Camera Labs

Question #1. I want to protect the stock lens that comes with the 400D. What should i buy? Hood or filter? If filter what kind of filter? UV or polarized one. I need something that would protect the lens, not affect the image quality that much and not that expensive. Please help me whats the most practical to buy.

Question #2. Im planning to buy the 4 gig memory card because i want to have the option to use RAW instead of JPEG sometimes. Please advise on what memory card i need to find. I worry about the speed, it might affect the performance of the camera. Please help me know important things when buying the memory card.

Hi Auchron, welcome to the Cameralabs forums!

In answer to your first question, attaching any filter to a lens will affect its quality to some extent as it's another material for the light to pass through. That's why many pros don't bother with them at all!

But most of us are reassured by some degree of protection and if something's going to hit the front of your camera, you'd sooner smash a filter than your lens.

A UV or skylight filter will give you some protection while effectively being transparent. A polariser is a different kind of filter that's used for removing reflections on non-metallic surfaces (like a glass window) and for increasing the saturation of images (such as making a blue sky appear deeper). While a very useful filter to have, you wouldn't leave it attached at all times as it does reduce the amount of light entering the lens and has little or no effect under some conditions.

So I think the answer you're looking for is a UV or a skylight filter, but be sure to buy a good quality one or it will reduce the quality of your lens.

A hood is an interesting option as it won't affect your quality, and by shading the sun, it can actually reduce glare and improve contrast. With the hood attached your lens will also enjoy some protection from side blows. I think it's an option well worth considering.

In answer to your second question, most half-decent memory cards will be fast enough for your 400D. So I'd go for a good brand like a Sandisk Ultra II or an Ultra III. I don't think you'd notice much benefit of the fastest cards on the 400D, but if that's all that's available, it won't hurt!

Gordon

I see i see, thanks gordon for your advise. Much appreciated.

Let me add, that I'd go for the UV-filter, not the skylight one, because the latter has a very slight orange hue...

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Definitely go for a UV filter.

As for memory cards - I'd strongly recommend getting 2 x 2GB cards rather than 1 x 4GB card. They can be lost quite easily and data corruption is also possible, though unlikely.

Good luck.

Zorro

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http://zorrofox4.deviantart.com/



Various lenses, SB800 & Manfrotto 190 with 460MG head

What he said ^^^^

A couple of 2gb cards would be my personal preferred way to go as the cards themselves are cheap and you're not putting all your eggs in one basket, so to speak.

The Hoya Pro-1 range (in silver and blue cases) are very good quality filters for a reasonable price.

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My Flickr

You only lose cards that you have outside of your camera! They're so small, much smaller than the Nikon infrared remote shutter control And that's something a lot of people in this forum fear to lose in a sec
So my advice: Go for the single largest (quality, not noname) card that you can afford, put it in your cam, and forget about it...
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B.t.w. Pricing today is almost linear from 1GB up to 8GB and all around 10EUR/GB. So pricewise all option are the same (more or less)!

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

And what happens if you fill up your 8Gb card and go to dump the photos off and find it's corrupt? I don't think that's great advice at all. You might never have had a problem with your transcend 8Gb card but that's not to say that you won't. I'm pretty sure that if you lost 8Gb of photos you'd start thinking about buying some smaller cards. I know quite a few people who have been in this situation with name branded cards, particularly when they've taken them into development stores.

The redundancy is much better if you have a few rather than one large card.

Also, on the price, that depends on where you are. In the UK 8Gb cards are between £50-£60, whereas 4gb cards are around the £17 mark. So you are paying a premium for 8GB at the moment.

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My Flickr

You're discounting the possibility of corruption. Yes, it's unlikely, but it would be a disaster if it happened.

Zorro

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http://zorrofox4.deviantart.com/



Various lenses, SB800 & Manfrotto 190 with 460MG head

I had my share of probs with cards. But my experience is, if it works, it works. These cards are physically so simple, that they're probably the most reliable part of your cam. More chances you lose one, then them going haywire.
If probs occur, that's most likely the readers (I have one of those )

Oh, and by the way: I encourage everybody to download the latest pics, once a computer is within reach. I only delete the pics on my card when I have a backup of those on my computer.
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To make sure your card is ok, before giving over your valuable photos to it, just fill it up to the brim from your computer, add a few (hundred) test-shots, erase some in camera, then from your computer (via USB), then random open some files. If probs are likely to occur, they will have by now!
And NEVER buy a 4GB SD-card that is not to the SDHC standard...

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses