Which lense to go with Canon 70D

[nsawe]

I'm planing on buying 70D ( waiting for some full used reviews) I already have canon 55-250 f 4.5-6.

Which lens I should go for?

- Sigma 17-50 f2.8
- canon 18-135 STM
- Sigma 18-85 ( something like this range)

 

[Gavjenks]

The main strength of the 70D is video, and if you are planning on doing video, then the clear winner is the 18-135 STM which is specifically designed to work well in concert with newer video-focused body technology from Canon, and also has an absolutely silent autofocus motor to not pollute your audio recording.

And if you aren't interested in video, then I suggest saving $700 and getting a used 7D instead, which aside from the video-relevant improvements (split pixel sensor, flip out and touch screen), has almost exactly the same stats for half the cost.

 

[nsawe]

Thanks

Yes I am interested in photos rather than video but Digic 5+ doesn't added any additional performance benefits ?
Out of thoes 3 lens which one is good for photos?

 

[iolair]

Thanks

Yes I am interested in photos rather than video but Digic 5+ doesn't added any additional performance benefits ?
Out of thoes 3 lens which one is good for photos?

It depends whether range or image quality is more important for your of photography, and how much you want to isolate by depth of field or shoot in low levels of available light.

What do you plan to shoot?

 

[kay1547]

The main strength of the 70D is video, and if you are planning on doing video, then the clear winner is the 18-135 STM which is specifically designed to work well in concert with newer video-focused body technology from Canon, and also has an absolutely silent autofocus motor to not pollute your audio recording.

And if you aren't interested in video, then I suggest saving $700 and getting a used 7D instead, which aside from the video-relevant improvements (split pixel sensor, flip out and touch screen), has almost exactly the same stats for half the cost.

the 70d offers more then just video improvements over the 7d. I have this camera (upgraded from a t4i) and my main lens is the sigma 17-70mm f2.8-4 from the contemporary line. Better then a kit lens, sharper then the 18-135mm STM (which i own as well) but sadly not completely silent. But for video this minor problem is easily fixed, and you only hear this in a silent room.
Im more of a photo person but after owning the 70d i've enjoyed video a lot more over the t4i. video ISO is cleaner then the t4i with the new sensor, even up to 6400 i was pleased with the performance, for a comparison on the t4i video ISO i don't go past 1600.
mainly its the auto focusing that allows me to keep up with the action that the t4i just couldn't.
for me what was lacking in the t4i was true auto focusing that the 70d delivers, great RAW buffer to capture 16ish shots before slowing down, built in WiFi for photo sharing instantly, and if needed micro adjustments for lenses if needed. It didn't stop there, after handling the camera i was surprised to find out some other neat features such as you can pick what RAW and JPEG size files to capture, unlike the t4i you could only capture full size raw and full size jpeg.

my two complaints, the LCD screen will not auto shut off when you put your face to it like the rebel line does, but since this is a semi-pro camera i suppose your mainly relying on the top LCD.
the biggest problem i have is with video settings. in Manual mode you have full control of ISO, Aperture and Shutter. but take it out of manual and you lose all controls. I wish you could keep the settings like you do in photo mode, say set it to shutter priority and you keep iso and aperture but have the camera take control of shutter and so on, but sadly you don't have this option.
i don't mind letting the camera take control of shutter and aperture, but i want to control the ISO, they should really give you this option, its dumb they dont.

if you have any 70d questions, ask away.

 

[Gavjenks]

the 70d offers more then just video improvements over the 7d.

Like what?

(I'm not arguing, I just am curious what advantages you experienced for still photography, so that I can file them away in the old brain for later. Your whole post is about video, and you never seemed to get back to this point)

 

[kay1547]

the 70d offers more then just video improvements over the 7d.

Like what?

