I having trouble deciding what lense I need or want.

I went to Best Buy to find out what their return policy is on lenses. They have a 14 day period with a 15% restocking fee. I could buy the lenses from them and then return them if it isn't right, but I would be paying for it. Essentially I would be renting the lense from them for up tp 14 days.

I could also use this method to figure out which lense to buy online, for quite a big discount compared to Best Buy. I would end up losing most of the discount to the 15% fee though.

I talked to one of the salesmen, and he said that I could probably take my body in the store to test the lenses there. How good of a representation would I get of the lenses by taking pictures inside the store?

Houston most likely has several places you can rent lenses from. Go check them out by renting for the weekend.


The one here is about 12-25 bucks for the weekend depending on the lens... good deal.

i found lighttec.com, but their website sucks.

Don't go to best buy.
Worst option would be to go to Ritz as they have a better selection and will let you bring in your body no problem...

But I HIGHLY suggest going to a local camera shop that has a decent selection, but only if their prices are good so you can then buy it from them. I'm lucky and have a decent shop near me that I can goto and their lenses are about $10 (then 7%) more than B&H. So the $10 is a wash for shipping, but I pay 7% more, but it's worth it to be able to try it out in store first... In Houston you should be able to find some camera shop with a good selection.

Yeah, Best Buy has a generally poor selection, and they're typically more expensive.

You could give Houston Camera Exchange a shot, or ask some of the local guys on the Texas photo forum for suggestions.