3500 Dollar Budget. What Should i buy?

Hi everyone,
Ive amassed enough to splurge around 3,500$ on camera equipment. i currently ONLY have a t2i and a 24-70, as well as the 18-55. I'm open to selling.

I shoot ALOT of sports, but im also getting into portrait photography, so what body would you suggest for that? i've been looking at the 1d mark iii recently.
with getting more into portrait photography, i'm going to need an external flash and probably going to buy a lightsphere. Which external flash should i get / any vital accessories?
Also, i need a telephoto pretty badly. probably a 70-200 (canon), but which one?
Lastly, i would want a wide angle lens, but it isnt necessary, and definitely takes a backseat in precedence compared to the above.

Thanks in advance for all your help!

1dmkIII + 70-200 2.8 non is will be roughly $2200 (buying used and based off POTN prices) leaving you with $1300 still. You can pick up a 580 ex II ~$380, and depending on what you are longing for after all that you can just pocket the savings/ get a tripod and/or, sell the t2i and 18-55.

The main thing will be figuring out what you actually want to do. It's easy saying you want to shoot sports and portraits and you want lenses and bodies for both but what do you NEED? What will you shoot more? I would personally go the route I set up for you so far.

will you be shooting indoor sports or outside with good light? which will you shoot more of, sports or portraits?

you can probably get $400 for the t2i and 18-55, so add that to your budget.

Define "sports" please. (e.g. Indoor/outdoor, which sports, etc) It matters quite a bit.

im going to be shooting both basketball / football at night (lowlight situations) as well as soccer in the day, so ill probably need the 2.8

Is it viable to just buy the 70-200 mark ii as both a portrait and a sports lens with the 1d mark iii?

I'd sell the T2i and 18-55, buy a 5DIII and a Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 EX DG HSM.

5D classic, 7D, and a 70-200f2.8 IS II....sell the t2i, and get a flash

DreDaze wrote in post #15561830
5D classic, 7D, and a 70-200f2.8 IS II....sell the t2i, and get a flash

why the two bodies? is just getting the 1d mark iii not going to be suitable for portraits?

yeah you could probably do it all with one body...but a 5D would be pretty good for portraits...and a 7D would be pretty good for sports...

this is basically what i'm planning on doing down the line...what ever replaces the 7D is going to be my next main camera, and then i'm hoping to pick up a 5D classic for portraits...it's kind of opposite ends of the spectrum, so i think two different cameras makes sense

7D, 5Dc, Sigma 70 - 200 f2.8 and a flash or a 50mm f1.8 or 50mm f1.4 depending on how much budget is left and if you're willing to spend over to get your ideal set up.

Is the 5Dc still relevant? it's kind of an old camera, wondering if its good.
Also, im not a fan of the feel of the 7d. Any other sports camera recommendations?
Lastly, would i be good with just getting a 5dc, some sports camera, and a 70-200 ii?

The classic is an excellent body as long as you can live with the limitations of the AF system, which is the basic equivalent of the what was used in the 20D.

200mm on a 1.6 crop is a bare minimum for field sports IMHO.

At most of the venues in my area 2.8 is a bare minimum for basketball. I used a 100 f2 until I started to strobe the court--which may be an option for you with some cheap manual heads and a set of poverty wizards

If money is tight look at the original Canon 70-200. If you can't get enough shutter speed to freeze action the IS really won't do you much good

When people say "live with the 5Dc/II AF", what they mean is - use only the center point. For all practical purposes, the 5D only has center point focus, but the 5D3 is on a whole other level.

Concerning lenses, you'd be crazy not to consider the 70-200 f/2.8 II, it's simply the best choice for what you want to do.

If you can stretch the budget to $4k from selling the T2i, you can get the 70-200 and a 7D, that's what I'd personally do.

1D-X

bent toe wrote in post #15563387
1D-X

Yes, I know I'm getting one, but the OP probably doesn't need an OP camera.