Just got a new DSLR

[SarraceniaScott]

I bought myself an early Christmas present, the Canon EOS 20D digital SLR camera.

It came with the Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS USM lens (IS = image stabilised, USM = motor technology to autofocus lens), which was recommend as a top-quality, general purpose lens.

When the wife is done sulking about this purchase, I plan to get a 100 mm macro lens, and a 10-20mm wide-angle lens.

Expect some really nice pics of plants in the future!

 

[Est]

Beautiful! Looking forward to some niiice pics from ya! Congratulations on your purchase.

 

[herenorthere]

Great camera!  I have the (relatively) old D30 and my wife & I made the switch to the Canon system because of the great deal we got on a used D30 a few years ago.

I'm a firm believer that the lens is more important than the camera body.  Canon  does make many of the greatest lenses, but also some that aren't good enough to be mediocre.  So be careful and read lots of reviews before choosing a lens.  L Series lenses, the ones with the red stripe, are the best of the best; with a price to match.  But there's a lot of variation among the non-L lenses and some come darn close to L quality at prices little higher than the junk ones.

 

[seedjar]

Oh man, that is droolworthy. I've been eyeing digital SLRs for a long time now... If only I weren't a poor college student. I hope you have lots of fun with it!
Hey Bruce, how would you say to do comparisons between those lenses you talk about? Are you talking about consumer reports or just comparing features?
~Joe

 

[herenorthere]

I don't think Consumer Reports has done SLR lenses in a long time and photography magazines aren't much help because they tend to say everything is wonderful.  So plan to work the internet.  The equipment reviews at http://www.photo.net/ are real good, even if somewhat out of date.  Many more are available at http://www.photographyreview.com/.  Even though individual reviews at photographyreview aren't reliable, you can get a good sense of quality, especially if you pay attention to the experience level of the reviewers.  Googling the lens model # can yield helpful information from personal webpages or magazine articles and whatnot.

Definitely don't rely on features alone because similar sounding lenses can be a work of art or a piece of crap.  For example, here's a review - http://www.photo.net/equipment/canon/28-105 - of a Canon zoom that has features comparable to many lenses that cost the same or a little less.  But the review and reader comments tell us this is one to look for.  My wife and I have talked about getting it because it's a useful range for both the film camera and for the digital, where the 1.6x factor makes it equivalent to a 45-170 lens.  We just aren't putting money towards photography right now.

It would be nice to be able to afford L lenses, but it's kind of fun to search out the high quality bargains.  Well, relative bargains.