Advice for a high-school Canon shooter?

[D.J. McNeil]

I shoot with the Rebel XTi that I bought a little over a year ago. I love birding and I love bird photography even more... in fact, I can't go birding any more without my camera!

I'm 17 years old, and a Sr in High School. I'm about to go off to college -entirely funded by myself, and I was wondering if someone could help me.

This is what I have:

*An old aluminum Silk Tripod, w/ a tall ballhead (the ones that look like videogame joysticks)
*Canon Rebel XTi
*18-55mm lens
*100-400mm lens
*1.4 tele-extender
*2.0 tele-extender
* 2 ancient accessory flashes
*an ancient monopod (I can't find the brand)
*2 cases
*1 battery
*1 "2 Gb Memory card"
*various bird calls (Turkey, goose, duck, crow, owl, and Red-tail hawk):D
and a very thurough understanding of North American birds and how to identify them... thurough for a 17-year old anyway!

What else should I get, and where? I am only able to get a bit of money from the zoo where I work, but I can get whatever I need... it just takes a bit of doing.

1.)I was wondering what else I might want to get, on a students salary?

2.) I love insects, and was wondering, if I get an extension tube set, if I could stack them, along with my extender(s) on to my 18-55mm? I can NOT put the extenders onto the 18-55mm as it is now.:confused:

If anyone would please help me, I'd apreciate it so much! If you'd like to see my work (am I allowed to say this?) check out my website fallofthewild.com and click on "photographs"

[David Kennedy]

DJ,
I would definitely not try teleconverters on the 18-55. Even if you could do it safely with the tubes, the image quality will be downright horrible. You'll be much better off using the tubes on your 100-400mm. I would probably suggest that you save up for a replacemt for the 18-55. Before I bought my 24-70 2.8, I had a Tokina 28-70 2.8 that was actually pretty decent. You could look at similar offerings from Sigma and Tamron. The 17-85 IS would also be a good replacement.

The other thing you should really think about is a good tripod and ballhead. The Bogen 3221 is a tried-and-true platform for all cameras great and small, and it's cost effective. If you could afford it, the MagFiber line is nice, but for the budget minded the 3221 is the best bet. You can buy a Gitzo in a few years. Where you should invest some cash is the ballhead. The Acratech would be one option, but you might consider the Kirk Enterprises B1 or their smaller B3. The Really Right Stuff ball head is phenomenal but likely beyond your price point.

I'm not a whole lot older than you (24), and college actually helped me afford a lot of the equipment I needed. Student newspapers, yearbook, and the alumni office all are in need of photographers. Just be aware that the images will probably be considered works for hire unless you negotiate. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

[D.J. McNeil]

Ah! A balhead huh? Yeah, that would be nice... tripod too... ... I was thinking about a nice carbon fiber tripod, but I havent' done enough research...

Also, if I used one of those replacement, how would they allow me to photograph insects up-close?

[David Kennedy]

Ah! A balhead huh? Yeah, that would be nice... tripod too... ... I was thinking about a nice carbon fiber tripod, but I havent' done enough research...
It really depends on what you can afford. If you can afford a quality ballhead and a CF tripod, then do it. I'm just thinking that practically, you probably can spend big money only on one of the two, and I wanted to encourage you to put the money in a solid (but not fancy) tripod, and put the big money on a truly good ballhead that might take you through a decade or longer.


Also, if I used one of those replacement, how would they allow me to photograph insects up-close?

It wouldn't. But you need something better than the 18-55 for general photography. The difference in image quality that you get from that lens versus one of the suggested replacements is remarkable. For insects/macro, you should look at putting an extension tube on the 100-400.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Man, how I wish I was equipped at 17 like you are now!! I have the XT and the 100-400 and all of my bird photography is done with this combo. If I were you I would sell the 2X converter as it is virtually useless with the 100-400. With those funds buy yourself a extra battery or two, and an extra CF card or two. I second David's idea of extention tubes, they work great with that lens which already has a short minimum focussing distance. If yiu are tight for cash, the Kenko tubes are relatively inexpensive and work just as well. I've taken many great insect images and flower/mushroom close-ups with those. You'll want to eventually invest in a good external flash too.

All that being said not many kids your age have what you already do, just learn to use what you have and build your tool kit one piece at a time...