There we go. Welcome to the forum.

First off, Best Price Cameras is a KNOWN scam outfit. Just google the name and read results. DO NOT do business with them

I shop with bhphoto.com, others might have some good suggestions as well.

With that said, I personally wouldn't get any of those choices. I'd pick up the XTi + Sigma 17-70 lens. That'll give you a good walk-around and superb landscape lens. You can pick up the second lens later when you know more about what you're looking for.

You could also get the "kit" 18-55 lens and a 75-300 for a reasonable price and have a nice range covered.

As for the ins and out of photography, just read through stuff on this site and you'll pick up a lot. If you don't understand or have a question, just post and ask. There's enough knowledgeable members here that anything will get answered pretty quickly.

- Scott

Welcome to the forums!

I just picked up the XTi that you're looking at.  We got a kit from newegg.com.  It included the camera, the "kit" lens and a couple other things.  You can find similar kits at a similar price on newegg.com or bhphoto.com.  I would definitely recommend one of the two as they both had the best prices. 

I know absolutely nothing about lenses too, so it was recommended that I stick with the kit lens until I get the hang of it. I'm sure several of the guys on here will help point you in the right direction of what will suit you best. 

Welcome again, and good luck with the new camera. 

-K

Please see this thread... if you still have questions, come back here and ask 'em!

And welcome to the forum!

M

Originally Posted by Markitos

Please see this thread... if you still have questions, come back here and ask 'em!

And welcome to the forum!

M

Good call, Mark. I knew there was something like that around here...

Stime, do you think 17mm is fine for lanscape? Is the super wide angle worth it?

Originally Posted by jjswee

Stime, do you think 17mm is fine for lanscape? Is the super wide angle worth it?

Yes, the 17mm is GREAT for landscapes. See my website, 90% were taken with that Sigma.

And for me, the super wide angle is not worth it. But that answer will definitely vary if asked to Ben or someone else, and to be honest, its a matter of what you want. On a crop body (non-5D, non-1-series), the 17mm isn't quite wide enough for me at times. But the 10-22 and similar are too wide for me and don't offer enough focal range. The 17-70 is the best landscape lens for a crop body in my experience and opinion.

I'd agree with Scott's statement... wide angles are great, but can be limiting. If you have to choose/carry one lens, 17mm gets you wide enough on a crop body for pretty much anything. I take my 18-70 or 17-55 lenses when I know I might need the extra range and don't want to carry two lenses. I take the UWA when I know I'm going to be using it primarily, when I take both cameras with me, or when I carry all my lenses.

M

Originally Posted by Markitos

I'd agree with Scott's statement... wide angles are great, but can be limiting. If you have to choose/carry one lens, 17mm gets you wide enough on a crop body for pretty much anything. I take my 18-70 or 17-55 lenses when I know I might need the extra range and don't want to carry two lenses. I take the UWA when I know I'm going to be using it primarily, when I take both cameras with me, or when I carry all my lenses.

M

But if we want to talk about this further, let's make a new thread... this is about helping rhayes get a new camera.

Yeah... that might be helpful in his initial selection, though...

M

Originally Posted by Markitos

Yeah... that might be helpful in his initial selection, though...

M

Touche... last bit, UWA (10-22 and similar) are great lenses to have in addition to another one, but as your primary one, I think it'd be to limiting. That is, unless your Ben and all you need is a 10mm prime and you're good to go.

Originally Posted by rhayes

Spectacular!

Registering was totally worth it just to dodge the bullet on a bestpricecameras scam.

I will order the "Kit" online via bhphoto.com or Amazon tonight! I can wait for picking another lens until after I am comfortable with the camera.

Thanks again!

Russ

Good call. Keep us updated, Russ.

Originally Posted by rhayes

Will do!

The whole reason to buy a new camera is that I am headed to Oahu for 2 weeks (leave x-mas eve). With any luck, I should be able to come back with some nice pictures!

Thanks for steering me over to this forum... I am such a car guy, it seemed natural for me to just post in OT over at NASIOC.

You are a real life-saver. I would have been completely bummed if I had ordered as planned. I probably would have ended up in Hawai'i taking pictures with my iPhone.

No problem, glad we could steer you away from that scammer.

And, keep posting over here, we'll try to get you as confident as possible before your trip (which sounds awesome by the way). I'm completely jealous.

- Scott

Now Russ, aren't you glad we spammed this forum everywhere? (Unless this was a direct non-OT invite from Stime)

Stime, I trust your word on the 17mm. I really didn't know and thought you were using ultra wide angle for most of yours. I was not looking forward to buying one because of the price. I would much rather spend that extra on a good zoom lens. If I were to get the 17-70, is there any 70+ that can be had for cheap? How about with IS (riiight)?

Hey Russ - I am going to Hawaii and getting an XTi cause of that trip too!

Originally Posted by jjswee

Now Russ, aren't you glad we spammed this forum everywhere? (Unless this was a direct non-OT invite from Stime)

Stime, I trust your word on the 17mm. I really didn't know and thought you were using ultra wide angle for most of yours. I was not looking forward to buying one because of the price. I would much rather spend that extra on a good zoom lens. If I were to get the 17-70, is there any 70+ that can be had for cheap? How about with IS (riiight)?

My setup that I LOVE and will hate to have to change when I go Full-Frame is the Sigma 17-70 and Canon 70-200 f/4 L. Those two lenses together are awesome for landscape photography on a crop body.

But if we want to talk about this too much more, we really should make a new thread. :P

- Scott

Its alright. I was about to make a thread saying "Stime likes recommending thousand dollar lenses to people" but checked out that 70-200 and saw it was only 600..

what aperture is the sigma 17-70?

