what to Buy?

photoboy · Mar 13, 2004

I presently own a Canon G2. I will have $2500 to spend on a DSLR. I am going to get into mainly weddings and portrait as a means to supplement my income as my wife has serious health issues.

I am leaning towards the Canon 10D after doing my due diligence. I have no lenses from a previous film SLR. This purchase will take place in about 3 weeks.

Should I consider a different camera than the 10D and what lenses should I start out with? If Canon is too expensive I heard that Sigma or Tamron is good. My main concern is image quality.

I thought at least a 28-105 and perhaps a 70-200 if there is enough money.

Thanks for any suggestions

Peter

Ben Strasser · Mar 14, 2004

The 10D is a very good camera for wedding work and constructed very well. I have shot wedding for quite some time and only last year (May) started shooting digital. My suggestion is to get some good glass for professional work. I use a 17-40 f/4 L series which I find to be excellent for weddings and the most used. I also have a 28-70 f/2.8 L series that I only use maybe 10-20% of the time. I have never had a need for a longer lens. There are some good Sigma and Tamron lenses out there but they have some dogs also. Your going to need a good flash also, I use a 550EX on a Stroboframe Quick Flip. Most importantly is to have redundancy with your equipment.
I'm sorry to hear about your wife and wish both of you well.

photoboy said:
I presently own a Canon G2. I will have $2500 to spend on a DSLR. I
am going to get into mainly weddings and portrait as a means to
supplement my income as my wife has serious health issues.

I am leaning towards the Canon 10D after doing my due diligence. I
have no lenses from a previous film SLR. This purchase will take
place in about 3 weeks.

Should I consider a different camera than the 10D and what lenses
should I start out with? If Canon is too expensive I heard that
Sigma or Tamron is good. My main concern is image quality.

I thought at least a 28-105 and perhaps a 70-200 if there is enough
money.

Thanks for any suggestions

Peter

lisafx · Mar 14, 2004

Hi Peter,

I am so sorry to hear about your wife's health problems. I have battled with chronic health problems for about 5 years and I know what a huge strain that is on a family, both financially and emotionally.

I have a 10D and have shot portraits, weddings and events with it. It is a wonderful camera. The 28-105 USM II is a good lens, but not so good for low light. You will need fast rated lenses because many churches are dimly lit and you can't use flash during the ceremony. Like me, you seem to have a limited budget. I will recommend three lenses that are all low priced and really great performers. Do a search and you will see what I mean.

Canon 50mm 1.8 - Universally agreed to be an awesome lens for portraits and low light shooting and only $70

Tamron 28-75 2.8 - A fast lens, sharp with good color $319

Sigma DC kit which includes 18-50mm wide angle and 55-200mm telephoto and goes for only $240. These lenses are unbelievably good, especially for the price. Here's my thread with my experiences with the 55-200. http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1029&message=7982087

Whatever you decide on, best of luck with your photography endeavors and I hope your wife's problems are solved soon. Prayer helps a lot

.

Lisa

photoboy said:
I presently own a Canon G2. I will have $2500 to spend on a DSLR. I
am going to get into mainly weddings and portrait as a means to
supplement my income as my wife has serious health issues.

I am leaning towards the Canon 10D after doing my due diligence. I
have no lenses from a previous film SLR. This purchase will take
place in about 3 weeks.

Should I consider a different camera than the 10D and what lenses
should I start out with? If Canon is too expensive I heard that
Sigma or Tamron is good. My main concern is image quality.

I thought at least a 28-105 and perhaps a 70-200 if there is enough
money.

Thanks for any suggestions

Peter

--
LisaFX
http://www.pbase.com/lisafx

photoboy · Mar 14, 2004

Thanks for your words of encouragement. Also, thanks for the suggestions. I probably will buy from BH photo since I live in NY.

Photoboy

lisafx said:
I am so sorry to hear about your wife's health problems. I have
battled with chronic health problems for about 5 years and I know
what a huge strain that is on a family, both financially and
emotionally.

I have a 10D and have shot portraits, weddings and events with it.
It is a wonderful camera. The 28-105 USM II is a good lens, but not
so good for low light. You will need fast rated lenses because
many churches are dimly lit and you can't use flash during the
ceremony. Like me, you seem to have a limited budget. I will
recommend three lenses that are all low priced and really great
performers. Do a search and you will see what I mean.

Canon 50mm 1.8 - Universally agreed to be an awesome lens for
portraits and low light shooting and only $70

Tamron 28-75 2.8 - A fast lens, sharp with good color $319

Sigma DC kit which includes 18-50mm wide angle and 55-200mm
telephoto and goes for only $240. These lenses are unbelievably
good, especially for the price. Here's my thread with my
experiences with the 55-200.
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1029&message=7982087

Whatever you decide on, best of luck with your photography
endeavors and I hope your wife's problems are solved soon. Prayer
helps a lot .

Lisa

photoboy said:

I presently own a Canon G2. I will have $2500 to spend on a DSLR. I
am going to get into mainly weddings and portrait as a means to
supplement my income as my wife has serious health issues.

I am leaning towards the Canon 10D after doing my due diligence. I
have no lenses from a previous film SLR. This purchase will take
place in about 3 weeks.

Should I consider a different camera than the 10D and what lenses
should I start out with? If Canon is too expensive I heard that
Sigma or Tamron is good. My main concern is image quality.

I thought at least a 28-105 and perhaps a 70-200 if there is enough
money.

Thanks for any suggestions

Peter

Click to expand...

--
LisaFX
http://www.pbase.com/lisafx

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what to Buy?

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