ifeito

Ashish,

Consider yourself saved! By posting your question here before purchasing you have just made a very big decision in your photography taking career!

First, do yourself a favor and forget you ever considered the 18-200 Sigma and leave the Teleconverters out of your picture taking career for now.

Designers of lenses optimize a lens for a given focal lenght, where designing wide lenses is completely different from designing telephoto lenses. Zooms are a compromise, superzooms are a marketing gimmick. If you want a superzoom then you should be looking at a P&S with a big 10X zoom written on it.

Given that you bought yourself a nice camera, you owe it to yourself to buy lenses that will let you shoot nicer pictures than the ones you would get with a P&S.

OK, on to the lens suggestions.

Since you seem to want more reach (haven't you run into the need for more light first?) and you don't want to spend too much, you should probably be looking at some of Canon's (forget Sigma for now) 70-300 offerings. The 70-300 IS is about $530, offers a very good reach and has IS!

Probably the best lens you can buy that fits your bill is the 70-200 f/4L. It's "only" 200 mm on the long range, but that converts to 320 on the crop sensor cameras, which is about as long as you can go handheld. It's about $540 with the current rebate and you can add a 1.4 teleconverter for a 280 mm f5.6 maximum reach.

I know the two lenses above are not cheap, but you were looking to spend $400 for the Sigma POS and $200 for the converter, you'll actually be saving some money!

Also, your photography will benefit a lot if you add a 430EX zoom, off camera flash cable and, most importantly, a 50 f1.8 prime to use when you realize that you need more light before needing more reach.

Hope this helps!

Ignacio

PS, in case my answer wasn't clear, the 18-200 + 2X converter does NOT make a good kit.

Marlene,

Digital will give you nicer apparent resolution, but narrower tonal range. Similar to shooting slides, some may say.

The depth of field will be slightly deeper on the 1.6X crop cameras. This has nothing to do with the sensor or the camera being digital; you get more DOF for the same focal length because you will be standing further back from your subject due to the cropping of the image giving a 1.6x increase in apparent focal length.

Since you already tried the 85 f1.8, you should probably get the 50 f1.4 that will work similarly on the 30D and consider your old 85 a brand new 135 mm lens.

Feel like splurging? Get the 5D and your lenses will work exactly like they did and you will get much better resolution, less noise at higher ISO's and -some claim- better tonal range.

Hope this helps,

Ignacio

Charles,

No dust on your sensor? Are you sure? Try a teleconverter and stop down one of your long lenses to about f45 and shoot the sky out of focus. You'll be surprised. But that's another subject.

Regarding your question about the dust trombone... just kidding.

If you tried it, and liked the image quality and autofocus performance then you should be OK with it. Perhaps you should try the 300 mm prime, I briefly debated between the prime and the 100-400 zoom and decided on the prime. I already had the 70-200 (f4), so I didn't miss a zoom on a similar range. Do you already have a 1.4x Teleconverter? You should factor the TC when you decide what to buy, the primes will work better with the TC than the zooms.

Hope this helps,

Ignacio

oops, links should read like this:

Try these links:

http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/showcat.php?cat=2

http://www.wlcastleman.com/equip/reviews/index.htm

http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/index.html

http://www.photodo.com/nav/prodindex.html

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-Lens-Reviews.aspx

http://www.prime-junta.net/gallery/galleries/24-vs-35/index.html

Markus,

After doing my homework trying to decide on the best "widish" prime for a crop sensor camera (that could also work when I can afford full frame) and looks like I'm going to go for the EF 24mm f/2.8, it will give me a 38ish field of view and it's supposed to be very sharp.

It's 2.8 and not USM, but the lens that upgrades those two factors costs 4 times as much.

From what I've heard not many people are really excited about their 20 2.8 USM and 28 1.8 USM; mostly the problem is lack of sharpness wide open (hey, they are wide angles after all) and some chromatic aberration.

Try these links:

http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/showcat.php?cat=2

http://www.wlcastleman.com/equip/reviews/index.htm

http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/index.html

http://www.photodo.com/nav/prodindex.html

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-Lens-Reviews.aspx

http://www.prime-junta.net/gallery/galleries/24-vs-35/index.html

These will keep you busy for a while

Hope this helps!

Ignacio

Christi,

You can disregard my comment defending Vladimir on the other forum, now I see where you were coming from.

Ignacio

Christi,

I read Vladimir's post and it didn't seem to me like he was coming through as a know it all, he was just indicating that another girl had just come along asking similar questions and he found it amusing.

