Lowest DSLR Kit Possible
In full disclosure I will be selling this kit on this site – as well as http://www.TapeWorksTexas.com. We will use MSRP on the estimating – even though no one pays full retail (ever) – or average street price if necessary. This page is also a work in progress – so as I’m editing I’m going to publish it (even though it might not really be complete). Please make recommendations in the comments on this kit only – please let’s stay on topic from the beginning.
Here’s the goal:
This needs to a complete shooting solution built around the Canon T2i (550D).
The Body:
Canon T2i (550D) [BODY ONLY] $1200 MSRP – Average Street $799.00
Body Only Kit Includes:
- EOS Rebel T2i Body
- Eyecup Ef
- Wide Strap EW-100DBIII
- USB Interface Cable IFC-130U
- Stereo AV Cable AVC-DC400ST
- Battery Pack LP-E8
- Battery Charger LC-E8E
- EOS Digital Solution Disk and Instruction Manuals
- “Great Photography is Easy”Booklet and “Do More with Macro” Booklet
Lens Kit:
This is where the “Kit” gets tricky – because if you only had money for one lens – what would it be… For my style of shooting I’d want a fast portrait lens, because that fits my style of shooting best.
Originally I was going to fit this kit with a 85mm, but for the cost and the fact that most don’t have huge spaces to shoot the 50mm made the most since.
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II $150 MSRP – Average Street $99.99
Memory Kit:
I don’t think that you can ever have enough memory – but at least two 16 GB SDHC cards on a basic kit.
Transcend 16Gb class 10 SDHC cards $50 for two
Audio Kit: TBD
Rails / Support Kit: TBD
Power Kit: TBD
Also – would love your input on 
This is a work in progress guys – so please disregard the dust… Please filling in the void with your comments of what is absolutely necessary to round out the kit. But, remember that we are trying to do this on the cheep!
I am a T2i user and I keep a simple kit. My must includes a backpack for cameras by Cannon. It fits my Tamron 18-270MM telephoto, my Cannon 1.8F 50MM, multiple LP-e8 batteries, 3 battery chargers, an SDHC case with 5 cards and reader, shotgun mic w/Azden shock mount, beachtech passive xlr to 3.5mm plug, 2 xlr’s (1′, 3′), a range of coins that I use for screwdrivers, and a monopod. These are what I consider my basic, run & gun kit. Yeah, there’s a lot more that I could bring but this is the – “honey, I’m going out to shoot a silly short video – back in 5 hours!” kit.
I’d love to list the slider, track/dolly, jib, etc. Yeah, we have it but for the basic kit – my run and gun kit is perfect for me.
Hey Josh – thanks for the list! I’m thinking that the 50mm f/1.4 USM and the 85mm f/1.8 would be a must (for those who are not ready to invest in the 24 – 70mm & 70 – 200 L USM lenses.
Have you had any issues with CA or other oddness from your Tamron?
I’ve added a Zoom H4n for audio to the kit – just food for thought