Got a new to me canon xsi

[AgentUnknown]

I am a noob to DSLRS and got a Xsi. I plan to get a 50mm f1.8 lense to shoot portraits of my toddler. Is this a good starting point? Tell me about battery grips and SD cards? I plan to shoot pics of guns, cars and dental stuff as well. I plan to eventually take pics of finished ortho cases. What does a ring flash do?

 

[EOM]

So for the dental stuff, you'll likely want a macro lens.... Look for something in the 90-105mm range. Several options for you exist. That's where the flash ring comes in - it attaches to the end of the lens and tries to give you a nice even light at close range. If you tried to use a regular flash, it'd be difficult to get a properly and evenly lit photo, not to mention the lens may cause a shadow.

For Guns, cars, you'll probably be fine with the 50. For portraits the 90-105mm-ish macro lens would likely work fine, too.

Canon makes two "pancake" lenses that fit your camera. One is a 24mm f/2.9 and the other is a 40mm f/2.8. They're the first two lenses I bought with my Xsi and found them to sufficiently cover most shooting "normal" shooting ranges that would cover guns, cars, food, etc..

For an SD card, get a big one. Shoot RAW.

 

[AgentUnknown]

Thanks for the tips.