Best (budget) travel lense?

[voyageaimer]

I'm looking for a good travel lense to add to my collection. I'd like something that takes great landscape shots and good closeups, if possible. I'm thinking a wide angle lense fits the bill - something like the f1.8 50mm STM? I've read mixed reviews on that lense. I would like to stay around the $100 mark (or less) if possible. I currently have the Canon kit lense 18-55mm I believe? and a Canon 75-300mm.

 

[nerwin]

With that budget and your requirements, I don't think you can beat the 18-55 kit lens which you already have.

50mm on your Canon would be equivalent of an 80mm field of view on full frame which is not wide angle and definitely won't focus as close as your 18-55.

 

[voyageaimer]

With that budget and your requirements, I don't think you can beat the 18-55 kit lens which you already have.

50mm on your Canon would be equivalent of an 80mm field of view on full frame which is not wide angle and definitely won't focus as close as your 18-55.

Interesting..thanks for the advice! I'm looking at the Rokinon 14mm as well. It is obviously outside of my desired budget, but it seems like a great sense for the price. The videos/photo I have viewed of people using the lense seemed to show what I am looking for.

 

[petrochemist]

On a budget there are rarely any lenses that will compete with a modern kit lens.
If you want to focus closer than your current lenses adding extension tubes or a Raynox will acheive that, within your budget.
If you can manage manual control of the lens (focusing and aperture) then adapting lenses can be a budget option, but there aren't many wide angle lenses suitable, nothing wider than 28mm is like;ly to be within your budget.
The 50mm/1.8 you mention will give exactly the same FOV as your 18-55 at 50mm which is nearly zoomed all the way in. It will have benefits in low light situations but otherwise is unlikely to help at all.
For some subjects, you can combine overlapping shots to give a wider FOV - Microsoft ICE is a free bit of software for doing this. - very limited for moving subjects but just possibly a solution for you.

There are some 'wide angle converters' on e-bay that screw on to your lens, a few of these are OK, but most of them are barely worth the postage - even when it's post free!

 

[photography54]

Hey buddy,

you just try Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Lens once that is the best ever travel camera in front of my eye.

 

[Jeff15]

There will always be times when you need a little more reach than the kit lens, for traveling you will need a small zoom of about 100 to 140mm.

 

[petrochemist]

There will always be times when you need a little more reach than the kit lens, for traveling you will need a small zoom of about 100 to 140mm.

The 75-300 the OP listed should provide that adequately.

 

[ceemac]

I agree with Petrochemist. I have the 50mm f1.8. It's a wonderful low light lens, but just not wide enough for night street photography, unless you're shooting individual people.

 

[Neverbe]

Well, you already have $100 budget kit).

Nothing except manual old-school will fit in).

Most buy 18-300 or 18-200 for travel with cropped camera but in that case but you would not feel much difference in image quality.

Maybe some zoom 10-20, 11-16, 14-24 etc can spice up your life, but they would cost times more.

Still have fun. For most of the time, you already have good options to make nice photos. At first I used old plastic 50-200 and feel no shame for it.

 

[TCampbell]

The $100 budget really limits things... the only lens in that price range is the EF 50mm f/1.8 STM. It's a great lens... but it's also a prime lens.

"travel" lenses tend to be standard zooms that offer a bit of wide-angle and a bit of narrow-angle (tele) so they can be used as general purpose lenses for every-day photography. These are not specialty lenses... so if you start picking it into "yes, but can I use it to shoot fast-action sports games played in really bad lighting?" or "can I use to to photograph wildlife from a mile away?" ... it wont be optimal for those things. These lenses typically do not have particularly low focal ratios. That means they don't offer particularly shallow depth of field (if you want your in-focus subject to have a nicely blurred background.) It also means they usually aren't great for low light situations.

A lens worth considering is the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM. It's about $400 USD.

If you're going someplace where you just want ONE lens and don't have space to carry more lenses, then you could get one of the super-zooms such as the Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS. This lens is about $700 USD.

None of that is in your $100 price range, but to be fair... most consumer grade lenses are in the $300-700 price range with a few that are a bit above or below that range. There are high-end lenses that are more professional grade than consumer grade and those lenses tend to be closer to $1000 and up.)

 

[chuasam]

Budget waaaay too small.
spring for the Sigma 18-200...that's a decent travel lens on a real budget.

 

[ac12]

Yongnuo 35 f/1.8 for a "normal" lens. About $100.
No, Canon does not make a crop sensor 35mm lens, only the 50.
IMHO the 35 is more flexible than the 50, but still not a do everything travel lens.

My vote for a travel lens would be same as Tim, the 18-135.
But it is way over your budget.

 

[keen.observer]

"The best ********", and "budget" rarely go together. Make up your mind, and choose. Do you want budget, or best? You can reduce the cost of the best, somewhat, by buying used, or refurbished, and / or trading in something else. Even so, there are limits on how far you can go that way. For travel, you can get a reasonably good, but not great, superzoom lens...18-300mm, or such....or you can get a bag full of better Prime lenses. Superzooms offer lower total cost, and greater convenience, but sacrifice some image quality. The bag full of Primes offer better image quality, but cost more overall, and are less convenient to carry. If convenience, and budget, matter most, consider a Tamron 18-400mm lens. If image quality matters most, get a 20mm lens, and a 35mm lens, and a 50mm lens, and an 80mm lens, and a 105mm lens, and a 200mm lens, etc. Sometimes it will be best to get an in house brand that matches your camera...Nikon, Canon, or whatever. Sometimes, a third party lens-Tamron, Sigma, etc-will be better. Do research, and compare lens to lens, on cost, distortion, etc. $100.00 does not offer much in the way of possibility. Shop used / refurbished, and see what you can find.

 

[Dave Colangelo]

For me it depends more on the type of travel that is going on. I have lugged large camera kits on vacation but thats largely for the sole purpose of photography on the trip. I have also gone on trips with only a two or three lenses. What Im about to share is my personal experience on the vacations/trips I have been on YMMV

For traveling I rarely ever use telephoto lenses. When Im traveling wider tends to be better, be it capturing vast landscapes, architecture of a city or just your typical stuff around a place normal to wide is the range that I find my self using the most. My mother has gotten away for the past decade or more shooting only on the cannon kit lens on her rebel, she is a heavy traveler and takes great photos on vacation. For crop sensor cameras Im a big fan of the 35mm 1.8's that are out there (chose a lens new or used that fits your budget they are all pretty decent). This provides me the width I need and more importantly the speed I need to shoot in less than optimal lighting. On most systems these tend to be pretty compact lenses which means I can travel light (important factor for some). I have gotten away with shooting only my 35mm 1.8 on numerous trips and come back with great photos every time. If you were going to get one lens and only travel with one lens, for me its the 35mm 1.8. If you are going to being two for me its that and something in the tele range just for those few shots you want more reach.

No lens is going to instantly make your travel photos better, composition, a bit of pre-planning, and better over all technique will help a lot more than a lens that sits in a focal range your kit lens potentially already covers.