Guys,
How important it is to keep a big focal range lens as a walk-about lens in terms of protecting a sensor from the dust? I am confused between 28-300 and 28-70 &70-300.with a 28-300 I wouldn't have to change lenses coz it gives me a good range of focal length. This is important cos I am strictly going to shoot in the wilderness. Will my sensor catch dust if I keep changing lenses? (Changing will happen a lot.).Are there any other problems I might face.the camera is going to be Rebel XTi.
I need help in evaluating the pros and cons of 28-300 and 28-70&70-300.
Thanks

If you are careful about taking care of your gear it shouldn't be a problem. I also do a lot of wilderness shooting and haven't run into dust problems. I prefer shorter range, larger aperature zooms over the super zooms.

I agree - if you're careful it shouldn't be much of a problem. I read an interview with Jay Maisel, and his walkaround lens is (or was) a 50 f1.4... The main "con" I see is that a 28 isn't very wide on a DSLR.

Thanks guys,
which lens would be wide enough for the XTi?
I am a herpetologist and currently work with gators, they offer little proximity and time. i am in a dilemma regrding the lenses. decided on the camera though. I also do some macro photography on snakes with a borrowed camera.
Excuse me if I ask a lot of questions, I am just trying to start, with minimal but adequete equipment, into this wonderful world of digital photography.:confused:

Will my sensor catch dust if I keep changing lenses?

I agree with the others, not only that this is not a big deal if you're careful (hold camera body opening pointing down when you change lenses), but it's also not a big deal even when dust does get on the sensor .

I shoot on location a lot, and change lenses a lot, and I get dust on my DSLR sensor. When touching up the specks in photoshop becomes too much of a pain, that's when I clean the camera sensor... :cool:

Depends and no matter which one it won't be perfect for all conditions or opportunities.
Remember, whichever one you choose, you multiply by 1.6. Thus your 28-300 is virtually a 45-480.
You may also want to use one with a macro setting.

I am a herpetologist and currently work with gators

Suddenly I'm thinking that longer is better. :)

I guess it's not really a question of a 28 being not wide enough - it's whatever works for you. A 28 was a common wide angle focal length for 35mm film cameras but it's getting close to the 50mm "normal" angle of view that you might have been used to with a camera like this.

Thanks guys,
which lens would be wide enough for the XTi?
I am a herpetologist and currently work with gators, they offer little proximity and time. i am in a dilemma regrding the lenses. decided on the camera though. I also do some macro photography on snakes with a borrowed camera.
Excuse me if I ask a lot of questions, I am just trying to start, with minimal but adequete equipment, into this wonderful world of digital photography.:confused:

The 28-300 is an excellent lens for nature, and, if you shoot RAW you can get a really good crop with that lens if needed. When I first got mine I did some testing with it and found that cropping a 100% view was very acceptable. The 28-300 isn't a macro but does do very well with close subjects. I suggest though that you never hold it just by the body of the Rebel with this lens on it, the body can't take the weight.
I bought the 28-300 to use for racing so I didn't have to keep changing lenses, and glad I did!

JS

Thanks again guys.
I am so happy I am a member of this forum.
Will come back with more questions later. pl keep the thoughts and suggestions flowing in.