Zoomlens or prime for indoorphotography

I can't decide which solution is working best for me... I already own the Canon 50mm

1.8 and 18-55mm Kitlens for the Eos300D. I am saving for some time and reading a

lot of forums, but I still can't make up my mind.

 

80% of my pictures are taken inhouse and I use the 50mm a lot for this. But I want to

have more distance so I want a new lens. I was thinking of either the Tamron 28-75

F2.8 or the Sigma 28-70 F2.8. I also want to use this lens as general walkaround

outdoors lens: anyone uses this lens for this purpose? Not missing extra focal legth

as general walkaround lens?

 

Now I am doubting... I have read very postive reviews on the Canon 100mm f2 and

actually I also want a walkaround lens outdoors like the 28-135 IS or the 28-105...

How are these lenses using inside? Have anyone examples?

 

Also the 70-200 F4 +TC is very tempting for telezoomstuff, altough it seems too big

for the 300D.

 

Main concern: Should I go with the fast zoom lenses with F2.8 + telelens like the 70-

200 F4 or should I get the 100mm F2 prime and a general all-purpose walkaround

lens?

 

Can you share you're thoughts because otherwise I will end up buying everything and

of course: I'll end up totally broke ...

 

Thnx

For low light.

 

The Best General Purpose Prime Should be either a 35mm and a 85mm for 35mm format. You can consider a EF 24mm F2.8 or 28mm F2.8 to pair up with your 50mm F1.8 for the EOS 300D. However, Changing lens often will invite dust into the camera body.

 

The Best General Purpose Zoom Lens covers 28-80mm(35mm Format) and have a constant aperture of f2.8. This is equivalent to 17-50mm F2.8 for your EOS 300D.

 

I believed that some 3rd party Lens Manufacturer, eg. Sigma are looking into producing a General purpose Zoom for 1.6X DSLR.

 

Nikon have already bring in the AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED for their D100.

 

I believe Canon or any other 3rd party should be coming out with a fast lens in this zoom range(eg 16-55mm F2.8 L or 17-55mm F2.8 EX) to match the Nikon. Be patience and wait a while. Try to use tripod or flash or your 50mm 1.8 for the time being. Save the money for the BIG BANG!!!

My fav. is the Canon 24-70L f/2.8 It is a great lens (excellent color, contrast and sharpness) and covers a very useful range. A bit pricey but, worth every penny and then some.

Just is right, changing lens could cause dust to fall in. Tellme about, i hate that. If you are looking for a casual lens, something walkarounder, 28-135 IS is a good bet. I've got one, and the IS comes in handy in low light and indoor shot. But, its slow in focus. So i usually set to manual. Or you can opt for something more pro like the 24-70 L F2.8, but its pretty expensive. 50mm 1.8 is a great lens, i love it ! Especially when working on close-ups.

Right now for me, somehow i am leaning more toward to prime lens, as you should know, they are tac sharp, and the colours are fantabulous ! Yep 85, 100, 135 L lens are exceptional fantastic. But its a lot of heavy lens to carry around. But if you are planning to get serious shots, i guess its worth it.

Your selection of lens, i believe, should base on what you need. So 28-135 IS is a good walkarounder lens and also a good travel lens too. Always in my bag. Its good both indoors and outdoors, and remember it comes with an IS too. A zoomer, 70-200 F4 is a great lens, no doubt about it. I never really needed the extra stop, like its brother F2.8, which is much heavier and big. And yes, you could get the TC for extra distances.

My choice in your delima: the 28-135 IS and 200mm prime. Why? cause you already cover 28 to 135, and so to have another zoom 70 to 200 is redundant. Besides 135 distance is already more than enough, for me.

 

I hope it helps, didnt get you more confused. I know what you are getting through, just wished had a million buck and buy everything i want.

Have fun. Merry Xmas.

First: I use primes below 70mm. I swap between a 50 and 24 frequently. I don't worry about dust. I don't have dust problems. I just don't change lenses in dust storms. :)

 

Second: Yeah, the 70-200/4L will look a bit big on a 300D. Who cares? The only thing I would worry about is if you need the tripod mount, or can get away with tripod mounting on the body.

