Am I the only one who admires Ziggy for being such a rich source of information?
He is constantly pouring out the good stuff on so many different questions asked by
those of us who seek for advice on this board. Great stuff really!

Originally Posted by angevin1 Also this page from Canon has info about your lens choices: http://www.canont2i.com/canon-rebel-t2i-lenses/ As far as any users experience in "will it help to add a strobe?" I will say shaping and controlling light is a job that does get better with practice. You cannot shape or control light you do not have. So having more light tends to trump not having enough: viz., you can always shut light's off provided you have them.

Ya lotta lenses listed, only confuses me... so my thing now is, I was pretty set on getting the 50mm/1.8 for like $100 for my first lens, but the only problem is it might not cover the whole body gracefully from about 2m away in my small room, is that accurate? I cannot change the room so... max shoot distance is around 7-8 ft. Why will the standard 18-55mm not do? I heard that will be more "forgiving" in my situation, but maybe worse on bokeh and low light? I dont mind getting the 3rd party lenses, but I need to find one.

Another thought was getting 2, the Tamron 17-50/2.8 (non-VC) and Canon 85mm/1.8... I dunno, this is now giving me a headache.

Originally Posted by Manfr3d Am I the only one who admires Ziggy for being such a rich source of information? He is constantly pouring out the good stuff on so many different questions asked by those of us who seek for advice on this board. Great stuff really!

I think Tom and Zig have been unbelievably awesome... make me wanna give them like free golf or tennis lessons here in sunny FL or fix/optimize their computers or something, LOL...

Originally Posted by JMASTERJ max shoot distance is around 7-8 ft. Why will the standard 18-55mm not do? I heard that will be more "forgiving" in my situation, but maybe worse on bokeh and low light? I dont mind getting the 3rd party lenses, but I need to find one. Another thought was getting 2, the Tamron 17-50/2.8 (non-VC) and Canon 85mm/1.8... I dunno, this is now giving me a headache.

Yeah, I get the headache thing, I really do. But also realize While a bunch of data can be read in one day, you cannot possibly assimilate it all and go thru the trial and error that's necessary in one day. So take it a step at a time and enjoy the journey.

You know your shoot distance and you're right the 50mm will be a bit long for Full body. So yes, look thru the reviews and choose the best lens you can afford in that range; 17-50, 18-55mm, etc. I have no idea about the 18-55mm, I do know the Tamaron is a fine lens.

Originally Posted by angevin1 Yeah, I get the headache thing, I really do. But also realize While a bunch of data can be read in one day, you cannot possibly assimilate it all and go thru the trial and error that's necessary in one day. So take it a step at a time and enjoy the journey. You know your shoot distance and you're right the 50mm will be a bit long for Full body. So yes, look thru the reviews and choose the best lens you can afford in that range; 17-50, 18-55mm, etc. I have no idea about the 18-55mm, I do know the Tamaron is a fine lens.

Thanks for understanding... Actually, I was gonna get the T2i body per my last post for $430 + about a $100+ lens, $550 total or so.... BUT a deal came up for the T3i:

For $60 more, I would get (this new deal = $610):

- T2i to T3i "upgrade"
- 18-55mm IS II Lens+ (is this glass ok for me? THIS is the biggest question) (~$120)

So basically comes out to a "free upgrade," unless the glass sucks for me... The remote flash would be useful if I need to add a strobe or two, and the flip out screen is just nice for video and off angle shooting, etc... too bad they couldnt increase the continuous shooting speed, oh well.

now the advantages of the Canon T2i, not real deal breakers but...

Much less startup delay 400 ms vs 1500 ms
Smaller 129x98x62 mm vs 133x99x79 mm
Thinner 2.4" vs 3.1"
Lighter 530 g vs 570 g
Slightly better image quality 66.0 vs 65.0
Less shutter lag 252 ms vs 283 ms
Slightly larger viewfinder 0.54x vs 0.53x

So the verdict is..............?
(I am assuming u (and others) will say the included lens in the T3i will be the make or break point... I just have no idea because I dont need a great lens right now, something that will get the job done, better than my P&S)

Thanks as always!

I am not familiar with a Sakar 22-A auto flash, but unless you know it's trigger voltage is safe on a digital camera hot shoe ( say less than 6 volts ), I would be careful as some ( most actually )older electronic flashes potentially can destroy the electronic internals of modern DSLRs like the Canon T2i if connected via the hot shoes without a voltage limiting device between them.

There is a table here - http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html

More info on safe triggering here http://www.shutterbug.com/content/us...-doesn’t

The Canon EOS 85mm f1.8 is a great lens, but you may find too long on a crop body camera in a small room for full body shots. The 50mm f1.8 may be a better focal length, altho it is not nearly as finely fabricated as the 85 f1.8. The 50mm f1.8 is fairly good optically, but is inexpensively made ( it is called the plastic fantastic ), and has some plastic optical elements. The 85 f1.8 is much more robustly made, and is sharper to boot.

Originally Posted by pathfinder I am not familiar with a Sakar 22-A auto flash, but unless you know it's trigger voltage is safe on a digital camera hot shoe ( say less than 6 volts ), I would be careful as some ( most actually )older electronic flashes potentially can destroy the electronic internals of modern DSLRs like the Canon T2i if connected via the hot shoes without a voltage limiting device between them. There is a table here - http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html More info on safe triggering here http://www.shutterbug.com/content/us...s—what-doesn’t The Canon EOS 85mm f1.8 is a great lens, but you may find too long on a crop body camera in a small room for full body shots. The 50mm f1.8 may be a better focal length, altho it is not nearly as finely fabricated as the 85 f1.8. The 50mm f1.8 is fairly good optically, but is inexpensively made ( it is called the plastic fantastic ), and has some plastic optical elements. The 85 f1.8 is much more robustly made, and is sharper to boot.

I think the 85mm is just a bit too much $$$ for me now, without even giving the 18-55 a fighting chance (since thats what the deal comes with), and the 50mm I was considering until a couple of people I know shot that down bec of my limited quarters and the way it produces "unflattering" shots for the female for such intimate purposes.

Originally Posted by Manfr3d Am I the only one who admires Ziggy for being such a rich source of information? He is constantly pouring out the good stuff on so many different questions asked by those of us who seek for advice on this board. Great stuff really!

Thanks for the compliment.