(I'm not arguing, I just am curious what advantages you experienced for still photography, so that I can file them away in the old brain for later. Your whole post is about video, and you never seemed to get back to this point)

if you really wanted to know im sure you can open the specs on canon site and do a side by side comparison of features.
but off the top of my head some features the 7d does not have.
wifi, touch screen, flip out screen, movie continuous focus, newest aps-c sensor (but don't expect FF performance) and its $140 less

what can the 7d do that the 70d can't? 1fps more, slightly bigger raw buffer, a little more rugged, did i miss anything? why pay more now for a 3 year old camera technology when the rumored 7d mark II might come next year?
but going back to your post, where exactly can you find a used 7d for $500? that quite the discount.

 

[Gavjenks]

wifi, touch screen, flip out screen, movie continuous focus, newest aps-c sensor (but don't expect FF performance)

The touch screen is mostly useful for video. It allows you to tap people to switch focus to them and lock during a video scene. For stills it is not particularly useful, just gimmicky. FOr video, it has serious utility.

Wifi and flip out screens are both probably more useful for video than for stills (wifi being basically a flip out screen on crack for most utility purposes). Honestly I don't see wifi being used that much though since you lose the touchscreen advantages if using your cellphone as an LCD. It's occasionally good for dramatic dolly shots or shooting on top of a pole or whatever, okay.

Movie continuous focus is obviously an advantage for video and not at all for stills, by definition.

And the new sensor is almost entirely better for video, not so much for stills. Marginal still improvement (certainly not shabby, but not much better than the 7d). For video, though, the new split pixel technology is fairly revolutionary it seems.




So yeah, most of the advantages are heavily video-oriented.

Also, I said a **USED** 7D as a good alternative, which is about half the cost of a 70D. There are no used 70Ds, since it's so new.

Thus the advantage of the 7D is $$$

 

[kay1547]

wifi, touch screen, flip out screen, movie continuous focus, newest aps-c sensor (but don't expect FF performance)

The touch screen is mostly useful for video. It allows you to tap people to switch focus to them and lock during a video scene. For stills it is not particularly useful, just gimmicky. FOr video, it has serious utility.

Wifi and flip out screens are both probably more useful for video than for stills (wifi being basically a flip out screen on crack for most utility purposes). Honestly I don't see wifi being used that much though since you lose the touchscreen advantages if using your cellphone as an LCD. It's occasionally good for dramatic dolly shots or shooting on top of a pole or whatever, okay.

Movie continuous focus is obviously an advantage for video and not at all for stills, by definition.

And the new sensor is almost entirely better for video, not so much for stills. Marginal still improvement (certainly not shabby, but not much better than the 7d). For video, though, the new split pixel technology is fairly revolutionary it seems.




So yeah, most of the advantages are heavily video-oriented.

Also, I said a **USED** 7D as a good alternative, which is about half the cost of a 70D. There are no used 70Ds, since it's so new.

Thus the advantage of the 7D is $$$

the touch screen is great for video as you mentioned but i find it much faster using touch to change menu settings as well. Most people knock this till they've tried it.

Wifi again is only as useful as you make it. Often my wife loves to post images of our travel on FB/instagram using her phone. with the Wifi i can now give her a jpeg file right from the camera while out site seeing. being creative for animal shooters, you can set the camera next to some food, wait for the animal to come in frame then snap a photo. or i guess just have a big expensive telephoto lens, but sometims you just don't get the angle you want zooming in from a distance.

flip out LCD, this is a must have for video, well not MUST but very useful. for photos, have you ever tried to set the camera on the ground? next to impossible to comfortably put your eye to the viewfinder, and if you angle the camera up the LCD is even hard to view, a flip out here comes in very handy. same goes if you need to hold the camera over head.

movie mode is just TOO good to not have, if youre spending this much you might as well have a combo great photo and video camera.

the new sensor is better but nothing to get overly excited about, but if both camera is the same new, go for the better option right. oh and the new processor, don't know how much better it is but heck im sure its not worse.

maybe this guy doesnt like buying old, so im comparing both camera almost same price. Ive looked on ebay, most used 7d still sell for $800 so finding one for 500-600 is a bargain.

you can't deny the 70d is a better camera as far as features with the latest technology, but sure if money was a issue then saving $400-500 for a used 7d would be fine. but to me the extra money is WELL worth the new features.
however if money was an issue, you shouldn't be getting into DSLR.

