Canon 20D

[tina_lee1]

I am moving to Canon . I want the body 20D please ! recommend Lens

and Flash . Thank you

[oofoto]

Flash is easy - you want the Canon 580EX.

Lens is more of a personal choice - what do you want to do with the lens?

[oofoto]

OK you want the 100mm f/2.8 Macro for your flower shots.

Maybe also start with the kit 18-55mm lens.

[tina_lee1]

I am real amateur.I like to shot the flowers , animals, landscap....

[derek_linney]

If you can afford it then rather than the 18-55 kit lens get the 17-85 IS lens. This will give you a good zoom range (equivalent to 28-135mm in 35mm film cameras) and the Image Stabilization which is a great benefit for most users who do not generally use a tripod. It also has a pretty good build quality. You can shoot fairly close up but if you find yourself wanting even closer macro capability then buy a close-up supplementary lens or an extension tube.

[bill downey]

For lens information you can't beat http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/digital/10d300dlenses.html

This is Bob Atkins review of Canon Lenses and recommendations for what to start with.

 

I asked for lens help here and the responses always seems to be that the ideal lenses for the 20d are 17-40 f4L, 70-200 f4L and 50mm 1.4. The 50 is cheap, the others are not, but good prices for L lenses.

 

Obvously your budget and your photo needs will dictate what you get. Search this forum and you will find lots of info and help. Good luck.

 

Bill

[chrisjb]

Hi Tina, Have you not considered the same focal lengths you were using with the D100.Crop is not much more x1.5 to x1.6 The 100mm macro would certainly help with the flower and portrait work and give very pleaseing results. The 50mm 1.8 is a good low priced lens & maybe a 24mm 2.8 for landscape. As you go on you may consider a zoom like a 24-70 2.8. Although the Sigma 18-50 2.8 is quite exceptional and more versatile range.

 

good luck & enjoy

[KenPapai]

Also get a good tripod along with your 580EX flash. Lens: Canon EF 24-70 and the 100mm for your macros; also get a good sturdy tripod (be prepared to spend over $300 for a decent stand and head combo). You also might want a wide angle lens and THAT depends on your budget.

[digitmstr]

You don't *need* the 580EX. You can start with a 420EX and use the extra $$$ for lenses.

[michael_ziegler2]

Can someone please explain the difference between a regular 100mm lens and a 100mm macro lens. What difference in picture will result.

Thanks.

[michael_ziegler2]

Never mind, I found the answer.

[richie_boone]

Tina, the macro is specificly made for close-up shots (macro) flowers, bugs etc.

However you can still use the macro lens for whatever else you want-so it would be more

versital than the 100mm lens.

[jbq]

100/2.8 macro for flowers. 17-40/4L for landscapes. 28/2.8 or 35/2 as a normal lens (the 17-40 isn't great at the long end). 50/1.8 because it's cheap.

 

A ton of choices for wildlife, depending on the budget. I like my 70-200/4L and my 400/5.6L.

 

420EX as a flash, with some kind of bouncer (I use a lumiquest pocket bouncer).

[peter_white2]

I just ordered mine this morning from B&H. With the 20D I ordered the Canon EF-S 10-22 and Canon 24-70 f:2.8L lenses. I also ordered the 580EX flash. This covers everything from extreme wide angle through portrait focal lengths at reasonable maximum apertures. I'll see how the flash works with the 10mm lens. It's supposed to go as wide as a 16mm lens is for full frame, so it should cover the 10mm setting.

 

The 24-70 covers about the same range as a 35-105 on my F-1, which is a great general purpose lens.

[maiken]

I agree with Giampi -- you may *want* the 580EX, but I suspect you only *need* a 420EX, which is less than half the price and still lets you bounce flash light, which is the most significant gain to be had from an external unit. With the money you save you can buy a fast prime if you're into that sort of thing...

[jon_austin]

If I were starting fresh in the Canon system with a 20D or dRebel, I'd be tempted to get the 17-85 as a general purpose zoom, despite my antipathy for EF-S lenses.

 

It's not a lot of lens for the money, however.

[awindsor]

You definitely don't *need* a 580EX. The 420EX is smaller, lighter, and cheaper. I am tempted to buy one to supplement my 550EX since it is easier to carry.

 

Since you like macro photography I would add a off camera shoe cord to your flash kit straight away. This lets you detach the flash from the camera which is essential for light subjects which are close to the lens. You can buy nice softboxes (from lumiquest for example) or improvise your own bouncers, reflectors, light boxes etc. These give you the ability to light macro subjects uniformly. The ability to move the flash up using the cord is also useful for portraiture (when bouncing isn't possible).

