Canon 400D Lenses?

[bluesilver]

Hi All,

As I'm about to do the second part of my photography course, I've just bought myself the Canon 400D as the Tesco's offer + the £50 cashback from Canon was just too good a deal to miss!
I'll get the standard 18-55 Canon lens 'free' with the camera (didn't do body only in the offer) but I think from what I've heard, I'll need a better lens really.
I want to get good Portrait, Wide and Long lenses and I have about £5-600 for all 3.
I've heard the Sigma lenses are very good, but I'd really appreciate any suggestions from your experience as to which brand etc to go for.

Thanks so much

Neil

 

[r6biddy]

dont wanna burst your bubble here but 3 lenses of decent quality for £600 don't think so

portrait lense 85mm f1.8 head shots
50mm f1.4 head and shoulders
long end 70-200 f4 is or non is bargain prices at mo
wide 10-22mm zoom is a good lense but prime would be better wide not my thing
personally i use 24-105L f4 is on a 30d its a good all rounder but for indoor portrait with more bokeh a faster lense would be better f2.8 max really
my next lense is gonna be 100mm f2.8 macro which i intend to double up as macro/portrait

sigma are good lenses 70mm f2.8 macro looks very good and i am tempted with this one

sorry but there is no way you are gonna get all three of decent quality , best decide which is most important initially and get that sorted first
85mm f1.8 portrait would be a nice fast sharp lense and you will see what the camera and you are capable of its renowned for being verg good for the money if you really wanna go budget 50mm 1.8 about £70 possible but its more like a toy and the focus is very iffy
good luck

get yourself over to www.fredmiranda.com
or www.dpreview.com both are good
www.the-digital-picture.com for lense reviews

 

[denno75uk]

It depends if you're definitely after three lenses or just lenses to cover those ranges. How wide do you want?
The Sigma 17-70 and the Canon 70-300 IS could be had for your £600 and though I've no experience of either, I do know they've both got pleny of advocates.
I suppose you may even be able to grab a nifty too if you shop clever.

 

[Tobers]

Hmmm, tricky one.

If I were you, I'd stick with the kit lens for a while and get used to handling the camera until it's second nature.

For a real cheapie that gives stunning results, the 50mm 1.8 prime lens is excellent at about £50/£60 from Kerso (Flash Camera) on eBay. That will do very nicely for portraits and is just superb for general shots as well.

Then you might be interested in a longer lens. I'd stay away from the "kit" 55-200 as it's pretty cheap and not v.well made. Some people speak v.well of the Sigma lenses but I haven't tried one myself.

I've had v.good results with the 70-200 F4L which I got for about £380 on eBay (adani505, but also Kerso). This will also give lovely results, and can be combined with an extender later (1.4x for £200) if you like. And you'll see the quality of an "L" lens too.

So you can get two excellent lenses for just over £400 that you can then take with you when you trade up to that 5D that you'll get in a couple of years

That will leave you with the kit lens to replace some time in the future. You need to save up for this one - the 17-55 is really good but approx £600. As an EF-S lens you wont be able to take it up with you to a full-frame camera like the 5D, but you'll be able to sell it easy enough anyway.

 

[jonnypb]

Canon 50mm 1.8 £56 - Portrait lens
Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro Lens £189 - Walkabout lens
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens £345 - Zoom lens

All from one stop digital - £590

Cracking set of lenses to get you going

 

[bluesilver]

thanks everyone for the help so far.

I'm still very new to all this so I don't understand a great deal of all this.. just finished the basic photography course so David Bailey doesn't need to worry at the moment

anyway, I've found these lenses and wonderered what people thought..

