What am i missing

You need to invest in a back up camera of some sort...I wouldnt get anything older than a Rebel XTi or a 30D. get some back up batteries. at least one off camera flash until you can afford a back up for that..430 EX or 550EX can be had for pretty cheap these days...I would also look at getting a 50 1.8 for low light and events where you can not use flash. after that, go thru your pics and look at your exif data. find the focal length you shoot most often and start upgrading your lenses to 2.8 zooms or fast primes. Dont get to worried about picking up L lenses. While they are great to have you can upgrade later once you have a full kit and all the back ups you need.
If it helps (probably wont) my gear list is two 40D's a 5D, two 550ex flashes, 20mm 2.8, 28mm 1.8, 50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.8, 200mm 2.8L.

Based on everything you said.. I would suggest backup gear and lighting too. The 50 f/1.8 is a great place to start for faster lenses, especially if you are on a budget, but flash will give you light when even a fast lens isn't enough. And, if you haven't used flash before, learn how to bounce or otherwise soften the light! (I love white ceilings and walls)

If you are doing weddings, backups are an absolute must. What do you tell the bride if someone bumps into you and your camera drops and breaks? "Sorry!" isn't going to cut it when she has no photos of (arguably) the most important event in her life.

You say you are your customers are happy with the quality of your work (i.e., lenses), then upgrading there (because someone suggested they are poor quality) is not the place to start. Would you buy a new car if I told you that yours lacks quality?

You never mentioned your budget. You never mentioned what you shot the most- so I assume a mix. The thing is that it sounds like you never have experienced higher quality glass- so therefore don't know- which I think is probably more common than not. You might want to rent one of the lenses I mentioned for a few days to see how you like it first.
Crop camera- 17-50 Sigma OS or maybe the Canon 17-55 IS. that'd be the starting point. If you don't notice any difference between in your pictures using them and your kit lens, then- well, I would not bother with anything else.

After that- a 70-200 IS/OS from either Canon or Sigma - f/2.8... If you are in it for the long haul- you probably should save up for the Canon f/2.8 70-200 IS II and be done with it. As you are on a crop- an interesting alternative might be the 50-150 OS from Sigma- it should be just about right on a crop.

A good flash- if you don't have one- a 580 EX II or two. Maybe a spare body... Oops - you didn't want to hear that, right ?

RACHPAR wrote in post #14480417
so i ask "what should i add to my bag" and let see i have one person suggest a lens and everyone else gives crap information. should i have asked a different question. Let see ALL of your camera gear is stolen, but the police only recovered one lens...... what lens do you hope it is?

Maybe I gave you too much credit. Obviously, a bunch of strangers who've never seen your pictures and have no idea what you do should be able to recommend to you what you're lacking... I hope you have a good 2nd career.

koufax80 wrote in post #14481513
Maybe I gave you too much credit. Obviously, a bunch of strangers who've never seen your pictures and have no idea what you do should be able to recommend to you what you're lacking... I hope you have a good 2nd career.

I am sorry i guess i miss understood what this site is all about, i was under the impression it was about helping each other out. i didn't think by asking strangers to help me, would end up being so personal. i am not asking what i am lacking in my photos i am asking if there is a lens that is lacking in my bag

here is what is in my bag
Body: 40D and rebel xsi
Lenses: 18-55mm 3.5-5.6(kit), 55-250mm 4-5.6(kit), and 50mm 1.8
Flash: speedlite 430exII, speedlite 300ee, and sunpac auto 422D

Thank you koufax80, for earlyer posts.

Based on whats in your bag, start by replacing the wide end, either with the 17-55 IS thats been mentioned or a 16-35 L. Then possibly a 70-200 2.8L. After that I would think about replacing the 50 1.8 with the 1.4 just because its more reliable AF. Add a macro lens of some sort for the ring shots...and you will have a decent kit

I think that everybody here could give you a quite different advice, based on his/her opinion and experiences. Since you seem to be using your kit quite effectively (you *are* working, after all), I think that you could benefit of some "lighter" lenses... either a 17-40/f4 on the wide end, or a 17-5X/f2.8 in order to gain some subject to background isolation. A 70-200 of some kind would also be useful. You might even consider the f4 variant, since you quite possibly would have to stop the f2.8 one down a bit, due to the too shallow depth of field you would have if you shot wide open.
I suggested the 17-40L alondside the 17-5X variants, since you would also benefit of a 5DII (for better low light capabilities and DOF)... you will soon be able to get one for quite a good price, as soon as the 5DIII gets more widespread (that's why I suggested the 70-200/f4... on ful frame the DOF for f4 is quite decent at those FLs). But everything will depend on how you are financially... I guess, if everything you have now, suites your needs, there is little you will need to buy.
The only thing I would suggest for starters, is maybe a "master" flash, so you could use your others as "slaves" and get some better lighted shots (off-camera lighting is almost always better than on-camera... some might say that it gets you more "professional" looking photos )

Full frame (even the 5D classic), 24-105, flash, and you're set.

