Just kind of starting out

Hi, new to this forum but not new to photography. I just recieved the new Canon Rebel Digital for Christmas....helluva present! Now I was just wondering what kinds of accessories I should get. I'm a senior in college and planning a career in photography. I just bought a UV filter and Polarized filter for the 18-55mm lens. Any suggestions about lenses? or accessories?

If you browse back a few pages you will find tons of threads about lens recomendations.... as well as other accesories.

The short list is.

1. Extra batteries. Don't bother with Canon Batts,. just get Lenmar or Powerex at half the price

2. CF cards. A pair of 256 or 512 and an X-drive will be a good solution

3. Tripod. You may allready have a good one. But do get one solid enough for your camera and a decent mid telephoto lens.

4. Depending on your types of photography,.. you may be wanting a flash fast. The Canon 420ex, 550ex or Sigma 500s are good solutions.

LENSES:

All discussion aside,. just get the 50mm f/1.8

Then consider the 28-135mm IS right off the bat.

Unless you crave a long telephoto imediately (I did) in which case you need to be ready to spend as much as the camera costs. (or more)

Or,. instead of the 28-135 perhaps a made range telephoto zoom like 70-200mm, or 100-300mm f/4 EX Sigma.

Accessories:
External flash unit. Metz 54-3, 550EX, or 420EX (maybe)
Second Battery only if you must => battery life is good.
CF cards: yes! At least 512 total capacity
CF card reader
Bigger hd.
Extra CD's for archiving RAW files
Capture One Software for processing RAW files.

Lenses:
I posted a full summary of the canon lens lineup earlier today. Please do a search!!!! For your second lens, shoot a while and see if you need either a higher quality wide angle, or a telephoto. On the telephoto, the 75-300 is cheap at $200. The 70-200/4L is top notch at $575 and worth every penny.

HA! you too have been cursed!....ill just list a few of the goodies ive aquired over the last 2 months *sigh*

USB 2 card reader....(if yoru motherboard on your comp supports it) the rate at which the pics will load from CF card onto your computer is mind blowing!.....you will wonder why you didnt get it earlier....

sandisk ultra 512mb CF card

50mm f1.8 prime + UV[o]
75-300mm USM III + UV[o] + lens hood (also fits kit lens)
kit lens + skylight + polarising filter (which also fits the 75-300)

battery grip BG-E1 i gave big hands and one of my first wishes upon getting the camera was....now if it only had a battery grip......5 min later it was on my wish list :P

speedlite 420ex flash....as a beginner i felt this was adequate (and by now money was running low) it has changed my indoor party pics

inca lens pen (inludes a brush and lens cleaning pad) small convenient....

2 spare batts. aftermarket from ebay for $30 AUD it was just too cheap to pass up on....even though battery life is fantastic!

also have a whole bunch of AA batts from my previous point and shoot, now used for the flash....which also has proven to be good on the batteries

manfrotto tripod 190d+141rc
manfrotto monopod 680b

all my camera gear fits into a lowepro "orion" bum bag style bag.....(minus tripod/monopod)

holy cow!!!! its not a wonder why im poor!....crikey!

but atleast im happy

CDS:
You and me both, lenses more expensive then the camera alone!

Back to the original post:
I would reccomend staying away from consumer grade optice w/ the exception of the Canon 50mm F1.8. This camera will bring out the cheapness of cheap glass. That said please stick to Sigma EX, of of course Canon L if you can allford it. There is some discussion here about Tokina lenses. For me, the jury is still out. I have heard the most about the Tokina 28-70 XR DI lens. This is like anything else, you get what you pay for. Sigma EX makes quite a few great lenses, and good value for money and I have heard that some rival Canon L glass. The Sigma I have, the 120-300 F2.8EX rocks! The Sigma one I have used for taking pics of the moon from Earth, here in England! I also have a Canon 16-35 F2.8L lens as well. The Canon lens has really done well whilst in cathedrals here in England and having very little light. I take pics of the stained glass windows as they are aweinspiring and very difficult to get right. The most recent one I went to in mid Dec was Linclon Cathedral and there was a medieval one and that was just too cool. That was fascinating, just like York Minster.

Once you start getting big lenses, don't forget the trailer!