Looking for some advice

[KAB]

I hope I'm asking this in the correct place.  I currently have a canon point and shoot, Powershot SX1 IS, and while it is a nice camera, it's still a point and shoot and I'm ready to upgrade to a SLR.  I'm not looking to do anything real professional, I have a toddler and another baby on the way, and I'd like something nice enough that I can get some really good pictures of my little ones, since I don't ever pay for professional photo's.  My todder is very active, and all of the pictures I currently take turn out blurry, the camera takes too long to snap the photo.  I also need something that will be good with indoor low light.  My budget is $1000, I know that's not much in the camera world, but that's all I can afford right now. 

I have my eyes on the Rebel T3i or the T5i, I have no clue which one I need, if even one of those.  I don't plan on using the auto feature, I want something that I can learn and grow with, but again, nothing real professional as I will just be using it on my girls, but I still want something nice.  As far as lenses go?  I was thinking to start with the lens that comes with the camera, the 18-55mm, and I also was thinking about the 50 mm 1.8.  Would the 75-300 lens be needed as well?  And what about an external flash?  Obviously with my budget I can't get all of that right now, but I'm not sure what I should start with, and what would be worth saving for in the near future. 

I appreciate any advice, the SLR is really new to me and I want to make sure I'm investing my money wisely.  Thank you for any help you can provide. 

[ScottyP]

Good luck!

FYI, if you look on www.canonpricewatch.com you will see that the T5i kit with the STM lens is $1050, and the T3i with the non-STM lens is $800.

http://www.canonpricewatch.com/prices/

[ebiggs1]

Yes, Scott is correct. To many numbers and letters in these cameras any more!

I did mean theCanon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM Lens.

I do not see any reason for it not to work on a T3i. I know a person that has it on a 70D and a Mom that has it on her T4i.

Whether it is available with the T3i “kit”, I don't know that either. But it is a better lens than the original

EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens. (Non STM)

Canon redesigned the innards when they added the STM motor. Plus the STM has a 7 blade aperture instead of the 6 blade for instance. The focus is much faster.

Is is a deal buster if you can't find one, no, it isn't. But I think they are only $50 bucks more or so.

Another choice is the Sigma 18-125mm f3.8-5.6 DC OS HSM. Which is a little cheaper.

I was at our local WalMart, yesterday, and slipped by the camera department. They had a T3, a T3i and the SL-1. Yours may have them also. You could go by and try them and look them over.

The only Canon lens they had on the shelf was the EF-S 55-250mm f4-5.6 IS.

You might try out the SL-1, it is a little smaller camera. It and a 18-135mm would still be close to a grand.

[KAB]

Thank you.  I'm a little bit confused about the technicalities of the lens, but I'm going to go to my local camera shop and play with them and maybe I'll understand the differences a little more.  At least now I know exactly what to look at.   Again, you all have been so helpful. 

[TCampbell]

Canon has three different categories of focus motors for lenses.

The basic lenses (which don't have any special tags) have the basic motors.  These are both the slowest to focus and also the noisiest.  Often they are not fast enough to track "action" (e.g. they may not necessarily keep up with fast moving sports).

The higher end focus motors are the "USM" -- these are Canon's Ultrasonic Motors.  The motors are much quieter but they also tend to be very quick to focus -- they're responsive and generally have no trouble keeping up with fast changes in focus.

The most recent lenses are the "STM" -- these are Canon's "Stepper Motor" technology.  They're faster than the basic auto-focus lenses, but not as fast as the USM.  But their advantage is that they are almost completely silent (quieter than the USM.)  They are so quiet that if you are shooting video and recording audio with the camera's built-in microphone, many of the lenses don't make enough noise to be heard by the microphone at all.

[KAB]

Ok, that makes sense, thank you for that clarification.

[KAB]

I'm seeing some kits that include a type II lens, what exactly is that, and do I want to stay away from that lens? And I understand that the 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS is the non STM, but would that be the USM?  Sorry for all the questions.

[TCampbell]

"I'm seeing some kits that include a type II lens, what exactly is that, and do I want to stay away from that lens? And I understand that the 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS is the non STM, but would that be the USM?  Sorry for all the questions."

It's not a different type of lens.  Canon uses the roman numerals to indicate a revised version of the previous lens.  

E.g. I have a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM.  About a year after I bought that lens, Canon came out with an EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II.   The "II" has better optical quality than the original so generally you would probably prefer the II over the original.

[KAB]

Thank you.