Hey all, I have a dear friend who is due in April of '10, and I am really hankering to start getting more serious with my photography so that I can take pictures of all that little infant cuteness, as well as some family portraits. But, I have a problem. The main thing is that I have a small budget. I'm using a Kodak point and shoot right now (see sig.), and while it works well for me, I would really like a little more freedom. So, I'm going to try and focus the next few months on saving up and making the DSLR plunge. In other words, I need helllp!
Now I know that photographers aren't known for their dedication in reading lengthy forum posts, but try and bear with me here:
1: I don't want to spend too much on the body. I like sharp quality, but I don't want to get obsessed over it. I'm thinking of buying a used Canon 20D body from KEH.com. With a good lens, do you think that the 20D would be adequate enough for me to create pleasing pictures, or would you suggest a different body? I'm not too worried about getting one that is dinged up a bit, just so long as it doesn't effect picture quality. Thoughts?
2. Lenses. I really don't know all that much about them, and I want to remedy that, but I have no idea where to start. I would really like a lens that will be good for both portrait and full body photography, and give me the ability to get good depth of field. Basically, I'd like a versatile lens for "people photography". Does anybody have some good suggestions for a lens like this, or pointers on what to look for in a lens for child/portrait photography.
Please, I'd love some opinions on this, so feel free to suggest different combinations of bodies & lenses.