Newbie help pls :) sports and landscape

Hi All

I have been brosing the forum for the past few days and it is certainly a very helpfull, informative site The only downside is that my head is close to exploding from all the new info!

Anyway, I am very shortly away to place my order for a 400D, after reading all the review's it seem's to be the best choice for me although I guess that only time will tell on that one.

My question is this. My main use for the camera will be action photography (mountain biking, motorsports, aircraft) and landscape. I am really confused as to the best lens to purchase initially, do I stick with the kit lens or go for body plus A.N.Other? As an SLR beginner I am looking to keep the initial purchase cost to a minimum.

many thanks

Steve

Landscpae and action photography require different kinds of lenses

landscape you mainely need something in the wide range where I think the kit lens should be ok if you are a beginner

for action photography you would need something on the long side so you might want to invest in an additional one
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All Day I Dream About Photography
http://www.adidap.com

Some others on this forum know a lot more about lenses than I do, but I will throw in my 2 cents.

You mentioned that you think you will do a fair bit of landscape with your 400D, the kit lens is a pretty solid lens for landscape because it goes down to 18mm.

As far as action photography, there are a multitude of different lenses that you could get. You mentioned that you want to keep the $$$ to a minimum, and I don't blame you, I'm in the same boat at the time. You may want to take a look at the Canon 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM. This lens has the ultrasonic AF motor in it so you will get quieter and faster AF capability. I believe this lens list at $379, and I'm not sure how that fits in with your budget, but it gets you a solid middle tier lens without having to fork over the big bucks for the L series or the IS lenses.

Hope I was able to help out a little, have fun with your 400D when you get it.

Thank's for the replies so far

For the sport side of things I am looking at the 'Tamron AF55-200mm F/4-5.6 Di ll LD MACRO' lens. Opinions on this? One thing I am struggling to get my round at the moment is the speed of the lens, as far as I can understand so far it can refer to both the focussing speed and also the aperture speed, am I right in assuming this?

I hate being a newbie!

I'd vote for the kit lens and the Tamron 70-300($200US), but I don't have experience with the Canon 100-300. Had my 70-300 at an airshow a few weeks ago and got some amazing shots from it. Couldn't be happier (for the price of course).

You are shooting outdoor sports, so you should usually have plenty of light. A minimum Av of 4 shouldn't be a problem.