As I have mentioned before, Im a journalist for a radio station here in Ohio
Whereabouts? I was there a few weeks ago in Cleveland (@renaissance) for a conference (and photography of course).
Some stuff you'll want to look at:
- Basic zoom lens (not sure if you'll really need it, might be useful if you're shooting say, city council meetings or ribbon cutting ceremonies and such). The Canon EF-S 55-250 f/4-5.6 IS is very cheap, about $300 or so. But do not that it is, in fact, cheap. And it's not ideal for portrait shots per se. I assume you already have either a stock 17-55 or something similar.
- If you can afford it, i'd reccomend the Canon EF-S 17-85MM f4-5.6 IS USM which is a fantastic all purpose, affordable lens. A bit pricier though but it should handle everything you need.
- Polarizer/NDgrad as required.
- Canon Speedlite 430EX. A nice flash, for only a small premium over the 220EX. usually $250 or so.
I have the Canon XT (350D) Rebel
Speedlite 430EX
18-55mm stock lens
75-200 Zoom lens
Lol. I guess I should have read the entire thing first heh. If you want a nice starting lens kit, the 17-85 i suggested above roughly fits your budget and gets the job done -- if you get a tripod+remote, it makes your life easier. For events and such, you'll want zoom probably (I cant think of non-contrived scenarios where wideangle would be used).
For a zoom lens, I use the
EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM which is a bit out of your budget range but the
EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM can be had for much less (closer to your budget if u shop for it).
Other than polarizer + tripod/remote, you're pretty much set
