FF Nikon Shooter, looking to help GF with some Crop Sensor lenses...

gconnoyer · Mar 5, 2013

So my girlfriend just recently got a 60D. It came with the 18-135 Kit lens. She immediately wanted to buy something new and better but I told her to wait, see what she got into shooting, and what kind of lens she would need. Since I shoot Nikon, I couldnt really recommend anything for her off the top of my head (other than the Canon L series stuff, which she can't justify spending the money)

She's going to be shooting with me this year at the racetrack (drag strip and road course) and I almost exclusively use my 24-70 and 70-200 on my Nikon D700 (full frame)
As I understand it, the 60D is a crop sensor body.
So I'm trying to narrow down what are some good upgrades to the Canon kit lens, that will put her in the same range as my lenses. (that arent $3000 canon glass)

Thanks in advance!

molested_cow · Mar 5, 2013

Not a canon shooter either, but checking with amazon.com, there are a few 70-300mm options for Canon.

gconnoyer · Mar 5, 2013

Yeah but that would be waay to much on a crop sensor camera I would think.

I'm more worried about optical qualtiy than range. She can get away with a little give or take as far as focal length goes, but is more worried about the lens quality.

brian_f2.8 · Mar 5, 2013

Tell her to sell the 60D and buy a D7000, then she can use your lens. A good lens she might enjoy is the 24-105. She should be able to find one for 700$.

CanonJim · Mar 5, 2013

Actually, the 18-135 is not a bad lens. Especially for a beginner who may not yet be sure of what kind of shooting she'll want to do most. If you need more length, the Canon EF-S 55-250 for around $200 is also good to learn with. Some will scoff at these 'kit lenses' , but they generally don't know what they're talking about, OR have never used them, OR are just parroting what they read on the internet. For someone on a budget, or just starting out, they're perfectly adequate. Remember, even a "kit lens" from the second decade of the 21st century is a damn sight better quality than 95% of every lens built before 2000. Don't be a snob.

WHEN and IF she gets to the point where you both can see that she's taken the qualities and abilities of those lenses to their max, THEN you can think about going to the $500~$1000 level. Then you have glass like the 17-40, the 24-105, the 70-200 f/4, etc etc.

If you want her to learn with a prime, it's hard to beat the $100 Canon 50mm f/1.8 II, the "nifty fifty", or "plastic fantastic". Excellent optics, but fragile. Drop it off a table and it's a goner. Buy two just to be safe..

gconnoyer · Mar 5, 2013

CanonJim said:
Actually, the 18-135 is not a bad lens. Especially for a beginner who may not yet be sure of what kind of shooting she'll want to do most. If you need more length, the Canon EF-S 55-250 for around $200 is also good to learn with. Some will scoff at these 'kit lenses' , but they generally don't know what they're talking about, OR have never used them, OR are just parroting what they read on the internet. For someone on a budget, or just starting out, they're perfectly adequate. Remember, even a "kit lens" from the second decade of the 21st century is a damn sight better quality than 95% of every lens built before 2000. Don't be a snob.

WHEN and IF she gets to the point where you both can see that she's taken the qualities and abilities of those lenses to their max, THEN you can think about going to the $500~$1000 level. Then you have glass like the 17-40, the 24-105, the 70-200 f/4, etc etc.

If you want her to learn with a prime, it's hard to beat the $100 Canon 50mm f/1.8 II, the "nifty fifty", or "plastic fantastic". Excellent optics, but fragile. Drop it off a table and it's a goner. Buy two just to be safe..

No I'm not saying she NEEDS to upgrade at all.
She asked what lens she should use and I told her that her 18-135 would be perfect because it would be the same as a 27-202 would be on my camera (if the 1.5x crop factor is the same form the canon to nikon bodies) She was the one wanting to get something better.

I already got her to buy the 50 1.8 lol

I didnt know if there were any sort of really good "bargain" lenses to be had. Like the Nikon 80-200 is super sharp but is just an older model replaced by the new 70-200 VR so its about $700-800.

07Vios · Mar 5, 2013

The 55-250mm kit lens isn't bad. I'm borrowing one, but I'm mainly only shooting the moon with it. Even though I like it, I think it might be too "slow" slow of a lens for the drag strip, unless your girl plans on panning the shots. Oh, and the 60D should be a 1.6x crop factor. Canon cropped bodies (aside from the 1D series) are 1.6 since the sensor is slightly smaller than Nikon cropped sensors, I believe.

jbkm1994 · Mar 5, 2013

29-216mm...the 60D has a 1.6x crop factor. I have to second the nifty fifty for the optics and the $$$.

07Vios · Mar 5, 2013

I can't remember the policies about posting private sales links, but look up Canon Magic Drainpipe.

gconnoyer · Mar 5, 2013

But on her camera, the 80-200 would be equivilent to a 128-320. Yikes! Or is that lens a specific lens for crop bodies?

Some of the stuff definitely will get backed down to the 70mm range (on my camera)

07Vios · Mar 5, 2013

gconnoyer said:
But on her camera, the 80-200 would be equivilent to a 128-320. Yikes! Or is that lens a specific lens for crop bodies?

Some of the stuff definitely will get backed down to the 70mm range (on my camera)

Nope, it's made for full frame, but can be used on any Canon AF body.

Canon 80-200mm f/2.8 L Review

I can't think of any fast lenses that are on the "cheaper" side. Like others have suggested the 24-105mm f4L lens, but depending on how fast the cars get (I see a GTO on drag wheels and slicks in your avatar, so I'm going to assume FAST), won't that still get motion blur (assuming staying at lower ISO)?

07Vios · Mar 5, 2013

Here are some shots I took with my Canon 85mm f1.8. Not the best since I was practicing freehand panning shots (never really did it before then). LOL

If you like freeze type shots:

I think it's a great lens, but no image stabilizing and it'll force her to walk to different spots to frame her shots.

07Vios · Mar 5, 2013

^oh, and those are linked from my facebook, so degraded image quality.

gconnoyer · Mar 5, 2013

07Vios said:
I can't think of any fast lenses that are on the "cheaper" side. Like others have suggested the 24-105mm f4L lens, but depending on how fast the cars get (I see a GTO on drag wheels and slicks in your avatar, so I'm going to assume FAST), won't that still get motion blur (assuming staying at lower ISO)?

Mostly will be day stuff. For night, she can throw on her 50 1.8.

The GTO in my sig is actually mine. The pic was takin by my buddy. Not sure what lens etc.
FWIW, I shoot mostly night stuff at the dragstrip, and always shoot at 2.8 and about 4000 ISO. Normally the shutter speed I use is around 160-250 depending on where I'm at and the car color. You do get a little motion blur, but just enough to show speed and not detract from the image.

07Vios
As far as the road corse goes, we will be actually shooting some drifting and it will be from on the infield like this, so a zoom would really be more ideal and it wouldnt need to be a super fast lens. F4 would be fine. And as far as IS goes, I don't worry about it or actually even have it on any of mine because all of the faster shutter speed plus panning and fast movement of the camera defeats the purpose.

07Vios · Mar 5, 2013

hmmm, then a 24-105 would be good, I would think. Just a bit expensive. I'm not sure if you would want her to crank up the ISO very high on the 60D since it'll be no where near as good as a full frame body, so keep that in mind as well.