cowchaser wrote in post #3456982
I am new to the photography world and have many questions, but I am limiting this one to lenses!
Here is some background information:
Camera: Canon Rebel xti 400d
Lens: 18-55 (came with camera)
Types of pictures I will be taking:
Pictures of my kids ages 16 yrs, 9 yrs, and 20 months
*Everyday pics
*Portraits (I spent a fortune last Christmas and they did not turn out very good!)
*Sports including basketball and softball
Vacation Pictures
*This year we are going to Disney World. I want to take pics of my family with the characters, the animals at animal kingdom, parades, fireworks, Disney statues and topiaries, etc....
Family Events-birthdays, holidays, family reunions, etc...
Outdoor
*My husband is a hunter and fisher and I would like to go with him
*I would also like to take some of those really cool pics of the flowers, insects, animals, etc...
So here is my questions about lenses:
I am looking at purchasing a zoom lens and was wondering which one of these is better or if there is really any difference at all. Of course price is an issue and since I am new I am just looking for something to get started with. So here are the lenses that I am looking at purchasing:
Choice One: Sigma 70-300mm F/4-5.6 APO DG Macro Lens
Choice Two: Sigma Zoom Telephoto 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG Macro Autofocus Lens and Sigma 28-70mm f/2.8-4 DG High Speed Zoom Autofocus Lens (this is a package deal)
Choice Three: Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM Telephoto Zoom Lens
Choice Four: Tamron 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical Autofocus Lens and Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro Autofocus Lens (this is also a package deal)
Choice Five: Any other suggestions that you may have for about the $250 range (I know this is not alot, but I am just getting started and not quite ready to make those huge investments)
My husband and I have read through many posts and are still baffled at what to buy. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks!!!!
I'm a mom too and I'm quite impressed with the split of difference in your kids' ages 
Regarding lens choices and your budget of $250.00, I'd like to advise you that it will be EXTREMELY difficult to get one lens that does it all. You listed the indoor sport of basketball for your kids, and most the lenses you are considering have an aperture of f/4 or narrower. That type of aperture will be very difficult to work with for indoor basketball shots. Look at the sports section of this forum, a similar sport that alot of parents comment about is volleyball. Look at those posts. Most of the volleyball shooters I think use a zoom at an aperture of 2.8, or even down to 1.8, which is really the minium you need for indoor sports. The one 2.8 you listed above, I'm not sure this will be long enough for indoor sports (none of my boys do indoor sports - so I'm not totally sure of the focal length required). Again, my best advice to you is look at the sports forum and do a search for basketball and volleyball, because those two are very similar (except for the net in the middle - which is the frustrating thing for the volleyball shooters). The lighting conditions for these indoor sports require a very careful consideration of how fast the lens can be.
For the outdoor softball, the 70-300 f/4 will suffice, but understand that with that aperture, it'll be a little harder to create subject isolation than with a 2.8 lens. It can be done outside, I have a 24-105 f/4 and outside it is a nice lens and can do very well with subject isolation, but I really enjoy my 2.8 70-200 - but this lens alone (the 70-200) is $1600-$1700 (depending on rebate conditions going on now from Canon). Softball is much like baseball, and the extra focal length to 300 you'll love (I can get it only with an extender and then I have to do a f/4).
For the family and indoors, none of the lens you mentioned are primes. Are you sure you want a big zoom lens indoors for family shots? I don't (alot of people on this forum do use those big zooms indoors, but I find that most normal people are put off by it, and you can't get into that relationship with people to take shots with a big lens indoors). I recently bought a 50 mm f/1.4 - which I got used on ebay for $255 (new it is currently $286 at Amazon) just for indoor people shots. Alot of shooters on the forum love the 35 mm length for indoors, and some people love the 85 mm length. All of the indoor primes meant for indoor people shots have apertures like 1.2, 1.4, or 1.8 (which, incidentally if you get long enough - could be used for basketball).
As you can see, different lenses have different purposes, so it will be exceedingly difficult to fit everything you want in one piece of glass, for the money you quoted. You'll have to consider your priorities and work from there.
I hope this helped.
