Lens: What to Buy? (1 Viewer)

[kavanelli]

I bought a Canon 350d with an 18-55mm lens included a couple of months. I would like to get a better lens with a better zoom. What should i be looking out for, I'm new to all this so some help would be much appricated.

Are the Sigma lens any good? A lot cheaper that the canon lens are they as good?

Where is a good place to buy lens? Shops seem very expensive.

Help would be much appricated.

 

[RSJ]

What do you mean by "better zoom"? Longer range? What's your budget? Canon will be far better lenses than sigma/tamron but far more expensive. If you're on a budget the sigma and tamron lenses will do you just as well (my main lens is a tamron, though i'm just about to switch to a nikon). Tell us what you want to do and we could probably figure out what lenses would suit you.

Anyways, this place is deadly for reviews and getting an idea of what's out there. Ebay is good for getting lenses cheap from HK, this place does loads of second hand stuff, i used them recently and they were deadly. Adorama and B&H are great too. Remember you have to pay approx 25% import tax with all of these. There's a place in germany too that's good, i'm sure someone will have the address. Pixmania is good too but a little more pricey.

 

[Goff]

I bought a Canon 350d with an 18-55mm lens included a couple of months. I would like to get a better lens with a better zoom. What should i be looking out for, I'm new to all this so some help would be much appricated.

Are the Sigma lens any good? A lot cheaper that the canon lens are they as good?

Where is a good place to buy lens? Shops seem very expensive.

Help would be much appricated.

As RSJ says, The Sigma or Tamron 18-200mm lenses would be a good cover all lens. At the moment I have the "cheap" canon 50mm prime f1.8 as my main lens. It works out at about 80mm so it's great for portraits. And I keep trying to zoom it. Very fast and very sharp. I can only imagine what the expensive one is like.

My next purchase is probably the sigma 18-200mm. I wish I could get a better canon lens but I'm loathe to spend the money. I think €350 or thereabouts is more than enough to be spending on a lens. Though I'm trying to see what I can get from Hong Kong, so might have better options. If you know someone in Hong Kong or who frequents there regurlarly, that's the best place to get stuff!

 

[magicbastarder]

don't forget that the longer the lens range, the more compromises have been made in image quality, or the higher the price - most people i know would rarely use the long end of an 18-200mm zoom, but it depends on what you want to take.
the wider the maximum aperture, the more expensive the lens, but a wide max aperture is A Good Thing.

 

[the departed]

hey anyone recommend a decent fish eye lens?
im using a converter on my shots..great loss of quality. too much glass in front of the lens

 

[magicbastarder]

i'd imagine that for the use you'd get out of one, it wouldn't be worth the price of admission.

 

[the departed]

oh no i use fisheye all the time.
i shoot a lot of skating as well.

 

[Goff]

oh no i use fisheye all the time.
i shoot a lot of skating as well.

I'd actually whack that into DXO and "fix" it.

 

[kavanelli]

What do you mean by "better zoom"? Longer range? What's your budget? Canon will be far better lenses than sigma/tamron but far more expensive. If you're on a budget the sigma and tamron lenses will do you just as well (my main lens is a tamron, though i'm just about to switch to a nikon). Tell us what you want to do and we could probably figure out what lenses would suit you.

Anyways, this place is deadly for reviews and getting an idea of what's out there. Ebay is good for getting lenses cheap from HK, this place does loads of second hand stuff, i used them recently and they were deadly. Adorama and B&H are great too. Remember you have to pay approx 25% import tax with all of these. There's a place in germany too that's good, i'm sure someone will have the address. Pixmania is good too but a little more pricey.

Thanks very much for these, the problem I have is I was taking picture from a distance and not to happy with the results. As a Novice to all this, trying to get my head around it, and I don't to be spending huge money on all manner of lens etc until i get better. So a Lens which is not to expensive with a better range than what I already have is what I am looking for.

 

[Goff]

Remember that when you zoom to the max on higher zooms, there will be more chance of introducing shake into the image. So either use a monopod/tripod/wall for stabilisation. Or whack up the ISO, which will introduce noise. (But thankfully not much on a Canon and you can reduce it even more by post-processing with the likes of DXO). Lenses with built in Image Stabilisation cost a small fortune and aren't of beneift under some circumstances (long distance wildlife photography for example).

Use proper technique when taking photos (lean against something/keep your elbows into your side, etc./Exhale and hold your breath - If you know how to shoot, the same applies).

I reckon if you can stretch to the 325 to 350 euros, the sigma 18-200mm is a good bet. Definitely better than the kit lens and the quality is pretty good from what I've seen so far. Maybe a little flaky at 300mm, but for that price....

 

[RSJ]

Rule of thumb for camera shake - you want to have the shutter speed approximately 1/length of the lens in mm - so if you're shooting at 150mm you want your shutter speed to be 1/150th of a second. If you have a steady hand you're grand though, i took this one of Chuck Ragan hand held at about 130mm at 1/30th of a second.

 

[molateen]

I am thinking about getting one of these . It getting great reviews everywhere I look . The sigma Bigma 50-500 .

http://images.google.ie/imgres?imgu...refox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official_s&sa=N

 

[Goff]

Jasus, the price.

Deadly though.

You'd be shot if you used that in London.

 

[RSJ]

I've a pentax lens here if anyone wants it, used it on my old MZ-M. It's manual focus, "SMC PENTAX-A 1:4-5.6 35-80mm". It's a pretty shite lens if memory serves, so if anyone wants it i'll let go of it for "good vibes". And a pint.

 

[tripoli]

Got me my D70s and 18-70mm today so i'll be looking for some nikon lens advice soon. More than likely a good zoom like 70 - 300 etc.

I've a pentax lens here if anyone wants it, used it on my old MZ-M. It's manual focus, "SMC PENTAX-A 1:4-5.6 35-80mm". It's a pretty shite lens if memory serves, so if anyone wants it i'll let go of it for "good vibes". And a pint.

 

[RSJ]

Post up some pics asap. Actually, you should do some comparison tests against shots you took with the canon. Get scientific on that shit.

 

[pete]

Canon EF 90-300mm USM F/4.5-5.6
or
Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III
or
Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM

????

 

[RSJ]

What do you want to shoot pete? if it's gigs, you'll need something with a wider aperature (the f/4-5.6 bit will need to be lower, like f/2.8-4.5). For general use though, those should be fine. One of the canon heads should be able to tell you what the III and USM bits mean.

 

[pete]

What do you want to shoot pete? if it's gigs, you'll need something with a wider aperature (the f/4-5.6 bit will need to be lower, like f/2.8-4.5). For general use though, those should be fine. One of the canon heads should be able to tell you what the III and USM bits mean.

yeah i know the f4-5.6 ain't so great, but to be honest I don't want to be spending more on something i might not really use. false economy?

 

[RSJ]

yeah i know the f4-5.6 ain't so great, but to be honest I don't want to be spending more on something i might not really use. false economy?

Yeah, you're not wrong. Would you think of getting a prime lens? Maybe a 120mm or so? You could probably get a sigma or tamrom with about 1.8 or 2.8 for a fairly decent price, and you'd get photos out of it that'd be only rappeh.