax Spotmatic). At that time I was just a kid (still am!) attending Mt Doug High School in Victoria. There were a number of camera enthusiasts in the school at that time, all boasting about the merits of their particular brand of SLR (Canon vs Pentax vs Minolta, etc.). At that time Nikon was a professional level camera only. They had a consumer level SLR brand known at the time as 'Nikormat'. Some years later they dropped the Nikormat name and rebranded the consumer level cameras as Nikons, much to the disgust of 'real' Nikon owners*.
After my Spotmatic I got into Minolta SLR's, purchasing three of them. The last one was an 'X700' which I last used in the summer of 2002. Today it sits unused, gathering dust, in my closet.
*Today, if you want to own a camera that clearly says to all that you are a 'pro' (or someone with pots of money), you will have to get yourself a Hasselblad. Try the H3D model with 39 MP resolution and a price tag at over $30,000 US.
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Post by Mike C on Apr 13, 2008 17:52:58 GMT -8
Hey Canucks!
I'm a user of the Canon PowerShot S3 IS, one model down from yours.
I find the 12x zoom to be plenty, and I don't think $170 would be worth it. I've owned my S3 since last October, and I think it's great the way it is.
I've been a Canon user since the beginnings of digital cameras; using my mom's old S45 from 2002, right up until I bought my A430 in August of 2006. Again, I upgraded to my S3 last October, and considering upgrading yet one more time to a Rebel XT. I am very biased when it comes to choosing a camera, just because I've grown so accustomed to Canon's friendly customer service and well-built cameras.
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Post by Canucks on Apr 13, 2008 18:15:15 GMT -8
Thanks Wet Coast Kid for that simple explanation of what a wide angle lens will do and how to set up the camera on a vibrating ferry. (You don't find that in the manual) Since there has been a lot of Discussion over cameras brands etc. I will set up a poll on this thread to see everyone's preference. You can state which specific model below and why you like that model or brand best. My vote is Canon all the way because they are well built(yeah I've dropped one before), easy to use, and have good software.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Apr 13, 2008 18:21:32 GMT -8
My vote is Canon all the way. Cannon was ok for fans of William Conrad. But I preferred Hawaii-Five-O or Streets of San Francisco, for a good crime drama. Oh, wait. You mean "Canon", not "Cannon". My bad. Sorry.
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Post by Northern Exploration on Apr 14, 2008 6:34:35 GMT -8
Cannon drove a much cooler car though the Lincoln Mark IV. My Great Uncle had one as well as the older Mark III that he kept in the garage for special occasions. I loved riding in both cars as a kid. However he was a fast and not particularly good driver. He lived in Redding CA at the time and I have a vague memory of him dinging it on the Coho when he was north visiting. Maybe that was an early example of the Ferry Curse.
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Post by Kahloke on Apr 14, 2008 8:27:06 GMT -8
I bought a Nikon D80 last year with a Tamron 18-200mm lens. With the 1.5x focal conversion factor, that essentially makes it the equivalent of a 27-350mm lens. I agree with others here about the wide angle. It's nice to have.
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