1. SIGMA 18-50MM f/3.5-5.6 DC LENS (CANON AF)
http://www.cameras2u.com/products/details.cfm?PRODUCT=521927

2.SIGMA 55-200MM f/4-5.6 DC LENS (CANON AF)
http://www.cameras2u.com/products/details.cfm?PRODUCT=684927

3. SIGMA 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG MACRO (CANON AF)
http://www.cameras2u.com/products/details.cfm?PRODUCT=509927

would love to hear what people think..

thanks again

Neil

 

[tryingtimes]

All these opinions are because I've been reading up - I have no personal experience. Info is gleaned from here, magazines and 3 or 4 online review sites.

1) I don't think this is going to be any better than the kit lens. People recommend the Tamron 17-50mm or the Sigma 17-70mm as the next step up.

2) it's cheap and chearful here's a review http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/sigma_55200_456/index.htm

3) The version above it in the range is meant to be worth the difference.
http://www.cameras2u.com/products/details.cfm?product=508927&tduid=51ab21de169d391bfc32245560c04795
This particular one seems to be much cheaper from Hong Kong. Digital Rev doing it for £110 delivered.

Hope that helps a little

 

[bluesilver]

I really appreciate your help, like I said I am just beginning in all this and it is a minefield!

 

[jonnypb]

3. SIGMA 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG MACRO (CANON AF)

Neil

get the APO version

 

[denno75uk]

thanks everyone for the help so far.

I'm still very new to all this so I don't understand a great deal of all this.. just finished the basic photography course so David Bailey doesn't need to worry at the moment

anyway, I've found these lenses and wonderered what people thought..

1. SIGMA 18-50MM f/3.5-5.6 DC LENS (CANON AF)
http://www.cameras2u.com/products/details.cfm?PRODUCT=521927

2.SIGMA 55-200MM f/4-5.6 DC LENS (CANON AF)
http://www.cameras2u.com/products/details.cfm?PRODUCT=684927

3. SIGMA 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG MACRO (CANON AF)
http://www.cameras2u.com/products/details.cfm?PRODUCT=509927

would love to hear what people think..

thanks again

Neil

As tryingtimes says, I don't think the first two Sigmas would be worth you bothering. As for the third, definitely the APO version from what I've heard.

With lenses, apart from the Canon 50mm 1.8, there is no point spending as little as you can. You just can't get away with it. It's a false economy because you'll rapidly outgrow the cheap stuff but won't get much back on resale. If you really can afford £600, get as few lenses as will cover your criteria, hence my and bubble502's recommendations.

If you can get the f4 L for under £400, it would be a good idea but might not measure up to the 70-300 IS with regards VFM.

 

[senu]

Both the Canon 50mm 1.8 and Sigma 70-300 DG APO can be had for just about £200 .
Neither is the "best" but for the money nothing touches either for quality.

If you can , buy them, use the kit lens and save up for a better walkabout (Sigma 17- 70) or get it and replace the kit lens right away

The kit ( or sigma 17-70) will be Ok wide angle
The Sigma 70-300 for Zoom ( as well as portrait)
and
the 50mm for portraits as well a taste of Prime fast lenses

I dont think you will outgrow them for a while and even then you can sell them off if you need to move on

 

[Chunder]

Personally, I'd advise that you save as much of that £600 as you can; start off with something that's reasonably cheap, and a jack-of-all-trades, and after a year (or less if you're impatient!) look to upgrade.

I started out with a Sigma 28-300mm f/4.5-5.6 (I think; pretty sure it's discontinued now...) which gave an awesome range, from reasonably wide, through portraiture, and up to telephoto.
It didn't have image stabilisation, which I discovered would have been very useful at the long-end, and it gave some distortion when used short... but it stood me in good stead for a number of years.

Once I'd started to understand photography more (and by this I mean that I'd noticed for myself the flaws and limitations with the lens) then I started to look around for other lenses... and I had my archives of photos available to tell me some important things: I didn't use the full range of the zoom very often, it was either fully extended, or completely short - very little inbetween.

If you *need* to get a new starter lens, why not look into something like the 28-135mm f/3,5-5.6 IS - it'll give you a nice range, along with the image stabilisation. It's not going to be something you keep for ever and ever, but will give you a good feel for what you actually need...

