I've decided on a 20D, but what about the lens combo packs?

52Caddy

What's the best value going right now for the combos with the lens?
If this has been covered, could someone point me to a thread?
Thanks,
Eric

Woof

DavidTO

That all depends on what you want to do, but I'd have to say that the Canon 17-40L and the 70-200 f4L are a great pair of inexpensive (relatively), high-quality lenses.

Matthew Saville

DavidTO wrote:

That all depends on what you want to do, but I'd have to say that the Canon 17-40L and the 70-200 f4L are a great pair of inexpensive (relatively), high-quality lenses.

The 17-40 and the 70-200 aren't available "with" the 20D body, are they? Not sure but they weren't the last time I checked... The two kits that I'm aware of are the 20D with the 18-55 and the 17-85 IS. I'd say at leats, either buy the 20D and a lens of your own, like the 17-40, or the kit with the 17-85 IS. But the 18-55 isn't exactly built to last you forever, and most people end up buying other lenses later to split up that focal length like the 10-22 and the 24-70 f/2.8, both of which are much higher quality. So either get the kit with the 17-85 IS or get the body alone and a lens of your choice. And don't forget to consider what you shoot most of the time! I spent the first few months of my DSLR ownership with just a macro lens, cause that's all I wanted to shoot!

-Matt-

Steve Cavigliano

Eric,

Both kit lenses are decent, but not great. I guess it depends on how much you want to spend. The 18-55mm adds like $75 to the kit cost while the 17-85mm seems to add about $500.

As Matt mentions, most people quickly migrate to other lenses so any additional $ you spend on the kit lens would probably be more wisely applied to your next lens purchase

Just my 2 cents,

Steve

52Caddy

Thanks for the info guys. I ended up with the 18-55 for now. I'm going to be looking for some type of zoom lens for shooting at air shows, and I think I'll start searching here!
Thanks again,
Eric

mercphoto

52Caddy wrote:

Thanks for the info guys. I ended up with the 18-55 for now. I'm going to be looking for some type of zoom lens for shooting at air shows, and I think I'll start searching here!
Thanks again,
Eric

Not sure you need a zoom for air shows, just a long telephoto prime. The Canon 400/5.6L is a fantastic bargain for this. The 300mm/4L is a bit more money but includes an image stabilizer and is also a great bargain.

For comparison, I shot the air shots here http://mercphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/475750 with a 70-200/2.8L and a 1.4 TC (for an effective length of 280mm) on a 20D. At times I could have used a bit more reach. For any of the air shots I was always at full-zoom.