New to DSLR: Just bought T4i/650D

[blahblah]

Hi all, I am new to photography. With my university graduation coming soon, I pulled the trigger on a T4i/650D today.

The tutorials on this website is very informative. However, I would like to ask a couple of questions.

1. During my hunt for a camera bag, this one seemed very interesting. Case Logic
What do you think about this bag? Any other recommendations?

2. Since I have only used Sony point-and-shoot so far, I have no experience on using SDHC. Among the dazzling amount of SDHC memory cards available, which would you recommend? Is either of these two good? SanDisk Extreme, Extreme Pro.

Thank you.

[enaiman]

1. The case is too small. You will have in time more than one lens to carry around plus some extra gadgets.
2. Whichever gives you the biggest transfer speed.

[Snarkbyte]

I have to agree with Eugen regarding the case... it's just too small, and you will outgrow it very quickly.

As for the SDHC cards, SanDisk is, IMO, the best you can get; I never use anything else. Either the Extreme or Extreme Pro are good choices, but which one depends on how much speed you need, and how well the camera can use the card speed (depends on buffer size and speed, so I don't have an answer for this one). Extreme Pro is faster, but more expensive. Both are very reliable. I should mention that some unscrupulous people have been selling cheap, low-quality counterfeit cards, labeled and sold as SanDisk at very low prices... beware of "hot deals" for these cards on-line, since these counterfeits are nowhere near as good as the real thing. As always, buy from a reputable outlet, and be suspicious of hig-quality brand names at "too-low" prices.

BTW, congrats on the new camera, and welcome to CiC. Be sure to post some photos... the feedback and friendly critique you get here is a great way to learn (there are some things you just can't get from tutorials, no matter now well written they may be.)

[Colin Southern]

Hi "Person who's first name I don't know because you haven't put it in the real name field in your profile",

Most modern cards are faster than the camera interface - and even if that weren't the case, it's still unlikely to be an issue unless you're trying to shoot long bursts at max frame rate. For normal type shooting it doesn't make any difference.

Sandisk is a great brand -- just be sure to bye from a reputable dealer; Sandisk is the worlds most counterfeited memory card (approx 100% of "Sandisk" cards on eBay are fakes).

Welcome to CiC - great to have you with us

[rpcrowe]

Welcome to CiC...

Congratulations on your new camera. I have read some of the specifications on the new T4i and it seems to be a very nice camera, especially for video because with the new Canon focusing system, you will have continuous auto focus while shooting video. That is something in which the previous Canon DSLR cameras have been lacking.

I don't doubt that the new focus system/lenses will be state of the art for video DSLR work and will very likely make previous Canon video DSLR offerings obsolete or at least obsolescent. I have a hunch that the purchasers of the t3i, 60D and 7D who bought those cameras based on their video performance will be giving themselves a swift kick in the "you know where". It doesn't bother me because I don't use my 7D for video work...

The focusing system of the T4i is also a 9-point cross focusing system which should give it vey good auto focus capability in shooting stills.

As far as a camera bag goes, there are a plethora of bags at various prices. Bags often drop their prices drastically on the used market. However, in buying a used bag, I make sure that it comes from a smoke-free environment!

The 6xx (series) Tamrac bags are decent sized (I have two in two different sizes) and they are pretty well indestructible. They usually sell for between $10 and $20 (USD) from eBay USA.

[Scott Stephen]

Welcome to CiC...

Congratulations on your new camera. I have read some of the specifications on the new T4i and it seems to be a very nice camera, especially for video because with the new Canon focusing system, you will have continuous auto focus while shooting video. That is something in which the previous Canon DSLR cameras have been lacking.

I don't doubt that the new focus system/lenses will be state of the art for video DSLR work and will very likely make previous Canon video DSLR offerings obsolete or at least obsolescent. I have a hunch that the purchasers of the t3i, 60D and 7D who bought those cameras based on their video performance will be giving themselves a swift kick in the "you know where". It doesn't bother me because I don't use my 7D for video work...

