I bought the t2i that came with the standard 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens, and also purchased the 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 lens.
Helped a friend photograph a wedding this weekend and was not impressed with either lens, especially in low light and action shots. Got lots of blurry and dark pictures. Any recs on a better lens? I prefer to stick to one great overall lens so I don't have to switch between the two.
And any recs on a good flash?
Yes, the lenses that you have are good, general-purpose lenses. However, if you're trying to take pictures in challenging conditions (such as low light, action, or even low-light action
), then you'll need lenses that will let more light into your camera. In other words, you'll need lenses with larger maximum apertures, such as f/2.8 or larger (f/2.8 or smaller f-number).
If you had all the money in the world, I'd go with these lenses:
- Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 ($1,159 at B&H - link) - this is my walk-around lens for everyday use. Because it's got a large aperture of f/2.8, it works very well in low-light situations.
- Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS ($2,499 at B&H - link) - if you're looking to zoom in on low-light and action shots, then this is THE workhorse lens for those situations. Many wedding photographers and many sports photographers use this lens.
- Canon 50mm f/1.4 ($449 at B&H - link) - if you're in an extremely low-light situation, this lens' large aperture of f/1.4 will let in tons more light into your camera. It's a nice portrait lens, especially for the Canon Rebel camera. Because this is a "prime lens", it does not zoom.
For someone who's just a week into digital SLR photography, I'm sure this is all overkill. However, if you're very serious about low-light and action photography (or
especially low-light action photography), then these are the lenses to invest in.
There are cheaper alternatives to the above lenses. Sigma makes a 17-50mm f/2.8 lens. Canon has 4 different versions of the 70-200mm lens (with & without image stabilization, f/2.8 vs f/4). Sigma makes an equivalent 70-200mm lens. As mentioned in a previous post, Canon's 50mm f/1.8 lens is a nice, cheaper alternative for $135.
Canon's best flash is the
Canon 580exII ($484 at B&H -
link). It's a powerful external flash. It has a swivel head, so you can re-direct the flash to "bounce" in other directions. It can act as a "master flash" to control multiple other "slave flashes".
An alternative to this, as mentioned earlier, is the
Canon 430exII ($289 at B&H -
link). It's only slightly less powerful than the 580exII. It has a swivel head, but is slightly limited (when turning the head to the right, it only turns 90 degrees, instead of 180 degrees). It can't serve as a "master flash" to control other flashes.
There are alternatives to these flashes, as well, such as those by Sigma.
Anyway, if you're going to be photographing weddings, low-light events, and/or action/sporting events in the future, then these are the lenses you'll want/need.