Cannon Rebel T2i pack or body + seperate lens?

[OogyWaWa]

I've decided I'm going to get a Rebel T2i for my first SLR. I can get the bod+lens set for 840 shipped or I can get the body + a cannon 55-200mm lens for $950 or a 75-300 lens for 950. Should i stick with the sock 18-55mm lens or spend the extra $100 for the telephoto? This will be my only lens for a while. I'm mainly wanting to take outdoor shots. nature and what not...

any suggestions?

 

[mrSHEiK124]

I've decided I'm going to get a Rebel T2i for my first SLR. I can get the bod+lens set for 840 shipped or I can get the body + a cannon 55-200mm lens for $950 or a 75-300 lens for 950. Should i stick with the sock 18-55mm lens or spend the extra $100 for the telephoto? This will be my only lens for a while. I'm mainly wanting to take outdoor shots. nature and what not...

any suggestions?

The 55-250mm goes for around $200+ new, so for an extra $110 it's worth it if you can see yourself shooting in that range. Of course, eventually you might want to toss both included lenses and upgrade. What kind of nature shots? For landscapes, you might want to invest in something wider, and for wildlife shots you might be better suited with a macro.

 

[slashbinslashbash]

You definitely need the 18-55mm lens. So you would be getting the 75-300 for $950, without the 18-55? You can pick up a used 75-300 for $100 pretty easily. Maybe $120, max. So buy the T2i+18-55* for $840 then spend another $100-$120 to buy the 75-300, for a total of $960 which you would have spent to get just the 75-300.

*make sure it's the 18-55mm IS -- Image Stabilization -- not the older versions -- the IS version is the only version that *should* come with the T2i, but I wouldn't put it past some of those crummy Brooklyn camera stores to include an older version)

**Do not under any circumstances buy the 55-200mm lens. The newer 55-250mm IS lens is much better, and better than the 75-300mm as well. However, the 75-300mm has been around forever, so it's a lot easier to find pretty cheap. I sold a perfectly good one on eBay about a year ago for $90.

 

[OogyWaWa]

i'm mostly interested in taking landscape and really just general crap outside. i'm buying it to give me an excuse to ride my bike more and get out to see stuff. so the scenario will always be an impromptu shot of something i thought was cool....

so i guess what I need right now is just a good all around lens

 

[AkumaX]

body + 28-135mm IS USM? (if you don't want to go around switching lenses)

 

[slashbinslashbash]

For all-around stuff and landscapes, I think you just need something 18-xx. It is the kit lens for a reason. 18mm is nice and wide. Not ultra-wide, but decently wide. It's what you want at a minimum for landscapes. 28mm on a crop body like the T2i is not wide at all. The 28-135mm IS USM is a nice lens, but it doesn't belong on a crop body IMO. Especially not as the only lens.

If you want to step up from the 18-55 IS, go for the 17-85 ($450), 18-135 ($450), 18-200 ($600) or 15-85 ($620). Or keep the 18-55 IS and add the 55-250 IS for $250 or the 75-300 for $100-$120 (used). Or Sigma has the 18-125 ($350), 18-250 ($480), or the Tamron 18-270 for $550.

Be aware that the more the zoom (anything beyond, say, 18-85mm) the worse the image quality will be. All lenses are compromises. Zoom lenses are especially so. Something like a 3x or 4x zoom (18-55 = 3x; 55-250 = 4.5x) is generally not a terribly challenging piece of optics to design. Much higher than that, though, and you start to make tough choices. The Tamron 18-270 has an amazing 15x zoom ratio, and this is a startling focal length range to have in a single lens. But the image quality will be quite a bit worse than even the kit 18-55 and the cheapest 75-300.

Of course, we all make that sort of image quality vs. convenience trade-off everyday; or else we'd all be carrying a kit of all primes: 15mm, 17mm, 24mm, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, 100mm, 135mm, 200mm..... prime lenses give the absolute best image quality, but they do so at a very great cost in convenience and versatility. You find few photographers who have an all-prime kit. The question is, how far down the line do you want to go. There are some very good zooms out there, and as I said, if a zoom is 3x or 4x then you generally will still get very good image quality.

