I have a Canon Rebel XTi with a EF-S 18-55m f/3.5-5.6 Lens. I want to start doing photography for people such as personal photo shoots and weddings. I am not sure what type of equipment I should get to do that. I know the camera is really good but I want a different lens for the different types of shoots. I am just not sure on where to start.
You did post this in the beginner section so I will lend a hand. All the old hands here kinda forget people have to start from somewhere, and do dream of becomming better. In my opinion your ok, as at least your asking questions and not just going out professing to be a pro. They are giving you flak because your talking about doing pro work and don't know which equipment you need or want. Since the cost of digital equipment and budget lenses are so low. The market is flooded with people saying, I have this great camera I am going to do weddings. And posts like yours comes up all too often.
Anyway you should study up on how modern SLR lenses work. As you have found out there are dozens of lenses to choose from. And of course several pricing levels. Obviously most professionals use the better made, normally higher priced equipment (not all though). And honnestly your camera body is on the very low end. Now obviously it does take good pictures in "normal" conditions. It's when non-standard conditions comes up that the body really starts to show its weaknesses. Your body may be just fine in a studio condition where the lighting can be set for all shots. But in a wedding situation it may prove to be very lacking. Not saying it can't be used. Just its not really suited for it.
As for lens selection for portraits. With your camera, something in the 50-100mm range will probably be the most usefull. Some people use a prime lens (a lens that does not zoom) for expamle 85mm for portraits. Some people use zoom lenses like a 70-200mm. Normally you will not use a wide angle lens for portraits of individuals or small groups. If you use it close up, you get distortions of physical features that are not flattering (unless you are purposly looking for it, for style reasons). So the lens you have could be used for portraits, but most would consider it too short in terms of its max zoom (55mm). Also the lens is on the low end of quality. Its a decent lens, but not considered top notch.
For weddings, it's a different ball game. You could possibly do a wedding with 1 lens or need half a dozen. It really deppends on the wedding size, location, lighting conditions, and what the people want. That's why its important to know photo equipment and how to use them before you start doing weddings.
Before you buy any gear. Read up on photo equipment and how they work. It will give you a better idea of which direction to start in for getting new gear. Also maybe look up sample pics from lenses your interested in. If you do internet search or search on sites like smugmug and flickr. You will find tons of sample pics for each lens.
Reason you will get so many groans on questions like yours, is there is probably a thousand different answers to your question. Your question is too general. After you read up some. Then you will know to ask more specific questions like "why is the 70-200mm f/2.8L IS better than a 70-400 f/4.0L IS". You will get many more friendly answers that way.
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