Canon Rebel T7 camera body and two lenses, July 31, 2025.
Yes, you can get a quality, name brand DSLR with two lenses for under $350 at Canon USA. I found this particular kit July 31, 2025 at the Canon USA web site.
One year ago today I was watching the Olympics and taking pictures of the TV screen. I noticed how the photographers were equipped.
This brief article was inspired by two blurbs I came across online. One was about which Japanese companies sell the most digital cameras, and the other was about which cameras “real photographers use”. Far be it from me to define “real photographers”.
4th of July parade collage in chronological order. Individual photos follow.
Every year I photograph the annual 4th of July parade in Lamoni Iowa. In addition to the 14 “selects” I share below, I discuss the equipment I use, the number of photos, and at the end of this article I describe what I look for when I photograph a parade. “Selects” is a newspaper/magazine word for the best photos (the photos selected) out of all the photos created. An editor working on an event article might say to a photographer, “Send me a dozen of your selects”, so the photographer would send 12 images out of all the photos that were created at the event.
Parade Gear
This is the photo gear I used at yesterday’s 4th of July parade. This is pretty much my standard event photography kit. On the left is a Canon 5D Mark III with a Canon 24-105mm lens. On the right is a Canon 7D Mark II with a Canon 70-300mm DO IS lens. On the rare occasion that I need a longer lens, I take a 100-400mm lens instead of the 70-300mm lens.
Kodak 126 Instamatic cartridge camera, Kodachome 64 film cartridge.
This Kodak 126 Instamatic cartridge camera was my first camera. It was a gift from my parents when I was in high school. I used print film cartridges for about 3 years. It was not until I was in college that I made the switch to slide film cartridges. With a few rare exceptions I continued to use slide film until 2003. I did not take a lot of pictures. My first two rolls of slide film lasted from August 1968 to the summer of 1969 and they include two summer camps, some college life photos and my first photo of my girlfriend (and now wife) Melissa. I used this Instamatic camera for about 8 years.
Metaphid Jumping Spider
When a rare photo opportunity comes your way, jump on it (pun intended). You have no idea if or when it will happen again.
Canon Rebel T7 camera body and two lenses.
Yes, you can get a quality, name brand DSLR with two lenses for under $500 at Canon USA. I found this particular kit today (June 19, 2025) at the Canon USA web site.
A photographer came by recently for some lens purchasing advice. He is headed for Alaska in a couple of months and he has a new R-series Canon camera body. Before his visit I dropped over 700 of my favorite Alaska and Colorado photos into a folder and opened the folder with Adobe Bridge. One of the cool things about Bridge is you can search for photos by the lens that was used, or even individual focal lengths. That way I could show him what was possible with lenses of different focal lengths.
Eastern Bluebird
Based on the theory that you can create nice images with inexpensive camera gear, these photos were all taken with my “toy camera” and a $239, 55-250mm telephoto lens. I am impressed with the job this lens is doing. These are recent examples.
We’ve been down this road before (see the first link at the end). The scam works like this. Pick an inexpensively made product from China, jack up the price, make up ridiculous and false claims about the quality of the product and what it can do, and sell it on dozens of web sites using ads thinly disguised as articles. Go to the internet and grab professional photographs created with high dollar professional camera gear and put the photos in the ads to give the impression the photos were made with the Chinese product. And for good measure, say in the ads that the product was designed by American or German engineers and manufactured in the U.S. or Germany. Create fake customer reviews to go in the ads, and for good measure, create fake reviews sites to endorse the quality of the product.
Welcome to my online buying guide for photographers. With over 80 articles it is one of the most comprehensive photography buyer’s guides on the web.
I get lots of photo questions, especially at this time of year, and many of them begin with “What is the best . . . .” They usually come from photographers or someone who is shopping for a photographer. If you are shopping for yourself, or for a photographer in your life, this series is for you.
My “best of the best” series recommends the best photo gear, accessories, software, books, DVDs, online photo labs, and a whole lot more. Thanks to the information in these articles I get emails from photographers thanking me for saving them time, frustration, and a lot of money.
This article is reposted annually in November with some updates in between. Reposted: November 30, 2024. Most recent update: December 19, 2024.
Canon SL3 camera body and Canon EFS 10-18mm, 18-55mm, and 55-250mm lenses.
Compared to my regular camera bag, this is my go anywhere, travel light, inexpensive, featherweight kit. The camera gear and the backpack weigh 4.8 pounds. In addition to the camera and three lenses, there is a spare battery, battery charger, and extra memory cards.
iPhone photography has become a huge thing. According to Flickr, the millions of Flickr users take more pictures with an iPhone (47%) than any other camera. A lot of iPhone photographers are looking for add on lenses for their phone, and that may include you. So which lenses are the best?
Refurbished Canon Camera kits with a full one year Canon warranty.
Yes, you can get a quality, name brand Canon DLSR with two lenses for under $500 at Canon USA. If you only want one lens the kit is less than $350. I found these particular specials this morning.
Welcome to my online buying guide for photographers. With over 80 articles it is one of the most comprehensive photography buyer’s guides on the web.
