Advise on Lens (please)

[ketan]

Hi,
I wish to have a little more on my lens collection.

I own:
30D
50mm f/1.8 II
18-55 kit lens
28-200 Tamron - slow - wish to scrap

I have mae up my mind on 100mm f/2.8 macro

Wish to buy one more good one (hoping that it will be visibly different from my kit 18-55)

USES:
Portraits,good Bokeh,clouds, sunrise, sunset, beach, family photos etc.

Considering:
EF 28-135 f 3.5-5.6 IS USM
EF - S - 17-85 f 3.5-5.6 IS USM
Both are at the same price here appx $700 (we pay duty here)
(I am conscious of carrying a white / protruding lens. In fact even Tamron at 200mm is stared by people as if I have come from Mars)

Request your advise please.
Thank/ketan

 

[JIP]

Well you need to cide if buying one of the lenses is woth it if they are anough diferent from your kit lens. Not being a Canon person I am not familiar with the lenses you named but I can tell you they seem awfully close in speed to what would be a kit lens.

 

[jeeper]

I have mae up my mind on 100mm f/2.8 macro

You won't be disappointed with that one, it's a great lens.

You might also consider the 85mm f/1.8.

 

[EOS_JD]

Hi,
I wish to have a little more on my lens collection.

I own:
30D
50mm f/1.8 II
18-55 kit lens
28-200 Tamron - slow - wish to scrap

I have mae up my mind on 100mm f/2.8 macro

Wish to buy one more good one (hoping that it will be visibly different from my kit 18-55)

USES:
Portraits,good Bokeh,clouds, sunrise, sunset, beach, family photos etc.

Considering:
EF 28-135 f 3.5-5.6 IS USM
EF - S - 17-85 f 3.5-5.6 IS USM
Both are at the same price here appx $700 (we pay duty here)
(I am conscious of carrying a white / protruding lens. In fact even Tamron at 200mm is stared by people as if I have come from Mars)

Request your advise please.
Thank/ketan

The 100 f2.8 Macro is a great portrait lens (very sharp) although perhaps a little long on a 30D body.

If I was looking for a lens to shoot Portraits with good Bokeh, landscapes and family photos it would be something witha a maximum f2.8 aperture.

Maybe either of the Tamron 17-50 f2.8 or 28-75 f2.8. The others have pretty slow apertures especially at the long end. This means larger dof (and poorer bokeh).

After these i'd look at the Canon 70-200 f4L or if you don't want a white lens, something like the Sigma 70-200 f2.8 although this is a bigger lens!

 

[ketan]

If I was looking for a lens to shoot Portraits with good Bokeh, landscapes and family photos it would be something witha a maximum f2.8 aperture.

What I understand is that 'fixed apperture' will be a good investment.

For portraits....family photos what range should I look for? say 18-75 ?

Based on your feedback I will try to find some good one and revert for advise. I would prefer Canon as a brand than TP.

Thanks

 

[ketan]

You won't be disappointed with that one, it's a great lens.

You might also consider the 85mm f/1.8.

I have 50mm f/1.8 and will buy 100mm f/2.8, do you think I am missing something that I may get in 85mm f/1.8?

 

[pandinus]

Hi,
I wish to have a little more on my lens collection.

I own:
30D
50mm f/1.8 II
18-55 kit lens
28-200 Tamron - slow - wish to scrap

I have mae up my mind on 100mm f/2.8 macro

Wish to buy one more good one (hoping that it will be visibly different from my kit 18-55)

USES:
Portraits,good Bokeh,clouds, sunrise, sunset, beach, family photos etc.

Considering:
EF 28-135 f 3.5-5.6 IS USM
EF - S - 17-85 f 3.5-5.6 IS USM
Both are at the same price here appx $700 (we pay duty here)
(I am conscious of carrying a white / protruding lens. In fact even Tamron at 200mm is stared by people as if I have come from Mars)

Request your advise please.
Thank/ketan

I've bought a Sigma 105mm f/2,8 EX macro lense, I'm quite please with that lense. I'd recomend that one. Canon has a great deal of good lenses, but it seems to me that Canon lenses cost a great deal more. I've read quite a few reviews on macro lenses, and found that the difference is mostly in the price you have to pay for the product. Hope you find a good lense that you like. =)

 

[EOS_JD]

I've bought a Sigma 105mm f/2,8 EX macro lense, I'm quite please with that lense. I'd recomend that one. Canon has a great deal of good lenses, but it seems to me that Canon lenses cost a great deal more. I've read quite a few reviews on macro lenses, and found that the difference is mostly in the price you have to pay for the product. Hope you find a good lense that you like. =)

The thing I didn't like about the Sigma/Tamron macro lenses is that the barrel extends when focusing. The canon's is internal focusing. makes a difference when you are very close to a pasrticular subject.

