Lens Choices for Canon 60D

[Deane]

I purchased a Canon 60D with the 18mm-135mm kit lens. I also purchased a 50mm prime lens. I want to buy a good zoom lens in the 18-105 range that has very fast focusing capabilities and is very sharp. Someone suggested looking at the Sigma lenses. What is the consensus here which about buying Sigma or Canon lenses?

Deane

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome aboard.

Like most lens companies, Sigma has some good ones and some that aren't so good.

What is your budget?

Usually, the larger the zoom range, the lower the quality of the lens. For example, on of the best lenses for you camera, would be the Canon EF-S 17-55mm F2.8 IS. It only zooms out to 55mm, but it has a large maximum aperture of F2.8 throughout the zoom range. Also, it's a very high quality lens with great image quality. It's rather expensive though.

There are Canon 17-85mm and 15-85mm lenses, but they are both mid-range lenses in terms of quality. Not bad but not great either.

There is the Canon 24-105mm F4 L IS, which has more range but a max aperture of only F4. But being an 'L' lens, it has great quality. Also very expensive.

 

[Deane]

Hi Mike,
I guess you could say my budget is enough to buy a very good lens but certainly not those in the extreme price ranges. My main goal is to get a really good lens that will handle the video functions as well as the still functions. I'll be shooting inside and my subjects will be 2 year old twin grand daughters. Lighting will vary from ok to poor. So, my main requirements are fast auto focus for video and low light capabilities. I'am willing to pay for these features.

Deane

 

[Big Mike]

The speed of AF, especially in video mode, has much more to do with the camera, than the lens. And as far as I know, most DSLR cameras that also shoot video, use a secondary AF method for video, that isn't nearly as good as what they use for focusing during normal still shooting.

There are slower & faster focus motors in lenses. For Canon, you want the ones that have 'USM' in their name.

Low light capabilities, when it comes to lenses, means a large maximum aperture. So your 50mm F1.8 is pretty good in that regard. But it doesn't have a USM motor for focusing.

 

[Deane]

Ok, after reading the posts here and doing some internet research I decided to buy the
Sigma 17-50mm DC OS HSM lens. Lenses have sure gotten expensive. The Canon L series that somewhat compares to the Sigma was Twice the price!!

Anyway, thanks to everyone for the input.

Deane

 

[lhabee]

go buy 24-70