I need some advice on a new lens

wherediputit · Sep 13, 2007

Hi everyone, I am new here and sort of new to photography, I have been shooting for over a year, but it has been spotty and am now just getting into it and learning what different film speeds do and aperture and shutter speed.

I currently have a film Canon Rebel K2 with the kit lens 28-90mm, it has gotten me good shots, but after reading some posts on here I found out about the 50mm fixed lens that I plan on getting and now am wondering about a zoom lens. On BH photo video's website I found a Canon 75-300 mm for $180 and a Tamron 70-300 mm for $190. I shoot more landscape than portrait, some sports thrown in there as well. I shoot a lot at Disneyland when I go and have improved my good to bad shot ratio. I have worked up to the point where I don't put my camera on auto mode much if at all anymore, mainly use full manual.

Would either of those lenses be good for my applications? If so, which of the two would you recommend, I searched here and read some of those posts, but I also found that it depends on what the individual shoots most as well, so I figured I would ask as well as introduce myself.

By the way my name is K.C. I appreciate any help with this. This looks like a friendly forum from what I have read, so thats good, not a hostile type place. Thanks again.

Don Simon · Sep 13, 2007

Hi and welcome to the forum.

A 50mm prime is an excellent choice. It's often recommended here for digital cameras, but it makes even more sense to get it for your 35mm film camera where it acts as a "normal" lens. If you're used to zooms then a fixed focal length may take a bit of getting used to, but the larger max aperture will open up new possibilities.

A 70-300mm is also a good choice for expanding your range, and will be ok for sports but only really outdoor ones in good light (due to the small max aperture)... sports photography often requires longer and faster lenses (which are a lot more expensive) but a 70-300mm should get you some decent shots outside on a sunny day.

It will be fine for landscape shots where you will presumably have time to set up with a tripod and be able to use small apertures. Generally people associate landscape photography with wide-angle lenses, but there are plenty of situations where one would use a telephoto.

In the budget 70-300mm range, either the Tamron or Canon offer pretty good value for money. Sigma have a 70-300mm as well but I haven't been particularly impressed by that one.

wherediputit · Sep 13, 2007

Thank You for the welcome and for you extremely informative post. I will definitely take it all in, I will look at the wide angles to see their prices. The sports will be shot during the day and am I under the correct assumption that if I shoot some landscape or general Disneyland shots at night with 100 or 200 ISO film that I would bring the aperture size down and use a longer shutterspeed? I really appreciate your help, I can't wait to see how many rolls of film I shoot once I get that 50, probably be unstoppable. Thanks again!!

Big Mike · Sep 13, 2007

Welcome to the forum.

I think you have already received good info about the lenses. You can bring your aperture size down (higher F number) which will mean a slower shutter speed...and that could give you some interesting shots...but be aware that a slower shutter speed will mean blur...both from camera movement and subject movement. In this case, subject movement at Disneyland might look pretty cool...but camera movement probably wouldn't. So it would be advisable to use a tripod and a remote release (or the self timer). Unfortunately, I think I've heard that the good folks at Disney won't let you use a tripod...so just rest your camera on something solid and don't touch it while the timer is going off.

wherediputit · Sep 13, 2007

Awesome, thank you very much for your reply. I will be setting it on a handrail probably, I was iffy on if they would let me bring a tripod, but now I know. I noticed that when I put my camera's aperture on a higher number and did a long exposure of a shot I wanted (rivers of america at night) it turned out better than my full auto ones on like night landscape setting. That is why I figured it would apply here as well. Thank You again soo much.