list of lenses for XSi

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I know somebody may have asked this before,I'll ask for it anyway.

What are the lenses for Rebel XSi for beginner to intermediate level DSLR user, that are essential to be bought? I'd like to work on my budget rather the reviews,hence asking the Pros.

I may buy XSi,hence the Q

TIA

General purpose "walk around" lenses (in order of increasing cost and roughly increasing quality):
18-55 f4.5-5.6 IS
28-135 IS (not as wide angle as the other two)
17-85 f4-f 5.6 IS

Telephoto lenses:
55-250 IS
70-300 IS

Low light lens (cheap, but vey good optically):
50mm f1.8

I would recommend getting a package deal with the 18-55 IS + 55-250 IS. That is all you need for the time being. You might consider getting the 50mm f1.8 as well because it is very cheap.

Don't get the 18-55 non-IS or the 75-300.
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Chris R

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I'll second what Chris said: the 18-55IS and the 55-250IS. Both cheap and great. The 50mm/1.8 is great for some things (like low light), but the lack of IS puts it at a disadvantage in some cases. I do use mine a lot.

After those 2-3 lenses, the next to get might be the 10-22 and 100-400L IS, both of which are a LOT more expensive.

You forgot the EF-S 17-55/2.8 IS

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EOS 50D, 20D, 10D, 630, A-1, SD1000
-- Please remove the Quote option!
-- Why can't you edit more than once???
-- How about switching to real forum software?

Beginner on a budget?

The Canon 18-55 IS, add on the 55-250 IS and the 50mm 1.8 and yer done.

There are other lenses that would be handy - most people will want three more lenses to go wider, longer and have something that allows 'em to go from 55 without changing lenses. I'd want 50mm USM too. I am, unfortunately, a beginner on a budget.

As long as you shopped around for good prices the lenses will have held their value remarkably well if you ever trade up.

Tripod, bag, filters etc will add up to a surprising amount, so budgeting for them at this time is an excellent idea.

I have selected Canon Rebel XSi to buy based on my budget.

Xsi Body with 18-55IS, 55-250IS and EF 50mm f/1.8 II === 1030$ approx -- BH
kit --
Front & Rear Lens Caps
LP-E5 Battery Pack
LC-E5 Battery Charger
IFC-200U USB Interface Cable
VC-100 Video Cable
Ef Eyecup
EW-100DBIII Wide Neck Strap
kit--

now I have 500$ remaining on my budget.

which one should I buy in the below,that is very essential or that covers wide range :

28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS -- 380$
EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS -- 550$
17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS -- 450$

and what am i missing in the kit? SD card,right?

Don't get another lens until you need one. The lenses in your list are alternatives to the ones that you are getting and will not improve the quality of your photos (which will be totally limited by the photographic skills). Save you money until you find that you need a specialist lens (e.g. macro, very wide angle or very long telephoto) or your photography has progressed to the point where your photos will improve with a top quality lens.

You will need several SD cards, a spare battery and a bag to carry the camera and both lenses.

If you really want to spend the additional $500, get a 430EX external flash and a tripod.
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Chris R

It's fun to dream. It's fun to window shop about what you want. I understand that, but it's not going to make you a good photographer. Thinking now about what so-called essential lenses are needed for a camera you don't have will train you to be a good gear head but not a photographer. I understand that DPReview is a gear related website, none-the-less.

For starters, the only lens essential to the Canon XSi would be whichever lens you purchase with it. If it were me, it would probably be a medium wide fast prime lens. I would advise the whatever you purchase, you learn it through and through. Learn it's advantages and it's limitations. Get your images looked at and critiqued by artist type people. Take courses and read books on lighting and composition.

Once you've learned the basics of composition, exposure and the limitations of that one lens, then is the time to decide what you need to exceed those limitations. Guess what? You won't need to come to a gear forum to ask other people's advice. You'll know what you need or want. Whatever you get now based on what I or others suggest, may or may not meed those needs.

If you want a basic two lens kit, get it, but learn them both, but I'd stick with one lens. If you get serious about it, you'll quickly graduate to a non-entry level camera like the 40D.
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Cheers, Craig

Disclaimer: I'm a newbie. Old hands should feel free to rubbish the post, but it'll just prove how out of touch you've become

robertron76 said:

I have selected Canon Rebel XSi to buy based on my budget.

Xsi Body with 18-55IS, 55-250IS and EF 50mm f/1.8 II
now I have 500$ remaining on my budget.

which one should I buy in the below,that is very essential or that
covers wide range :

28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS -- 380$
EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS -- 550$
17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS -- 450$

Click to expand...

None of these do anything that different to the lenses you've already chosen. As your budget is not squillions, I'd spend it on better stuff like...

robertron76 said:

and what am i missing in the kit? SD card,right?

Click to expand...

Yup, an SD card or two. A cheap 4Gb one is enough for 300 RAW+Jpeg shots. No moving parts makes them reliable, so cheap mainly means slow*. The camera has a buffer (albeit small) so paying $$ for a fast card doesn't get you that much benefit. If you're snapping sport or other fast stuff it could be worth the premium.

