canon digital rebel xti - lenses?

[bethany]

So I've already decided that I want to buy the Canon Digital Rebel XTi. What I want to know is opinions on the lens kit that comes with it... is it decent? What additional lenses would you reccommend? I am beginning a degree in photography with hopes of exploring a large range of different subject matter in the future - wildlife, macro, portraits, etc.

[Photo-John]

The kit lens is actually pretty good. It's not great, but I used it and never regretted it. I would recommend using it until you get an idea of what to buy next. It will allow you to experiment without any more investment. When you start to feel its limitations, then you'll know where to invest your money.

By the way, I love the XTi. I have had lots of cameras and my XTi replaced an EOS 10D. I also have the original Canon EOS-1D, which I paid a fortune for. I just shot a big mountain bike festival and never once took the 1D out of my camera bag. The XTi is a camera that lots of people really underestimate.

[Orgnoi1]

Do you have any idea as to what forms of photography you may seriously pursue? The reason I ask is that wildlife, macro, and portraits all require fairly specialized lenses...

Wildlife: 300mm - 600mm depending on your cash flow...
Macro: 50mm-60mm, 90mm-105mm, or 150mm-180mm ranges for lenses
Portraits: 35mm-85mm range with larger aperture >f/2.8

These are of course approximates and everyones opinion will differ with their tastes...

The kit lens that comes with the camera is adequate and in brighter lighting conditions will do fine...

[dante]

if you're looking to spend some money, the Tamron 17-50mm covers (almost) the same focal lengths as the kit lens and is quite good. (note, I never used the kit lens, so can't say how much better it is) the Sigma 17-70mm has more range, does better at Macro, and is a little cheaper, but not quite as good at the picture quality. I'd start with one of those three (tamron, sigma or kit) and start to get an idea of what you want to shoot and what focal lengths you're going to need. I picked up the Tamron and love it...