Just bought a Canon 500d with odd lens?

gummibear · Feb 18, 2011

Well, I just purchased a Canon 500d about 2 days ago, this is my first DSLR camera, and so far I love it. I bought it used with a Canon zoom lens EF 35-105mm 1:3.5 - 4.5 with out IS.
I got a really good deal under $500 for the body, lens and accessories. I figured the lens was better or equal value to the kit lens, although when I got home I've tried to research the lens but couldn't find any information on it. So far I really like the lens, it works well and has no scratches, etc. The camera is in excellent condition, I have not complaints at all, I was just wondering if anyone has any information on this lens, like how much is it worth and is it a good quality lens?
I was also looking to get a good wide angle lens, what would you recommend? Price not an option, unless you can tell me a good budget lens and a good expesive lens

I guess if I don't get any info on the lens here, then I will contact Canon

Thanks

Robin Usagani · Feb 18, 2011

Thats an older lens that came with Canon film cameras. If you want a good wide angle lens, you need to buy a lens specifically for a crop sensor (EF-S lenses for canon brand). If I can only have 1 lens, I definitely will buy 24-105mm f/4L IS lens.

Overread · Feb 18, 2011

On the wide angle lens front for the crop sensor 500D you've got a few options including:

Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 - has the widest aperture of all the zoom wide angle lenses and its a constant f2.8 - it does however lack HSM/USM focusing

Sigma 8-16mm f4.5-5.6 - widest possible angle of all the wide angle zooms at present - however it has a rounded front element so can't take any normal filters and a filter holder requires either modification (examples around the net of this )or waiting for LeeFilters to make their own adaptor. Note appears to be about the best optically performing wide angle zoom from sigma at present.

Sigma 10-20mm - two versions of this lens; one with a variable aperture and the other with a fixed f3.5 through the whole range. Both are pretty similar in performance (which is very good and pretty much on par with the canon 10-20mm). The f3.5 version takes larger sized filters than the other.

Canon 10-20mm - more expensive than the sigma and with not very much optical quality gain; all round good build quality though.

Big Mike · Feb 18, 2011

I have the old 35-105mm lens. It was the lens I had with my first SLR camera, the Canon 650 (Canon's first EOS camera).

From what I have gathered, it's a good middle-of-the-road lens. The image quality can be better than the cheap kit lenses, but it's certainly not on the same level with pro lenses.
The major downfall is that it's a push\pull zoom...and mine certainly creeps.

gummibear · Feb 18, 2011

Thanks for all the replies, I guess that's why I couldn't find any info on it, because its an older lens. That's ok though.

Big Mike said:
I have the old 35-105mm lens. It was the lens I had with my first SLR camera, the Canon 650 (Canon's first EOS camera).

From what I have gathered, it's a good middle-of-the-road lens. The image quality can be better than the cheap kit lenses, but it's certainly not on the same level with pro lenses.
The major downfall is that it's a push\pull zoom...and mine certainly creeps.

That's good to know, didn't want to think I bought a bad lens. Yeah, the push/pull I'm ok with that for now, but I will definately be getting more lenses soon. atleast a wide angle. Thanks for all the suggestions.
Oh, should I buy ef-s lenses instead of ef because of the crop sensor? I need to look that up . . .
Thanks all, I appreciate it.

Robin Usagani · Feb 18, 2011

your camera can take both EF and EF-S. For a full frame camera, it can only take EF lenses. So if you upgrade to a full frame in the future, you cant use your EF-S collections.

subscuck · Feb 18, 2011

Schwettylens said:
your camera can take both EF and EF-S. For a full frame camera, it can only take EF lenses. So if you upgrade to a full frame in the future, you cant use your EF-S collections.

The EF-S line is really pretty meh. There's a couple very decent lenses, but Canon's better and best lenses are all EF mount.

gummibear · Feb 18, 2011

ah ha, thanks, that's good to know. I will probably be looking for an ef lens then, unless i find a good deal on an ef-s

Bitter Jeweler · Feb 18, 2011

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Canon EF 35-105 3.5-4.5 • The first of its breed and pretty dad burn good[/FONT]

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]

[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]The front element turns and the barrel extends/contracts during focus making use of polarizer filters frustrating. However, if you prefocus manually, you'll appreciate the distance window in meters and feet. The AF/M switch is difficult to move as it is flat and flush with the barrel surface. The closest focusing distance is .85 m and is available at all focal lengths. It sports a five-blade diaphragm, so bokeh isn't as smooth as the seven-blade EF 28-105 3.5-4.5 USM. A modest 58 mm filter thread makes filters affordable and easy to share with common Canon lenses. [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]For a consumer zoom, the EF 35-105 3.5-4.5 is sharp and contrasty, nearly as good as the EF 28-105 3.5-4.5 USM. Like most zooms, there is a small amount of barrel distortion at the short end and pincushion distortion at the long end, especially at macro distances. Flare and ghosting will occur if you strong light sources. However, considering that this is a 14 element lens, it is reasonably flare resistant under most conditions.[/FONT]

gummibear · Feb 18, 2011

Bitter Jeweler said:
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Canon EF 35-105 3.5-4.5 • The first of its breed and pretty dad burn good[/FONT]

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]

[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]The front element turns and the barrel extends/contracts during focus making use of polarizer filters frustrating. However, if you prefocus manually, you'll appreciate the distance window in meters and feet. The AF/M switch is difficult to move as it is flat and flush with the barrel surface. The closest focusing distance is .85 m and is available at all focal lengths. It sports a five-blade diaphragm, so bokeh isn't as smooth as the seven-blade EF 28-105 3.5-4.5 USM. A modest 58 mm filter thread makes filters affordable and easy to share with common Canon lenses. [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]For a consumer zoom, the EF 35-105 3.5-4.5 is sharp and contrasty, nearly as good as the EF 28-105 3.5-4.5 USM. Like most zooms, there is a small amount of barrel distortion at the short end and pincushion distortion at the long end, especially at macro distances. Flare and ghosting will occur if you strong light sources. However, considering that this is a 14 element lens, it is reasonably flare resistant under most conditions.[/FONT]

Yep that's it, Thanks man!
yes, I can tell that It does have some barrel distortion in one of my photos in particular, but it was fixable with pp. And I actually tried to get a photo with flare in it and could not, so that explains it! otherwise I really like it so far, thanks for the info!