Looking at lenes thats always the killer. I really want a f2.8 lens for my zoom. I'd like at least one lens sub f2.

Not that I'm buying a body right now, but still....

Originally Posted by Geekybiker

what aperture is the sigma 17-70?

Looking at lenes thats always the killer. I really want a f2.8 lens for my zoom. I'd like at least one lens sub f2.

Not that I'm buying a body right now, but still....

Its a varied aperture lens. Its f/2.8 at the wide end, then switches over to f/4 around 50mm.

But see, that's where knowing what you need/want is very important. I honestly don't care what speed a lens is as I rarely shoot anything at those lower (wider) apertures. Hence, why I sold my 70-200 f/2.8 in favor of an f/4 lens at the same focal length. All I care about is sharpness/contrast, cost, and weight in essentially that order.

But yeah, I don't want a constant f/2.8 on the lens because it would make it a) more expensive and b) bigger/heavier.

- Scott

whew just saw this... Thank God! You were directed to BH!

saw scotts post and was like *phew*

Nice save!

At this point I'd just like to add Welcome to the forums!

Originally Posted by rhayes

Thanks everybody!

Before yesterday I didn't know an aperture from a hole, and was about to get scammed for being a cheapskate. I started out just looking for a camera to take pictures of the family while on vacation... I'm so glad I signed up.

I got set straight on the scam. I read all the tutorials (Stime hasn't written any tutorials?). I read a whole bunch of posts. I moved on to photography blogs and by the end of the night, I learned that there was a lot to learn. I also had an interest in actually learning it. In any case I was much to excited to wait all weekend for rush delivery so I decided to stop on the way home form work and buy one from an actual store.

Once I had made the switch in mentality from just taking pictures to actual "Photography" I realized that my Mother was probably a resource for me. She has always been into actual photography. F Stops and barns and darkrooms and whatnot. So I called her on the way to BB to see if she had a DSLR. Ends up, she is a digital convert as of last year when one of her cameras was stolen. She went to replace it and ended up with a Nikon D70 (she is a Nikon loyalist). After side by side testing against her remaining film cameras, she converted and started buying lenses for her digital.

Anyway, she told me to at least look at the Nikon, and that I could use her lenses. She was quite excited by my interest in her long time hobby.

Finally, I walk into BB and spend lots of time comparing the XTi to the D40X. I walked out with the D40X.

My first impression after just a few snaps... This camera is friggin amazing. I have a lot to look forward to. I will be going to moms place tomorrow for a lesson.

One last time. Thank You!

Russ

Hmm... I'll try to avoid writing books in my future posts.

Huzzah! That's exactly what we're here for! And, I didn't want to say anything about the Xti, but you ended up with the right camera (Nikon)..... Just kidding, of course. I hope that we continue to be a good resource for you, and that soon you can help us be a resource to others!

Happy shooting! Oh, and if you have it, post the first photo from your new cam (even if it's of nothing and sucks).

M

I think thats awesome. The d40x will be great, especially if you can use her lenses, she'll be a good resource.

I played with both at the store and like the feel of the XTI more, but the Nikon is a great choice too. Especially if you can share lenses with your mom. That's a huge savings right there.

Been reading alot of lens reviews recently. I'd like to caution you against the big range zooms like 18-200 18-135 etc. The quality is significantly worse on those, and worse is the max apeture gets small enough on some of them to cause autofocus issues.

I think I'd pick up a sigma 17-70 f2.8-5.6 for my main lens if I were to buy today.

Originally Posted by Geekybiker

I think I'd pick up a sigma 17-70 f2.8-5.6 for my main lens if I were to buy today.

That's an AWESOME lens , I'm a shameless big supporter of it. And quick correction its f/2.8-4, not 5.6.

Nice, Russ!

Throw a couple in the critique section and we'll help you improve the shots. You'd be surprised how much a couple easy things can improve the overall quality.

- Scott

Originally Posted by rhayes

Thanks everybody!

Before yesterday I didn't know an aperture from a hole, and was about to get scammed for being a cheapskate. I started out just looking for a camera to take pictures of the family while on vacation... I'm so glad I signed up.

I got set straight on the scam. I read all the tutorials (Stime hasn't written any tutorials?). I read a whole bunch of posts. I moved on to photography blogs and by the end of the night, I learned that there was a lot to learn. I also had an interest in actually learning it. In any case I was much to excited to wait all weekend for rush delivery so I decided to stop on the way home form work and buy one from an actual store.

Once I had made the switch in mentality from just taking pictures to actual "Photography" I realized that my Mother was probably a resource for me. She has always been into actual photography. F Stops and barns and darkrooms and whatnot. So I called her on the way to BB to see if she had a DSLR. Ends up, she is a digital convert as of last year when one of her cameras was stolen. She went to replace it and ended up with a Nikon D70 (she is a Nikon loyalist). After side by side testing against her remaining film cameras, she converted and started buying lenses for her digital.

Anyway, she told me to at least look at the Nikon, and that I could use her lenses. She was quite excited by my interest in her long time hobby.

Finally, I walk into BB and spend lots of time comparing the XTi to the D40X. I walked out with the D40X.

My first impression after just a few snaps... This camera is friggin amazing. I have a lot to look forward to. I will be going to moms place tomorrow for a lesson.

One last time. Thank You!

Russ

Hmm... I'll try to avoid writing books in my future posts.

That's the best thing I've read all day. It made me chuckle and put a smile on my face.

Congratulations!

Congrats!!!

No worries on which you picked, both are awesome cameras, and with mom able to help with the nikon it's a no brainer. I've used both and I'd honestly say the nikon is easier to learn. Enjoy it, glad we can help, now keep shooting and sharing!