The focusing system of the T4i is also a 9-point cross focusing system which should give it vey good auto focus capability in shooting stills.

Well, in fact I AM kicking myself, thank you for rubbing it in! (ha) Seriously, though, the 9 cross-point focusing would be very nice to have on stills. My T3i would benefit from a little better AF sometimes on stills. If I used video more, I might be wishing for some of the video improvements too. Oh, well. If they had given it microfocus adjustment, I would have been just plain ticked.

Welcome to CiC. Hope you post your shots for everyone to see.

What lenses did you get with the camera?

Do you have any post-production software? I personally like Lightroom. I bought version 3 a few months ago just before version 4 came out, but it really does a great job. I also have Photoshop Elements 10, but I don't really use it much.

[blahblah]

Thank you all for the replies and welcome. I will post pictures once my camera, bag, and card arrive.

@Snarkbyte @Colin Southern
After reading your post, I ordered the SanDisk Extreme from Amazon directly (Not market place). Also, I did some google search on how to verify the authenticity of SDHC cards. People seem to trust this German testing software "H2testw". I will use it to test my SDHC when it arrives.

Instead of that Case Logic bag, I ordered a bigger Crumpler camera bag which have the capacity for an extra lens.

I fixed my name and profile.

@rpcrowe
Although I will be using T4i chiefly for still pictures, it is very good to know it has some improvements over its predecessors on the video front. On the first sight, I was mainly attracted by the multi-touch display of T4i.

@Scott Stephen
I ordered a bundle with the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II Lens. My intention is to use the camera for portrait and landscape pictures. Is this lens good at these two type of photography?

I do have Photoshop CS6, do you think I should get the Lightroom too? They are both photo editing software right?

[Scott Stephen]

Well, Photoshop CS6 would definitely be the big club in anyone's bag when it comes to pp. I do think though, that Lightroom is much easier for everyday use on 90% of your photos, while Photoshop is good for hardcore detailed (tedious) PP work on a few images. LR lets you apply the same formulas to whole batches of similar photos rather than individually, and it also helps you organize what will quickly become thousands and thousands of images. It is cheap these days, expecially if you can get student rate.

Your kit lens is the all-purpose lens, and it will do portraits and landscapes. I would suggest spending $99 bucks and getting a cheap EF 50 1.8 prime (the "nifty-fifty.") Your kit lens zoomed in to 55mm can only give you a fairly narrow maximum aperature (f/5.6). It will not be good in lower light situations, and it will also not give you much blurred background ("bokeh"), which is highly desirable in portraits and many other shots.

That cheap little f/1.8 lens can let 8 times more light in at 50mm than your kit lens can, and the IQ is as good or probably better. On a crop camera like the T4i, that 50mm is equivalent to 80mm, which is just within the range of decent portrait length, and then of course you can always crop in just a wee bit closer in PP.

[Noice]

lucky you.
you should get the new 40/2.8 pancake next. its stm focus will be compatible with t4i's new af system

[Scott Stephen]

And pretty soon you will tire of having the camera on the neck strap, getting in the way and banging around on your sternum, and you may start wishing you had a shoulder strap/sling. Most are basically the same, like BlackRapid. They hang your camera over your shoulder upside-down using a screw connector that goes into the tripod screw mount.
These are better than the neck strap, but the single mount setup lets the camera twirl, and it is too long when you want to walk around, so the camera swings as it twirls.
I suggest you look at the Cinch strap by Luma Labs. It mounts on 2 points so no twirling, and it cinches short or long for walking or shooting, respectively. Here is the link if you are interested. http://luma-labs.com/products/cinch

[uksergio]

Hello James,

I also bought the Canon EOS 650D yesterday and I am so far very impressed. How are you getting on with it after a few months of using it?

[rpcrowe]

In the 1990's, I bought an Olympus C5050Z camera which is actually a glorified P&S with some extra bells and whistles. I paid the same price for this P&S as people are now paying for the T4i with kit lens included. The C5050Z is a nice little camera but, the T4i blows it out of the water as far as capability and image quality!