Help Picking Lenses

[Josh66]

[...]and torn between
- Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Autofocus Lens
or
-Sigma Zoom Telephoto 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG Macro Autofocus Lens for Canon EOS

Get the 18-55. I think you will regret not having anything wider than 50mm if you don't... Especially if you're going to be doing any shooting indoors (where you will run out of room to back up).


EDIT
Didn't see your last post until after I posted.

I don't know anything about that Tamron 28-80 (don't know if it's good or not) - but the focal range looks good.

 

[Josh66]

Ok- So here is what I am *almost* set on:

-Canon "Nifty Fifty"- Normal EF 50mm f/1.8 II Autofocus Lens
-Sigma Zoom Telephoto 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG Macro Autofocus Lens for Canon EOS
-Tamron Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto AF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical Autofocus Lens for Canon EOS

I can't vouch for the Sigma or the Tamron (never used any of their lenses before), but those 3 lenses cover a good range - it would be a pretty good kit to start out with (assuming the third party lenses are decent).

 

[mrodgers]

Or- should I skip buying the nifty fifty for now, pay the extra $40 and get both the Canon 18-55, and the Sigma 70-300?

Again everyone's help is amazing!

Bingo! This is what I would suggest. The reasoning is, it seems to me that you have no idea what you want, what this stuff is all about, and how you will be using your camera.

With my camera, I am all over the zoom range (38-380 mm in 35mm equivalent). I use my camera for many things, landscapes, my daughters' portraits, the girls and dog playing in the yard, and I am all over the range from wide to long. If you don't know what you are interested in or even what it all means, then first get yourself the range so you can figure out what you want. That 18-55 or 50 mm isn't going to do you any good if you take a walk in the woods and see that deer way up on the hillside and think, "wildlife! That's what I want to do!" Nor is having a 50 mm and 70-300 or so going to do you any good when you see that beautiful mountain scene and want to shoot it. Get the range first, then later grab the 50 mm you have your eye on. You won't be so limited in the beginning by waiting for the 50 mm where as at first, you won't have any idea what to do with the 50 while limiting yourself on the wide or long end if you go that way.

Just an opinion though. Though I don't actually have a dSLR with interchangeable lenses, I've been playing around long enough now to know I wouldn't want to be limited on either end of the scale, wide or long.

 

[Kentanner11]

Before I post my almost-final order I wanted to thank everyone who posted in this thread and helped me out! The following order will be placed tomorrow morning unless someone posts with other options...

1-Canon EOS 40D Body Only
1-Sigma Zoom Telephoto 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG Macro Autofocus Lens for Canon EOS
1- Tamron Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto AF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical Autofocus
1-Delkin Devices Snug-It Pro Skin - for Canon EOS 40D
2- Kingston 8GB CompactFlash Elite Pro Memory Card
1-Delkin Devices eFilm Reader-38 Card Reader/Writer
1- Canon BP-511A Lithium-Ion Battery (7.4v 1390mAh)

and from Ebay I will be getting
1- Vertical Battery grip- pretty much for macho factor lol..
1- Non-leather case to hold all of this lol!

Once the funds are built back up I am going to make a donation to this amazing :thumbup: forum, and hopefully buy a TPF neck strap if I can find the thread!

 

[Josh66]

1-Delkin Devices Snug-It Pro Skin - for Canon EOS 40D

I think you could do without this. Not sure that it's really needed, and it doesn't look like it will work with the battery grip. Plus, it covers the hot-shoe.

Looks like it's been getting mixed reviews - your call.

Seems kinda 'gimmicky' to me.

 

[Kentanner11]

I think you could do without this. Not sure that it's really needed, and it doesn't look like it will work with the battery grip. Plus, it covers the hot-shoe.

Looks like it's been getting mixed reviews - your call.

Seems kinda 'gimmicky' to me.

I was thinking about that too... hmm I am going to have to think about it.. one of the things I liked about it is the hard plastic protecting the LCD screen....

 

[Dao]

Before I post my almost-final order I wanted to thank everyone who posted in this thread and helped me out! The following order will be placed tomorrow morning unless someone posts with other options...

1-Canon EOS 40D Body Only
1-Sigma Zoom Telephoto 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG Macro Autofocus Lens for Canon EOS
1- Tamron Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto AF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical Autofocus
1-Delkin Devices Snug-It Pro Skin - for Canon EOS 40D
2- Kingston 8GB CompactFlash Elite Pro Memory Card
1-Delkin Devices eFilm Reader-38 Card Reader/Writer
1- Canon BP-511A Lithium-Ion Battery (7.4v 1390mAh)

and from Ebay I will be getting
1- Vertical Battery grip- pretty much for macho factor lol..
1- Non-leather case to hold all of this lol!

Persoanlly, if it is tight in budget, I will rather buy the 50mm f/1.8 and the 18-55mm IS lens because both are pretty decent optically.

Reviews below.
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II - Test Report / Review
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS - Test Report / Review

After that, play around with the camera. Learn as much as you can. Once you know more, you will know what you like to get next.

Do you aware that in general an EOS Rebel XTi with a Tamron 17-55mm f/2.8 combo will yield a better result than a 40D with Tamron 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 in typical situation? (assume the person behind the camera is capable)

 

[Josh66]

If you're looking for something to protect the LCD, you might consider something like this.
I think that would be more useful than an 'armor' skin. Cheaper too.

...But - It's getting mixed reviews too. Some people love it, others hate it.
Personally I wouldn't worry about adding stuff to the camera to protect it...

 

[Kentanner11]

If you're looking for something to protect the LCD, you might consider something like this.
I think that would be more useful than an 'armor' skin. Cheaper too.

...But - It's getting mixed reviews too. Some people love it, others hate it.
Personally I wouldn't worry about adding stuff to the camera to protect it...

hmm I saw those.. but what would/could I do about the screen at the top?
I saw these and was thinking about them too... I really want to put something on the screens to protect them as I would really hate to have something happen where I have this gigantic scrape down the center of the screen...

 

[photogincollege]

For the top lcd you could probably get something like this Smartphone Experts Screen Protectors (3-Pack) for BlackBerry 7100g - BBerry and cut it to size. It goes on pretty easy and would protect it from basic scuffs and such. I would seriously reconsider that tamron and just go with the 18-55. That's if you havent already ordered it.

 

[Kentanner11]

I bit the bullet and went with the Delkin Skin & the plastic screen covers on ebay..
The reason why I went with the 70-300 was to get a good range, so I can start learning what I like. I am used to a point & shoot camera Fuji S5000 so I am sure almost anything I could buy will give me higher quality than what I had, even if compared to other lenses it isnt so great...

No one is allowed to post anything that could possibly change my mind as I just placed the order. ;-P lol...

 

[photogincollege]

It looks like you'll be having some fun with your new set-up. Those really should be fine for your trip. The only reason I said skip the tamron (the 28-90) was you would be missing a lot on the wide end. But honestly, even that wide should be fine for most shots.

 

[Kentanner11]

Well everything came in.
I have lots to learn about the camera! I wouldnt recommend the armour skin... it didnt really fit right, and isnt easy to take on and off...
I am going to have to learn more about lenses, to try to find ones that work well for me...
Thanks again to everyones' help!