Which Canon and lens should I buy?

[Anna]

Hi There,

I live in Brisbane, Australia. and love taking photos, right now I just have a point and shoot camera (fuji 100fd) but I would like to get a digi SLR camera, and preferably a Canon.

I am confused about what to start with. Some people suggest Cannon 550D, some suggest 7D, which looks far too advanced for me. But no doubt is an amazing camera.

I would mainly be using it to take portrait shots, I do alot of make up and can't get the pictures I want with the point and shoot. Also animals, lanscapes, and nightshots, but mainly people.

I am also confused about with lens to buy as they seem to either sell just the body or as kits.

Thank you, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Anna

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Anna,

I have moved the question part here for a better chance of good answers.

Since I'm Nikon myself, I'll leave this to those who know the Canon models better, to answer.

Cheers,

[carregwen]

Which Canon and lens should I buy?

Anna

I'm not being flippant when I say this, but the answer to your question is 'Buy the best lens you can possibly afford'. It doesn't necessarily have to be the most $$$'s (for example the Canon 50mm 1.8 is very good for about $100) but you will find, as I have to my cost, that a high-quality lens will make the biggest difference to the technical quality of your photography. Decide on a make - Canon or Nikon (personally, I'd forget the others), and buy the best lenses you can afford. Get lenses that will fit crop-factor and full frame cameras in case you change bodies. For Canon that will be EF lenses. It's tempting to buy cheaper lenses when you want the range, but honestly it just isn't worth it, you will end up buying a better one in the end. I sold all my cheaper lenses.

EDIT: Sorry, you asked about Canon too. I have a 50D which is excellent (the 40D is also as good). I also have a 5D MK1 that I bought second-hand. You can pick them up for about £500 (cheaper than a 550D) It has amazing image quality, provided you use decent lenses on it..

[Colin Southern]

Hi Anna,

My suggestion is to take a "step back" with us and lets try to get a better understanding of the types of images you need to capture - the quality you need to achieve - the environments you need to work in - and the budget you have available, because "it's not just about the camera & lens" ... we also need to consider lighting equipment - lights / flashes / reflectors / diffusers / backdrops / post-processing equipment etc.

... or put another way "even with the best camera and lenses it's possible to still take lousy shots" (I can personally attest to that one! )

So if you can -- tell us a bit more about the level of quality you need to achieve - will the shots be used professionally? Will the portraits be shot indoors in a studio type environment or outdoors in a candid type environment? Approx budget? What have you done along these lines before?

Please don't be put off - we just need more info because "prescription without diagnosis is malpractice"!

[belong]

hi anna,
as a canon user, for you as a beginner i suggest the eos 500d or if you want to step up go to eos 50d.
you can visit my flickr account if you want to see the images taken with 50d and 500d.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gravs/

[David]

Anna - I echo the advice already given, especially about lenses. Remember that if you invest in a serious DSLR camera, Canon, Nikon or whatever, you are investing not only in the camera but in a system: lenses, software, flash, filters and so on. Switching costs are high if you don't like what you've got. You might want to try before you buy. See if someone you know has a Canon, and get him/her to give you a shot.

Cheers

David

[Geoff F]

I would definitely recommend having a look at the 'semi pro' camera range before making a decision (Canon **D models against the ***D range). They do have a stronger build and easier to use controls, although this comes at a slightly increased price. But some people can find them a bit on the large and heavy side if you are carrying them around all day.

If you don't want video, then a 50D or a 40D (you might get a good deal on a 40D now) would both be ideal. I would purchase just a body then get the exact lenses which you require. Most of the kit lenses are basic models which immediately need replacing anyway.

[arith]

I heard the 60D is out soon and worth waiting for prices of the rest to fall a little.

[Bobby Canon]

Obviously you want to buy the best you cann afford. For us to advise, we need to know the funds available to you.

[blueskyoveraquatic]

Hi Anna,

I presently use Canon 50D.
To answer your question blindly: I suggest that you buy Canon Rebel T1i + Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 lens.

Now for the detail stuffs
Canon has the following four segments of dSLR:
EOS 1D(s) Mark xx - pro-level --- Price US$5000
EOS 5D Mark xx - semi-pro --- Price US$2500
EOS xxD - serious amateur --- Price US$1200
EOS Rebel xxxD or (T1i, XSi, etc...) --- Price US$600

EOS 1Ds and EOS 5D are full-frame sensors + great to marvelous auto focus system
EOS xxD and EOS Rebel are cropped-sensors + good to great auto focus system

For portrait photography, you will need a focal length of 80mm and a wide-aperture lens f/1.8. I recommend you to buy the 50mm f/1.8 because the Rebel T1i has a crop-factor of 1.6x.

Hope this helps,

Dennis

[Colin Southern]

For portrait photography, you will need a focal length of 80mm and a wide-aperture lens f/1.8. I recommend you to buy the 50mm f/1.8 because the Rebel T1i has a crop-factor of 1.6x.

Hi Dennis,

Welcome to CiC

The ideal focal length for portraiture is really one of those "how long is a piece of string" type things ... it's going to vary a lot; for typical head and shoulders type stuff I find that shooting in the 135 - 200mm range (FF) gives much nicer compression than the shorter focal lengths.

[blueskyoveraquatic]

Hi Colin,

Thank you for your clarification

Dennis

[hoffstriker]

Hello Anna,
I'm going to stray (somewhat) from the comments of others. In my personnal opinion, look for a good used Canon 20d/30d. Probably visit your local photo shop, online photo shops (B&H / Adorama), or check with ebay/other online auction houses. This will get you into a professional body and a way to start learning the hobby. As for the lenses, listen to Colin and the others. They really know what they are talking about. The higher quality lenses make a huge improvement in the photo quality even without pp. Keep in mind, they are very expensive so give them quite a bit of thought before the purchase decision is made. Hope this helps.

[Colin Southern]

This will get you into a professional body and a way to start learning the hobby.

* Well "prosumer" body anyway.

[hoffstriker]

* Well "prosumer" body anyway.

I stand corrected, and yield the floor to the intelligent mate from the isle of Kiwi......