A few clicks on the photography store website later...

[jprime84]

... and I have a Canon T1i body on order!

I made the purchase after wanting the potential for HD video on our trip to Kauai, Hawaii this summer. On top of the video, the T1i sports many other upgrades beyond my year or two old Canon Xsi. The other obvious plus is that I can now keep two lenses at the ready without swapping them!

On another note, for my trip - I want to rent a nice wide angle landscape lense. I am looking at the Canon EF 14mm f/2.8 L II USM. Opinions?

[tasmo2]

Congrats on your new body!! Im Nikon, so I have no suggestions, but I do have congrats for ya!

[OsmosisStudios]

Dont bother with the 14mm: get the 10-20mm

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

Dont bother with the 14mm: get the 10-20mm

Agreed. The Sigma 10-20mm is an awesome lens and will do great for landscape.

A few notes on Kuaui:
1. Don't be afraid to take your camera everywhere...all the tours I took had drybags for your gear, and I only saw one kayak ever flip (was my parents )
2. The Napali cost is awesome. Definitely bring your camera and a wide angle on that trip.
3. The rainforest is suprisingly dark. I wan't much into photography at the time, but I remember all my rainforest photos turned out either dark or blurry.
4. Chickens are everywhere. Doesn't really relate to photography, but a fun fact none-the-less

Congrats on the T1i. The LCD is much better than the XSi and you get video, but otherwise it's very similar.

[Nekrose]

Congrats on the T1i! And the trip to Hawaii! I live here, and let me tell you, it is beautiful! A wide angle is the best to have, as well as a good telephoto.

[jprime84]

The T1i also has the digic 4 processor instead of the XSi digic 3.

Thanks for the tip on the Sigma. I didnt realize they offered focal lengths that were different from the mainstream. I like the ability to go as wide as 10mm, especially on a crop frame sensor. Im excited!

[jprime84]

I see Sigma has a 10-20mm f/4-5.6 as well as a f/3.5

Anyone have any experience on the difference in photo quality here? I dont think the faster speed on the f/3.5 lens will be much of an issue, since I will want to shoot with a wide depth of field for landscape shots.

[Joe Butch]

I have the t1i it's a great camera...but I would of opt for buying a t2i at this point the video capabilities on the t2i are much better.

[heatherwb]

Take a look at the Canon 10-22. While I haven't actually used the lens myself, my dad has it and is really pleased with it.

LensRentals.com - Rent a Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5

Also, the Tokina 12-24/4 is an excellent lens. I've actually used this one and can vouch for it's IQ.

LensRentals.com - Rent a Tokina 12-24mm f/4 Pro for Canon

HTH,
Heather

[jprime84]

Originally Posted by Joe Butch

I have the t1i it's a great camera...but I would of opt for buying a t2i at this point the video capabilities on the t2i are much better.

I struggled with this decision, but considering that I could get a T1i body for $608 (an already huge purchase for my budget right now), and a T2i body for $850-$900, I decided that the improvements over the T1i was not enough of a selling point for me to lay down another $250-$300. It came down to a budget thing - another 10 frames per second at 1080p wasnt critical for me.