 

[ketan]

I've bought a Sigma 105mm f/2,8 EX macro lense, I'm quite please with that lense. I'd recomend that one. Canon has a great deal of good lenses, but it seems to me that Canon lenses cost a great deal more. I've read quite a few reviews on macro lenses, and found that the difference is mostly in the price you have to pay for the product. Hope you find a good lense that you like. =)

Just now called the dealer.
Canon 100mm f/2.8 costs $700, Sigma 105mm f/2.8 costs $380.
What do you say friends! What should I go for?
ketan
p.s. I think that JD has replied my point!

 

[EOS_JD]

What I understand is that 'fixed apperture' will be a good investment.

For portraits....family photos what range should I look for? say 18-75 ?

Based on your feedback I will try to find some good one and revert for advise. I would prefer Canon as a brand than TP.

Thanks

Good lenses in the max 2.8 range are

Tamron
17-50 f2.8
28-75 f28

Sigma
24-70 f2.8
17-70 f2.8-4

Canon
24-70 f2.8
EF-S 17-55 f2.8 IS

There's probably more but these are all pretty highly rated - even the Sigma variable aperture lens (17-70 f2.8-4) is a fairly decent lens which should be fast enough for most uses.

I just feel that f5.6 on the long end is way too slow for normal use (except in reasonable light). Sure the IS is useful but only for static subjects.

 

[EOS_JD]

Just now called the dealer.
Canon 100mm f/2.8 costs $700, Sigma 105mm f/2.8 costs $380.
What do you say friends! What should I go for?
ketan
p.s. I think that JD has replied my point!

That is a big difference in price and it's down to personal choice. The quality of all the macro lenses in each camp are very highly rated. Put the money saved to buy a better walk around lens......

 

[ketan]

That is a big difference in price and it's down to personal choice. The quality of all the macro lenses in each camp are very highly rated. Put the money saved to buy a better walk around lens......

Sorry for my understanding ... but walk around lenses means one of the list you have mentioned above ranging between 17-70?

 

[Don Simon]

As for the 85mm vs 100mm, I don't think it's worth buying both unless you can easily afford it. 85mm is IMO a slightly better portrait length and obviously that lens is faster... but it's not a macro lens, if that's what you're after. Personally I got a 90mm macro, which is ideal for both portrait and macro use.

The decision between the Sigma and the Canon is again a question of how much money you have, how much you are willing to spend and what else you could be spending it on. The main difference IMO is going to be in the build; as EOS_JD said, the Canon has internal focus. It can make a difference if you're very close to the subject, but in my experience it only really matters if the subject is a very small creature likely to be scared by the sound and motion of the lens... in which case they will probably have already been scared off by you approaching anyway unless you are some kind of ninja

As EOS suggests, the money saved by getting the Sigma at half the price can go towards another lens.
Btw walkaround is just a generic term, but yes it would generally it's used to describe lenses that go of wide-angle to telephoto, whether 17-70, 24-105... whatever you would be most happy walking around with

 

[EOS_JD]

Sorry for my understanding ... but walk around lenses means one of the list you have mentioned above ranging between 17-70?

ZophodB cracked this for you

Whatever range you are happy to have.

Mine is the 24-105 and is on my camera most of the time when just using it for general use. Although sometimes though the 10-22 is my walkaround lens or sometimes my 17-35......

 

[ketan]

I am cought in these... I want IS, would prefer L series, prefer fixed apperture (2.8 or 4). Budget is falling short.

As a non professional / amature photographer any suggestion for order of priority or something that I should give up? I would stick to canon as a brand against any TP lens.

What is the period of technical obsolescence for a lens. I believe that body becomes obsolete in 3-4 years.

Ketan