Welcome to the forum, Chris!


Quote Originally Posted by cmac76


My wife and I are looking to get into photography as a serious hobby. I have been doing some research on SLRs, and, for about a $2000 budget I found the Canon EOS 7D packaged with the 28-125mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens for $1899.


Would this be a good place to start? We want to take all kinds of photographs and maybe find a niche along the way.


I think that lens is far too limiting:
  1. no fast f-number (very little control over DOF, no shooting in low light)
  2. no wide angle (landscapes, architecture, indoors, environmental portraits, everything else).
  3. no super telephoto (just "regular" telephoto)
  4. no very high quality
  5. no flash
  6. no tripod



Instead, here is what I would suggest:
  • $720 T1i body (excellent 15 MP sensor)
  • $130 18-55 IS kit lens (buy it in a kit with camera)
  • $250 55-250 IS
  • $400 50mm f/1.4
  • $270 430 EX flash
  • $300 medium-quality tripod



That should be around $2,000, but will give you far more flexibility and options for photography:
  • Wide angle (18mm on kit lens)
  • Super telephoto (250mm vs 135mm)
  • Fast f-number (f/1.4 on the 50mm for good control over DOF and available light photography)
  • Very high quality (50mm f/1.4 stopped down to f/2.8 is almost as good as it gets.)
  • Higher quality over the entire range: the 18-55 and 55-250 beat the 28-135 at all overlapping ranges.
  • Flash and tripod photography opens up an entire world of possibilities



If you can't stand the small size of the T1i body (personally, it bothers me), I suggest going with the 50D and dropping one of the other accessories.


When you're learning, especially, it is often more beneficial to spend more on the accessories than the body itself.