Need help choosing a lens

[foodie500]

Hi,

I've had a canon DSLR Rebel T3i for 4 years now. I originally bought an Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM Lens as I was told it's a good lens for beginners.

Now I'm looking to see what would be the best next level up lens to get (I have an issue with my filter being jammed and I was planning to upgrade anyway so now seems like a good time to look).

Here is what I use my camera for:

- Travel, we use this camera when we go anywhere for sightseeing, mostly daytime photos and outdoors. We sometimes take outdoor night photos or indoor photos but that is not as often so our main goal is for outdoor daytime photos (85% of our photos taken)

- We do a lot of outdoor nature stuff (national parks, landscape, etc.), it would be nice if it could capture a bit wider than our current lens as we do a lot of outdoor pictures

- We also take our own pictures at all these places too

We are looking to spend $800-1500, giving a large range to see what's out there in that range. We are OK with spending a decent amount knowing the lens will last for a long time and meet our needs.

We are not professionals, we usually use automatic modes and sometimes try out manual modes too if we have time to play around or if conditions are very bad and warrant manual settings. However, we love taking pictures and want to capture beautiful photos.

Can you guys please give us some suggestions on what the next level up lens would be?

Thanks so much

- Tarik

 

[beagle100]

Hi,

I've had a canon DSLR Rebel T3i for 4 years now. I originally bought an Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM Lens as I was told it's a good lens for beginners.

Now I'm looking to see what would be the best next level up lens to get (I have an issue with my filter being jammed and I was planning to upgrade anyway so now seems like a good time to look).

Here is what I use my camera for:

- Travel, we use this camera when we go anywhere for sightseeing, mostly daytime photos and outdoors. We sometimes take outdoor night photos or indoor photos but that is not as often so our main goal is for outdoor daytime photos (85% of our photos taken)

- We do a lot of outdoor nature stuff (national parks, landscape, etc.), it would be nice if it could capture a bit wider than our current lens as we do a lot of outdoor pictures

- We also take our own pictures at all these places too

We are looking to spend $800-1500, giving a large range to see what's out there in that range. We are OK with spending a decent amount knowing the lens will last for a long time and meet our needs.

We are not professionals, we usually use automatic modes and sometimes try out manual modes too if we have time to play around or if conditions are very bad and warrant manual settings. However, we love taking pictures and want to capture beautiful photos.

Can you guys please give us some suggestions on what the next level up lens would be?

Thanks so much

- Tarik

wider for landscapes ? Canon 10-18 around $200 refurbished
longer? Canon 55-250 STM - $200 refurbished
night, indoors ? a larger aperture helps like the Sigma 17-50 2.8 OS HSM but you might want to try out the inexpensive Canon 50mm 1.8 first

(refurbished which includes the regular one year warranty)

www.flickr.com/photos/mmirrorless

 

[dasmith232]

Here's another vote for what @beagle100 stated above...

The 18-135 was one of my earlier lenses. While I don't use it much anymore, when I grab a crop-sensor camera, that 18-135 is definitely one that I take consistently.

One of the next lenses that I got was the 10-22 (now essentially being pushed out in favor of the 10-18). I absolutely loved that 10-22 for landscape and more. You have to be a bit careful about subjects at the edge fo the frame (where distortion will be visible), but it's definitely a very fun lens to use.

I don't have the 55-250, and have used one only a few times. It's an easy-to-use and pretty nice range lens. It's not in the same category for sharpness and speed as lenses that are much more expensive, but the official (MTF) rating on that 55-250 is actually quite good and makes a good value ratio of cost to quality.

 

[foodie500]

Here's another vote for what @beagle100 stated above...

The 18-135 was one of my earlier lenses. While I don't use it much anymore, when I grab a crop-sensor camera, that 18-135 is definitely one that I take consistently.

One of the next lenses that I got was the 10-22 (now essentially being pushed out in favor of the 10-18). I absolutely loved that 10-22 for landscape and more. You have to be a bit careful about subjects at the edge fo the frame (where distortion will be visible), but it's definitely a very fun lens to use.

I don't have the 55-250, and have used one only a few times. It's an easy-to-use and pretty nice range lens. It's not in the same category for sharpness and speed as lenses that are much more expensive, but the official (MTF) rating on that 55-250 is actually quite good and makes a good value ratio of cost to quality.

So is 10-18 a good replacement for the Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 that I currently use. I won't be using this anymore after I buy a new one and want to buy a better lens that is good for all-purpose shooting as I don't like to switch lens for different shots... as I mentioned I normally shot outdoor pictures during the day of landscape/nature and sight seeing/ cities, etc. when traveling.

 

[beagle100]

Here's another vote for what @beagle100 stated above...

The 18-135 was one of my earlier lenses. While I don't use it much anymore, when I grab a crop-sensor camera, that 18-135 is definitely one that I take consistently.

One of the next lenses that I got was the 10-22 (now essentially being pushed out in favor of the 10-18). I absolutely loved that 10-22 for landscape and more. You have to be a bit careful about subjects at the edge fo the frame (where distortion will be visible), but it's definitely a very fun lens to use.

I don't have the 55-250, and have used one only a few times. It's an easy-to-use and pretty nice range lens. It's not in the same category for sharpness and speed as lenses that are much more expensive, but the official (MTF) rating on that 55-250 is actually quite good and makes a good value ratio of cost to quality.

So is 10-18 a good replacement for the Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 that I currently use. I won't be using this anymore after I buy a new one and want to buy a better lens that is good for all-purpose shooting as I don't like to switch lens for different shots... as I mentioned I normally shot outdoor pictures during the day of landscape/nature and sight seeing/ cities, etc. when traveling.

the 10-18 is not a replacement for the 18-135, it's just a different focal length

 

[dasmith232]

the 10-18 is not a replacement for the 18-135, it's just a different focal length

Absolutely right. It's an expansion of what you can do optically. It won't even occur to you about replacing one for the other; you'll want both from this day forward.

Your first lens is NOT a gateway drug. It's the second lens because that's when you realize that there are more options out there. Once you have two, that's when the danger starts!

 

[Derrel]

Agreed, the 10-18mm is a PARTNER lens for an 18-135 zoom...it's the wiiiiiiide-angle zoom, while the 18-135 is the "weekender" lens, the one lens to rule them all (joking), the one lens to cover every situation on a casual photo outing; not deisnged to be the best lens at everything, but designed to keep you shooting, to keep you in the game, and ready for almost any generalist scenario in decent lighting levels.

I'm not a lens snob: I bought my ex an 18-135 VR lens for her first d-slr; it's a good range on a crop-sensor body. Obviously the 10-18 and the earlier 10-22 are NOT good generalist lenses, but are wide-angle zooms. I think the critical issue is the price, and the focal length ranges you want to have covered. Once you move above the 18-135, then you get into specialty-duty zooms, like say, a 17-55mm f/2.8 at fairly high price, or a 70-200mm f/4-L-IS-USM, something kind of high-grade.