Going to buy the XTi - Need Help!

[Alex D80]

I have already made up my mind on purchasing the Canon XTi with the Canon 430EX flash. Now, my question lies on what lens. That is were I am looking for your help. I have been reading for hours on this forum and I am still not decided.

I am looking to carry this camera for a daily use, meaning, I have a 4 yr old daughter and I am tired of my wife's Sony DSC-H1 taking too long on charing the flash and we are missing shots. I have decided on the Canon XTi because I am reading it is a very good camera. I have decided on the Canon 430EX flash, because I can't afford the 530EX and some good lenses. So, I think that if I give up a little bit on the flash I can get better lenses.

I live in Orlando, FL and have Disney passes, so I will be taking pictures on both aspects, indoors and outdoors. I have been reading how the kit lens, 18-55 is not that good. I know it is just $100 for that lens, but if it is not worth it, I don't want to throw money away.

I have also read that the Tamron AF 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 Di-II LD Aspherical IF Macro Autofocus Lens seems to be a pretty good walk-around all-day type lens. Also, have read that the Canon lenses are very good, 28-135 IS for instance. No, I can't afford the 75-200 IS @ +$1,000 for a lens.

I am looking for a nice quick start that will allow me to point-click at my daughter doing her thing and also to shoot around with a good zoom; thus I was thinking about the Tamron 18-250 vs Canon 28-135 IS.

I am looking for good quality, of course, but I am not a professional, so again, no need for a quizilion dollar lens.

I would rather point-shoot, rather than manual. Even though manual option is always good just in case the lens is not wanting to cooperate.

I will be making big prints since I own a digital print shop.

I can see me shooting with low lighting since at some of the parks flash is not allowed. But this is not my main concern even though I would like to hear about this topic.

I will shoot sport/action photos also. I guess a monkey jumping from one tree to the other might be considered action, for example.

Is image stabilization (canon) or whatever Tamron may call it might be nice since most of my shots will be hand-held.

I have mentioned Tamron several times, that is because I don't know any better. Don't know if Sigma lenses are better. Or if I should just stick to Canon lens.

Your comments will be greatly appreciated since I am pretty much set on getting this camera very soon. In fact, I almost ordered it today with the kit 18-55 until I started reading here and I was thinking about ordering the kit, the flash and the 28-135 IS lens.

[MT Stringer]

An alternativ for you to consider is the Sigma 17-70 f/2.8-4. That would be like a 28-90mm lens in 35mm format. And it has pretty good reviews.
Mike

[BBPhoto]

It looks like you are looking for something with a little bit of a longer focal length but I still second the above recommendation for the Sigma 17 - 70. You can check out a fairly comprehensive review at www.photozone.de I use it as my everyday walk around lens and it does great for portraits as well. I've used this focal length at amusement parks during the day without wanting for a longer lens. You could always pick up another lens like the 70 - 300 IS USM (a real fantastic lens) if you wanted to expand your range later on.

[timmciglobal]

After using the 17-85 IS I have to say it's not as bad as I had heard. It's got a lot of distortion on wide end (makes straight lines bulge out from middle and has CA but it's not a terrible lens.

You can find them used for sometimes sub 400 over on fredmiranda.com and it's got IS and USM.

Tim

[timmciglobal]

Oh and some terminology that might help you:

IS = image stabilizer. Let's you hand hold the lens at slower shutter speeds. This won't stop action if things are moving but if they don't move it will let you take photos below the 1/focal length rule (for example: if croped focal length is 100 mm then rule is 1/100 shutter speed OR faster, with Is you could use 1/20th usually and get sharp results)

USM = ultrasonic motor. Faster focusing and quiet.

F 4.5>F5.6 = F stop or apature. Smaller F numbers means more light enters lens and you can get faster shutter speeds and smaller depth of field (area of in focus with background being more blurred) The F stops go for most consumer lenses F1.4 F2.0 F2.8 F4.0 F5.6 F8.0 F11 F16 and so on. Each time it increases by one of those factors the shutter speed is cut in half. So if your getting 1/50th of a second at F5.6 you would get 1/200th second at F2.8 since it is "two" times slower. (1/50th to 1/100th to 1/200th) 1/200th would "stop" action 1/50th wouldn't.

17-85. If your buying a Xti the focal length needs to be multiplied by 1.6 to get the "regular 35mm" focal length. So for example 17-85 is 27>136 if it was on a regular 35 mm camera. ALL lenses apply to this rule when on an XTi or 30D or other "1.6 crop" camera.

EF-S = short back focus lense which can only be used on 1.6 crop cameras. Other lens makers also have lenses which only work on 1.6 crop camera for example Tamron who signifies this with DI2 which means it will only have an image circle big enough for a 1.6 crop body camera.

Tim

[RebelRat]

The 17-85 IS works for me. It does work well at low shutter speeds.

I took this picture at ISO 400 , 50mm, F/5.6, at 1/10sec. I'd say it looks pretty steady from my shaky hands.

