Canon lenses

[JamesGill]

After some success and a lot of great information given to me in my previous thread, I thought that this forum is my source of answers to any of my questions, so, hopefully, soon I'll be getting my first DSLR camera, a EOS 60D, with a kit lens, probably the 18-55mm, I am wondering what other lenses i should look for and try to buy, so far I have considered the F/1.4 50mm, the f/2.8 100mm Macro L lens, and one of the canon 70-200mm lenses. Next year I am going to Iceland, which lenses do you think I should consider (not too expensive) that would be a great all round, for landscapes and portraits e.t.c.

I hope you can help, I just need a small selection of lenses recommended to me, that cover a good range of focal lengths. Thanks, James

 

[Overread]

Your list of possible lenses is not bad, but a lot of lens choosing isn't just the best option, but the best option that fits your needs, style and budget. At present I'm not sure if you've the camera experience to really make the full choice yourself and would recommend that you spend some time with just the basic camera kit - get an idea of how it feels and what the limits are when you're out shooting.

Do you feel that the lens needs more focal length - or do you feel you need it to go wider; do you need closer focusing or maybe you're happy with its performance and want slightly better optics. Maybe you find that you need more light and that a flash would be a more suitable option.

 

[JamesGill]

Thanks, I will wait until I have more experience with the camera, as it will be my first DSLR, the lens doesn't seem too bad from what I have read. Just out of interest though, which of the Canon lenses would you recommend for al;-round photography, as the Iceland trip will be something I want to get a lot of pictures from, I was thinking maybe I could take the kit lens, (when I get the camera) and maybe a f/1.4 50mm, or just one other, being a 70-200mm f/4, I don't think I would want to go for the f/2.8 version, due to price, and they don't seem to be really worth it compared to the f/4 for my needs.

Thanks again, much appreciated, James

 

[Overread]

It really depends on yourself and what kind of photos you like to take and want to take. Some might go and spend the whole time in towns and bars - for them the 50mm 1.4 would be a small neat prime with nice lowlight capabilities suitable for such shooting. However you might be far far more interested in landscape work and general nature shots for which the 70-200mm f4* would be an ideal candidate; or you might be deadset on rare wildlife and want even longer.



* landscapes don't all have to be wide angle shots, for which your kit lens covers you fairly well already, and a 70-200mm fits well into almost any photographers bag and works well for a telephoto landscape lens at picking out select features in the landscape itself.

 

[JamesGill]

Thanks once again, very helpful, it seems like the kit lens, 50mm and 70-200mm are good choices, so will be going after those.

Thank you very much, James