camera illiterate needing help

[amandasrsly]

I have read pretty much every topic on here and still need someone to help ME...reading responses for someone else is like "oh, okay" but not satisfied, still. But 1st and foremost. I'm a mom...I'll be taking pictures of what a lot of SAHM do...their children, and an occasional shot of our hyper bloodhound Sadie...I also have a passion for nature. We live on a large cattle farm with a lot of rock walls and just beautiful opportunities for pictures...with or without human subjects.

I have a couple of concerns before making a purchase.

a) I do NOT plan on using the video capabilities on either of these and price is not an issue so I'm stuck between the T2i and T3i. I've read about the flash and everything else but to me that has no meaning...it's going to be a personal use camera...so is the extra $100 worth getting the T3i?

b) I need to purchase lenses that will produce pictures with a nice blurred background. I'm a stickler for it. I want my sons to be the main subject...not their face AND the mountains of legos in the background. Doing SOME research I've thought about getting the camera and lens KIT package with the 18-55mm and the 55-250mm lenses ALONG with the EF 50m f/1.8 lens. Would this be reasonable or just completely absurd? I want the picture to look great if it were blown up to an 11x14" or maybe a tad bigger...which is why I want an 18.0 mp dslr.

So, If any of you were so dear enough to read this an insight would be so grateful to a DSLR newbie with point and shoot experience only.

[cyber3d]

I'd go for the T3i just because of the tilt LCD. The camera and lens KIT package with the 18-55mm and the 55-250mm lenses ALONG with the EF 50m f/1.8 lens sounds like an awesome package. I also like the "Scene Intelligent Auto" mode of the T3i. YOur lens choices will give you coverage for anything on the farm and the 50mm will be great in lower light conditions and / or fast moving kids.

[dlambert]

The T3i is considered a pretty incremental upgrade to the T2i -- it's one of those where you probably wouldn't trade up if you already had a T2i, but since you're buying your first DSLR, there are a couple features that might be appealing. Some people might consider the flip-out screen to be a little gimmicky, but it can be really helpful if you want to shoot from angles other than "eye-level" without crawling around on the ground. This change of perspective can be helpful when you're shooting kids. The T3i also has a "Basic+" control that's supposed to make a couple of camera controls a little easier for folks who are learning photography. Among these is a "background blur" mode that helps you set your aperture for the look I think you're going for. Only you can determine if these are worth the extra $100. ;-)

As far as lenses and such, the three you picked out are a great start. You're quite likely to end up coveting some pretty pricy lenses once you figure out what they can do, but the set you've got there will definitely get you going. With respect to the background blur specifically, you're going to find that this comes from both the capabilities of the lens and your ability to use camera and lens to achieve the look you're going for. The 55-250 is a good tele lens to start with, by the way. Canon makes a cheap 75-300 (not to be confused with the 70-300) that's pretty crummy, but the 55-250 is a good value. I like the 50mm f/1.8, too -- that may be the best $100 you spend.

There's no difference in resolution between these two, and both will handle 11x14 just fine. In fact, at that size, you'd do fine with a smaller number of megapixels as long as the quality of the image is good, and that's going to depend mostly on your lens and technique.

Pick up either of those cameras with the lenses you mentioned, then plan on stopping back here to polish your technique a bit, and you'll be in great shape.

[inkista]

Think you've done your homework well, and those three lenses and the dRebel of your choice should serve you for at least a few years, at which point, you may start lusting after better lenses. But for the money, you're getting some amazing bargains, lens-wise. I tend to refer to that group of three lenses as "The Training Wheels Triple."

Whether the additional $100 for the T3i is "worth it" is, unfortunately, up to you. To me, it certainly would be, because I love a flip-out LCD, and I love doing off-camera flash, and I have two Canon EX speedlights to do it with. To get a glimpse of what off-camera flash can do, I'd recommend reading the introductory "welcome" page to the Strobist, (and possibly this Flickr stream) and see if you're intrigued about learning that kind of lighting. If you are, file away the Strobist site for future reference, and consider the T3i.

[mrteacherdude]

+1 with what everyone else has said here. Even if you don't anticipate using off-camera flash now, you will likely find yourself wanting to later on so you can get better photos of your kids indoors. I have the 50mm f1.8, and while it is capable of taking perfectly acceptable photos indoors, they are even better when I start working with an off camera flash. And to have the capabilities of controlling that easily from within the camera is just too cool. I don't have experience with a flip out screen, but can definitely envision the pros to having one.

[amandasrsly]

Thank you all for your great input. I'm thankful you all took the time to read and reply. Honestly, I'm thankful I didn't spend money on something with having doubts and luckily my doubts are long gone! And once I've adjusted to the camera new lenses are always an option that I am definitely NOT ruling out...I want to at least get adjusted to the three I've purchased as of reading the replies! And this site is bookmarked indefinitely...I will use this as a reference or as Q&A so I can at least use the camera and lenses. Again, thank you all SOOOOO much.