Ok - just saying that IF i bit the bullet and bought a 300D (body only) -
Can anybody please advise me on what Lens they would recomend.
Apprecaite any help/advice etc.
thanks
Mike
Personally, I think the 18-55 that cames as a kit, is worth the extra $100. It is a decent all around lens, and it is also a lens that you cannot buy afterwards.
As for the rest, it all depends on what you plan to shoot.
I would definitely suggest getting the 18-55 with the body. It seems to be a very good perfomer for the money.
The 28-200 is a decent option; I own one, it was the first lens I bought with my 10D. But there is a lot of overlap in range with the 18-55, and the performance of the 28-200 is a bit soft, and the contrast at 200mm is low. The 28-200 costs about US$350.
My recommendation would be go for the kit lens and a 70-200 F4 L. Although the price of the 70-200 F4 L is about $200 higher than the 28-200, the performance is significantly better. There are also two other advantages:
1.) It's a stop faster at 200mm
2.) You can use the Canon 1.4x and 2.0x extenders with the 70-200, but not with the 28-200
You will not miss the "gap" between 55mm and 70mm, IMHO.
Warning: once you use "L" glass, you will be addicted.
Yeah I'd definitely get the kit lens. My buddy is getting a 300D and I'd slap him silly if he didn't. It's got the benefit of having been designed to produce a smaller imaging circle so it's smaller and lighter than something like a 17-40 F4L, which is the only really decent, somewhat affordable ultra-wide-angle zoom option for us 10D folk. Get it and don't look back. I'd probably buy one for my 10D if it fit...scraping the pennies for a 17-40 will be painful. They want $1500 CDN for it at the shop here in Victoria... ;(.
I second the opinion on the 70-200 F4L. I have one and it's just great. The more I use it the more I like it, and the more I'm convinced that I made a good decision over getting a 2.8, which is about 3x as heavy. It's relatively small and light and the optics are brilliant. It's a really versatile, useful focal length for a 10D/300D and makes a great portrait and sports lens. Variable, low-noise ISO settings on digital cameras make the F4 lenses a good choice for digital.
Work out how much wide angle stuff you do vs how much 'normal' angle stuff and how much telephoto things you are interested in.
Factor in how many macro shots you take. Should give you a working
idea on what sort of photographs you take. From there you can make sensible lens decisions based on what you need, not what other people bought.
