thanks for the help everyone... i ended up going with a Canon Rebel. it comes with a 18-55mm Canon Zoom lense. What is this lens good for? Should i think about getting another lens? what isnt this lens good for?
what will i be shooting? i am in the air force, and am a loadmaster on a C-130. i do alot of airdrops (people and equipment) and do alot of traveling around the country/world, and want something that i can take scenery shots as well as the airdrop/plane related stuff.
this is the problem with the airdrops... ive shot some stuff before with a cheapy digital best buy point and shoot type. the back of the plane is open. i take a picture of some dude jumping out... i can see him, but outside of the plane is whited out. so the next guy jumps out, and i move the camera to a different angle... now i can see outside well, but its much darker in the plane. is there something i can do about this? i setting on this canon rebel? sorry for the noob questions. settings? best lens for this sort of thing, or will the 18-55mm work? how about scenery type pictures? thanks in advance.
For lenses, remember you always get what you pay for. And your lens choice should go towards what your interests in photography are. For instance, someone liking doing portraits won't need the same lenses as one that likes shooting wildlife.
I have a Rebel XT and I love shooting wildlife. Unfortunately, wildlife is one of the most expensive types of photography because you need very strong zoom lens and you need to take close-up shots as well: I don't know too many birds or deer coming towards the photographer to make a better close-up shot! And if you want to shoot a bee in a flower, for example, you need a good close-up lens. :girl:
When I bought my first digital camera it was a Rebel just like yours, the EOS 300D. I made the mistake of buying a cheap lens, the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM and man did I ever regret it! It was too soft, colour (or chromatic) aberration (sometimes called purple fringing) was so bad... I had to get rid of it and bought the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM about 18 months later. This lens is much better than the first one: it isn't an "L" series lens but it's much better than the 75-300mm I had previously. Of course, the 70-300mm IS costs a bit more too. But you get what you pay for.
So my point is this: always buy the best lens you can afford, it will make you happy. If you can't spend too much on a lens, always keep in mind that the one you are buying is a temporary lens and that as soon as you have more cash, you'll upgrade.
Now for the type of photography you want to shoot, if wide angle shots are your main interest, the kit lens will do ok for a while. If you want to upgrade one day and keep the same focal length, you might want to consider this Canon lens which got some very good reviews, the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM. You can see sample shots
on this page. IS (or Image Stabilization) would be a very big plus in your case as it will help you take action shots and prevent a lot of the shaking. Other great places to check for unbiased lens reviews are:
You'll find a couple of lens reviewed here:
You can also join good photography forums and ask other members that have a hands on opinions on various lenses that might interest you.
As for the exposure problems you point out, it might help if you shoot in RAW. It won't do miracles with over-exposed or under-exposed shots, but at least you'll have more control over your pictures when you process them afterwards.
If you should ever need links to photography tutorials or tips, just gimme a holler and I'll post some links I have.
Hope this helps! :mac: