finally decided...

[Mander P]

After much deliberation I finally decided on my very first DSLR, the Canon 2ti. I know if the future I will want to get a zoom lens, but for now I want to really focus on learning to use the camera and taking lots of pics of lots of things...kids especially. I have read that the kit lens that comes with the camera is not so good, so I am wondering if I should look for a better lens right away or just go with what I am getting. I have looked at Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II...it is affordable and gets good reviews, but what do you pros think? I would appreciate any advice offered.

[oldwolf]

The 50mm f/1.8 is a nice lens for the price. If possible then I'd also probably go with the 28-135mm with IS. That gives you a decent zoom range that will hold you over for a bit.

[DerekL1963]

Originally Posted by Mander P

I have read that the kit lens that comes with the camera is not so good, so I am wondering if I should look for a better lens right away or just go with what I am getting.

I just got my T2i a couple of weeks, and the lens that comes with the kit is plenty good. I wouldn't be in a hurry to get more lenses until you better know what and how you shoot.

[lmederos]

I have a T2i, and I found it amazing price the price and features.

I would recommend that you do the research on the lenses first. I went bought the body and a Tamron 17-50 zoom as my first lens, and it is great. Yes, it is more than the kit but I have 2 issues with the kit lenses:


1. build: not great

2. image quality: depends what you want --- if only for photos of the kids that will be shown on a website and in small prints, they are ok. Otherwise, you will eventually regret it. Although the T2i is great, it has shortcomings (IMHO noise when shooting at ISO beyond 800) and is a crop sensor so if you ever want really tack sharp enlargements you will want a full sensor camera someday --- and the kit lenses will not work on the full sensor models.

so I would recommend sticking with (yes, higher priced) EF lenses rather than the EF-S lenses (which come in the kits). The Tamron I mentioned above is for crop-sensor cameras (like the EF-S line), and although it shoots great pictures I will not being able to use it with full sensor cameras.

Regards!

-- Luis