Great pictures, as always – the wedding seemed like a lot of fun. In the past I have devoured your brain with bschool essay related questions and doubts, but today I have a naive photography related question. I am seriously thinking about buying a SLR (Canon Rebel most probably) but am a little confused about what lens to purchase. I dont really know at the moment if I will like shooting wildlife with telephoto lenses or go for the macro beauties. I read somewhere that the canon EF-S 17-85mm is a good all round lens for starters – would you agree? Another choice I am toiling with is the Canon 50mm f1.4 USM.
I know my question above is as stupid as asking, “which business school should i go to”, but I nevertheless thought to try my luck and see if you have an opinion to share.
I’ve heard the 18-55 IS (image stabilized) lens that comes with the new Rebels is very good. I’d probably start with that rather than paying the premium for the 17-85mm zoom. After you get the hang of the camera and your style you might be better prepared to make a serious investment in a specialty lens (fast prime, telephoto, macro, super wide, etc.).
I don’t think the 50/1.4 is leaps and bounds better than the 50/1.8. If I was spending $250 on a prime I personally would go with the 35/2 rather than the 50/1.8 since I find the 50mm to be a little too long to be versatile on a APS-C body. You could also go the other way and get an 85/1.8 prime which could be a lot of fun for experimenting with portraits and moderate telephoto.
Amit Ghosh Jun 5
Hey Kurt –
Great pictures, as always – the wedding seemed like a lot of fun. In the past I have devoured your brain with bschool essay related questions and doubts, but today I have a naive photography related question. I am seriously thinking about buying a SLR (Canon Rebel most probably) but am a little confused about what lens to purchase. I dont really know at the moment if I will like shooting wildlife with telephoto lenses or go for the macro beauties. I read somewhere that the canon EF-S 17-85mm is a good all round lens for starters – would you agree? Another choice I am toiling with is the Canon 50mm f1.4 USM.
I know my question above is as stupid as asking, “which business school should i go to”, but I nevertheless thought to try my luck and see if you have an opinion to share.
Thanks,
Amit
Kurt Jun 5
I’ve heard the 18-55 IS (image stabilized) lens that comes with the new Rebels is very good. I’d probably start with that rather than paying the premium for the 17-85mm zoom. After you get the hang of the camera and your style you might be better prepared to make a serious investment in a specialty lens (fast prime, telephoto, macro, super wide, etc.).
I don’t think the 50/1.4 is leaps and bounds better than the 50/1.8. If I was spending $250 on a prime I personally would go with the 35/2 rather than the 50/1.8 since I find the 50mm to be a little too long to be versatile on a APS-C body. You could also go the other way and get an 85/1.8 prime which could be a lot of fun for experimenting with portraits and moderate telephoto.
Amit Ghosh Jun 7
Thanks for advice, that was pretty helpful.