New Lense Suggestions for a beginner Canon rebel owner? :)

[sakorarox07]

Hello all!

Well my birthday is coming up...so I was thinking bout asking for a new lense from the family!

Im VERY MUCH a beginner, but Im learning slowly but surely

I currently have a Canon Rebel Xs ( I know..I suck :P but thats all I had in my budget as a poor university student )

and I have the 2 lenses that came with the camera:

IS lenses: EF-S 18-55IS (model #2042B002) and EF-S 55-250IS (model #2044B002)

I REALLY love the55-250 one, but it can get a little annoying sometimes cause you have to be a certain distance away to take the pic...but I dont really mind. I love the lense

Anywho.... I use my camera mostly for food photography, but I also use it (obviously) on trips and vacations and such. So ...any recomendations for lenses?

As this is a birthday present...it cant be overly expensive, and since Im fairly new to this and have an XS.... I really dont need anything too fancy...but I dont want something that is total crap either....

Thanks a lot for any help!

[TPF Sponsor]

[dxqcanada]

Why do you want a third lens ?

You really have not described what you want the lens to do for you ... that your current lenses do not.

Tell us.

[Montana]

I agree, you need to define your needs before anyone can recommend something.

And by the way, you camera (nor you) suck because its a Rebel XT. That is still a very capable camera.

Derrick

[frXnz kafka]

What exactly is it that you don't like about your 2 lenses? You say you have to be a certain distance away with the 55-200, but that it solved by having the 18-55. So there must be some other reason you're wanting to upgrade.

[Overread]

I guess the 55-200mm has a long minium focusing distance - and if your taking shots of things like food you are having to stand back a lot more than you desire.
If food photography is an interest have you considered a macro lens?

[Montana]

Ahh...good reading overread. I was thinking focal length and field of view, not minimum focusing distance. Now it makes sense, a macro would be your best bet. I would suggest something in the 50-60mm range. I think the 100mm would be too long.

Derrick

[Overread]

for food I would say a canon 60mm or sigma 70mm would be ideal (the canon 50mm is not a proper macro lens and to make it one needs an adaptor = at which point you might as well get a better pure macro for the cost!)

however a 90mm or greater would be more expandable into other areas, like insect macro, It does depend on what the OP's needs and wants are

[AlexColeman]

I would say that he should get a 24-70 L, it is not an overly expensive birthday gift.

[JustAnEngineer]

Price-wise, you don't save a whole lot by getting something less than the excellent EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM (which is under $500). The EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM is only $90 less. A used Sigma 105 appears to be about the only really cheap (<$250) macro lens around. The reviews say that the Sigma lens doesn't auto-focus well, but you're likely to be using manual focusing for macro shots, anyway.

[sakorarox07]

thanks for all the suggestion, and as for what type of lense I want,I mentioned what I usually use the camera for. I'm not looking persay to upgrade because im not happy with the lense, its just a matter of expanding my now very limited collection of lenses...