DSLRs...

[Chris Strellis]

..well another common factor for us 'barians seems to be photography :)

I'm in the market for a DSLR which I intend to use for astrophotography as well.  I definitely want a Canon and I'm kind of settle on a 550D which in body only form is in my budget.

A friend of mine has a Canon 5D MK2 and is taking stunning pictures in lots of scenarios:

http://stardustpics.blogspot.com/

I'll be taking family portrait type pictures, landscape, macro close up and wildlife pictures.

Would anyone recommend the stock lens that comes with it, EF-S 18-55mm Zoom Lens, or would two other lenses be better say a Canon EF 50mm f1.8 MK2 and a Tamron 70-300mm.

I'll want a flash as well as the two lenses with an additional budget of say £400 on top of the body price.  Am I asking for too much in my budget?

http://tinyurl.com/2c3hof4 looks good although I am confused whether the Tamron lens is included in the price or not!

For astrophotography I'll be using the body only, my 8" 2000mm F/10 telescope will be the lens ;)

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Chris