Lens Recomendation for XTi

[rglatter]

Hello Everyone,
I have been lurking here in the digital photography fourms for a while, Ive been itnerested in photography and I have now saved up enough to buy myself an XTi. My main problem with it is lenses. I am very new to all this so I am not looking to spend a ton of money. My budget for the camrea and 2 lenses or the camera kit and one lense is around $1600. I have read that the kit lense with the XTi is not the best lense out there.

Primarly my photography is going to be portirat type shots of my faimly primarly my little sister(4 months) some action shots of my brother(8) doing sports and things. I am also interested into getting into landscape and arcuitecture photography. I also am going to be doing some macro type shots of model cars that I build.

I know that I am going to need a close up lens (25-70?? or somthing similar) for the pictures of my faimly. The faimly shots will probobly be an even ballence of indors and outdoor shots.

The zoom lens that I have been looking at is a 300mm lens, just because it seems like a very verstile lens and I can do alot with it. Is this what you would recomend. or mabey a 200 mm lense? The primary reason im getting this lens is if I get into some situations where I might need a longer lens examples landscape and archetecture. I might do some action with it as well but probobly not too much. More of the action would probobly be with the shorter lense.

Any advice on lens's brands and sizes would be greatly apprecaited as I am very confused and overwhellmed with all the choices out there.

 

[extraextra]

You're going to need a few lenses to cover what you want! However, if you're shooting outdoor sports and want some decent macro capability the Sigma 70-300mm APO DG Macro (the lens macro ratio is 1:2, true macro is 1:1) will do the job for $200!

A Canon 300mm lens is very good, it will run you close to $4000 though.

For architecture and landscape, you'll need a wide angle lens. Sigma makes a very good 10-20mm lens, but there are other options.

To cover the basics, I would recommend a Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 (will work for landscapes, architecture, and portaits of kids, etc. and is about $450) and a Sigma 70-300 f/4-5.6 APO DG Macro (will work for outdoor sports in good lighting, macro work, any other things you need a telephoto for and is about $200).

So with the XTi being about $800 + $450 + $200, you should make your budget. You'll have a good range from 17mm - 300mm. You can also throw in the Canon 50mm f/1.8 for $80, it lets you have a lot of fun with depth of field and it's very versatile. For $80, it's a must have.

Hope this helps.

 

[Mantat]

I second everything extraextra said!

But if your wide angle is only for landscape, go to a prime in the range of 12-20. Cost less and you will get superb image quality.

The SIGMA zoom is excellent value, my advice would be to get it used from someone who is upgrading. It will save you some cash and its no too risky.

The 50mm 1.8 is a must! Until I got my 17-40L, it was always on my camera unless I was shooting bird. With your budget, this is the best lens you will see for a very long time!

Also, think about a flash. Get one made by a third party, they cost way less and as long as they have ETTL you will be happy with the result.

Finaly, dont forget the cost of the memory card! If you plan to shoot RAW, get at least 2GB and an external HD for archiving. Also buy a bag (around 100$) to carry all the camera gear.