EDIT: It would help if we saw the exact deals you're talking about so we can know exactly what you're getting. Links plz.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Get that 3 lens kit. It's a slickdeal. Sell the 75-300. It's a POS, but the 55-250 is worth it completely. You're getting a really good deal. Wait, it doesn't come with the 18-55? I thought the slickdeal did... shrug.

 

[OogyWaWa]

hmm, so the standard kit plus that 50mm lens seems to be the way to go?
of course, i'll get better glass as i get better and have money, but for now at least this should be good...

 

[Kaido]

hmm, so the standard kit plus that 50mm lens seems to be the way to go?
of course, i'll get better glass as i get better and have money, but for now at least this should be good...

I just got the kit with lens this week. The lens takes pretty dang good pictures for the price. Reviewers weren't kidding when they said it feels like a plastic toy, especially when you zoom on it - and it's noisy - but the shots come out pretty nice thanks to the IS. It works really well for video too, which is mainly what I am using the camera for. And you can always sell it and you can always buy more lenses. For $50 more, it's a no brainer.

If you need to find an online seller with T2i kits in-stock, try Samys.com. I usually order from Amazon or BH Photo, but both have been either OOS or super high-priced (Amazon is $1067 today). I just got mine from Samy's on the recommendation of a friend and it arrived, and they seem to have them in stock more consistently than other places: (and it's $849 w/ free shipping)

http://www.samys.com/index/page/prod...8-55mm+IS+Lens

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I would post the Photozone.de links if I weren't so lazy, but just take my word for it. The MTF charts show the 18-55 vs 17-55 to be almost negligible. We're talking a $100 lens versus a $1100 lens.

If you do upgrade you gotta pick something darn good because the optics of the kit lens are amazing. I've done my own tests and I couldn't tell the difference.

Now there are some who claim the more $$ lenses have more contrast, pop, whatever it is to the image... the intangibles. I can't see it, but maybe they're right. But as far as sharpness goes which is the most important factor, the kit lens is amazing.

The 50mm is amazing too. A lot of people use the Nifty Fifty still. You could invest in a 50/1.4 (Sigmalux) and that would be close to L-quality. I'm thinking of buying that next as I broke my 50/1.8. In fact I don't think the optics of the 50/1.8 are usually the problem. People move up simply because its such a dirt cheap lens and they want something more durable...

 

[OogyWaWa]

hey, there is now this other kit on newegg with a 18-135 lens...its 1100 though....
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16830120447

 

[OogyWaWa]

pretty much everyone is out of stock of the kit or the body. newegg has the body in stock as well as the 50mm lens so i'm thinking about just jumping on this. i suppose i could get a nicer lens for christmas, but whatever i get now will have to hold me over until then. I've looked through 1000+ samples of images shot with that 50mm, but hardly any landscapes. the ones i did see looked nice though. any opinions?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16830995416
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16830120436

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

50mm is a good focal length for portraits on a crop camera like the T2i. In fact when I first used my 50mm I never liked that length. I settled on a 28mm prime lens in the end. By the time I came back to appreciate my 50mm for portraits and that tighter crop, I broke it.

A lot of people start thinking they want to get it all in. They want group shots, etc etc. Then later you learn to get more intimate and take tighter upper body crops. Some even venture into head and shoulders only where an 85mm might be quite usable (still difficult for me on a crop camera). So i think for a beginner the 18-55 is very important. That wide aspect is what you do want. The 28-135 a nice lens but to me its not wide enough although I have friends who call it a good walkaround. The 18-135 didn't get stellar reviews from what I remember.

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=68933&t=2104040

You can always grab the T1i. Wait on the T2i deal though if you really want one. There's one every 2 weeks anyway. LOL.

BTW the starter combo I like is the 18-55 PLUS 55-250. It's a very cheap combo. Throw in a 50mm lens and you have a very versatile combo. You can sell those off later if you figure you want 1 lens with more zoom (like an 15-85 or 18-135) or you can stick with it and upgrade either the zoom or the standard. I stuck with the 55-250, but I upgraded my 18-55 to a 17-55. I also added a UWA Tokina 11-16 to cover my wide end. I have a friend who went a similar route and sold his 17-55 in the end for an 5-85. This gives him more reach on a daily basis but sacrifices low light.