lens advice

[illal]

ive got a Canon Rebel XT with the standard 18-55mm lens but im looking to upgrade in the lens department! i dont have a ton of money to spend $300 being the limit... im looking for something that i could take great pics of the tank + great pics of my kids and stuff like that without having to switch out the lens each time... any suggestions?

 

[illal]

let me give you a little more backround! me and my wife bought this camera for our selfs for a joint christmas present lol! she wanted a better camera and we wer tired of paying hundreds of dollars for a photographer just to take pics in the christmas outfits and i wanted to be able to take pics of my fish/corals so we ended up with the Canon Rebel XT... it came with the standard lens kit but after dishing out all the money for the camera we were fine with the quality compared to our old kodak camera.... now after having it for a few months we both want a better lens but for differant reasons! i want to be able to take those nice close ups of individual polyps and stuff like that and she wants to get better pics of our kids and family outings and stuff like that... someone told here that a macro lens is only good for close ups and she'll have to switch out the lens to take her pics of the kids and stuff like that... other people tell me differant so whats the deal? is there a lens that will work for what we are both looking for? if i get a 100mm lens will it still be good for what she's looking for?

 

[the_rider]

A macro lens is not only for macro!

I know and saw a lot of portrait taken with the nikon 105mm and they are awesome. So don't think that your wife could not take portrait. The only "problem" will be that a 100mm is a great zoom, so if she want to take head shot or outdoor picture of your kids playing, it will be ok, but it won't be ideal for full head to toe shot indoor. At least, not if she's only a couple of feet away. She will have to get use to 100mm. The other alternative would be to buy her another lens. Or to have a compromise, and buy the 60mm macro instead.

Go to a retailer, and both try the 100mm. Ask her if she could work with that. If so, you got yourself a really nice macro lens

 

[illal]

what about one of those all in one like this:

http://www.centraldigital.com/Product/?10590630

it may not take true macro pics but it will be better than the standard lens no?

 

[IPT]

I'd be leary and doubt it would be all that much better. The Minimum focusing distance is almost 18 inches....more than twice as far as the 100mm Canon would get you. Also, the Canon 100 mm has a wide aperture, 2.0 I think. That wll give you the nice smooth, soft backgrounds that are great for portraits. FWIW, the canon 50mm, (not macro) is only like $60. It's an F1.8 lens, fast (also shallow DOF), and is known for it's sharpness and is quite good for use as a portrait lens (in case the wife isn't happy @ 100mm this is a cheap addition that is way better than the price would suggest).

 

[BlueCorn]

You'll also have a really hard time buying that lens from them at that price unless you agree to a bunch of "upgrades" and options. If you see a price that's significantly lower than the price on B&H Photo/Video's site, it's likely a scam.

 

[IslandCrow]

Despite the name, that lens is definitely not a macro lens. What you and your wife want are unfortunately nearly opposites. What you probably want to do is buy a lens that will work for her needs and then get a set of extension tubes. I'm afraid you'll have to do your own research on the extension tubes (or maybe someone else here can help you out a bit), but basically, they can convert any lens into a macro lens. You'll lose your focus out to infinity while you're using the tubes, but will gain the close focus you're looking for in a macro. Kenko extension tubes are very popular, and I don't believe they're very expensive. You should be able to get some good info on extension tube use looking in the "Macro Talk" section of this online Canon Photography forum: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/

Anyway, this website may help you in choosing a lens. If you want quality, I'd generally stick with Canon or Sigma: http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/.