Mind is set on Cam, Help with lenses please

[BingoBob]

After learning Digital photography on a Canon S1 IS, I am thinking very seriously about stepping up to the DSLR world via Canon's Rebel XTI!!

I really dig shooting;

01. Landscapes
02. Wildlife
03. Macro *which I have never really attempted to date*

Any input regarding cams/lenses for this slr rookie would be greatfully appreciated! *Keep in my 01 & 02 will be first priority*

Cheers,

Bingo

[Saralonde]

How much do you want to spend? There are a wide variety of lenses and a wide variety of prices. The XTi generally comes with a kit lens (18-55mm f3.5-5.6), unless you opt to buy the body only. It's a decent basic lens, much maligned, but really quite good for learning how to use the camera esp. for the price.

1. Landscape - generally you want wide angle for this. Kit lens could cover it for awhile. You could use wide angle only or combine it with a walk-around lens that you keep on the body most of the time and can be used for other things besides landscape. Some suggestions:
a. Low Budget - kit lens
b. Combining wide angle w/ walk-around - Canon 17-55mm f2.8 IS, Canon 17-40 f4L, Canon 24-105L (not as wide)
c. Wide Angle only - Canon 10-22mm
d. Third party - Tamron 17-50mm f2.8

2. Wildlife - for this you need distance, often 300mm or more, but you could use a lens with a reach of 200mm.
a. Low Budget - Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6 APO DG macro (not particularly good at 300 but a decent budget lens; can do macro enough to give you a taste of it)
b. Moderately priced - Canon 70-200mm f4L, Canon 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS

3. Macro - a dedicated macro lens such as the Canon 65mm macro or 100mm macros are great, but you can also use some lenses that offer macro capabilities although they won't give you true macro (see Sigma above). The Canon 100mm macro is wonderful and also works as a close-up portrait lens.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have specific questions.

[inkista]

Just a little alternative thinking:

With landscape photography, it might also be worthwhile to invest a little time and money finding out about stitching photographs together to get a wider view and high resolution. The Max Lyons website (http://www.tawbaware.com/maxlyons/) is a great resource. Don't think that Canon's Photostich is the best you can do with photostitching.

With macro photography, if you're not sure you want to sink money in getting a dedicated macro lens, there are two other cheapo techniques to try:

1) reverse a lens. I'd recommend using the 50mm f/1.8 II, just because it's a no-brainer addition to your lens arsenal. :-) You can get a coupling ring from Adorama/Amazon for $8, and screw the 50mm backwards onto the kit lens (or whatever) (the coupling ring uses the filter threads on both lenses). The 50mm then acts like a magnifying glass. Much better quality and cheaper than diopter filters if you already own the 50.

2) extension tube sets. These are generally $100-$150, and allow your existing lenses to focus a lot closer than they do. You lose infinity focus, and you generally focus by adjusting your distance from the subject, so it's less versatile than a dedicated macro lens, but you can get really close with them.

And then, there's the Pringles can approach (http://www.photocritic.org/2005/macro-photography-on-a-budget/). :-)

[RainPacket]

I'm sure Saralonde and others can guess exactly what I'm going to say here, given how often I've repeated this advice on these forums, but here's one more time! :)

The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, a.k.a. the "nifty fifty," is one of the cheapest Canon lenses price-wise, but has stunning image quality. It's a much-maligned lens by some, given that the body is plastic instead of metal, but it's only $70 and it is a phenomenally good lens. It's wonderful for portraits and for low-light shots. I tag all my photos with this lens (http://www.flickr.com/photos/packet/tags/canonef50mmf18ii/), so you can see a few examples of what I've done with it. There's also a Flickr group for this lens (http://www.flickr.com/groups/ef_50_18ii/).

I cannot recommend it highly enough to someone starting out with a Canon DSLR; it's so inexpensive, there's no excuse NOT to have it in your kit. And a prime lens is worth having for a lot of reasons anyway. If you decide you like prime lenses and want something with an even bigger aperture, the EF 50mm f/1.4 is an easy step up.

[Saralonde]

I'm sure Saralonde and others can guess exactly what I'm going to say here, given how often I've repeated this advice on these forums, but here's one more time! :)

The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, a.k.a. the "nifty fifty," is one of the cheapest Canon lenses price-wise, but has stunning image quality. It's a much-maligned lens by some, given that the body is plastic instead of metal, but it's only $70 and it is a phenomenally good lens. It's wonderful for portraits and for low-light shots. I tag all my photos with this lens (http://www.flickr.com/photos/packet/tags/canonef50mmf18ii/), so you can see a few examples of what I've done with it. There's also a Flickr group for this lens (http://www.flickr.com/groups/ef_50_18ii/).

I cannot recommend it highly enough to someone starting out with a Canon DSLR; it's so inexpensive, there's no excuse NOT to have it in your kit. And a prime lens is worth having for a lot of reasons anyway. If you decide you like prime lenses and want something with an even bigger aperture, the EF 50mm f/1.4 is an easy step up.

The nifty fifty is almost always the first lens I recommend, but he was interested in landscape and wildlife photography more than anything, something in which the humble fifty does not shine. But it is a great little lens for cheap and a great introduction to primes.

[RainPacket]

See, I'd disagree in one respect; I'll grant you the fifty is not great for wildlife (you just can't get close enough in), but I dispute that it's not good for landscapes. It's not good for ALL landscapes, but some of my favorite shots (especially nighttime ones), I've done quite well with the fifty. It wouldn't be my first choice as a landscape lens, but it can still do pretty well.

But moreover, it's a wonderful basic lens for macro work, which he also mentioned. Either with a reversing ring, or with Kenko extender tubes like I use (after all, a large aperture is REALLY GOOD for extender tube macro work), or even something like Hoya magnifying filters. :)

[ronin]

As far as macro is concerned you may also want to take a look at Sigma's line of macro lenses. I think they have the widest line of dedicated macro lenses available from any manufacturer and their 105mm and 180mm are pretty well respected for their performance/price.

For wildlife, even with a crop camera like the Rebel XTi, 200mm really isn't enough unless you're shooting really large animals and are somehow able to get close. Unfortunately, good lenses 300mm+ are not cheap. Even if you go the extender route with a 200mm it's better to start with faster lenses which again, are not cheap.

[BingoBob]

Thanks everybody, you have opened my eyes and givein me quite a bit to think about!

Any more advise would be greatly apprected since I would like to be very well informed by the time I get off me wallet and start purchasing.

What are some good 300+ lenses and how much coin are we talking?


Cheers,

Bingo

[Saralonde]

Check http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/ or http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ for reviews. As you can see, this focal length (300+) can get quite expensive, particularly if you are looking for a top-notch lens.
Zooms:
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM $1385.00
Canon EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM $2300.00
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM $600.00
Canon EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM $225.00

Primes:
Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM $6500.00 (:eek: )
Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS USM $4100.00
Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM $5300.00
Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS USM $6000.00

If you are willing to stay at 300mm and below, prices will generally be much better. Also, try looking at third party lenses such as Sigma and Tamron. You can get a Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6 DG APO for around $200.00. Will it be as good as some of the Canon Ls above? No, but it can get you started.