£2,000 budget

[scuccadenza]

Hello there,
I’m in need of some help/advice please!
The company I work for has decided that it’s time to invest in some good quality camera gear, and I’ve been given a budget of around £2,000 to do it with.
We currently have some equipment leftover from the previous kit (Canon 10d) –
Sigma 17-35mm f2.8-4.0 EX DG HSM (which seems pretty decent)
Sigma 55-200mm f4-5.6 DC (not so much)
And a light tent & a couple of lights

In terms of what it will be used for – most of the images we require are simple shots of our products on a white background, and “lifestyle” images of people using/wearing them in everyday situations (some indoor, some outdoor). There will also be opportunities to photograph some sports events, such as motocross, skiing, wakeboarding and athletics/cycling etc.

After plenty of research, I’ve all but decided on a Canon 7d body (roughly £1,090), mainly for the 8fps burst mode, and the extra durability it has over the 60d and 550d. However this doesn’t leave much of a budget for lenses and accessories unfortunately!

So basically I need help deciding what would be the best option with the remaining £1,000-ish...
I originally thought that the canon 17-55mm f2.8 IS lens would be a decent all-round option at £750, but figured that with us already having that Sigma 17-35mm, maybe the canon 24-70mm f2.8 L would be a better option, even though it’s more expensive (around £950)?
But then there’s the option of instead going for the canon 24-105mm f4 IS L for around £750, but I’m not really sure whether the extra reach and IS makes up for the lack of the constant f2.8??
OR would it be better to go for something like the Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 EX DG for £450 AND the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L for £500?

Then there is also the issue of things like tripod, memory card, flash etc... Although it would be nice to be left with £250 to spend on these items, I wouldn’t be too worried about only having £50-£100 (assuming a compactflash card will set me back around £35, I’ve had plenty of success with sub-£60 tripods in the past, and I’m not really a fan of using flash anyway).

Any advice is welcome! If you think there are other options that I’d be better off exploring then by all means let me know

Thanks in advance!

[OsmosisStudios]

See if your company cant sell the sigma lenses it currently has, and definitely work with a retail location to see if you cant get them to cut you a deal for buying a bunch all at once: most will.

As far as lenses: What lens were you using to shoot product shots in the light tent in the past? And how big are your products? You may benefit from a macro or macro-capable lens.

For lifestyle stuff, I cant say much more than a mid-tele range zoom (like the 24-70 f/2.8), though it's expensive and heavy. Are these images going to be used for publication? and if so, why not hire a photographer?

[inkista]

Just a thought, but going for a used 50D instead of a new 7D and selling the 10D and Sigmas might get you enough to squeeze three lenses out of the budget.

A used 50D goes for around $800 here in the US, so that would probably leave you 3/4 of your budget for lenses. While the burst rate is only 6fps, it's still plenty fast compared to the 10D's 3fps.

You could then (hopefully, I'm not good with UK pricing) pick up a EF-S 60/2.8 Macro or 100 f/2.8 Macro USM (non-L) for the product shots (assuming smallish products that fit inside a smallish light tent), 24-70/2.8L, and a 70-200 f/2.8L USM (non-IS) or the f/4 IS for the sports.

[scuccadenza]

Wow, thanks for such quick responses!

The products we sell range in size from things like small nuts and bolts up to full size prosthetic limbs, and up until now i've actually just been using my own 50mm f1.8, which is good but not ideal for some stuff (and i don't really like having to use my own equipment!).

We have hired photographers in the past, but more often than not we'll only need shots of one or two things at a time so it's easier and more cost effective to just be able to do it myself as and when (i'm not exactly a master, but i like to think i'm past the 'beginner' stage now)

I did consider going for a used camera body, but one thing that appeals about the 7d over something like the 50d is the video recording capabilities - it's not the main reason for having the camera, but it's definitely a feature that my boss is keen to make use of.

Selling the old 10d and Sigma lenses is an option though. i doubt they'll attract a huge amount, but enough to allow me to invest a bit more on the accessories, if not on another lens. If the 17-35 Sigma goes though i do wonder if a 24-70mm would be enough for me at the wide end...

Thanks again for the advice! Much appreciated