Birthday present ideas?

[AMCDan]

It's my gf's birthday at the end of the month and i wanted to get her something for her camera.. She's not got much kit at the moment: a flash, a couple lenses and that's it.

She has one 15-87 lens, another shorter one (?) don't know the size? Think it's also about 15-?? for portraits?

So my thoughts were either:

Telephoto lens
Macro lens
Tripod
Photoshop.

What should i be looking at, and approx prices? She has a Canon 40D with 67mm lenses (i think).

Sorry, vague, i know - let me know if you need more info and make some recommendations for kit. I just don't know what to budget for this stuff? I appreciate lenses could be £50-50k, but i'm talking about decent enough kit that matches the spec of what she owns / her ability!

[beano500]

I'd go for either tripod or Photoshop Elements as she has neither.


Tripod, perhaps a slightly "boring" present, is a must to start improving capture, but PSE would be a more "sexy" idea since it opens up a lot of possibilities post-capture.


Not being funny, but other than this, as you don't really know what's what, you could be walking into a bit of a minefield trying to pick lenses or other accessories.

[AMCDan]

yeah, exactly. I know she really wants a macro lens, she got a magnifying screw on filter type thing which she has been using - but i wouldn't know where to start choosing a lens.

Where's the best place to get photoshop? is elements powerful enough for most tasks?

What companies should i be looking at for tripods?

[beano500]

AMCDan said:

Where's the best place to get photoshop?

Either of you students? If it's not being used for commercial purposes that might be a good value-for-money choice. Otherwise anywhere you can think of for software these days, Amazon et cetera

AMCDan said:

is elements powerful enough for most tasks?

"Powerful" yes! There's some sort of expectation that PSE is a "cut down" version. I don't think that's true any more, but rather aimed squarely at photographers. Full CS4 is for professionals and people with money to burn.

AMCDan said:

What companies should i be looking at for tripods?

Top choices are Gitzo and Manfrotto. The best ones you can get are carbon fibre - light (which you want) but sturdy (difficult combination, but you don't want something that will blow around in the merest breath of wind). But you're in the £100's territory very quickly and the legs and head come as separate parts.

[AMCDan]

nope, no longer students... although one of my friends is still "at uni" doing a phd if he could help?

thanks for all the advice

[Simpo Two]

Tough choice, but I'd head for PS as well. She has a lens that will cover portrait range (arguably 50mm on a small chip DSLR) and a screw in thingy for macro, so in the digital environment I'd say PS is most important thing next. IMHO a DSLR is not complete without it!

[AMCDan]

i've pre-ordered PS Elements 7 for her - it's due out next week, so all going well will arrive in time.

Still looking at a tripod though.. or even just to offer as an idea for her parents and i can get something non-SLR!!

[rustyspit]

AMCDan said:

Still looking at a tripod though.. or even just to offer as an idea for her parents and i can get something non-SLR!!

There is a good article on what to look for in a tripod here:
http://www.nikonians.org/tripods/index.html

[Simpo Two]

Some people swear by tripods, others hardly use them - depends what you plan to do.

But if she does portraits, what about a decent flashgun with a bounce/swivel head? That could make a real difference. This is a single on-camera flash and a bit of daylight:

[AMCDan]

actually, she's not so interested in portraits as such.. i'll try and find her flickr account and maybe you could give me better ideas based on the pics she has taken??

[Simpo Two]

Here's another idea:

'What do you want for your bloody birthday luv?'

[4hero]

buy her nothing, that'll surprise her