What kind of lenses should a photographer have?

I%26#039;m getting a Canon Rebel XTi and I want the right lenses. I%26#039;m getting 3 lenses with it, but in the future I hope to have a selection of lenses to choose from.





I mostly take pictures of kids (who are often on the move), flowers, scenery, and of course portraits. I love macro shots, and was wondering if you can do that even without a macro lens? I also want a lens where I can shoot things far away...





The lenses the camera comes with are generic, but it%26#039;s all I can afford right now. I am planning on getting Canon%26#039;s in the future.





1) Tamron 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Wide Zoom Lens


2) Tamron 75-300mm g4-5.6 LD Macro AF Lens


3) 1 Pro Wide-Angle lens (Brand unknown)





Please don%26#039;t give an answer like Tamron%26#039;s suck, or anything like that. I%26#039;m looking for suggestion of lenses I can purchase in the future.





Thank you!

What kind of lenses should a photographer have?
Congratulations and good luck on your purchase! Many people swear by their Tamron lenses and they have a pretty good reputation of quality for the price.





You are on the right track by deciding what type of subjects you want to photgraph and selecting lenses based on that objective.





For pictures of kids and for portraits the 28-80 you have selected is already a pretty good choice because it is relatively %26quot;fast%26quot; (has a lower F number) than the 75-300.





When a lens is described as %26quot;fast%26quot; it means that it lets in more light so you can use faster shutter speeds. This is handy when shooting kids because it is easier to stop action and take sequences of shots with a faster shutter speed.





Faster lenses are also desirable for portrait work because they generally have better %26quot;bokeh%26quot;, a term which refers to a lenses ability to render areas of the picture surrounding the main subject as %26quot;soft%26quot; (blurred/out of focus). Many old, 35mm camera, manual focus lenses are bought and sold on eBay as portrait lenses for digital cameras because they can be used on specific digital models and they are available in very fast (F2.8 -- F1.2) types. I would check to see what 35mm camera lenses, if any, will fit your camera (usually with an adapter) and check them out on auction sites. If you use the lens at the 40-80mm zoom range you will generally get good perspective and be working at a comfortable distance from the person you are photographing. The wider settings will usually give a distorted perspective (Big nose/chin, tiny ears, etc.)





The 75-300mm lens should be good for far away subjects such as local sports, dangerous news events and some nature photography. For professional sporting events and wildlife you would most likely need a longer lens with more magnification. These lenses can get BIG and HEAVY and usually require a tripod. Canon has a large selection of such lenses and the discussion of uses and merits would take pages. Until you have a better idea of what limitations you are running into that is not yet something to consider.





For Macro photography there are many ways to increase magnification besides buying macro lenses. If you have patience and are willing to experiment you can get extension tubes or bellows that will allow your exisitng lenses to focus significantly closer to a subject, but you often have to use them in manual focus mode and set the F setting manually. That is a great way to learn and manual focus is often better in macro photos because there is very little margin for error.





You can also get close-up lenses that screw onto the front of your basic lenses and allow those lenses to focus closer. This may not be as good quality as extension tube/bellows unless you buy very good quality lenses but it can get you started.





I recomend that your next purchase be a good quality tripod or monopod because having a very stable camera is one of the greatest keys to quality images.





Most importantly, take pictures and have FUN!!
Reply:You should look into the 50mm 1.8 lens. it is cheap, and very useful.
Reply:I agree with the %26quot;buy a 50mm F/1.8%26quot; lens. It%26#039;s less than $100 (I think around $50 used) and very good optical quality considering the price.


I think you have a good lens selection. You *can* take macro shots without a macro lens. It sounds like you%26#039;re on a budget, so look for macro filters. Once you get your lenses, look on the front, it will have threads. It should say what size thread it is, I%26#039;m guessing 52mm or 55mm. Now look on ebay and buy a (or a set of) macro lens(es) in that size. My opinion is that I%26#039;d rather have one +10 lens (that%26#039;s ten diopters, a LOT) versus a set of, say +1, +2, +3. You tend to get better quality using one lens versus stacking a bunch.


When doing macro, remember to stop down (use a larger aperture number) to get a more reasonable depth of field. Also consider lighting. As you stop down you need a longer shutter time, so maybe consider getting a tripod and/or light.


I use the Rebel XT as my backup camera, and I%26#039;m not too happy with the battery life, especially when using flash. I would buy a spare battery, and I%26#039;ve had good luck with the off-brand %26quot;Impact%26quot; which is sold on www.bhphoto.com


Good luck, happy shooting!



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