Help choosing Lenses

[ketan]

Hi,
I am a serious hobiest (not a professional). After lot of deliberations on (XTI, D80) I have recently purchased Canon 30D with a kit lens 18-55.
I already have tameron 28-200 used with my EOS300 (film) camera.
Need advise:
(1) I am scared of frequent lens changes (sounds funny). Should I go for a 18-200 Sigma. If not then any thing else I should buy with my $300 available cash ?
(2) Most important: Different lens with specific ranges are better than one with complete range? I have heard that inconveniece of handling many such lenses is well compensated by better quality images ! Technically I do not understand, how!
Thanks
Ketan

 

[DeepSpring]

If you have a 28-200 no reason to get the 18-200. The higher the range of a lens the worse your pictures will be. I haven't herd about that tamron but I have read horrible reviews on the sigma. There is no reason to be afraid of changing lenses. There is not much you can gety for under $300 but if you save up more you could get something like a 17-50 f/2.8 if you need a faster zoom or for around $400 used you might be able to find a 70-200 f/4 L. The 50mm f/1.8 is almost a must have and only runs about $80. You can find that or the f/1.4 version in almost any photographers bag.

You really need to give us more info on what you will be shooting tho to help you pick the best lens for your needs. For $300 a flash would be nice, I believe the 430ex is under that. You might also want to consider a vertical battery grip from opteka. It comes with 2 batteries and is around $100 I believe from amazon. A nice bag might be something you want to look into or a tripod. Depends what your needs are and what you shoot.

 

[ketan]

Hi Deepspring, thanks for reply.
Well, I am an account by profession residing in Dubai (UAE).
Though interested in learning photography, can spend time in the night on some night photography or go to desert during weekends. Like to really learn good portrait photography. There is not specific photography-subject that I am really concentrating on. But yes, I am serious to learn since I have bought a good camera Canon 30D, reading books by Bryan Peterson and member of this forum!
As I do not have any other hobby, while not spending too much, I do not wish to constrain on finance. $300 can go to may be $500. I keep aside $75 a month on this hobby.
I tried some night shoot of creek bridge mounting 30D on my $15 cheap triod and got horrible results.
The lence that you refer 50mm F/1.8 is a fixed lens? Would not my kit 18-55 serve the purpose ?
I think too many naive questions...
Thanks Ketan

 

[WDodd]

What do you want to do that your kit lens can't do?

Thats really the most important question when choosing a lens. If you think oh well I need more zoom here or more bokeh there. Thats how you should go about choosing your next lens.

I would recommend a 70-200 f/4L or something around that range. You already have a kit lens so I would find something different. The 50mm f/1.8 I would pick up just because its a great lens to have for cheap. To answer your question about if the kit would serve that purpose, yes and no. At 50mm the maximum aperture (lowest f-number) is 5.6 on the kit lens. The prime is 1.8 this will allow you to shoot in a lot lower lighted situations and further control the depth of focus (very shallow at 1.8).

Thats just what I would do knowing my own shooting style. I would figure out what you need/want or at least about what range you should be looking at and then everyone here can give some great recommendations.

 

[MikeR]

You say that you got horrible results using a cheap tripod. I would suggest you get a better one (plan on spending about $100 minimum) and a cable release. When the camera is on the tripod you can use the cable release so that you do not have to touch the camera,risking camera shake. You might also want to use the mirror lock up feature of the camera
The cable release may cost about $30, although I'm not certain about the price.

When ready, you may want to upgrade the kit lens to a faster one, such as the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 The Aperture is constant throughout the zoom range, Unlike the kit lens. IQ is excellent. This lens costs under $450. and may have international rebates. They always have US rebates on their website
All prices I mention are in USD.

Keep asking any questions you might have.

 

[DeepSpring]

Another way you can try and work with what you have when shooting longer exposures on your cheap tripod is instead of buying a cable release just set your time on the camera. Press the shutter and 5 or w/e it is seconds later it will go off with nothing pushing on it.