I got into DSLR because they were charging $20 per print and $500 for the whole package for the cruise i was on. Well i wasn't about to pay $500 if i could get a DSLR for about that. First thing i did after the cruise, went to best buy bought a t2i with 2 kit lens combo $800, well im on my 3rd DSLR now not to mention a number of primes, telephotos and accessories all because i didn't want to pay $20 per print LOL. so yea, when people want to make that jump from camera phone to DSLR they should expect to pay.
its like when you buy a gopro, you don't stop there, and soon you'll want multiple for more angles.

right now this is the hobby i enjoy the most, especially with kids growing up, you want to capture them at every stage of their life, cause you will never get another chance to do it.

 

[nsawe]

It depends whether range or image quality is more important for your of photography, and how much you want to isolate by depth of field or shoot in low levels of available light.

What do you plan to shoot?

I am just amateur photographer trying to learn.
But what I will see in lens is its should be sharp, quick and very good in low light settings

From response I get the notion that sigma 17-70 is better than kit lens.

Please share your knowledge on this topic

 

[RedRobin]

The OP's question of which lens to go for very much depends on what type of photography he/she does or wants to do. Subject to budget I would consider the 24-105mm f/4L IS USM as being one lens to cover a wide range without having to carry around a bag full of lenses. But I can't emphasise enough about deciding what kind of subjects and photos you want to achieve. There is never the perfect lens to cover ALL occasions!

On this question of 70D vs 7D I'm very much more in agreement with kay1547 on this.

Although the 70D has far more capability for video (which I don't ever use) these same features give advantages to using the 70D for stills photography. Continuous follow focus and speed of focus is just one example. The articulated touch screen option is another. Built-in WiFi is another. That's not to say that the 7D isn't a great camera but the 70D embodies much more recent latest-state-of-the-art technology.

The next generation of 7D will doubtless turn things around, but for now the 70D is my choice.

This video outlines some of the differences:

 

[RedRobin]

This may be helpful in considering which lens.....

 

[kay1547]

It depends whether range or image quality is more important for your of photography, and how much you want to isolate by depth of field or shoot in low levels of available light.

What do you plan to shoot?

I am just amateur photographer trying to learn.
But what I will see in lens is its should be sharp, quick and very good in low light settings

From response I get the notion that sigma 17-70 is better than kit lens.

Please share your knowledge on this topic

the sigma C 17-70 f2.8-4 is a bit sharper then the kits STM lens, but you won't notice this unless you have both to compare. you say your just learning so im willing to bet you won't be able to tell the difference. I myself didn't really notice until doing a side by side comparison with both lenses taking images of a brick wall through the main apertures used from 2.8-13 then opened it on lightroom and zoomed in 1:1 for comparison.
my findings, the sigma is indeed sharper on every popular aperture, but the STM lens does better on the edges (not as soft) but still this is hard to notice not zoomed in 1:1
the STM is absolute silent, you won't pick up any focus noise in video, also i feel it focuses a little faster.
the sigma C lets in 1 extra stop of light at equal focus length, at about 45mm it will be f4 the f2.8 is only good to about 19mm barely zooming the lens jumps to f3.2

both lens have their own strength, cost about the same, but the STM if you buy in a bundle will cost you less. I think the 18-135 STM is a great beginner lens and will cover just about everything a beginner needs and should make you very happy, only after some time using it and comparing your images to others will you begin to say "why isnt my images that sharp"? thats when if youre like me start looking for better glass.

 

[nsawe]

Thanks for great thoughts
I would mostly go with STM. That day I saw great deal on canon 4L 24-105 on eBay( 749$)

How's this lense?

 

[RedRobin]

Rather than buy any lens based on it being either cheaper or a good deal, I think it's far more important to buy a lens because it's the one which will best suit your needs according to what kind of photography you do. Of course, your available budget is a factor but if you can afford the lens you need, then buy it. Bear in my that there is no such thing as just one perfect lens that will fulfil ALL your needs!