Canon 450D question

I have decided to bite the bullet and will finally be upgrading from my
current P&S to something a little better, I have decided to go with the
Canon 450D after much research and hands on at some of the local vendors
with it and a few of the Nikons the choice eventually came down to
ergonomics, the Canon fit my hand better and everything was much more
accessible for me. I will be spending part of my Tax refund on this so I
will have a couple of weeks before the money is in the bank but I will be
buying a body plus lens kit. The Camera will come with a 18-55 IS lens but I
want something a little longer. I will also be going to Perth in November
for the Red Bull Air race, what do the experts here recommend for that type
of shooting. I probably won't buy the lens outright just yet but will look
at renting it for the occasion, so can you please recommend somewhere in
Perth that will rent me such a lens as well.
Thanks

--
"Calling Atheism a religion is like calling bald a hair color."
Don Hirschberg

Atheist Chaplain wrote:
> I have decided to bite the bullet and will finally be upgrading from my
> current P&S to something a little better, I have decided to go with the
> Canon 450D after much research and hands on at some of the local vendors
> with it and a few of the Nikons the choice eventually came down to
> ergonomics, the Canon fit my hand better and everything was much more
> accessible for me. I will be spending part of my Tax refund on this so I
> will have a couple of weeks before the money is in the bank but I will be
> buying a body plus lens kit. The Camera will come with a 18-55 IS lens but I
> want something a little longer. I will also be going to Perth in November
> for the Red Bull Air race, what do the experts here recommend for that type
> of shooting. I probably won't buy the lens outright just yet but will look
> at renting it for the occasion, so can you please recommend somewhere in
> Perth that will rent me such a lens as well.
> Thanks

Well, being in Canada, I can't recommend you a store in Perth

But a couple thoughts about lenses:

The common wisdom is that the lens is where most of your money should
go, since a good lens on a cheap camera will generally give better
results than a cheap lens on a good camera... and if you ever upgrade
your camera body, a good lens can stay with you. Thus, typical advice
is to buy the body only, and forgo the kit lens for something of higher
quality.

Now that said, Canon's kit lenses these days are pretty good - I got the
17-85 IS USM with my 40D, and it's been excellent for what's essentially
a $200 lens. Without knowing what you consider "a little longer", I
could suggest either that lens, or the 24-105 that is also available in
a 40D "kit". Now in this case, you'd want to go with the body only, as
these lenses don't appear to be available in a "kit" with the XSi (450D).

My local store also lists the XSi in a kit with both the 18-55 IS *and*
a 55-250mm IS lens. They list the body only at CDN$730, the body and
18-55 kit at CDN$800, and the kit with both lenses at CDN$1150... a
little pricier with the long lens, but probably a lot less than you'd
pay for it separately.

Of course, you can go with just the kit lens initially, to keep the
price down, and then rent a range of other lenses (one or two at a time)
to find one that you really like or find particularly useful (when the
budget allows).

For air shows, you'll probably want to try out something fairly "fast"
(larger maximum aperture, such as f/2.8; most cheaper zooms run
f/4-f/5.6), and definitely get one with the USM (Canon's UltraSonic
Motor focusing). IS is not so useful when tracking moving objects
(especially those moving fast) - it may be worth looking at when you
purchase, but not a big concern if you're renting specifically for that
event.