Canon Digital XTi & Canon 50mm/1.4?

[zoe_cooper]

I was planning on buying a Canon Digital XTi and starting off with the Canon

50mm/1.4 lens. I think mostly I will be shooting some black and white street

life and portrait work. Ideally I would like my shots to be to enlarge well,

printing them at times up to 13 x 19, as well as obviously maintaining a

sharpness. Does this starter set up sound ok for that? Or can anyone make any

other recommendations? Thank you.

[phoneguy]

It would make a great starter set. As I understand it, the noise is a little higher on the XTi than the XT (350D) that is to be expected though, as they have crammed 2 million more pixels onto the same sensor. If you want to save some bucks, you could get a new XT (Not XTi) for $514 at B&H.

 

I have been printing 16x20's, and the occasional 24x36 with the 8 MP 20D, and Reb XT.

 

Mike

[mcarter]

for street, you may want a wider prime, like a 30mm

 

just my $.02.

[skipd]

31mm is the accepted "normal" focal length for Canon's APS-C bodies.

 

A 31mm lens provides the same field of view on an XTi as a 50mm lens does on 35mm film (or "full-frame" DSLR's).

 

While you may not find a 31mm lens to buy, anything in the 28mm to 35mm range comes close.

[peter_glass1]

For street shooting, I find the 50mm with the Canon crop factor almost perfect. Everyone's eyes are different, I suppose, but mine tend to hone in more narrowly. Less cropping in the final print, for me. In film format days, I always thought the "normal" 50mm lens didn't really match my "normal" field of view.

[adam_fields]

The Canon 28mm/1.8 would be a very nice complement to this if you want to go a bit wider. Both of those lenses are very small, portable, well-made, fast, sharp, and not too expensive. I have some nice zoom lenses, but when I want to go small and portable, I pack these two (and sometimes the 100mm/2.8 macro for close up work).

 

I really like all of the small improvements on the XTi over the XT - the bigger screen and better info layout alone is worth the extra price. While there is more noise, it's finer noise, and seems to be easier to remove in postprocessing.

[phule]

If you want the closest equivalent field of view to full-frame 50mm then buy the Sigma 30mm f/1.4.

 

But the 50mm mounted on an XT or XTi makes for a very nice portrait lens.

[robert lee]

The 35mm f2.0 along with the 50mm f1.8 would be about the same price range.

[zoe_cooper]

Thank you all very much for taking the time to anwser my question! I greatly appreciate it. xo