Purchasing a Canon 20D. Lens questions

[pbr]

Thanks for the advice! I'm in the same boat; I'm about to buy a 20D as well.. I was about to post the same question. Now I'm off to price out those lenses and see what I'm getting myself into..

I looked at the cost of the lens- it's fairly considerable, and will probably break the bank.. I'm thinking about going with the stock one and upgrading later. (funny how much this is getting to be like my bike collection.. this will be my third digital camera in 3 years, I keep upgrading) Anyway, on to the actual question:

How does the kit lens do for someone breaking into a SLR? While any lens on this camera is going to be an upgrade from my point and shoot. I'm interested in getting a lens that can do the wide angle thing, as I'm shooting action spots. (downhill/ freeride mt. biking stuff) Regular cameras seem to make the action look "small." Is a wide angle the lense I want to reverse this effect?

Thanks..

First of all, you're going to love the 20D. Camera technology has come a long, long way since the EOS 620 was introduced. You'll be getting a camera that's comparable in many ways to the EOS 1, Canon's pro 35mm SLR when the 620 was current. The autofocus speed and accuracy, exposure, and built-in flash are all going to blow you away. So will the image quality. I believe digital SLR image quality has been better than 35mm for the last 2-3 years.

About the lenses.

Since you've been happy with the lenses you have, I think the kit lenses will serve you well. I don't know if I'd buy both, though. The 18-55mm is definitely a good choice since you'll need the wider angle-of-view to match the APS-sized sensor in the 20D. If you're interested in recommendations, I'd encourage you to look at the EF-S 17-85mm IS lens. It's made to match the sensor on the 20D, the optics are almost definitely better than the 18-55, it has a longer range, and the IS feature (Image Stabilization) is excellent. Some people say that the digital SLR sensors are enough better than 35mm film that they make optical problems more apparent. This is another reason to consider the 17-85mm IS lens. It's 35mm film predecessor, the 28-135mm IS, is one of the long-time favorite lense on this site and among Canon owners in general. It's sort of a secret weapon for travel photographers and anyone who only wants to carry one lens. I think it would be an excellent investment to go along with your newer, better camera.

Congratulations again, on your new camera. You're going to love it. Let us know when you have questions. There is a learning curve with digital. And make sure to post reviews for your equipment, here. We always need more reviews!

[wburychka]

Let me second the recommendation for the 17-85mmIS kit. It is, in terms of FOB, comparable to 27-136 on a full frame 35mm cam. You save about $100 on the purchase price when you buy it with the 20D, so that is another plus--especially since the lens itself is so expensive. And don't forget, Henri Cartier-Bresson never published a 35mm photo wider than 28mm or longer than 135mm, so with the 17-85, you'll at least have all the focal lenght equivalents that one of the most famous photographers of all time used!

If the 17-85 is out of your price range, then by all means get the 18-55, so that you will at least have a wide angle lens capability. The May Pop Photo has a review of this lens, and it confirmed what many of us already knew--it is a very good lens and an extraordinary value.