Lense help

LongBoardLarry · May 7, 2006

My wife has a Canon rebel digital and I would like to buy her a new lense for her birthday.
She has the standard lense 18-55mm. She like to take portriats and landscape pictures. what would be a good lense for this, or would I need two different lenses.

Thanks for the help.

benhasajeep · May 7, 2006

LongBoardLarry said:
My wife has a Canon rebel digital and I would like to buy her a new lense for her birthday.
She has the standard lense 18-55mm. She like to take portriats and landscape pictures. what would be a good lense for this, or would I need two different lenses.

Thanks for the help.

Well many suggest Cannons 50mm lens. They have 2 versions. The f/1.8 version and the more expensive f/1.4 version. The f/1.4 version is the preffered lens but for value the f/1.8 is also a very good choice. The 50mm on her camera is equal to 80mm field of view on film cameras (covers the same ammount in the picture). This is very close to what many think it the standard lens for portraits. It tends to slim people down / more flattering.

For the wide angle for landscapes the lens she has is a range that would do well. Now if you are looking for a better higher quality lens (as that is about the least expensive lens Canon makes). There are several price ranges.

If she likes the kit lens then maybe get a wider lens.

Canons 10-22 has a good following. For less money Tokina has a very good 12-24 AT-x lens made for Canon camera. Sigma makes a 10-20 as well but the Tokina gets slightly better reviews. Either would be a bit less than the Canon lens. And they are getting good replies from reviewers and forum members who have it (Tokina over the Sigma though).

A third choice would be a Sigma 17-70 lens. That would give her a slightly better lens with longer range than what she has now. Would be even more universal than she has now. Canon makes a similar one 17-85 and people recommend getting it in a kit over the 18-55. But they also tend to replace it later on.

Maybe if you give a budget goal, we can get the recommended choices down. There is a huge range of what could be purchased.

LongBoardLarry · May 8, 2006

I would like to stay $200 or under.

I don't know all that much about photography my wife does but if i ask it will blow the surprise.
I know she has talked about a wide angle lense.
Before she got the digital she wanted a medium format camera.

Thanks for all the help.

Big Mike · May 9, 2006

The 50mm F1.8 is around $100, good value. I don't know what those wide Sigma & Tokina lenses go for, but I'll bet it's a fair bit more than $200.

Lenses are expensive, but the good news is that they do hold their resale value quite well.

LongBoardLarry · May 9, 2006

I found a couple things.
First a kit with 2 sigma lenses. Sigma's 28-80 F 3.5-5.6 Autofocus Zoom and the 70-300 F 4-5.6 Autofocus Zoom lenses. For $229

Or the Canon 70-300 F 4-5.6 for $179

Or Quantaray 70-300 F 4-5.6 for $159

Seems like the sigma is the best deal and it can do macro but is it the best lense.

benhasajeep · May 9, 2006

All the lenses listed are at the bottom of the quality list. I have the Canon 70-300 that came in a 2 lens kit with my 20D. It is good for general snap shooting. To get really good pictures from it you have to be right on. They are inexpensive for a reason. I think its soft through most of its range (pictures are not crisp and clear as a better lens).

I would suggest the 50mm 1.8 lens. And a new compact flash card if she does not already have more than one. Save the money for a better lens later on.

Quantrary is supposidily made by Sigma for Ritz camera. As for the Sigma 2 lens kit. The smaller 28-80 would be about the same quality as the lens she has but it would have a slightly wider range (would be repeating most of her current lens). I would guess the Sigma 70-300 is about the same as the Canon of the same size quality wise.