Advice for new Canon lens for newbie.

[mikeWest]

Hi folks, I'm a newbie Canon T2i owner. My birthday is coming up and I would like to upgrade my lens. I have a T2i and it came with a 18-55 kit lens. My pictures tend to be mostly of my kid and family (portraits) but I'd also like to get into architecture, planes, and some nature. I also would like to try HDR at some point and panaroma shots. In any event, I'm considering a zoom lens in the sub $250 range and a tripod. Any advice on the lens? (Also advice on a cheap ~$50 tripod also welcome.) Ty.

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

Most or all of what you mentioned, can be shot with your kit lens. Can you give us a more solid reason for upgrading? In other words, where are you finding it lacking?

$250 isn't much of a budget for an upgrade zoom lens. There are a few options, but nothing that I'd really call an upgrade.
You may want to add an additional lens, something like a 55-200mm or a 75-300mm. That will give you more 'reach', to shoot things farther away.

You may also consider something like the 50mm F1.8. This isn't a zoom lens, but it has a much larger maximum aperture, which gives you the option to get faster shutter speeds and/or a shallower Depth of Field.

And while a $50 tripod is (sometimes) better than no tripod...you won't get much for that price. Look around at your local camera stores (or even electronic box stores) and see what they have.

 

[mikeWest]

It's hard to give a concrete scenario but I often find myself wishing I could be closer to my subject. With plane photography that will of course be the case since it's hard to get access to the runway Architecture, I suppose can go either way. F1.8 50 mm sounds nice too. Hmm...

 

[Derrel]

I would skip the $50 store tripod and look and hope for one from a garage sale or a Craig's list ad...maybe somebody's adult kid's old college Bogen tripod from the 1980's or something...a $40-$50 "garage sale tripod" might actually end up being quite decent. Otherwise, for only $50, you're gonna end up with a Focal or Velbon or somesuch, made of square channel-leg aluminum material.

 

[Zev Steinhardt]

(Also advice on a cheap ~$50 tripod also welcome.) Ty.

I bought the cheap-o $50 store tripod a while ago. For a while (while I was still learning the basics) it was fine. However, as I bought heavier lenses (and as I got more into macro photography where keeping the camera steady is *very* important), I found that it did a very poor job of keeping my camera still. If you do decide to go with this type of tripod (perhaps because of budget constraints), keep in mind that as you progress, you will find yourself growing ever more frustrated by the tripods inability to do it's primary job, and that you should start saving towards a better tripod that you can buy down the road.

Zev Steinhardt

 

[Phil_G]

canonrumors.com has great reviews on lens and all the latest prices. Its a great resource for a site.

Phil

Shades of Gray Photography
www.shadesofgraykc.com