My Story - Lenses

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I've done a lot of reading and research and the time for buying draws near...

Background
I finish uni at end of year, and am going on an 'around asia trip' (Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan). Have been planning to buy a dslr + lenses for a little while and will do so during November to make use of the Australian Govt's GST refund scheme. (10% back)

Budget
Planning to blow all my savings hahaha (on trip and camera gear).
Basically unlimited but still would like to make financially sound decisions.

Usage

  • General travelling photography
    Wide angle (always wish I could zoom further out on my current CanonA80)
    Indoor / low light (restaurants, hotels, clubs?
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Camera
Already decided on the 400D.
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Lens
This one is so hard!
A few people (on this site too!) have advised the 24-105 but I went to play with this, and it seemed that 24mm cropped wasn't wide enough for my liking. In fact I played with a 17mm focal length and it also seemed not as wide as I would have liked!

So I also played with the 10-20 (sigma?) - this was on a friend's machine haha, and I liked that!!
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So I looked at the canon equivalent 10-22, and the reviews have been great. Have also considered that 10-22 is EF-S and only fits on cameras with cropped sensors, but I think I'll not be going full frame in the forseeable future.

Here is the dilema.
If I get the 10-22, that means I'll need to get another 'travel zoom' lens? I do not want to lug so many lenses around, esp since this will be the first time I own a camera with interchangeable lenses - and while travelling too!

I thought, should I just compromise, and get the 24-105? Or compromise, and get the 17-40 as my 'travel zoom lens'? Both aren't too heavy.

In addition to my travel lens, I would also like to purchase a 50mm prime for low light indoor shooting. That's no problem, but then I thought, if I instead buy the 24-70L f/2.8, would I be able to use that instead of the prime in low light conditions? ie is f/2.8 fast enough? You are probably thinking, how dark will it be or what not, and I have no idea, just general answers. If I am indoors, 2.8 will probably need to be at ISO800 I am guessing. Not sure though. (from playing with A80)

If I am outdoors and are taking photos of the cities out on the street, etc, I was thinking the IS on the 24-105 would help, albeit it's a stop slower but then again I would probably be using my prime?

Haha, any thoughts are appreciated, and thanks for reading. I can't think of a good solution and hope someone with more experience can give some pointers! Thanks!
 
and oh forgot to add that, it may seem like a waste, someone new to dslrs [considering] buying all these expensive L series lenses, but I have heard time and again, and after much reading - agree, that i should be buying the best I can afford, and because my current budget allows it... (still - again, must be financially sound choices, ie i wouldn't go for the 50mmL 1.2 cf 1.4 or 1.8. :p)
 
If you're backpacking or otherwise roughing it, I'd try and find a single, versatile lens. This is personal preference of course, but lugging around multiple lenses can be a pain. "Photo people" might scoff at that, but seriously, just having the camera w/ lens attached will make life so much easier, especially on a trip like that. Also since you're new to photography you don't want to be buried in equipment - keep it simple for now.

With that said, I think something in the ballpark of 18-70 would be a great all around choice. Going to 12 on the wide end is pretty darn wide, I don't think you'll be using it as often as you think. More on the zoom would probably end up being more useful as you might not be able to get up close to everything you'd like while travelling.

Also f2.8 ISO800 should be fine for indoors, just make good use of the flash if you need to.

--Illah
 
The A80's focal length is equivalent to 38mm to 114mm (on 35mm film or full frame digital). That's about 24mm on a 400D (on the wide end). So if you get something in the 17mm range...it will be a bit wider than your A80 but not too wide that you won't use it much. (that might happen with a 10-22)

The 17-40 F4 L is highly regarded and it's an "L" lens...which means great quality and weather sealing. The F4 is not all that great for low light though.

Here is my suggestion...have a look at the Canon EF-S 17-55 F2.8 IS.
It's fairly wide at 17mm. It's got a constant fast aperture at F2.8 and it's got IS which will help with low light/indoor shots.
It's said to be nearly as sharp as an L lens and the price reflects that...it's an expensive lens. Also, it's not very long...which might be limiting in some situations...but with IS and a great camera like that...you will have plenty of room to crop your shots.
 
Illah, yup! I was thinking 2 lenses max. 1 zoom lens for outdoor, and a fast prime for nighttime indoor shooting.

Mike, I just spent the last 2 hours reading 17-55 reviews :) Thanks for that suggestion! It is quite pricey haha! Seems the only thing of concern (aside from the no lenshood, and hard to buy lenshood thing) with the lens is that because it focuses externally, it seems to pick up dust in considerable speed and quantity. But it's definitely in contention now.
Thanks!
 
thanks mike for the suggestion!

the more i look at the 17-55, the rosier it looks to me haha :p
 

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