Package deals

[karenjean]

I bet someone has already started this thread. I just can't seem to find it. I'm buying a Canon EOS 40D. As all of you know, you can buy the body only or a kit. My question is would it be worth the money to buy the kit or body only? I've come across two different kits. If you all say the kits, then which one would be worth my money? I'm still learning about lens. I think it's going to take me a longggggggg time to learn it all though. J I'm planning on using this camera for portraits indoors and outdoors.

1) 17-85 lens
2) 28-135 lens

Has anyone ordered their camera from an online web site? If so can you all let me know the name (s)? It's hard to know which ones to trust and which ones you can't when ordering

Thanks
Karen

[Tom K]

Hi Karen,

When you talk about lens it's sort of like talking about religion or politics,

so with that in mind I will give you my opinion.

Historically portraits were taken with lens in the 85 to 105mm range on 35 mm cameras. So what I am trying say is that the wide angle of 17mm
is not the best for your needs.

The second part of your question, 'where to buy' I and several family
members have bought cameras from B&H Photo in N.Y. we have all
been satisfied, we got what what we ordered in a timely fashion..

Tom

[NickLewis]

Hi Karen,

As Tom says, you won't be wanting to take many portraits at the 17mm end of the range. People won't forgive you easily for what it does to the shape of their faces........

On the other hand, the 17-85mm is a good walk-around lens, covering what was 28-135mm in 35mm film days. That covers the conventional portrait range. It's relatively compact and has IS. Especially if the camera will have other uses beside portraiture, it may well be a good choice. (I'm biased - I've got one - and it's displaced some other very good glass simply because of the versatility of its range for general use.)

They are very similar sizes, but the longer lens is a little heavier. However, it will fit on a full frame camera if you have any aspirations in that direction in the future. That may be a red herring, of course.

So it all depends what you really want to do with the camera. If it's portraiture pure and simple, concentrate on that. The 17-85mm will go a lot wider than you need for that, but the 28-135mm will go a fair bit longer. Which end will you be likely to make more use of?

Personally I think the 28-135 is a bit long as an only lens for a 40D (35mm equivalent is 45-215mm). Effectively it's the full frame version of the 17-85mm.

This is a really difficult question to answer, because it depends so much on what you want the camera for. You may want to think about the totality of what you'll use it for, not just the main use. And remember, you can buy more lenses later.......

Nick

P.S. Kit or body only depends on pricing. These are both perfectly respectable lenses, not junk, so if the deal's good....... (I'm assuming you're talking about the Canon lenses.)

[ljameso1]

Karen, It depends. Do you already have a lens you use? Then probably more cost effective to go body only. Would you want a lens in the range of one of the packages someday? Then package probably cheaper than buying separately.

[budman101]

I won't address the which lens to buy, as I feel it is a personal decision. Learn with the kit lens then move in whichever direction your muse takes you. I understand your concern about buying expensive gear online. As mentioned before B&H is the king of the hill were camera gear is concerned. I have also purchased big ticket items from J&R and Adorama with no issues. But my #1 all time online site for getting anything electronic is NewEgg.com. I have literally spent tens of thousands of $$ there for both personal and business use. With purchases ranging from computer hard drives to LCD TV's there has not been a single problem with them. Their prices and shipping charges are as good as or better than most of the aforementioned places. All of the purchases are made on line. No speaking to a sales rep for a possible "up sell". Shipping is by UPS 3 day. If the item ships from their NJ warehouse I usually get it the next day (I live in Southern PA). You could also try a local camera shop. Sometimes the price difference between mail order and local is the price you pay for goodwill service after the purchase. If there were any local camera shops in my area, that would be my first choice. There are only two kinds of places I will never shop, unless absolutely necessary. The first is the 'big box' electronics stores and other is W**mart.

[rtronick]

Hi Karen,

From my experience, once you get a dslr and learn how to use it, the more you will want to expand you lens collection. I bought a Canon XTi around a year ago. I was primarily going to use it for nature/landscape photography.
I got the "kit lens" ( EF-S 18-55mm )with the camera kit, and ordered a 28-105 lens as an add-on. These 2 lenses were great to start. The 28-105 is a really nice lens. The "kit lens" is ok. Canon has released a new version of the 17-85 which has IS. I've read some reviews that say this lens is really good for the price (under $200). Once I learned how to shoot with the XTi, I found myself wanting to explore different aspects of photography. I found the built-in flash wasn't the best, so I bought a 430EX. Then I added a Sigma 10-20mm lens for some interesting perspective shooting. Then I bought a 400L lens for wildlife photography. This was my experience anyway.

I would get the "new kit lens" ( Canon EF-S 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 IS ) with your 40D.
It's not the best portrait lens, but it will give you some le-way for the future. I would strongly recommend picking up a good external flash. Canon 430EX or the Sigma EF 500 DG Super are both strong flashes.

Buying from an online retailer can be scary. Here's a list of some good retailers that I have dealt with.

B&H Photo
BuyDig
Beach Camera
Amazon

If you have questions about retailers, go to: http://www.resellerratings.com/rlist-s1-n2.html

Another good place to visit is http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/
User reviews on cameras, lenses, and flashes.

Randy T

[karenjean]

Wow thank you all so much for the information and help. Some of those on line stores I've never even heard of. I'll look them up and see what all they have. Now I feel safer about ordering online. Thank you all again


Karen

[lexcell]

What great advice all rolled into a few posts. Thanks guys!
I think Nick summed it up very nicely. The 17-85mm will do a great job for portraits both tight an environmental as well as groups if you want. The 28-135mm will give you a greater tele which is a nice look for some tight portraits. Either way, you will cover the portrait range that you desire.

[lowbone]

On a crop camera most people seem to be happy with a range of 50mm or so for portraits. I personally like a little bit longer lens especially for head and shoulders portraits as I feel the subject is more at ease when the lens is further away. Either of these lenses will give you good results in that range. Neither of them is what you would call a fast lens so that might give you some frustration with blurring the background if that is what you are thinking of doing. Both of these lenses are pretty good in their price range. If I were in your situation and I had only one lens I would definitely go for the 17-85. I feel that the other lens is just not wide enough for general photography and the 135mm end won't really do much more for you then the 85mm.