long term lens replacement stratagy

[weepete]

Hi all,

Lately I've been thinking of saving up (or a new lens. I don't have a lot of spare cash at the moment but I recon I could put by enough to raise £500-£600 by the end of the year if everything goes to plan. I'm also trying to think long term as some good glass should last me a long time so am thinking of replacing my current glass over 3-5 years or so.

My current setup is:

Canon 7D
EFS 18-55mm kit lens (I bought it cheap with the af broken, but that's cool as I only use it occasionally for the wide end)
EF 50mm f1.8
EF 28-105mm F3.5-4.5 USM
EF 70-300mm F4-5.6 USM
None of the above have IS

Currently I shoot a lot of different stuff but my main interests are lanscapes though I also like to shoot wildlife, some sports and the obligatory family shots. I will at different times be shooting a bit of all genres though so I do need a bit of flexibility.

Where I feel my current gear is a bit limited is sharpness and CA. The CA I can usually deal with ok in post but I think I'm missing a bit of sharpness in my landscape shots. I'm quite happy at the moment with a crop sensor, I like the extra reach so have no plans to go FF anytime soon especially with the introduction of the UWA lenses.

I've had my eye on a canon 15-85mm f3.5-5.6 and it seems to get good reviews as far as sharpness is concerned, but I can't help but wonder if I should go for a faster lens like a 24-70mm f2.8 and seperate UWA like the canon 10-22mm, tokina 11-16mm or sigma 12-24mm?

Lastly I'll upgrade my telephoto, probably to something like a sigma 150-500 as most of my wildlife shots I'm at 300mm anyway, though that will leave a bit of space in the 85-150 range that I'm not sure how to fill either.

I tend to work better when I'm among for something spesific, so I'm more likely to succeed if I know what I'm aiming for. I'd appreciate any thoughts or suggestions as well.

Thanks,

Pete

 

[grafxman]

Hi all,

Lately I've been thinking of saving up (or a new lens. I don't have a lot of spare cash at the moment but I recon I could put by enough to raise £500-£600 by the end of the year if everything goes to plan. I'm also trying to think long term as some good glass should last me a long time so am thinking of replacing my current glass over 3-5 years or so.

My current setup is:

Canon 7D
EFS 18-55mm kit lens (I bought it cheap with the af broken, but that's cool as I only use it occasionally for the wide end)
EF 50mm f1.8
EF 28-105mm F3.5-4.5 USM
EF 70-300mm F4-5.6 USM
None of the above have IS

Currently I shoot a lot of different stuff but my main interests are lanscapes though I also like to shoot wildlife, some sports and the obligatory family shots. I will at different times be shooting a bit of all genres though so I do need a bit of flexibility.

Where I feel my current gear is a bit limited is sharpness and CA. The CA I can usually deal with ok in post but I think I'm missing a bit of sharpness in my landscape shots. I'm quite happy at the moment with a crop sensor, I like the extra reach so have no plans to go FF anytime soon especially with the introduction of the UWA lenses.

I've had my eye on a canon 15-85mm f3.5-5.6 and it seems to get good reviews as far as sharpness is concerned, but I can't help but wonder if I should go for a faster lens like a 24-70mm f2.8 and seperate UWA like the canon 10-22mm, tokina 11-16mm or sigma 12-24mm?

Lastly I'll upgrade my telephoto, probably to something like a sigma 150-500 as most of my wildlife shots I'm at 300mm anyway, though that will leave a bit of space in the 85-150 range that I'm not sure how to fill either.

I tend to work better when I'm among for something spesific, so I'm more likely to succeed if I know what I'm aiming for. I'd appreciate any thoughts or suggestions as well.

Thanks,

Pete

I have the some of the lenses you're talking about. I used to use the Sigma 150-500mm for all my wildlife photography however I kept missing important shots because it wouldn't focus close enough and 150mm was sometimes too strong. I bought the Sigma 50-500mm and it's the lens that's always on my camera now for wildlife photography. There's an extensive thread here:

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...-still-shocked-about-sigma-150-500-d7100.html

I provided numerous reasons with many examples regarding why the Sigma 50-500mm is the world's best wildlife lens. I have the Tokina 11-16mm lens. It's an excellent lens that I've used occasionally for museum photography. I also have the Sigma 12-24mm which I bought to use on the 6D. It is also an excellent lens. I haven't tried it on the 7D. I use the Sigma 18-250mm for all around general photography other than wildlife. With those three lenses available for my 7D I can photograph just about anything I can see. BTW, I've never felt the need for a super fast lens and I shoot in low light all the time. There's no such thing as a well lighted museum. Besides you'll probably be stopping down the lens a bit anyway. I use slow shutter speeds and hold the camera very still. Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[weepete]

Thanks graphxman,

I do some low light shots too but normally I can use my tripod (I appreciate you can't always get them in to museums though). I must admit that I usually find f3.5 adequate and I'm not afraid of bumping up my ISO either but I'm trying to decide what I'll need in the next 10 - 20 years. Your input is appreciated and I'll have a wee read of that thread!