I don't get people responding without reading what the OP writes. At least six different mentions are made of needing an extra body after the OP says he has a Rebel as a back up. No one needs to step up to "help", but if you are going to why not at least know what the OP is saying?

Beyond that, the thread would be way more useful with some pics. Might lead to a more constructive discussion of what would help the OP, rather than the 5294th thread about "what is a pro?".

Because you don't agree with someone else’s opinion does not make it wrong; the OP came here asking a very BROAD question with little information provided.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and the OP needs to filter what he/she deems helpful.

RACHPAR wrote in post #14481683
I am sorry i guess i miss understood what this site is all about, i was under the impression it was about helping each other out. i didn't think by asking strangers to help me, would end up being so personal. i am not asking what i am lacking in my photos i am asking if there is a lens that is lacking in my bag

*shrug* Hardly an expert here, but IMO, the best way to figure what lenses you need is to figure what shooting capabilities you feel you're lacking. Do you need the ability to shoot in low(er) light, do you need more zoom range, do you need more close ups, etc?

I know this has been posted before, which is why I agree and think it needs to be reiterated. In my research for new lenses, the one constant I've seen is that there is no 'One Lens to Rule Them All' solution for every photographer. For instance, if you're doing a lot of low-light in-studio portrait work, a 70-200mm f/4L, while a very capable lens, might not find a lot of use. But if you're doing a lot of outdoor work, it could rarely leave your camera body.

The reason why people are asking you to post your photos is to see what kind of photos you're taking, and try and suggest which lenses might give you a better performance based on what they see of your work, not "what is lacking" in your photos. (at least, that's how I've interpreted things)

One thing I might also suggest is to look at the Lens Sample Archive. You can see samples of photos shot with virtually any lens you might be considering. You can compare what kind of performance others have achieved to what you're shooting/hoping to shoot. I've personally found it very helpful in determining what lenses I'm hoping to aquire in the future.

[QUOTE=Rocky Rhode;14480724]I see one of two scenarios; registration date of March 2010 but never posted a single time until now, over 2-years later?

1 - Hacked account and decided to troll.
2 – Using someone else’s account and decided to troll?

On a side note; kit lens is not a crappy lens, nor is the 55-250, however, I would not attempt to shoot any of the weddings that I have previously done with either one.


I have posted before this, in the pets section 2 years ago. i mostly come on this site to see everyone's wonderful photos and too see what suggestions people make.

On your side note, are you saying you wouldn't use kit lens on your previous weddings because?

I guess the bottom line is if you and your client are satisfied with the result, does it really matter what other people says?

Only upgrade when you feel limited with your current gear, such as you want sharper output, better aperture control, better builds, better colour/contrast etc.

I'm sure the OP is thankful to the few people who have posted helpful responses to this thread.

In MY opinion a lot of the responses to this thread have been nothing short of condescending, and in some cases out and out rude. For a forum that is considered INTERNATIONALLY as a place for photographers with varying levels of experience to come for honest, open advice these people should be ashamed of themselves as they have done nothing to encourage others to use it.

I am finally getting to the point not where I feel I have sufficient gear (and skills) to start charging for my services. If I were to take the next step and go pro, I would get a second body that is more worthy and more importantly one that has closer control and operation to my 7D. Even though I have taken tens of thousands of shots with my Rebel XT, I find myself fumbling with the controls because they are different enough from the 7D that I now use almost all the time. I would buy a second 7D or maybe a 5D 2 or 3. I would then put a wide lens on one body and a tele on the other and use a black rapid s ystem to switch between the two fast. I would then add either a 11-16 or a 16-35 depending on which second body I bought.

I can't imagine asking for money using the kit lenses for primary gear and thus if I were the OP, I would work towards making those kit lenses backup use only. Thus I would recommend a 17-55/2.8 or a Sigma 17-50/2.8 and a 70-200/4 IS or better a 2.8 II. Adding fast primes like the 30/1.4 and 85/1.8 would be next on my list for lenses. Also I would add a 580ex2. I think having 2 ETTL2 speedlites is bare minimum for pro gear.