What lens next . . . ?

Ranger

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I just purchased a Canon XT of the internet today. I had been looking for over a month, desiding whether to buy a Nikon D70 or the Canon XT. But I finally bought it!

Anyways, thats not the point. Im getting part of the camera as a gift from my parents for my Birthday next week, and it comes with a 50mm f/1.8 lens. Looking on the internet I have seen that this lens gets alot of good reviews, but I also would like to purchase a zoom lens. What should I go with? And are the Tamron lenses as good or better than the Canons?

Im pretty new with the DSLRs, I have used SLR film cameras in Photojournalim last semester but thats it. So any advice is appreciated! Thanks!
 
17-55 IS, or 17-40L is what I would go for first.
 
Hello there. Thankyou for the big blue text, very easy on my tired eyes :D

Congratulations on a great choice for a first lens. As for the zoom, well that depends on what you're looking for. Super-wide angle, moderate wide angle? Moderate telephoto or long telephoto? Wide, telephoto and everything in between in one lens? Large maximum aperture? What lenses did you use (and what did you like using) with your film SLR?

As for what lens is better, well generally it depends on the specific lens or lenses, and I'm afraid it also depends on the price tag. When looking at comparable lenses higher up the range, Canon zooms are probably going to be better in optics and build than Tamron equivalents, but possibly not better enough to justify the price difference for you. Plenty of users of Canon, Nikon and other systems are happily using Tamrons, Sigmas and Tokinas. Like I said it's better to compare on a lens A vs lens B basis rather than brand name A vs brand name B.
 
Thank you both for your speedy replys! :D

Sw1tchFX- I would love to purchase one of those lenses, but as I forgot to note in my first post Im alittle short on money! But thanks!

ZaphodB- Thanks for your reply, Im really new at this so its nice to have some help! Here are the lenses I was using on my SLRs
Canon A-1 - Kiron 35-135mm 1:3.5-4.5
Olympus OM-1 - Vivitar 28-85mm 1:3.5-4.5

I really like the range of the Vivitar, so should I look for about that range in a Digital lens? Im in no way a professional so right now Im just looking for a lens I can take out and shoot some pictures of my horses, or go to the lake and get some bird pictures. Would a Tamron take clear pictures for that?

These are the lenses I was looking at:
http://stores.channeladvisor.com/47stphoto/items/item.aspx?itemid=3925785
I know they are very low priced, would I be wasting my money with them?

Thanks so much!
 
Well if you liked the 28-85mm, a similar range (in terms of field of view) would be something like a 17-55mm, like Sw1tchFX mentioned. Canon and Tamron as well as Tokina and Sigma all offer good lenses in this range. You could go for a variable aperture lens, like your Vivitar (something like f/3.5-5.6) or you could get a fixed-aperture f/2.8 lens which would be more flexible and better quality but at significantly higher cost.

I would recommend either of those choices over the 28-80mm on that website; I don't think it would be particularly flexible (bear in mind that because the Canon digital sensor is 1.6x smaller than a 35mm negative, a focal length of 28mm on the XT has an effective field of view nearer to a 45mm lens on that old A-1)... and anyway an affordable "kit" zoom designed for the XT would not cost much more.

As for the 75-300mm, well I have a similar lens (the Tamron 70-300mm) and it is good for the price. The 75-300mm may be different though. Anyway if you're on a budget I would recommend getting a lens like this but separely (not with that 28-80mm), and also look for a 17-50mm or something similar. These should cover most situations fairly well.
 
Thank you so much for the info! You are alot more helpful than those lens review sites!

Sorry for all the questions, but I have one more! Would a Canon EF 35-80mm f/4-5.6 Lens be a good lens to start with? I see it is alittle more of a zoom than a 17-55mm, but do you think it would be a good choice for a starter zoom lens? Someone in my area has one of the 35-80mm on Craigslist.com for sale for $100 thats why I was wondering, otherwise I will look for a 17-55mm for a desent price on Ebay.

Thanks!
 
17-55 IS is a very expensive lens in a different league from the 30-80 (steer clear if you can).

Also look at the Tamron 17-50f2.8. Great lens for the money as far as I know.
 
they say (dont know who they is though) that you should shoot, and shoot often, and it will become apparent what you need in your next lens.
 
Just to clear something up, the 35-80mm is not more of a zoom than the 17-50mm. Zoom simply means the focal length is variable. 50 divides into 17 more than 80 divides into 35; the 17-50 covers a larger range so if anything the 17-50mm is 'more of a zoom'. I think what you are referring to is that the 35-80mm covers a longer focal length (not a greater range); going up to 80mm it becomes more of a telephoto lens. Like EOS_JD I don't think it would be a good lens to start with. In use it would perform a bit like 55-125mm on your film cameras, so obviously there's not much in the way of wide-angle at all there. I think you are probably best looking for a 17-55mm or something similar to start with.
 
for 1.6x bodies, a zoom that's longer than 24mm on the wide end can be an odd focal length for cropped cameras.

If you're broke, than buy the 18-55mm kit lens.
 
Oh and try and tone down the large blue text :)
 
Thanks everyone for your replys! Thanks ZaphodB, now I understand alittle more. I think it may take me alittle while to figure all this stuff out!



Oh and try and tone down the large blue text :)
Sorry I went alittle font happy . Most of the forums I am on dont offer color.:D
 
I am in a similar situation... don't have the cash for "L's" or "IS" yet but don't want crap... Steer clear of the 28-80mm, it is pretty poor. Same thing with the Canon EF 75-300mm. Those are the 2 I started out with and wasn't ever happy with 'em.

What I have found that has proven to be more than acceptable for the time being is:

1) Canon EF 35-135mm f/3.5-4.5 USM (I paid $130 used on eBay)

2) Canon EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM (I paid $200 used from Adorama)

Both can be had for similar costs to the other lenses I listed but are much better quality. They both are ring type USM and allow full time manual focusing. Both the build quality and optical quality seem to be superior as well.



 
Thanks DLSR noob and Moe. Im a High School student that doesnt have a job, what I can scrape up first goes to my horses then other things like camera stuff. I will have to check out the 35-135mm, that sounds like something I can afford soon. Im really just trying to find a flexible lens that I can use for all sorts of things.
 

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