Need Help Choosing Lens!!

[dhulqarten]

I got a Canon T2i as a gift and I have no idea how to pick a lens. My primary engagement in photography is when i travel and go on vacations and parties, family functions, events etc... Therefore I would like to buy a lens that allows me to take both of scenic natural landscapes like national parks, beaches, and cities i visit for vacations -- and also of people and indoor shots of family events and such. I also want to get more into photography generally.

I have Canon S95 that does a great job in my opinion of getting clear and vivid shots-- but it is unable to get that professional look where backgrounds are blurred out and artsy effect where some things are in focus and others are not. S95 is able to do that but only when subject is like 5 inches away from the camera which is not interesting for me. So this is important that this lens can blur our backgrounds and give nice crisp professional results.

After going on Canons site, I searched on Flickr for photos from this lens: EF 85mm 1.8/f USM. Canon U.S.A. : Consumer & Home Office : EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

The photos I saw in the Flickr group for this lens that pictures are decent enough for both landscape and portrait photography and quality is okay. Is this a good choice or am I horribly wrong? Please any assistance would be greatly appreciated!! Also I called BH Photo and they said my T2i will not work will with many lenses as they would not utilize full potential of the lens. Something about the 85mm would essentially function as a 130mm or something like that -- and that T2i is not a full frame camera whatever that means...

Please help!! Thanks in advance.

 

[analog.universe]

The T2i is known as a crop sensor camera, APS-C specifically. This means the image sensor is 1.6 times smaller than a piece of 35mm film, or a full frame sensor. So, when you mount an 85mm lens to your camera, the field of view is more like what a 135 looks like on film or full frame. For all intents and purposes, unless you're very familiar with how specific focal lengths look and feel on full frame, you don't even need to worry about the crop factor thing.

I use the 85mm 1.8 lens you're looking at on a 60D, which has the same size sensor as your T2i. It's an awesome lens, great in low light, great for portraits, nice and sharp. The one thing I would caution, is that 85mm indoors is pretty long, so you'll need a lot of space between you and your subject to get anything more than a headshot.

Typically indoors I prefer a 35mm lens, but 35's that are good in low light tend to be a lot more expensive.

So, unless you've got a large budget, I'd probably opt for a 50mm 1.4. It's great for portraits, great for low light indoors shots, and pretty reasonably priced. Canon and Sigma both make nice 50 1.4's, but I don't know which one has the edge...

You can shoot landscape with pretty much anything, and a 50 is decent for walking around when you're traveling.