T2i Body Help me choose a lens!

[KevinP]

Hey guys I have decided to buy a canon t2i. I'm not new to photography but new to the dslr game. Anyways I have always heard that the kit lens is pretty bad so I'm partially debating buying just the t2i body and then buying some nice glass to go with it. I have heard that the nifty fifty is a great lens. So I was considering that, but I'm debating getting a prime lens as my only lens (for now but I'm not sure when I'll have the funds to buy another) because I might be in situations where I need a zoom.


I photograph: People, Cars, Sports, Architecture (models and buildings)
Budget: I would like to keep it under $1,000 with the body and accessories (tripod, bag memory)



Cliff notes: Buying t2i, should I buy it with the kit lens or body only with a different lens (please give examples).

[OsmosisStudios]

For your budget, there isn't much but the kit lens. Its also a good idea to just get that to figure out what you want to upgrade to. if you feel you need wide, then you go wider; if you need longer, you get a telephoto; if you need faster, you look at a faster zoom.

[inkista]

Here's the thing. If you don't have any experience with dSLR lenses, then you're going to run into a chicken and the egg type problem with ditching the kit lens and going for a "better" lens, which is that you don't know what lens you want. Until you have experience shooting with a dSLR lens, it's had to tell what focal length range, max. aperture, price combination is going to be optimal for you.

The kit lens does not suck, btw. It's just very low cost and therefore limited. But it's a really usable lens. It's the cheapest wide angle you're going to get. It covers most of your vacation snapshot needs. And it's cheap. Really cheap. As in, the difference between getting a camera with and without an 18-55 stabilized kit lens is something like only $100 you're going to save.

You can easily burn more than that $100 by buying the wrong "top end" lens and then another, flipping over your glass until you know which one you really wanted.

My take on the thing is, if you're asking what lens you should be getting instead, you should probably just stick with the kit lens to get the experience with IS, 18-55mm, and f/3.5-5.6 max. aperture to see how much you'd be willing to pay for <18mm, >55mm, IS vs. non-IS, and bigger max. apertures than f/3.5, and USM. Opinions will differ on this, though. Someone else might tell you to just get the EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM and get it over with. Someone else would say the 24-70 f/2.8L USM.

Everybody's different. Everybody shoots different things. What might be an indispensible must-have lens to one person can prove to be a "Never used it; sat in my bag" lens for someone else. My second lens out of the gate was an 8mm circular fisheye. This is a lens that very few people find a need for at all, let alone as a staple that's earned a constant place in the bag.

If you're really intent on avoiding the "crap" kit lens, then I'd recommend doing your homework and learning about lenses, their features, and what they can do for you. And also find out if the sticker shock is actually going to be worth it.

Most dSLR entry-level bodies cost between $500-$800 these days. A cheap lens (new) is about $300 or less. A moderately-priced midrange lens is about $600. The expensive lenses start at four figures. At least in the thinking of the camera companies. And most of us end up outfitting ourselves with at least two or three lenses.

If you're going for an $800 camera body, $200 isn't actually likely to net you anything much better than the 18-55 kit lens, and that's the cold hard truth. A single lens can easily outstrip the entire cost of your camera body.

[KevinP]

Thanks for the quick, and great, responses! I'm going to stick with the kit lens for now, and then figure out what I need from there.

[Michael_2010]

It wouldn't hurt to go to Flickr, or one of the other photo sites and search for subjects that interest you, i.e., Architecture. Then check to see what lenses were used. An ultra-wide really comes in handy for architectural shots and it also creates some interesting visuals, because it kind of forces a perspective view.