OK, well its time to throw some cash on the table...
 

and i wa looking at these kits from ebay (from legit business's mind u)

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/CANON-EOS-20D...ewItem#efslens

and

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....MakeTrack=true

Along with a 580ex and a Battery Grip, do u think this kit is ok?? Or is an IS USM lens pretty much essential for events??

were talkin low light shots from weddings and parties etc...

I have loads of replies from other posts, but right now, im wanting to keep the whole package under 5grand AU...

any ideas?? apart from robbing a bank of course.. lol

well - that depends on your shooting style. But considering that you mentioned low light shooting, then the low light sentivity of the lenses in question is a problem. IS only reduces blur due to camera shakes, and if you get down to 1/15 sec then the movent of the persons you are talking pictures of will start to show. And motion blur is a effect not a feature. You get "blurry" eyes due to blinking and eye movent.

With only F4 you end up using ISO 1600 1/15 in normal party lightning before you know it. Then you can of course use the flash, but then you do not need IS.

I would drop the 70-200 for parties, and get an Sigma 30mm F1.4. This baby can get you perfect 1/50 sec pics at ISO 800 using only candlelight. Then I would get a small videolight and use it for filling shadows. It gives less disruption compared to a high power flash. The 17-85 is BTW perfect for flash at parties. Wide enough for group pictures and good for portraits.

I don't know if you already got it, but here it goes. It actually depends on what and how you planning on shooting. First I would never buy EF-S lens with 20D. Don't waste your time and money. Those lenses were developed for use on Rebel. They do fit 20D and Rebel only. It will not fit anything else. The quality of EF-S lenses is also questionable. If you doing weddings professionaly you would want 70-200/2.8 lens with image stabilizer not the f4. Also those 70-200f4 were reported to have focusing problems with 10d so the same thing could be happening with 20d. For more info I'd suggest looking up some info on photography specific forums like dpreview, luminouslandscape, fredmiranda...

Good luck
Alex

I second that. The only EF-S lens (or the Sigma equivalent) that might be worth buying for the 20D is the 10-22mm if you really need a true wide angle lens.

thx for the feedback guys..

well the budget is extremely tight.. its down to about 4500AUD, so im lookin at the body, the battery grip and a 580ex flash as a definite...
and im just left with choosing the right lenses to go with it...

Im lookin at the standard 75-300 lens with AF (No IS) as a cheapy 4x zoom lens, and the 17-85 USM IS for standard shots... but i dunno if thats a good way to start off with...
or should i go for the standard 70-200mm f/4.0L USM

what do u think?