New Lens

[michaelachan]

Hey Guys,

So I have a Canon Eos305D with a, well I'd like to think, a pretty rubbish 18-55mm lense. Im thinking of getting a new one, being a student I have a fairly low budget, but I wouldn't mind spending about £150.

Does anybody have any recommendations, I recently played around with a fantastic lens on the 20D where you could adjust the depth of field and it had an amazing focal range.

Any recommendations would be wondeful :] xx

[jdepould]

If you're on a budget a 50mm prime is always a good place to start, and it won't set you back much.

[adz929]

I've seen some pretty amazing stuff come out of the Canon 18-55 kit lens, however, as stated, you're best bet would be a 50mm prime.

[mattmyles06]

I agree with the rest. Get the EF 50mm f/1.8 II prime lens. It will cost you around $100 (canadian dollars) . I got mine for $90 new.

[gemmf]

I've seen some pretty amazing stuff come out of the Canon 18-55 kit lens.....

Me too. And I certainly wouldn't call it rubbish. If you think the lens is rubbish, of course the image would seem rubbish. Ok, it's not the best lens around, but I still believe it can produce great images when it's used properly. It's my opinion anyway. And you can adjust DoF with 18-55mm.

[ericvision]

The 18-55 will out-perform most lenses within your budget... The only exception being the 50mm 1.8 that everyone else has recommended. You're still going to have to keep the kit lens for wide angled shots, though.

If you want to increase your reach you can find the Sigma 70-300 4-5.6 APO DG Macro within your budget - there are usually a good selection floating about on ebay (I sold mine for £90). Make sure you get the latest version to ensure compatibility.

The canon equivalents (EF- 75-300mm) are also available quite cheaply. Be warned though, in terms of sharpness the kit lens out-performs both.

All roads in the DSLR world lead toward big spending...

[michaelachan]

thank you for all the suggestions.

I'm just wandering what difference the 50mm prime will make as opposed to the 18-55.

I have also had my eye on the sigma, but the prices vary sooooo much and I don't really understand why

sorry guys still in my beginner stages with lenses lol

[ericvision]

Prime lenses are much easier to make and have fewer working parts so tend to give sharper results than their zoom counterparts. Because the lens opens up to f1.8 is is very good in low light and excellent when you need a shallow depth of field.

There are 2 current versions of the Sigma lens. The APO and the non APO. I'd avoid the non-APO one which is about £50 cheaper. There are also several older versions which you should avoid due to compatability problems. A quick look on ebay... This is the model of lens I had:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-SIGMA-70-300m ... dZViewItem
And is about £20 cheaper than I paid for a grey import one.

[pierresphotography]

Tokina AF 19-35mm f/3.5-4.5, exactly on your budget.

[goodlistener]

Please don't think of the kit lens as "Rubish". It delivers HUGE value for the money and is a masterpeice of planning, engineering and manufacturing to cost/performance goals. Think of it as limited. The darn thing is, that $300 or even $1,100 dollar lenses are limited, but less so.

Within its limit, you can get real nice pictures. Avoid extremes of the zoom range, and of aperture numbers (and of ISO speeds). In the middle ranges, it is very sharp, very clear. Check out my gallery on Shepherdstown, WV for some examples.

If you want higher optical performance, the Canon 35mm or 50mm prime lenses do that, but are not zoom. They sell for a very reasonable price. Sigma and Tamron both make a 17-50mm zoom that sell for $360 to $410 US I believe. They are better lenses than the Canon 18-55 kit lens, but should be better in as much as they sell for 4 times the price.

I have a gallery with mostly images from the Canon 35mm f2 prime on Frederick, MD gallery. I got that lens for low light work at wide open apertures, and sure enough, it works! (Most of the photos have been brigtened in Apple iPhoto)

Hope this and other good advice you find here narrows your search and that the images you take bring you much joy.

[inukshuk94]

Like mentioned get the 50mm f1.8. Now as for rubbish I'say get more experience before saying that.
Here's some reading help which is very good:
-National Geographic Field Guide "Secrets to making great Pictures" 2nd edition
-The Digital Photography Book by Scott Kelby