[Amarillaa]

Hello everybody,

I have just ordered a Canon EOS 30D for my husband. I still have some spare money and I would like to buy a couple of very good quality lenses for the camera. Unfortunately, I have no idea about lenses. All I know is that EF lenses are more compatible than EF-S lenses. So I would like to know what kind of lens I would need to complete the Christmas present for my husband.


" % of type of photography-
--- Landscape - 25%
--- Portrait indoors - 25%
--- Portrait outdoors – 10%
--- Macro -30%
--- Fast sports photography -? (once only – Formula 1, but it is not his usual type, I think).
--- Wildlife photography -10% "


I probably will not have money for all the necessary lenses , but at least I would like to get him a very good lens for portrait indoors so that he can take pictures of the family this Christmas and one very good lens for landscapes/dramatic skies. Perhaps –if I can still afford it- I would also like to get him an excellent macro lens.

I prefer getting less lenses, but better quality ones.

Could you please help me?


Many thanks and all the best,

Amarillaa

[j sotelo]

heres a link that might help you
Canon Lenses

and here

EOS (SLR) Camera Systems - Standard & Medium Telephoto - Canon USA Consumer Products

[Amarillaa]

Thank you very much for the links, j. Sotelo.

I have been reading about different lenses for a while now.

I started by looking for information on macro lenses. It seems that the best lens is the Canon EF 180mm f3.5L Macro USM. I think that given the price of this lens, I should leave my husband buy a macro lens in the future, as it is his favourite type of photography and I would like to get him a lens that he can use to take pictures of the family during Christmas.

However, for future reference, I would like to know your opinion on the following review I found:
“Good lens (Canon EF 180mm f3.5L Macro USM) but better options exist. Especially in the Canon line up. Buy the 70-200 F/2.8L at similar price or F/2.8L IS at a bit more, and get a few extension tube (you can get a set of 3 Kenko extension tube for around $170 at 12mm, 20mm and 36mm), you will get a fantastic zoom telephoto lens and a far more versatile package. With the 70-200mm zoom lens, you get all the focal length not just the 180mm. If macro is desired choose an extension tube or any combination of extension tubes, you get so much more choices in focus distance and magnification factor combinations, it's mind boggling. If you go with the IS 70-200mm lens, you get the benefit of the image stablizing when taking Macro as well to reduce the camera shake effect. The combination of the 70-200mm family with a set of extension tubes are a far better choice if local focal length macro photography is wanted.”

Would a 70-200 F/2.8L (IS) be better than the EF 180mm f3.5L Macro USM for macro pictures. Would my husband be killing two birds with the one stone if he were to buy a 70-200 F/2.8L (IS) for macro and “telephoto” ?


Then I started looking for good lenses for indoor portraits, as I presume that macro lenses are not the best choice for indoors portraits… (right? )

However, I have stumbled upon a “walk-around” lens, the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM, that seems interesting. I read that the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM is also good for indoor portraits. Now I am completely confused . Should I buy a lens for each type of photography or go for a more versatile lens? I may have to read a “Buying a digital cameras for dummies” to be able to get the present ready...

My main priority is to get my husband:
1) Very good quality lenses to ensure that my choice will please him.
2) Get him enough lenses for him to be able to play around with the 30D at
Christmas, i.e. indoor portrait and landscapes/dramatic skies.


Oh, gosh, there is so much more to photography than meets the eye!!! Buying a camera as a present is turning out to be an extremely time consuming hobby of mine…

I must get some work done now.

Thank you for your patience with my very basic questions.

All the best,

Amarillaa

[Sonsey]

Hi Amarillaa,

My advice would be to not limit yourself to just Canon lenses, both Sigma and Tamron both make some excellent lenses that I'm sure your (extreamily lucky ) hubby would be happy to use.

The lenses you mention above, while being excellent professional lenses, are also very expensive. I mention this only because after reading your other thread about which camera to get I noticed your budget was about £1200, now that your left with £400-500
after buying the 30D these lenses you've mentioned are vastly over budget. Your husband seems to enjoy Landscape, Indoor Portrait and Macro photography the most so I'm guessing you'll want to cover these if possible...

One lens which most Canon owners flirt with getting is the Canon EF 50 mm f/1.8II (link below), the reason's being is that it's sharp as a tack, great in low light and cheap as chips at around £60-70, build quality isn't the best as it's a plastic lens but many users still love it especially because of the price... I'm thinking it'd make a great indoor portrait lens.
Canon page - Canon UK - EF 50mm f/1.8 II
Pixalo reviews - http://www.pixalo.com/reviews/showpr...oduct/83/cat/6

On the landscape side of things there are many to choose from, if you bought the 30D "kit" then it will allready have the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 which is a basic wide angle lens that will get him started, but possibly not up to the quality I think you want your husband to have. If you bought the camera "body only" then it will not come with this lens so he'll have to get one... One to look at is the EF 17-40mm f/4.0L (the red "L" denotes Canon's professional series of lenses), it is a lens that alot of landscape photographer's swear by and it also one of the cheapest ways into getting L glass, cheap being a relative term as it still costs around the £500 mark (I believe Canon are doing a £70 cashback on this lens though)
Canon page - Canon UK - EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM
Pixalo reviews - http://www.pixalo.com/reviews/showpr...oduct/14/cat/5

