New and indecisive. Comments, please?

[cammoid]

Hello,
I am about to "re-takeup" photography (this time digital) at
thanks to a most wonderful partner that has informed me of her
intent, for my birthday, to provide me with the means. She
has told me about this intent so that I could pick out what I
wanted rather than what she picked out. I have been told an
amount of money that would be available for this and after
reading until I'm now glassy eyed, settled on the following
package. I've tried to put together something reasonably
decent as well as diverse.

Canon 20D body
Sigma 70-200 2.8 EX APO IF HSM
Sigma 18-50 2.8 EX ASP IF DC
Sigma 2X teleconverter
Vertical Grip/Battery holder

The total price of the above items (B&H) is about 2950.00

Would anybody (somebody) please comment on what I've come
up with and/or make any suggestions on anything that might
be changed or substituted . . . still keeping within
the total?

The uses would vary widely. Indoor/outdoor. Family pictures.
Landscape and nature. Sports (high school football/baseball),
Rodeo. Near (not necessarilly macro) and far.

Thank You,
Steve

[Titus213]

I don't know about the Sigma lenses but what about a flash unit and tripod?

[defordphoto]

Decent choices. I would add an extra battery for the grip. Several CF cards. And something to carry it all in. :) You have a wide spectrum covered with those lenses. Be advised: You will buy more stuff, but this is an excellent start.

You'll also need one of these: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=62858

And a huge WELCOME to the forum!!

[rfreschner]

Sounds like some good choices. Welcome aboard!

[ssim]

Weclome to the forum.

Well that is some nice partner that you have there.http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_mad.gif Does she really know what she is starting. Your list is good but you aren't anywhere near started.

I haven't had any experience with the Sigma. I'm a die hard Canon fan. The 70-200 f/2.8 L is one of their sharpest zooms.

Pretty soon I think that we may see you like this:http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif

http://www.pbase.com/ssim/image/42583641.jpg

[dsze]

I've never had a sigma lens, so I can't speak from personal experience but its seems, from reading about other's experiences, that you'll be wanting to upgrade those sigmas soon after getting them. I'd maybe think about the Canon 70-200 f/4, Canon 50mm1.8, and the tamron 28-75 and definitely a flash and a couple sets of batteries. Oh, and the copperhill cleaning kit, a bag, at least 512MB of CF and.... oh man... it never ends. Cut up not only your credit cards but also your partner's. Do it quick.

-daniel

[gasrocks]

Yes, we can all spend more of your $ if you let us. I can't see getting a 2x tele converter before getting a 1.4x - and get a Canon not the Sigma. And maybe even wait to see how often you would have used it (after you have had the lenses for a while.) But it all depends on exactly how you are going to use all this.....and how much credit you have left on your card.

[rodb]

The Sigma 18-50/2.8 EX has been a great lens for me. A few people have had bad copies, but most are quite happy with it. Just buy from a reputable place so that you can exchange if necessary.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Stuff looks good! I don't know anything about the 18-50.. but that 70-200mm EX is a fine peice of optics...

I would however suggst you either trade the 2X T-con for the 1.4X or get both,. you will like the results with the 1.4X T-con much better.. and use it more often. The Sigma 1.4X is an excellent teleconverter.

http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze2hdzu/pics/welcome.gif

[condyk]

I've never had a sigma lens, so I can't speak from personal experience but its seems, from reading about other's experiences, that you'll be wanting to upgrade those sigmas soon after getting them.

I had the F4 Canon and sold it to get the Sigma, so there is no rule that says people upgrade from Sigma to Canon. I've never had a problem using Sigma's over a number of years on and off. The Canon F4 is great tho' and if you go that route then it's a wise choice too.

Three other lenses that Daniel suggests are certainly amongst the most recommended lenses on any Canon forums, so you won't go far wrong with them either. For the price the 50mm II is awesome. Resale value with the better Canon lenses is superb, but also the very well reviewed alternative brands hold value well. It's the less well thought of stuff that depreciates.

I would also go along with the comments about the 1.4x. Seems from many comments and reviews I've seen that the Canon 1.4x is the best, followed by the Sigma and Kenko Pro equivelents, but not much in it and you should be happy whichever you get. I'd get whichever brand is the same as the bigger lens, unless you wanted to save some cash and then get the Kenko Pro. That's what I did and been very happy.

A couple of large and fast CF cards, i.e. 1GB each, esp. if shooting in RAW. A grip is great, esp. with larger lenses as adds stabiility, so nice idea :)

http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/ is a good place to check out user experiences of many lenses.

What a lucky boy you are ... enjoy :lol: :lol:

[cammoid]

Thank You all for your comments and patience with a question that has, no doubt, been asked over and over. I especially liked (and laughed out loud) ssim's comment/graphic.

And yes, I am a very lucky boy . . . and I know it.

- I've read good things about the Sigma lenses; so, I think I'll go with them. I tried for as much light and focal range as I could while getting reasonable quality.
- Good point about the flash. I have a 420EZ and hoped to use it; but, further reading leads me to believe that it will not work. I am thinking of the Sigma EF-500 DG E-TTL.
- I was wanting the 2X teleconverter, because, I always think the longer the better; but, I think I will heed the advice and go for the 1.4 for now.
- A tripod I already have.
- I completely forgot about the CF cards. I'll have to work in a couple of those . . . as big and as many as possible.

Other than that, I think I'll stick with my choices. I'd like more/better; but, I tried to come up with the most I could without going too low-end -and- staying within the generous offer afforded me.

Anything more can await future "occasions" when my partner will find it (from all of your comments) an easy task to come up with what gift(s) to shower me with. :-)
P.S. My partner has read your comments and -she- comments "What a nice group of people".