You're definately missing a tripod and camera bag. Neither is essential, but they're as close as you can get to it

A circular polariser and an ND filter might be nice for experimenting with. A UV filter to protect the 18-55 is recommended by some. Given the price of half decent filters I just got the cheapest - they'll do for learning with. I'll splash the cash on half-decent ones only if I'll get the use from 'em.

A hood for the 55-250 would be useful as well. If you're spending more than a day away from electricity a spare battery is an idea (cheap as long as you don't mind going 3rd party -but fewer electrons; likewise with the hood).

A wired remote is cheap. Again, 3rd party ones are half the price and do the same job. Along with the tripod this will let you do all sorts of cool stuff.

You might want to take the time to find a really good book on photography. There's a lot of rubbish out there - books on digital photography date fast, and film photography books miss out on quite a bit of interesting digital-specific stuff.

After that the only things you'll need are a blowy thing with a brush to get dust of the lens. A microfibre cleaning cloth is ace too - so much better at cleaning my glasses than the yellow cloth that came with 'em.

Right, so that's it. Be cheapy-cheap on everything but the tripod (search the forums for advice on how much to spend) and you are completely, totally and utterly set** whilst still within budget. Spend any leftovers on beer/flowers for the wife. Jobs a good'un.

I did like the suggestion of just spending the $500 on the flash+tripod thobut...

...and the suggestion to stick just the kit lens would mean you'd get ace at composition and all that other stuff you ignore when you've got toys to play with instead.

• Well, cheap prolly means less reliable as well, but 1 in a squillion chance of failure instead of 1.5 squillion is still pretty reliable.

until you need to get dust of the sensor...

Robert,

Thanks for your post. I have ordered an XSI that comes with an 18-55 and I also am shopping for a lens. I would think the 18-55 gives me the basic close range, but I am moving up from my Canon S3-IS which has 12x zoom. I think I am going to need some kind of zoom to start with. Yes, this will be my very first DSLR!

Of course, budget is an issue. I'd like to stay under $200 on this lens, but I'm quickly realizing that doesn't leave me many choices. It pretty much rules out IS in a telephoto.

I'm looking at a Sigma 55-200 with no IS. My main question is, would all you experieced users say never buy non-IS because I'll be greatlly dissapointed, or do you think I'll be ok for the most part but will have to deal with some blur from time to time?

pgold said:

Robert,

Thanks for your post. I have ordered an XSI that comes with an 18-55
and I also am shopping for a lens.

Click to expand...

I hope that you got it with the 18-55 IS lens. The older 18-55 without IS is a very poor lens, one of the worst lenses that Canon makes. That is why there are so many of them around used. The newer 18-55 IS is a much better lens and well worth the price difference.

pgold said:

I would think the 18-55 gives me
the basic close range, but I am moving up from my Canon S3-IS which
has 12x zoom. I think I am going to need some kind of zoom to start
with. Yes, this will be my very first DSLR!

Click to expand...

A bit of terminology. A zoom lens is simply one that is usable over a range of focal lengths, so the 18-55 is a zoom lens. A lens which has a fixed focal length is called a prime. What you are referring to is a longer focal length lens.

The term zoom is used heavily for marketing compact/bridge cameras because most buyers don't understand focal length. Zoom doesn't have a lot of meaning on a DSLR because you can change the lens. Note also that high zoom lenses, e.g. 18-250mm, are always poor optically compared with lenses with lower zoom ranges. Almost all professional zoom lenses are 3x only.

pgold said:

Of course, budget is an issue. I'd like to stay under $200 on this
lens, but I'm quickly realizing that doesn't leave me many choices.
It pretty much rules out IS in a telephoto.

Click to expand...

The Canon 55-250 IS would be your best choice if you can afford it.

pgold said:

I'm looking at a Sigma 55-200 with no IS. My main question is, would
all you experieced users say never buy non-IS because I'll be
greatlly dissapointed, or do you think I'll be ok for the most part
but will have to deal with some blur from time to time?

Click to expand...

Blur can occur for a number of reasons: focussing issues, motion of the subject and shaking of the camera while the shot is being taken. IS only helps with the third of these, camera shake. It is not much use if you are photographing sports or fast moving wildlife or moving children/pets indoors.

IS is more important the longer the focal length and the worse the light when camera shake becomes more and more of a problem. You can avoid camera shake by using a tripod (or monopod). With practise you can minimise it by learning to hold the camera correctly and by finding something to rest the camera on or yourself against. You can also use a flash in low light.

You can probably do without IS on an 18-55 lens provided you don't want to shoot too many dark interiors, but IS is extremely useful at 250mm.
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Chris R

I have the 450D with the 18-55mm IS and the 55-250mm IS (All Canon). When shooting a small object, like a bird, at 250mm the IS is invaluable for proper focusing and eliminating camera shake. I wouldn't get a telephoto without it!
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Yogi

See my 'Profile' for my current equipment.

Thanks all. I had not found that 55-250. I can barely squeeze that into my budget. I just checked and, fortunately, the camera is shipping with the IS. I think these two should give me a good start. Also, thanks for the terminology lesson. Along with the reasoning behind better quality with shorter zoom range, I also read that a prime lens gives the best image. I guess that means zero range equals best quality. So much to learn.