Great Glass, or Great Body?

The Rebel XT is really a good camera with an awesome senser + chip, but you have to try out if it is not too small for your hands and if you like the usage (how to set iso, etc).

I moved up to the 30D because the XT felt too limited after 6 months.

But, do not buy cheap lenses. Seriously, there is a huge difference between the 17-85 and the 24-105L. Huge, more than I would have imagined. I can shoot wide open at 105L and get an enormous high resolution that I can see the seperate grass on the other side of the river.

At the end it is hard what a good start kit is. I started with the Rebel XT + 17-85 lense. It was a good start, but if I could go back I would get a different lens. The 17-40mm for example. It would fit much nicer in my current lens lineup.

Plus where do you want to go? I know you are an amateur (like me) but I plan to go "back" to full frame one day. I miss the 50mm lens, because it is too much "zoom" on my 30D body.

My "luxury" recommendation would be 30D + 24-105L
if you want to save money on the body, get the Rebel XT + 24-105L

If you still think this is too expensive. you have to go down to a non L Glass like the 17-85 for example.

(go the big view)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gullevek/154805444/in/set-72157594152707607/



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Gullevek
my pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gullevek/
other: http://www.gullevek.org/gallery/

Until you find your uses for your SLR. Go with the kit lens and use it, then decide if you want a mid zoom, telephoto zoom, telephoto, or wide angle.

35L works great on my 30D/20D.

gullevek said:

Plus where do you want to go? I know you are an amateur (like me)
but I plan to go "back" to full frame one day. I miss the 50mm
lens, because it is too much "zoom" on my 30D body.

Click to expand...

Perhaps the songle greatest advantage of bying the very best equipment one can afford is simply knowing that any issues or limitations are limited to ones abilities and ones imagination, not ones equipment.

Yes, masteripieces can be created with a pin hole camera ,
by the truly Gifted.

For the rest of us,
it helps to have the very best equipment,
to pick up the slack...

--
Dave Patterson
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Midwestshutterbug.com
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'When the light and composition are strong, nobody
notices things like resolution or pincushion distortion'
Gary Friedman

...and you will se that it doesn't make sense to start with an expensive body and cheap glass. Glass keeps its value - as long as you don't buy EF-S.

My experience: I had an old EOS 100 and pretty reasonable glass (the standard stuff - 28-80, 75-300), as I thought that time. I bought a 350D, and pretty soon figured out how much better the 85/1.8 was than the other lenses. I am adding the 24-105L now.

However, during the last couple of months I figured out that the 350D isn't good for sports, so I bought a used 1D for that purpose. It's great, even used, even though it's a couple of years old.

So my conclusion/recommendation would be:

Buy a used 350D to start with, and buy some excellent glass with it, e.g. 24-105L. You will be able to shoot very good pictures with that. When you start learning what you miss, you can easily upgrade the body or add to your lens lineup.

Regards,
Martin

Who here among you is using 20 year old glass?

Seriously glass suffers just as much from 'upgrade envy disease' as the bodies do

My lenses are all less than 1 year old but that is because I changed from a P&S to a dSLR. However, unless Canon does the same thing again changing, as it did from the FD mount to the EF, my L lenses will be my choice for many years to come. At the same time I am looking to upgrade the 350D (with 33,000 shots), which is also under a year old.

Talc said:

Who here among you is using 20 year old glass?

Seriously glass suffers just as much from 'upgrade envy disease' as
the bodies do

Click to expand...

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20 years might be a little exaggerated, but my 70-200_2.8L and 17-35_2.8L have survived a Eos 3, a Eos D30, a Eos 10D and are still with me on the Eos 5D. A less perfoming 28-135 has been sold.

I don't think you will regret getting good lenses, they will stay with you far longer than a body.

The camera doesn't need to do much, just open and shut and the shutter. My medium format film equipment is all manual focus and has NO built-in meter.

Good results depend on two key factors:
1. Good lenses
2. Good photogorapher

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When I ask which Canon lenses are best,
people tell me to 'go to L.'

The 35L might work awesome on the 30D, of course it does. But it costs a lot, it is heavy, it is huge. I like to do street photography. For this the small 35/f2 or the 50/f1.4 is just perfect. Small, light, not very "shocking" if you hold it in front of someone.

Because I would love to use the 50/f1.4 more, thats why I wished I could go back to FF soon

--
Gullevek
my pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gullevek/
other: http://www.gullevek.org/gallery/