Buying a new XTi..need lens advice

Hi, I am buying a Rebel XTi soon. I need advice on a lens for it. The camera will be used for indoor and outdoor shots. This is a family used camera. My daughter is in gymnastics and we want to photograph her meets. The gyms tend to have low lighting and the events are usually about 50 - 100 feet away from the seats. I am looking to buy a lens that will be good for taking pictures at some distance with not so great lighting. I appreciate any help with this decision. Thank you

how much money do you wanna throw at it?

If it is a family camera this will work just fine for what you need. Also get the kit lens it is not so bad.

http://www.ritzcamera.​com …lens%3Bcilenses​-for-canon

I really don't want to spend more than about 400-500 on the lens.

Sigma 70-200 would give you the reach, but not sure if it's in your budget

For your price range, I would recommend the 85/1.8 or 135/2L. It has the speed for the low light conditions and enough range for 50-100 feet distance. Any zoom in that price range will be f/4 or worse which is far too slow for indoor use unless it's a pro arena.

clarsen wrote in post #2362756
Hi, I am buying a Rebel XTi soon. I need advice on a lens for it. The camera will be used for indoor and outdoor shots. This is a family used camera. My daughter is in gymnastics and we want to photograph her meets. The gyms tend to have low lighting and the events are usually about 50 - 100 feet away from the seats. I am looking to buy a lens that will be good for taking pictures at some distance with not so great lighting. I appreciate any help with this decision. Thank you

First I would only buy Canon lens if you want the quality, but you will have to put out the money. You get what you pay for.

The problem is you really need two lens. One for general wide angle use. Use the 28-135 or the 24-105 lens. The 28-135 may be good for the gym. Anything over 100 feet you may need a 100-400 lens, both are expensive.

To shoot in low light action you will need to increase your ISO to at least 400 or better to 800 setting a sutter speed to 640 or better to get the action.

Setting your ISO to a high may increase the grain of your photography.

Sherman

clarsen wrote in post #2362828
I really don't want to spend more than about 400-500 on the lens.

You may want to get a Canon point and shoot camera. At that price range you will have to get a non Canon lens. Lots of luck.

Sherman

Thank you for the information. I have a Canon Cyber-Shot 7.2, but the indoor pictures are always dark. I also can not get far off shots. I am going to continue to research this.

sherman571 wrote in post #2363052
First I would only buy Canon lens if you want the quality, but you will have to put out the money. You get what you pay for.

Canon lenses are nice but Sigma and Tamron also have a very nice collection of lenses. Just because you don't buy a ferarri doesn't mean you can't have a nice car.

I'm very happy with my sigma's and it's fair to see that they are great value for their money.

Canon's 85mm f/1.8, Tokina 28-70mm f/2.8 would both be good lenses. Its up to you, if you can use a prime, they will be faster for less money (not counting "L" lenses).

Good luck!