There's some great shots on Flickr that suggest that this lens can achieve great results, and the best bit? It's under £300 (from Warehouse Direct; probably cheaper elsewhere, except Jessops!).

HTH!

 

[bluesilver]

thanks everyone, I think I have quite a bit to think about. I'll let you know how I get on

 

[Darkstar_surfer]

A few other little things that you should consider is a battery grip, remote release and a tripod. This will eat a little in to your budget but all are well worth additions. Also I hope you bought a UV filter to protect your kit lens, I know is is cheep but if it gets scratched you will regret it. Don't forget a cleaning kit as well. Once you have all this in place, oh and a couple of good CF cards, 2G scandisk Ultra II should do, get a Sigma 17-70.

Then have a play for a while before you chase your next lens and give yourself a chance to get your feet, then you will be a better judge as to what you need.

 

[hernando]

for £600 I will save a bit more money and get the 24-105 L IS , very good lens and range (is not point buying cheap lens just waste of money, save up or good Quality lens), until then use the kit lens and get to know the camera and get the 50mm f1.8 very good for the money Ebay £50 ...

Good Luck ...

 

[h4rri]

My money would be on the Tamron 55-200 and the Canon 17-85IS

 

[iGiDK]

For £600 this is what I'd do:

1) Keep Kit lens for landscapes (stopped down to F8-F11 was the sweet spot on mine)
2) Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 XR Di = £240 (For Walkabout & Portraiture)
3) Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO DG MACRO = £145

£215 left...

With this IMO you should invest in a sturdy tripod, a bag, rocket blower, card reader and a couple of CF cards (and also possibly something like Photoshop Elements if you've not already got a PP suite)

Any ££ left over I'd save towards a replacement for the kit lens

e.g.
Tamron 17-50mm F2.8 XR Di ll
Canon EF 17-40mm f4L USM

 

[bluesilver]

so, how would these rate then? would this give me a pretty good set of lenses?

http://www.cameras2u.com/products/details.cfm?PRODUCT=669927

http://www.cameras2u.com/products/details.cfm?product=508927&tduid=51ab21de169d391bfc32245560c04795

http://www.cameras2u.com/products/details.cfm?PRODUCT=2514A003BA

cheers

Neil

 

[jonnypb]

so, how would these rate then? would this give me a pretty good set of lenses?

http://www.cameras2u.com/products/details.cfm?PRODUCT=669927

http://www.cameras2u.com/products/details.cfm?product=508927&tduid=51ab21de169d391bfc32245560c04795

http://www.cameras2u.com/products/details.cfm?PRODUCT=2514A003BA

cheers

Neil

yep they're the exact ones i recommended earlier in the thread, you can get them cheaper from one stop digital who do come highly recommended from fellow forum members. They're a good range of starter lenses for you and will produce good results. Leaves you money to invest in a bag/tripod/memory card etc

 

[tryingtimes]

so, how would these rate then? would this give me a pretty good set of lenses?

http://www.cameras2u.com/products/details.cfm?PRODUCT=669927

http://www.cameras2u.com/products/details.cfm?product=508927&tduid=51ab21de169d391bfc32245560c04795

http://www.cameras2u.com/products/details.cfm?PRODUCT=2514A003BA

cheers

Neil

Those are the 3 that are on my list too - but I'm waiting until I've taken a few hundred shots to see if Image Stabilisation is a must or not.
Don't forget to use these codes if you buy from cameras2u
over £200 cm2u-pr06
Over £500 cm2u-pr10
Of the guaranteed no-vat companies - Digital Rev are the cheapest for the APO. Onestopdigital cheapest for 17-70 and Kerso in Scotland on ebay works out as good as any for the 50mm. That's the only one I've bought so far.

 

[bluesilver]

excellent, thanks everyone for your help