New Lens for my birthday!

Hey

I'm looking at buying a new lens for my camera for my birthday, and need some help!

I'm fairly new to photography so my equipment is pretty basic.

I currently have a Canon 1000d, with the standard lens on it.

What i am looking for with my new lens:
+ Greater zoom
+ Better aperture range

This is because at the moment, with my current setup i have to get very close to an subject to achieve a shallow depth of field. I want to be able to achieve it from a greater distance.

Am i best buying a new lens for my camera, or would i be better upgrading my camera from the 1000d to something else. Or both!?

My current budget is around £400 - £500 (plus if i upgrade camera then another £200)

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
Nic

 

what do you currently have for lenses?

I would assume there are a number of lenses you could look into depending on what you want. Secondly, getting a shallow DOF from a greater distance is all well and good, but one thing to keep in mind is that no matter how long and fast your lens is the farther away the subject of the image the bigger the DOF.

That being said, you could look at...
Canon 70-200 F4L
Sigma 70-200 2.8
Tamron 70-200 2.8
Sigma 50-150 2.8
Tokina 50-135 2.8
Canon 18-200 3.5-5.6 IS(I think)
Sigma 18-250 3.5-6.3 OS(I think)
Canon 70-300 3.5-5.6 IS
Sigma 50-500
Sigma 80-400

And I'm sure there are others, but that's some to start on

 

Leave the camera for now and upgrade the lens. You should get yourself a canon 50mm f1.8 (they are dirt cheap and awesome) and something like the 70-200 f4L if you can afford it.

 

Thanks for the replies!

Im undecided between two lenses..

Firstly the
(£400 ) Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM Lens

and the
(£500) Canon 70-200 F4L

If the top lens is 70-300, but the bottom lens is 70-200 why is the bottom one more expensive?

thanks!
Nic

 

+1 for the 50mm but the f/1.4
The 1.8 is really cheap, plastic and you might deserve a better lens for your B-day
Regards,
b.

P.S.
BTW. Happy Birthday in advance

 

for your price range the best lens would be the sigma 70-200 f/2.8!

 

Because it is an L lens. L lenses are better quality. Go with that if you can afford it.

 

Because it is a much better lens

 

Because the 70-200 is a constant aperture lens.

The 70-300 is a variable aperture lens. As you increase the zoom on 70-300 to 300 mm the maximum aperture you can use will get smaller until you out to 300 the maximum aperture you can use will be f/5.6.

In Canon's lens lineup L lenses tend to have bettter quality optics further increasing their cost. You may notice there is a substantail price difference between the 70-200 f/4L and the 70-200 f/2.8L, but that difference is mostly about maximum aperture.

 

Thanks for all the help!

I bought myself the 'Canon 70-200 F4L'

Very happy with it, cant wait to get out trying it!

Nic