New DSLR

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

Well after having my Fuji Finepix 9500 for a year or so i'm thinking of upgrading mainly due to the limitations of the Fuji, don't get me wrong its a nice enough camera, but i feel i could get much better shots with a DSLR

I was looking at getting a Canon EOS 350 or 400, which are a decent price on Amazon now, and maybe a Lens to go with it I mainly like to take Butterfly shots, so what Lens would everyone feel is best for this type of stuff?

thanks

[glsammy]

It's possible to get good butterfly shots with many different lenses, My Bigma does them fine, but I prefer to use my Sigma 150mm. If you also want to get other smaller insects, then a Macro lens should be top of your list. Which one really comes down to price, I think you'll fine most of the main makes will provided excellent images, just be aware of how near you need to be to the subject to get a quality image.

[Gaz-W]

I got a Canon Eos350 about six months ago and it's a great camera. I made the mistake of going for the 2 lens kit, it came with a 18-50mm & a 55-200mm. Regret getting the lenses as they aren't really that great. Wish now I had gone for the camera only option and bought a decent sigma macro to go along with it. I'm using the sigma 50mm macro with it at the moment, which is a great lens, but I'd recommend starting with the Sigma 105mm macro lens.

So my recommendation would be to go for a Canon EOS350 (body only) and a Sigma 105mm Macro. Hope this is of help to you.

[nightshade]

I would go for the body only approach,I have seen some very good offers online
Canon 350d Nikon D50 and their contempories the 400d and d40
Take your time and shop carefully

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

Thanks for the replies, certainly has given me something to think about

Out of interest, when shooting with a macro lens how far away from the subject would you have to be to get a shot of it? i've never shot with a specific Macro lens before

[Interpreter]

I have a 350D and one or two lenses which fit it, including the Sigma 70-300 APO. This camera does everything that I ask of it, but I prefer my S7000. If you get on well with your Fuji, have you considered an S3 (or S5 if your budget will stand it)? This way you will be able to use Nikon lenses.
The 350D is 'last years' technology now, in that it has been replaced by the 400D. I haven't seen the price of the 350D come down very much yet, so the 400D might be a better bet, unless you can find a 350D at a bargain price. Regarding the kit lenses, they aren't the best quality, but will get you going for a small outlay. The difference between the body only price and the price with a kit lens was only about £10 when I bought mine. The kit lenses are, of course, EF-S and will not fit full size sensor cameras. Sigma lenses do the job, but I don't think that they are as solidly made as the Canon lenses. But, Canon have made one or two lenses which are not that good, including the odd L series lens.
I think that the best thing that you can do is to borrow some kit and decide which is for you. The best camera in the world is no good to you if you don't get on with it. One other thing you could try is to ask a dealer what he would offer you for the camera you are thinking of buying, against a better model. This will at least give you some idea of what your chosen camera is worth if you decide to part with it.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by lincsyellowbelly

Out of interest, when shooting with a macro lens how far away from the subject would you have to be to get a shot of it? i've never shot with a specific Macro lens before

that would vary depending on how big you wanted the subject to be in the frame - macro lenses have a minimum focal distance much less than other lenses and generally offer their maximum magnification at this distance - however they will focus out to much greater distances (mostly in fact to infinity) though obviously the further away you are the smaller the subject is.

as a general guide for insect photography I'm generally working between 30-60cm away (with a 90mm macro and a 2xtc) - but this varies greatly depending on subject size, circle of fear etc.

[nightshade]

I my be wrong but closest focus for Sigma 105 was about 12"
Sigma 150 was about 15"
Sigma 180 was about 18"
this is of course dependent on your image size requirement as Eeyore says
I use my 105 with a 1.4 teleconverter because some insects will disappear
if you get too close

[galanthus]

I have a canon 400d and for photographing butterflies, flowers or other insects I bought a canon 60mm macro lens, however, I now use canon 100mm macro, it's fantastic.
I've put in 2 links for my website (only pics nothing else), the close up of the dandelion and the campanula crop were both taken with the 100mm, I'm seriously happy with my kit.

http://http://www.lilydel.co.uk/web%...on/index_2.htm

lilydel

[galanthus]

hmmm, embedded link doesn't seem to work Well anyway, if you go to the site click around til you find the two relevant pics, campanula page2 dand page3. Hope it helps