Point and shoot lens -> dslr lens.

[Innocence]

Hello,

I'm considering going to dslr from my canon A80 - which i love btw - and am wondering if I could get some advice on lenses.

What dslr I get, I'm not really too worried about (i think either canon 350d or 400d - but most likely a canon) but it's because I've never used anything other than the point and shoot lenses, I have no idea what focal lengths lenses and fstop values I'll need to buy!!

I love travelling so the photos i'll be taking will probably be of landscapes and other sights in cities and countires! I like taking photos of food too haha, and shots of people while we're eating / playing. Probably lots of indoor shots too? Oh, and I would like to have narrow DOFs in people shots! (botek? haha i dunno)

Cost is not really an issue (since i've been saving all my life) but I would like suggestions on best value for money lenses. Or some advice on how I would go about deciding, given my previous usage with my 3x zoom.

Thank you very much!

 

[grizz]

For begining kit lens will be good.

For portraits and nice bokeh - 50 mm f1,8

For " shots of people while we're eating / playing" sigma 70-300 APO

 

[Don Simon]

I think most here would agree the 50mm is a must. Indoor shots in fairly low available light shouldn't be a problem with the 1.8 and the nice 3200 ISO on a Canon DSLR. The Sigma is a good choice too and will give you a decent zoom range. For landscapes however you may want something with a focal range from around 17mm (whether it's a zoom or a fixed focal length). However really good wide-angle lenses tend to be more expensive, and my advice would be to stick with the kit lens for landscapes and wait to see which focal lengths you use the most - then you can choose the best lens based on that.

 

[Innocence]

Thanks! You guys are fantastic~

I'll be down to the shop to check things out next weekend!

(btw someone suggested to me the ES 17-40mm /f4L.
Again, I haveno idea how much 40mm is w.r.t. my A80's 3x zoom . Any thoughts on if it will limit me in the things I want to do?

ie. take photos of people, and food! haha~
generate some nice bokeh (with /f4 ? is that low enough fstop? or do i just have to use max zoom..?) hehe, thanks for your input!! )

 

[nakedyak]

if you want low light photography i'd recommend the Canon 17-55mm f2.8 IS. It has the fast aperture you are looking for plus the image stabilization, its kinda pricey, but you said money isn't a problem. That should be a much better option than the 17-40 f4

 

[Innocence]

what does the IS and the L mean/stand for in the canon range of lenses?

and would it be a bad idea simply getting some kit lenses for me to get a feel of what the different focal lengths are, and then later on, I can just upgrade?

 

[nakedyak]

starting with the kit lenses is probably a good idea.

IS stands for image stabilization, you can find a lot about it on the internet, but basically it will reduce the blur caused by camera shake at long focal lengths.

canon "L" Lenses are their highest quality lenses, ruggedly built and usually more expensive but better image quality

 

[DeepSpring]

You might just want to get the kit lens for now and just see what you need from there. If you find you can't get fast enough shutters go for the 50mm 1.8 if you find you need more zoom go for a telephoto.

 

[mentos_007]

I used kit lens and after a month I bought tele lens (sigma 70-300). I use kit lens very often for landscapes and I can assure you that the lens is quite good

 

[Innocence]

ok~ thanks a lot! I think i'll go with the 50/1.8 for sure cos it is relatively cheap, and kit lenses

I'll let you all know how it goes! Thanks again!!!