I get lots of photo questions, especially at this time of year, and many of them begin with “What is the best . . . .” They usually come from photographers or someone who is shopping for a photographer. If you are shopping for yourself, or for a photographer in your life, this series is for you.
My “best of the best” series recommends the best photo gear, accessories, software, books, DVDs, online photo labs, and a whole lot more. Thanks to the information in these articles I get emails from photographers thanking me for saving them time, frustration, and a lot of money.
This article is reposted annually in November with some updates in between. Reposted: November 30, 2024. Most recent update: December 19, 2024.
Kodak 126 Instamatic Camera and Kodachrome 64 film cartridge.
I just learned today is National Camera Day. Who knew?
This Kodak 126 Instamatic cartridge camera was my first camera. It was a gift from my parents when I was in high school. I used print film cartridges for about 3 years. It was not until I was in college that I made the switch to slide film cartridges.
Field of View Table with the horizontal, vertical and diagonal FOV.
There are times that it is handy to have a FOV Lens Chart, also called Angle of View charts. These charts tell you in degrees the angle of view for lenses used on cameras with different size digital sensors. Why might you need to know that information? I am glad you asked.
iPhone photography has become a huge thing. According to Flickr, the millions of Flickr users take more pictures with an iPhone (47%) than any other camera. A lot of iPhone photographers are looking for add on lenses for their phone, and that may include you. So which lenses are the best?
My favorite camera stores are B&H Photo, Adorama, KEH Camera, and Amazon. I will tell you why I like them, and why you should be wary of so many other online camera stores.
Welcome to my online buying guide for photographers. With over 75 articles it is one of the most comprehensive photography buyer’s guides on the web.
I get lots of photo questions, especially at this time of year, and many of them begin with “What is the best . . . .” They usually come from photographers or someone who is shopping for a photographer. If you are shopping for yourself, or for a photographer in your life, this series is for you.
My “best of the best” series recommends the best photo gear, accessories, software, books, DVDs, online photo labs, and a whole lot more. Thanks to the information in these articles I get emails from photographers thanking me for saving them time, frustration, and a lot of money.
This article is updated annually in November with some updates in between. Most recent update: June 19, 2025.
Refurbished Canon gear.
Yes, you can get a quality, name brand Canon DLSR with two lenses for under $600 at Canon USA. I found these particular specials this evening for a total of $570. If you buy both specials you get a camera and two lenses.
Camera gear for Trunk or Treat.
This is the gear I will be taking to photograph Trunk or Treat, a big annual event in Lamoni Iowa. The camera with a 24-105mm lens will be hanging around my neck. The camera with the 70-300mm lens will be hanging from my right shoulder. Two memory card wallets, one for each camera will be in my jacket pocket. The spare camera battery, which will fit either camera, will also be in my jacket pocket.
The ideas for this article started with a question about camera gear (see my Mama Killdeer article). A friend of mine was surprised to learn I used a lens that cost less than $200 to capture an image of a killdeer. So I went to the refurbished gear section of Canon’s web site to check some of their current prices. The camera and lens combination above is $200. The lens is a good, general purpose, semi-wide angle to short telephoto lens. (To keep things simple I am rounding everything up to the next dollar.)
I captured this image in a church parking lot in rural southern Iowa. Two years ago she laid her eggs in the same parking lot and successfully hatched her eggs a few weeks later. This summer she did it again.
Summer is here and that means hot weather. So it is time for a “save your camera gear” reminder. Camera gear has a temperature and humidity rating. A top of the line Canon camera body has a limit of 115°F and 85% or less humidity. A black camera on a hot day can easily exceed that limit. Less expensive cameras of any brand have lower limits so it is important to protect your gear.
Is a $239 lens as good as a $2159 lens? Much of the time, yes (see the first link at the end of this article). Sometimes no. It depends on the photo situation. I get lots of equipment questions and some of them have to do with photography on a tight budget. I’ve been comparing a refurbished Canon SL3 camera and a refurbished Canon EF-S 55-250mm lens to a Canon 7D Mark II camera with a Canon L series 100-400mm lens.
The good news is most of the time a $239 telephoto lens can do the job of a $2100 lens, but not all of the time (see “Pushing the Limits” in the links below). This article will share a few examples.
Almost every lens has a more or less round “aperture”, the opening that lets light through to the sensor or film. Most modern lenses have aperture blades that open and close to change the size of the opening. You can see the aperture blades in this photo. Larger apertures obviously let in more light in a given period of time and smaller apertures let in less light in the same period of time. The size of the aperture opening is one factor that determines the exposure. Just as important, the size of the aperture helps determine the depth of field in each image.
The ads started showing up on FaceBook all the time. They talk about wonderful lenses that will turn your smart phone into a camera that is better than a DSLR costing thousands of dollars. They brag about German engineering, a NASA optical formula, or the testing that proves their lenses are better than expensive lenses from Nikon, Zeiss, Leica, or Canon. The names of the companies change on a regular basis, but the scam is the same. Sad to say, a lot of people actually fall for this nonsense.