 

A few screening questions:

 

(1) Are you happy with your 18-55? If "yes", then you really don't need a new lens in that range.

 

If "no", then a 28-105 or 28-135IS are good choices. These two lenses, along with the 24-85 are all similar optically. All these lenses are quite nice. The next step optically is a collection of primes or a $1300 24-70/2.8L

 

(2) Do you want "a little longer" or "a lot longer". The 28-105 lens are in the category of "a little longer" and can be used everyday. The 70-xxx zooms are "a lot longer", and will be rarely used indoors but are very good outdoors.

 

(3) How much money do you have? Are you willing to "wait"? You don't have to buy the teleconverter initially.

 

(4) My "default" kit recommendation is a 17-40/4L, 50/1.8, and 70-200/4L. The only thing you are lacking is the long gun. If you have big bucks, I recommend the 2.8 versions of these lenses.

 

If you are low in cash, then a good kit is the 28-105/3.5-4.5 and a flavor of 70-300.

 

(5) I think primes have a good place in a kit. Primes work quite well on dSLRs, particularly on the wide end. On the telephoto end, you typically have less flexibility in camera placement and a zoom becomes more important. Also, the 85/1.8 is the classic film portrait lens, and I think a bit cheaper than the 100/2.

 

I personally shoot a 24, 50, and 70-200/4L. I no longer feel the need to use my 28-105. My next lens is probably a 35/2. In the spring, I may cap the collection with a 300mm prime (for those cases when I need the longest lens possible).

Indoor ? Go with fast zoom lens such 24-70 mm f/2.8L. You won't be disappointed with this lens. Very sharp & the color reproduction is stunning !

 

For telephoto, Also considering 70-200 mm f/2.8L IS. I used 70-200 mm f/4L with EOS 3 body and Ilford Professional 3200 ISO and all of the pictures tend to be underexposed for indoor application (no flash)! I tried several times and the same things happened. with f/2.8L IS version, the pictures are perfect and additional IS feature..

Robin,

 

When I found myself in your situation (moving from Canon FD equipment to a 300D), I read and took the advice of experienced folk such as those who have responded above. My current lens collection consists of the 18-55 that came with the camera (great lens for $100! - and definetly the one I put on the camera before I put it in a novice's hands), a 50mm f/1.8, and a 24-70 f/2.8L. I have no regrets regarding these selections (I shoot a lot of indoor, available light stuff or use a 550EX/550EX-420EX combo when I have to for a large church). The 24-70 stays on the camera 90% of the time. As Jim suggests with his "default" kit, my next (and probably last) purchase will be either the 16-35 f/2.8L or the 17-40 f/4L. At that point, I suspect the two "L" zooms will time share on a pretty equal basis... then, next spring, there's the issue of the EOS film body so I don't have to lug around the T90 and it's heavy glass... but first, my finances have to recover!

 

Good luck and happy shooting.

I had the 70-200/4 but found f/4 to be too slow sometimes and produce too wide DoF. I now have the 85/1.8 and 200/2.8 and am much happier. My recommendation goes to the 85/1.8. Excellent in every aspect. Small, light, fast, relatively cheap. What more can you ask for ?

 

Happy shooting ,

Yakim.

WOW!! What a lot of really valuable advice in just one day !! (just arrived from work)

 

The main stream advises prime lenses for low-light. Now I am leaning towards the

85mm/F1.8 or the 100mm/F2.

 

The 17-40L and the 28-70L and the 300mmL F4 are too big and too expensive for

me... I am surprised no-one mentioned the Sigma and the Tamron alternatives (28-

70, F2.8) for around 350 USD probably a good alternative? I really like zooming with

the lensring (probably cauz I used a G3 too long...)

 

For outdoors I am thinking of getting the telezoom 70-200L F4. Added to the

lightweight 18-55mm kitlens is also nice.

 

So to round up: a 85mm lens (300 USD) and a 70-200L F4 (550 USD) are my X-mas

wishes Santa!!!!

Primes all day long...especially over a non-L series lens. Changing lenses shouldn't be a dust problem unless you're always shooting in a barn...and in that case you'd need to have it cleaned.