 

[ketan]

Hi, thanks for all the advices and for the patience. I would surely buy 50mm f/1.8 II this weekend. i am not happy with my Tameron AF Aspherical XR (IF) A03. When at zoom i try to focus, it keeps going back and forth (I am not sure in photographic terms how to explain). So I need to keep tapping my camera shoot button to focus instead of pressing halfway. May be it is an old lens, that's why!
Mostly when I go out with family I may not get much time to change lenses so I feel I must have a good 18/28 - 200 single lens rather then going for 70-200 as an add-on to my kit lens (18-55).
I would request you to tell me whether should I go for Sigma or Canon (may be expensive). Slow focusing irritates!
One question I think still puzzling me. What difference is between having a single full range lens say 18-200 versus separate lenses like 18-55, 70-200 etc. I read that in single lens you compromise quality! I am wondering that technically 'How'?
Thanks
Ketan

 

[DeepSpring]

when you have a lens that has to go across such a long range there are so many more parts to the lens which helps to decrease the quality of the pictures. Images are not clear and other fancy stuff some else can explain better lol. Focusing time will also be faster if you get better, shorter lenses. You also have the ability to have a much larger aperature with a short distance like a 17-50 or 28-70 f/2.8. Both are pretty common lenses, the 17 being a bit more popular with digital shooters because of the crop factor. Also with the sigma 18-200 at the 200 end you are a f/6.3!! That is extremely slow if you are going to want to be able to use it indoors or in any poor lighting conditions. Especially at the long focal length the slow shutter is going to be noticeable with the camera shake you will get from long shutter speeds.

changing lenses every now and then is really not that hard. Just get a simple belt pouch or something and with some practice you can do it in no time.

You spent the money for an expensive DSLR, the whole point being the ability to change lenses to match what you are shooting. You want to take advantage of that.

 

[ketan]

Would anyone who is not earning out of photography would go for any L series? I just saw 70-200 f/4 L priced at $560. That is almost half my 30D body cost. Maybe I can justify that as this is a permenant investment on lens that can be used in future on another Canon body.
Would a non 'L' similar lens results by a amature photographer will be significantly different?
Ketan

 

[Groupcaptainbonzo]

Camera bodies (Digital anyway) are superceeded on an almost daily basis. A good lens is a good lens for a long while. Especially if you are talking about ZOOM lenses, the whole is just a mass of compromises (Which is why prime lenses are are usually both cheaper and better). So spending as much as you can on a good lens is almost always paid back to you over a long period of time.

An 18 - 55mm EFs lens is a really good lens for £40.00. But a 17 - 85 IS USM is better. Although much more expensive. and of course "L" series is even more expensive, but usually even better....

Which lens(es) you go for will of course depend on what you want to take pictures of . A 50mm (as recommended) is a really good lens , I use the 50mm f1.4 usm myself. But not for sport or wildlife or macro.... Similarly a 500mm "L" series is a fabulous piece of glass. But somewhat limited when it comes to intimate portraits or wedding photography. Not to mention your buget. A 50mm f1.8 is a really good lens, pin sharp and fast. but in the clinches the f1.4 is better. But then it damn well should be. it's nearly 5 times the cost...

Also if you are a fell walker (Someone who walks around hills and mountains) you will REALLY be interested in the light weight option, maybe something like a single "super zoom". But if image quality is the only consideration then a range of "L" series prime lenses is the only way to go.... If you can afford them and if you can carry them all around. Somewhere in between all these is a reallity which will suit you.

My "walk round lens is the EFs 17 - 85 f4-5.6 IS USM. The range of zoom is nearly what I want. The speed is almost fast enough for most of my images. The sharpness and colour reproduction is very close to ideal and I paid about £330.00p for mine. So if you're not in the U.K. you can possibly halve that... It is a good alround lens for most things. But then I'm sure that everyone will have their own favorite.