I've recently bought a Canon Digital Rebel XT, which came with the "kit" lens. I was originally looking for a Nikon D50, but seeing both next to each other, I eventually chose the Canon for somethign like $60 more.  Hopefully I made the right choice here. :)

Anyways, I was wondering what everyone would recommend as "necessity" lenses and if there are any lower cost lenses I could consider. For example, I do like macro photography. I see on Canons site they have a macro lens for $599. Ouch! I know, I should be prepared for this. I primarily like to do macro and landscape type shots. Not much into portrait shots.

Any suggestions would be extremely helpful.

Thanks!

What kind of macro shots? Do you mean macro as in close-up or really (magnifying) close?

Hi Radlafx,

Actually both types of shots interest me, but I guess I normally do "close up" rather than magnifying close.

Congrats on your new camera.

There are many alternatives when it comes to lenses and you would be wise not to rush to quickly in making your choices as mistakes can be expensive.

The cheapest way for you to cover the type of shots you want to take is to buy some extension tubes to go with the kit lens you have. Kenko do a set of 3 for less than $200 by using the 25mm & 30mm tubes together with your kit lens you will have 1:1 macro photography.  

Their main disadvantage is they do require good light to work well so conditions have to be bright or use a tripod.  They lack some of the convenience of just putting on a macro lens.   

Advantages are cost, making use of the lens you have, and versatility you can use them in any combination on any lens so they will always be useful even if in the future you buy a dedicated macro lens. 

My second alternative is to buy a used macro lens. Quite often these appear because people upgrade to a more expensive model. Good examples can be found of the Tamron 90mm. Sigma 105mm and Canon 100mm macro lenses. They are all good quality lenses - buy from somewhere that offers a guarantee or that you trust,  if you are not used to looking at lenses.

My third alternative is to buy the Canon EF-s 60mm macro that can be bought for less than $400 and is a high quality dedicated macro lens that will work very well with your  Canon Rebel.

For landscapes the kit lens you have is quite adequate until such a time as you can afford to buy a dedicated wide angle landscape lens. There are many other purchases you will need to make before upgrading this.

HTH - Richard.

Hi Richard,

Thank you for all the suggestions, this is great!

I have to admit, despite much reading, there's alot of overwhelming information out there, but this will definatly give me something to start looking for.

The Canon 100mm macro will give you 160mm on a 1.6 crop camera (30D, 350D etc).