Canon Eos Rebel T2i

[melissa231815]

I currently have a 29-90mm lens and need to buy a lens for outdoor weddings, indoor band photos and general picture taking. 

I also need to purchase and external flash for the indoor band photos.

Please help!

I have done many hours of research and I can't figure out which lens to go with that's under $1,000.00.

Thank You!

[trulandphoto]

Based on what you describe I'd look at the EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM lens. The relatively fast f/2.8 maximum aperture will help with indoor concerts and it covers the field of view of a 27-88mm lens on a full frame body.

As for a flash, the 430EXII is a nice compromise of size and features and refurbished copies can usually be found on Canon's USA online store. 

[melissa231815]

If you don't mind, what is there difference between :

EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM 

EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM 

EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

I am trying to learn this on my own, my father was a photographer but has no interest in helping me.

I need to take a class, I can't keep all the research straight!

[ScottyP]

Hi, Melissa.

The 17-55 f/2.8 is the best in that bunch. It may not cover quite as broad a focal zoom range, but it covers the sweet spot for general photography, and makes a good main lens on a crop-sensor camera like T2i, T5i, 70d, 7d, etc.

In addition to being sharper than the others, this lens gives you the widest maximum aperture, and that aperture remains constant throughout the whole focal range (zoomed all the way out to all the way in), unlike the other two.

Aperture is how wide the lens can open to let in light. It is measured somewhat confusingly as an "f/number" or "f/stop". Basically, though, the lower the f/ number, the wider the maximum opening. F/2.8 is more than twice as wide as f/4.5' and it is 4 times as wide as f/5.6.

The many little pixels on a camera sensor are often compared to buckets, cups, etc, that need to be filled with light instead of water. You need to get enough water (light) into the cups while the shutter is open to fill them up. You could just leave the shutter open a really long time and eventually the cups would fill with water (light) but if you are shooting hand-held, or if your subject is something animate/moving/alive, holding the shutter open that long will give you a blurry picture.

The alternative to a slow shutter is to have a wider opening ( the aperture) so the proper amount of light can get in in 1/2 or 1/4 the time. The wide f/2.8 aperture will thus allow you to use a shutter that is twice or 4 times faster than you could use with the other lenses. This wont matter as much outside on a sunny day, but is key in dim lighting.

The other thing a wide aperture does for you is to give you a shallow depth of field, which you would recognize in portraits or other nice shots where the background is soft and blurry, and only your subject is in sharp focus so it "pops" out at you. F/2.8 is wide enough for that. The smaller apertures (4.5 or 6.3) won't do it very well.

Good luck!

[melissa231815]

Wow, thank you so much! I greatly appreciate your help! Seems I've finally found someone who knows their stuff 🙂

[ebiggs1]

In addition to the spot on info that Scott gave you, I will recommend you get and learn to use post processing software.

Some times it comes with the camera free but most times you need to purchase one. Probably the two best are Photoshop Elements 11 and/or Lightroom 5.

Some guys don't like to admit it but nearly 100% of the best photos taken in the world of photography are post processed.

Certainly you will want one for a wedding shoot.

BTW, my take on the EF-S 17-55mm f2.8 is, it is very fragile and you must use caution wiht it. Take care of it and it will be fine but it's construction is not the best it could be.