ed2day
19th of January 2005 (Wed), 14:55
First DSLR, first post. Stepping up from a point&shoot. The pricepoint got to the point where it was just too tempting. The rebates from Canon with the DReb are awesome, though they sucked me into buying more lens than I intended. So here's what I came up with after a little research and listening to you people's advice:
Canon Digital Rebel w/ 18-55 kit lens
28-135 IS
70-200 F4L
50mm 1.8
Speedlite 420EX
I came in at under $1500(assuming rebates arrive) which amazes me--that's what I thought I'd have to pay for a camera or high quality lens alone. I 've had the stuff a couple weeks now so haven't had a chance to do a lot of critical comparisons, but I did some portrait work and have to say I liked the results of the 70-200 better than the 50mm. But that may not be a comment on the lens so much as where I am as a photographer.
The one thing I'm wondering about is whether I'll be happy with the kit lens. My primary focus will be landscapes, so that range is pretty important. The 28-135 won't be wide enough for what I want to do. And sharpness is important to me. My initial thought was: Well, give it a chance, compare it to the other lens, if I'm not happy then splurge for the 17-40L. But then I ran across a comparison of the two lenses (18-55 vs. 17-40) on this site. The gist of the comparison was that they were close and maybe the difference in price was not justified. Well, to my untrained eye, they weren't that close. The 17-40 was superior in resolution at even a cursory glance (I was thinking you would need to blow it up to see), and more importantly, had much more depth to its color. Now obviously the signfificance is a very subjective thing, but that's just the way I am. So now I'm kind of kicking myself for not going into hock and buying the 17-40L which I could have had for $535 from Amazon last week incl. rebates.
I know the Canon rebates are a recurring thing, but are they always this lucrative i.e. "triple rebates"? I'm trying to decide whether to jump in again on this deal, or wait for the same (or better?) deal to come along. Please settle me down and tell me to digest what I've got first!
Canon Digital Rebel w/ 18-55 kit lens
28-135 IS
70-200 F4L
50mm 1.8
Speedlite 420EX
I came in at under $1500(assuming rebates arrive) which amazes me--that's what I thought I'd have to pay for a camera or high quality lens alone. I 've had the stuff a couple weeks now so haven't had a chance to do a lot of critical comparisons, but I did some portrait work and have to say I liked the results of the 70-200 better than the 50mm. But that may not be a comment on the lens so much as where I am as a photographer.
The one thing I'm wondering about is whether I'll be happy with the kit lens. My primary focus will be landscapes, so that range is pretty important. The 28-135 won't be wide enough for what I want to do. And sharpness is important to me. My initial thought was: Well, give it a chance, compare it to the other lens, if I'm not happy then splurge for the 17-40L. But then I ran across a comparison of the two lenses (18-55 vs. 17-40) on this site. The gist of the comparison was that they were close and maybe the difference in price was not justified. Well, to my untrained eye, they weren't that close. The 17-40 was superior in resolution at even a cursory glance (I was thinking you would need to blow it up to see), and more importantly, had much more depth to its color. Now obviously the signfificance is a very subjective thing, but that's just the way I am. So now I'm kind of kicking myself for not going into hock and buying the 17-40L which I could have had for $535 from Amazon last week incl. rebates.
I know the Canon rebates are a recurring thing, but are they always this lucrative i.e. "triple rebates"? I'm trying to decide whether to jump in again on this deal, or wait for the same (or better?) deal to come along. Please settle me down and tell me to digest what I've got first!