For Macro photography all the major players currently make great lenses, the main reason the Canon EF 180 mm f/3.5L Macro USM costs so much is that it's the longest macro lens Canon currently make giving the greatest working distance. Alot of macro users normally go for a lens around 100mm as it often gives the best price/performance ratio, in this range the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8, Sigma 105mm f/2.8 and Tamron 90mm f/2.8 are all highly regarded. If you want a greater working distance but don't want to pay the high price of the Canon 180mm f/3.5L then I would reccommend looking at the Sigma 150mm f/2.8 and the Sigma 180mm f/3.5. Review's I have read say they compare very favouribly against the Canon models with only autofocus speed letting the side down a little, but since most photographers choose to use manual focus when shooting macro it normally isn't much of a big deal.

Don't forget to have a look in our Equipment Reviews section of the forum for user review's of many of the lenses I mentioned aswell as many others you may want to ask about aswell.
http://www.pixalo.com/reviews/

Lastly, I'm not sure where you intend to purchase the lenses but buying online from UK sites will often get you some good savings over buying from Jessops for example, and importing from Japan or the US can save you even more.

Here's a couple of good sites that many member's have happily used before to have a look at, I'm sure our member's will give you some more if you choose to buy online.

Warehouse Express - Photographic Equipment, Digital Cameras, Lenses and Accessories - Localy based with good prices and great service.

Onestop Digital - Asian based site with excellent prices, and they will refund any import charges you might receive, delivery takes about a week but email them before hand to make sure they have stock.

Hope this helps you a bit.

[Dave]

This might help Which order did you put your lens kit together ?

[Soupdragon]

Given what you say regards % usage, I would say the ef 100 usm macro was your best bet.
I have had one of these and it was my most used optic.
Super sharp, optically fast, good for portraits (well a bit too sharp) fast af for a macro and relatively in-expensive.

Just my thoughts.

[dod]

If you can afford it the 24-70mm and the 100mm macro.

The 24-70 gives you a great portrait lens, it's reasonably wide for landscapes (when you factor in the crop factor). The 100mm macro is simply class.

That will cover 90% of what your looking for except outdoor wildlife. Realistically you need something longer for that, consider the 100-400mm from Canon.

[cotter]

I think you are over complicating this a bit for yourself. You have bought your husband a great camera that he will be very pleased with.

You stated:

My main priority is to get my husband:
1) Very good quality lenses to ensure that my choice will please him.
2) Get him enough lenses for him to be able to play around with the 30D at
Christmas, i.e. indoor portrait and landscapes/dramatic skies.

My advice would be to buy the EF 17-40mm f/4.0L, this is a real quality lens and will cover very sharp indoor work and is one of the best for Landscapes.

You can get some good deals on this at the moment, I also have a Canon cashback voucher booklet that gets you £70 back which must be used before 1st Jan 07. I can post this to you (or anyone else on site that will use it) if you like. My wife thinks I've bought enough lenses this year

As for the macro work, if this is what he loves the most, let him get used to the camera over christmas then he can pick the lens himself. As you will have noticed there are many "confusing" combinations for Macro work which is best invesigated over time. (you don't want to buy him the wrong one)

My next lens will be a Macro and I have been reading about them trying to decide for about 2 months

The lenses will (should) last a lot longer than the camera so it's worth getting right

Hope this helps, good luck

PM me if you would like the voucher

Cotter

[Steve]

I would agree 100% with the wise words that cotter has written above. The 17-40L is a great lens at a great price and with the cashback offer it is the right time to buy. It will give your lucky husband something to use at Christmas and in the future while allowing him the flexibility to chose what he wants most from the other options posted in this thread.

For me I see this as the perfect solution and a win-win situation for you

[sejanus]

The 17~40 will blow your budget and not really give you a good wide angle view. I have a 17~35 for my 10d and I have to change over to my old Coolpix or an Olympus E-20 with their wide adaptors for really wide shots. If you want to go that route, an I agree that wide sounds good for his needs, why not the 10~22 which will give him a really useful range for landscape and interiors?

I guess you're learning that there are no simple answers to this one...

[cotter]

Originally Posted by sejanus

The 17~40 will blow your budget and not really give you a good wide angle view. I have a 17~35 for my 10d and I have to change over to my old Coolpix or an Olympus E-20 with their wide adaptors for really wide shots. If you want to go that route, an I agree that wide sounds good for his needs, why not the 10~22 which will give him a really useful range for landscape and interiors?

I guess you're learning that there are no simple answers to this one...

What

[Dave]

Different interpretations of wide angle here. 17mm is wide angle, but obviously nowhere near the 10mm end of the lens suggested. It's all according to how wide you want to go. I know when I was looking at the difference between the 10-20mm & 12-24mm lenses, that the extra 2mm at the wide end gave an extra 10 degree view

Anyway I've taken this off topic slightly.....for most people 17mm is wide enough.....for others , including myself I've gone that stage further with a 10mm-20mm.

[Steve]

Don't forget that the wider you go the more distortion you add as well