Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi 2 lens Zoom Kit

[drew_prozeller]

I was thinking of buying the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi2 that comes with the

EF-S 18-55mm lens and the EF-S 75-300mm lens hoping that the qulaity of the

zoom lens would be good enough for photographing my son playing soccer. Am I

making a mistake? Would I be better off not buying the kit and investing in a

better zoom lens? If so, which lens should I buy?

[jcuknz]

I think the quality will come from how well you can hand hold a 460mm lens, which is effectively what the 300mm is on the Canon. So a lens with image stabilization would help. It doesn't help with subject movement but does avoid quite a bit of camera shake.

[phule]

There is no such lens as the "EF-S 75-300mm"

 

There is, however an EF 75-300.

 

I agree with JC. You should get the 70-300 IS lens instead.

[mark u]

I wouldn't recommend the Canon 75-300 as a strong choice - I think you'd be disappointed with the image quality, and you might as well get the cheaper Tamron or Sigma 70-300 alternatives - none of these lenses focus particularly rapidly, which won't help shooting sport.

 

What you should get instead depends on how tall your son and his team mates are (at the same distance you need a longer lens to fill the frame with 6 year olds than you do with teenagers, but maybe you can get a little closer), and under what lighting conditions you expect to shoot. In full sunshine you can shoot at ISO 100 and f/5.6 with a shutter speed of 1/1000th to freeze motion and avoid camera shake. In open shade, you need 4 stops more, so you would be using ISO 1600 to maintain f/5.6 and 1/1000th. Any worse than that (and a floodlit school pitch or indoor venue is a LOT worse - maybe another 4-6 stops depending on the strength of the lights) and you have to start using slower shutter speeds that will soon make your pictures a blurry mess unless your lens can manage a faster aperture. Obviously budget will enter into the equation as well.

 

For daylight shooting, consider the Canon 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM, Sigma 100-300 f/4 EX HSM (you can add a 1.4x TC to give you an effective 140-420 f/5.6) or Canon 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM. With small children, you may be able to get away with slightly slower shutter speeds and still freeze motion adequately (maybe down to 1/250th with an IS lens): a faster lens such as the Sigma will allow you to use a lower, less noisy ISO as light levels drop from full sunshine. The longer lens can be helpful with small children to fill the frame better.

 

If you want to shoot in lower light, you would need the Sigma 120-300 f/2.8 EX HSM - and even then you will be pushing the boundaries. I wouldn't invest in the lens unless you were sure that the lighting was going to be good enough to give you adequate shutter speeds.

 

With any of the heavier lenses you would be wise to add a monopod - you won't want to hold the weight for long otherwise, and it will help to reduce the effects of camera shake with the non IS lenses in particular.

[troyammons]

Good camera but buy a better lenses. My kit lens had too much CA for my taste

[ericreagan]

You're going to want the kit lens for general snapshots. Certainly so is this is your first SLR. Based on your choices you've thrown out, I expect price is a concern. As a second lens, I think the recommendation for the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FCanon-70-300mm-4-5-6-USM-Cameras%2Fdp%2FB0007Y794O%2Fsr%3D8-1%2Fqid%3D1166012134%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Delectronics&tag=cyclingshots-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325">Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens</a> is probably your best bet at just over $550. It'll work fine for sunny day soccer photos. It may be a little slow for overcast days though. You might want to invest $15 is a good book too. Consider <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FUnderstanding-Exposure-Photographs-Digital-Updated%2Fdp%2F0817463003%2Fsr%3D8-1%2Fqid%3D1166012286%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks&tag=cyclingshots-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325">Understanding Exposure</a> by Bryan Peterson.

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Cheers!

[mark u]

A lens that is a useful step up from the basic 18-55mm kit lens is the Sigma 17-70 f/2.8-4 DC. Optically, it is on a par with the rather more expensive Canon 17-85 lens, and it has good close focus capability and a little more flexibility than the Canon for throwing distracting backgrounds out of focus to give your shots more "pop".