However Marlene's question is a little bit different, she's specifically asking about portraiture, that's why many have pointed her towards prime lenses. As good as a zoom may be, it's always a design compromise between the focal lenghts it covers.

Ignacio

Unless you already have a 50 1.4 RM...

Marlene, I don't think you've told us what you're shooting with yet! From the posts on this forum I think you will be more inclined to the primes for portraits and a 17-40 to cover the wide angle, right?

Christi,

Grab a pair of pliers and heat the tip of a pin until it's red hot, now grab an old camera cap (the one that goes in place of the lens) and make a really small hole in the center.

Put it on and shoot some pinhole pictures, you're not wasting film, so shoot all you want.

Let us know if it works, I've been meaning to try it but haven't found an old cap to try it on.

Hope this will give you something interesting to do while your lenses arrive.

Ignacio

Thanks Bob!

However since I can't call 800 numbers from Mexico I'll try to look for an e-mail on their site. But it's good to know that you can order any part.

While you guys are at it. A photographer has offered to give me a lens collar for my 70-200 for free, but he says it's missing the bolt that holds it tight, and Canon Mexico does not sell that bolt separately.

Does anybody know where to get it?

Thanks!

Ignacio

Marlene,

What lenses do you currently have? Seems like a good starting point for you would be a 50 f1.4 that will now give you the field of view of an 80 mm lens. Perfect for portraits like the one on your shot. Perhaps you want to go for the 85 f1.8 that will behave like a 135 mm does on 35 mm. You could get those and a 35 f2.0 or 24 f2.8 and still have $ left in your budget.

Your $1,000 budget will let you get a nice set of primes (unless you want L primes) or a really nice zoom.

The equivalent of a 27-88 mm lens in 35 mm will be the 17-55, which also happens to be an f2.8 and has Image Stabilization. May be on the short side for portraits and may be a little bit slow for those blurred backgrounds, but it will be a very flexible lens and it's almost within your budget. No one has reviewed it yet, but Canon has a lot resting on this lens and I don't think it will be a bad performer.

Again, your decision rests on what you already have and what you want it for.

Hope this helps

Ignacio

Dennis,

Makes me want to go out and buy a D70 just to I can use the vertical grip you described! ;)

Ignacio

José,

C'mon, don't go for the 10 or the 20, get the 30D. You know you'd be paying a lot more in Mexico for the Digital Rebel than you will in NYC for the 30D.

My digital Rebel batteries charge in about an hour to 90 minutes each. Do get at least two Compact Flash cards, I would suggest a 2GB and a 1GB for backup.

What lens do you have for shooting plays?

Ignacio

Can you get a hold of an EX series flash? I have a 380EX and even that one syncs up to 1/4000 in the H mode.

I dunno if I would use the ND filters, since for the action you need some depth of field (the background will be way back anyway), but you can decide on that yourself.

I would be more concerned about filling those harsh shadows with as much flash as possible.

Ignacio

For really small children you should get the Macro 100 f/2.8...

Sorry, had to say it

Nikon doesn't think there's a market for one.

Canon makes one for every DSLR on their lineup, even the XT...

Don't stick an off brand lens on your 5D!

Go for the 17-40 F4L or the 16-35 F2.8!

Christi! Where's your 50 mm prime? I'm sure you did get it but forgot to mention it in your post.

All kidding aside, the bag is a very personal thing. Depends on how you travel and what you like to carry with you.

I have a small bag that can fit camera with lens, flash and another lens. It's OK, but I'd like something bigger. I also have a backpack that can fit all my gear. I have used it, but usually don't bring it along unless photography is the main purpose of my trip.

You'll have to decide what you want to carry, when and how before considering the style of bag you need.

Do bring your equipment to the store when you get your bag!

Ignacio

Mark,

That's a case where you need extreme reaches! I know it's an everyday thing for you. ;)

Ignacio

In the same venue, how is the 1.0 EV calculated?

I mean, such and such camera autofocuses at EV 0 or EV 1, or even EV -1, how's that calculated?

E,

Good minds think alike! Or I just got lucky and thought the same thing you did.

Here's the Fred Miranda review for that Sigma. It's rated with a 5/10 and is only recommended by 55% of the people that bought it and reviewed it on that site.

http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=189&sort=7&cat=37&page=2

And just for kicks, the Photozone review is here:

http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/sigma_1850_3556/index.htm

I'd say skip it AJ, it doesn't do your daughter's new 30D any justice.

Ignacio