 

A macro lens is very useful but you can certainly produce very nice images using extension tubes (which fit between the lens and the camera) and close-up lenses (which screw on the front of the lens). Again these are lighter and smaller than a full lens.

 

Spending other peoples money is easy.

 

The best single lens solution for the 20D is probably the EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS. I loved the 28-135 IS on my film camera and the EF-S has the advantage of being even smaller.

 

The budget option would be the EF 18-55/3.5-5.6 and EF 75-300 (in the IS variant if you can spring for it). Neither is great but you can certainly produce reasonable images with them. I would add a 50/1.8 to whatever you buy since it is dirt cheap, small, light, the right length for portraiture, and fast for low light. I carry mine with me always.

 

The one investment that will be guaranteed to be worthwhile is the investment of time. Once you have shot lots of pictures you will know what more equipment you need, know which advice to take (mine ;) ), which advice to ignore (theirs ;) ), and what specific questions to ask.

[jim_larson1]

Yes, the 17-85/IS is a great $400 starter lens. It is a bargain at $600.

 

"Landscapes" and "animals" tell us next to nothing. If anything, it suggests a $800 wide angle (10-22/EF-s) and a $1400 telephoto (100-400/5.6L-IS).

 

Look. . what kind of a photographer are you? If you are just stepping up from a P&S and will buy ONE and ONLY one lens. . the 17-85/IS is that lens. Pair this with a 420EX flash.

 

If you are a photo-dog that plays around alot with MANUAL flash settings with NO METERING or want multiflash. . .get the 550EX or 580EX. The difference between these two units is that for more money the 580EX is prettier and a bit easier to carry. The ETTL-II specific features of the 580EX are meaningless (don't really work right).

 

If you like having multiple lenses. . . then the question is how much money do you have to spend?

 

For $100. . .you have the 18-55.

 

For $500.. . you get the 18-55 and 28-135/IS.

 

For $750. . .you get the 17-40/4L and 50/1.8.

 

For $2000 . . .you get the 10-22/EF-S and 24-70/2.8L.

[poolak_banerjee]

I feel 17-40 F4L is quite versatile lens - I was using it with my EOS-55 and now it is the ONLY lens for my 20D. I will go for 70-200 F4L as next lens. But again, 17-40 F4 is the best (I feel) to start with.

 

I asked similar question in this forrum and that was the general suggestions I got. EF 50/1.8 is also recommended to me (but that is low in my priority).<div></div>

[poolak_banerjee]

My apologies for having the file big (~200 KB) - I could manage to reduce from 2MB to 200KB.

 

If the moderator of this forum can kindly delete this big file, I will appreciate that.

 

How I should generally crop a picture or do the size reduction (within 100 KB)?

 

Best regards,

 

Poolak

[yakim_peled1]

<p> <a href="http://photonotes.org/articles/beginner-faq/lenses.html#whichlens">Which lens should I buy for my camera?</a> <b></b> </p>

<p> <a href="http://photonotes.org/articles/beginner-faq/lenses.html#whichdigitallens">Which lens should I buy for my EOS digital camera?</a> <b></b> </p>

<p>Happy shooting, <br>

Yakim.</p>

[renaldo_m_ndmets]

I know the feeling. I have not still finalised decision on my tele end. Basicly not speaking about companies, you need something in range 24(28)-70. And probably in tele 70-200.

Then you have to choose, if you really need wide angle and macro lenses. I felt, I need.

 

But what lenses you should take, it really depends, how much you are ready to pay. Canon 100mm Macro is probably the best price-quality relationship. Wide angle - I choosed Canon EF-S 10-22. The same reason.

 

If you want to stay at Canon, next coices are Canon 17-40 or 24-70, but the last is rather expensive. I decided to go for Sigma 24-70 2.8 DG. And I can not complain.

 

For tele - If you have a bit more in pocket, takse Canon 70-200 2.8, if less, same but Sigma. But Canon takes sharper pictures.

 

Most difficult decision is how much you are ready to pay for quality (and what level of quality you need). If you use more for family shots, you could easily choose medium level.

 

Renaldo

[awindsor]

If you want a fast normal to short tele lens which is fast then one alternative to the heavy and expensive 24-70/2.8L is the Tamron 28-75/2.8 (fully the Tamron SP AF28-75/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical (IF) Macro). There is a photo.net review by Bob Atkins <A href="http://www.photo.net/equipment/tamron/28_75_Di/">here</a>. This lens can produce great results and is 1/3 the cost of the Canon lens.