[Alex D80]

It seems like your recommendations seem to go towards the 17-70/17-85 type lens; either Canon or Sigma. Sorry for my ignorance, but I haven't messed with a 35mm camera since about 1992. Once I started playing with my first digital Sony DSC-S85, then my second Sony DSC-H1, I have totally forgotten what a lot of the things mean.

I am looking for as much automatic as possible, with the flexibility to do manual in the future once I start learning; in fact, I am thinking about joining a photo class close to my office with a friend. If I am used to my DSC-H1, which has a 12X optical, what am I looking for on a lens as far as F's and mm on a lens? That is why I was thinking that if I go with the Tamron 18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 AF Di-II LD IF Macro Lens for EOS; which they claim 13.9X zoom I was in good shape. My Sony DSC-H1 does the trick as far as good quality and good pictures. Where I am very dissapointed is in the flash. I am not able to install an external flash and it takes too long to charge the flash; about 5-7 secs between shots.

That is the main reason why I am looking for a new camera; anyway, the Sony DSC-H1 is my wife's, I just want a manly camera :D

So, should I do the Canon 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM (which I haven't found yet for pricing), the Canon 50mm f/1.8 +/- $70, the kit lens EF-S 18-55 IS which I keep reading how bad it is, Tamron 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 AF Di-II LD IF Macro Lens +/- $480?

This is where my final decision lays as far as finalizing my thoughts so I can make an order and start playing, I mean, taking pictures.

Thanks for all your comments. What I am trying to do is not commit a lot of the mistakes that users here have done and paid the price of having to buy another lens. That is why, without the knowledge, to me it makes sense the Tamron 18-250 since it is so open, but I dont know what kind of quality I am going to get from this. If I ask Tamron, they have nothing bad to say about this product. They say this is the best thing ever invented.

[coldrain]

Tamron actually did a very decent job with that 18-250mm. They are using 4 different kinds of glass, one which actually does something very special, it actually forces reverse-CA, so that CA from the other elements gets reversed... very clever.
It is a great lens at the wide end, sharp and contrasty. It loses a bit at mid range, but still performs well. At 250mm it loses more, yet it still is usable at 250mm. All in all, if you want a big range all in one zoom lens, this lens seems to be a real contender.

**edit

[timmciglobal]

Where did you read that coldrain? Oh and 300 end? :p 250 max lens!

Tim

[coldrain]

Where did you read that coldrain? Oh and 300 end? :p 250 max lens!

Tim
The March issue (I think march... maybe April?) of ColorFoto has a test of the lens, I flipped through it at a news stand. They also had a little diagram showing the different glass elements.
Sadly they do not test CA figures.

And thanks for pointing out the error :D. I corrected it.

Here the diagram, from Tamron's own website (from the product PDF), where the orange AD element apparently is the element that causes "reverse CA":

[BBPhoto]

Alex,

Interesting questions. It's nice to know a little more about your experience, etc. It makes giving advice a little easier. Of course, these are just my personal opinions.

It's great that you are thinking of taking a camera class and you absolutely should. You'll learn a lot about unlocking the potential of your camera. It may be your intention to stay as automatic as possible right now but after your class, you'll probably never use a completely automatic mode on the camera again. I would also suggest reading Understanding Exposure and Beyond Portraiture, both by Bryan Peterson.

As for lenses, I suggest that you don't drop a lot of cash to start with. Buy the body and one lens. I agree that the kit lens is not all that great but some people like it and take some extremely nice pictures with it. It may suit your needs so you really have to decide how serious a shooter you will be before buying. Chances are that if you want decent lenses and shoot a lot, you'll become dissatisfied with it fairly quickly. Not to knock it too much though. It's better than you might be led to believe by reading forums. Once again, I suggest the Sigma 17 - 70 as a good replacement for the kit lens. It has always gotten good reviews, has a very fast focus, takes crisp pictures, has good build quality and is relatively cheap. You could get something like the Tamron 18 - 250 to start with if you wanted. It's a great lens but I suggest that you wait on that. Like in my last post, I suggest the Canon 70 - 300 IS (IS = Image Stabilization) for your long range zoom. My logic is as follows. For my personal use, the Sigma 17 - 70 is mostly used in situations where Image Stabilization would not be all that useful. Why pay the premium for it if I don't really need it? With the 70 - 300, I could hardly picture using the lens without IS. It's a big help for panning, sports or moving wildlife shots and it helps out a lot in lower light conditions.

Once again, take it slow and stick to one lens till you firmly establish your own needs. For the price you could always pick up the 50mm f/1.8 It's a great portraiture lens that can be used in fairly low light without flash.

For flash, your original post states that you are looking at the 430EX. This is a great flash, no doubt. If you want to save a few $$, you might look at the Sigma EF DG 500 Super. It's about the same price normally but Sigma often has flash/lens bundle deals. I got mine for 99$ when I bought the 17 - 70.

As for learning about the advantages/disadvantages of focal length and aperture openings (f-stops), there are numerous on-line resources. Try some of the sticky threads on this site or google around a bit. You're sure to come up with a lot of stuff.