Choosing the right lens for a beginner

[stephan_fenstemaker]

I am looking at the Canon EOS 400D XTi Body, and I need to know what lens would

provide a versatile shooting experience without breaking the bank. I was looking

at the EF 50mm f1.4 lens but it does not have IS. How necessary is IS and could

I get clear hand held shots without it? This is my first venture into the DSLR

arena

so it is all still very confusing.

[arie_vandervelden1]

You don't really need IS at focal lengths below 200 mm, although for indoor shooting without flash it's a nice thing to have.

 

I recommend against a 50/1.4 for beginners. While it's a nice lens, I'd look for a zoom for more verstility.

 

Some suggestions for a beginner lens:

- Canon 18-55. The kit lens. Good value.

- Sigma 17-70/2.8-4.5 Faster, sharper, more reach.

- Tamron 17-50/2.8 Fast + sharp.

- Canon 17-55/2.8 IS. Very nice lens with IS, very expensive.

[bluphoto]

Sure you can get clear hand held shots without IS - I'm guessing that probably at least 85% of Canon owners don't own an IS lens. I'm also guessing that at least half of all 400D owners have nothing but the standard 18-55mm lens. This is perfectly adequate for many if not most consumers.

 

IS comes into its own when you have to start dropping shutter speeds. My only IS is the 70-200 f4L IS and I do notice that the IS greatly improves the stability. Of course if you shutter is fast enough (use the reciprocal rule to calculate your slowest possible shutter speed WITHOUT IS) This rule states that your slowest shutter speed should be the reciprocal of (one divided by) the effective focal length. Now remember that you have a 1.6 crop factor, so plug that into your calculation too.

 

So if you have a 200mm lens, your effective focal length is 200x1.6 = 320mm.

 

For that to be reasonably "shake free" you need a shutter speed of 1/320 or faster.

 

IS allows you to reduce this shutter speed if you need to, by two, three, or in the case of some lenses four stops.

 

This would mean that your shutter speed could come down to 1/180, 1/90 or 1/45 (1/50) of a second.

 

So if you NEED to shoot low shutter speeds, IS is a godsend, if you don't it's a waste of money. Most people are somewhere in between, and if you MIGHT need it, it's better to have it than not, but only if you can afford it.

 

all the best.

Guy

[arie_vandervelden1]

Remember a tripod is the cheapest and most effective image stabilizer....

[mrossi]

I think the 18-55 canon lens is great to start out with, heck I took about 7000 pics with mine. That said, I recently upgraded that lens to a sigma 18-55 f2.8 and I'm blown away bt the difference, so consider it good for starting, but definitely plan to upgrade it down the road.

[mars c]

You'll get plenty of different answers about your question, And I dont even know how much money would break the bank for you.

 

For some reasons, maybe, I understand why you dont want to have the 18-55 kitlens package, From what I know now, If I were in your shoe, I'd condider the following:

 

Sigma 18-50 2.8 - around $420-

Tamron 17-50 2.8 - around $420-

Canon 17-85 IS - around $500-

Sigma 18-200 OS - around $500-

 

IS or OS may not be important to some people, But like me, Once you're accustomed to it, You'll gonna wish all your lens have IS or OS.

 

On the 4 lens I mentioned, right now, My number one candidate is the sigma 18-200 OS, But if you can afford to buy the canon 17-55 2.8 IS , go for it .

 

The only prime lens I could recommend for a newbie is the cheapie canon 50mm 1.8, Almost painless if you decide later, that you dont want to go the prime lens route.

[stephan_fenstemaker]

Thanks for all the replies! I think I'll go with the Sigma 17-70. Its perfect for the macro + everyday shooting I want to do.

[kiloromeo]

How old are you? If like me you are getting up there, then IS is for you. The 17-85 IS is probably your best bet for a one lens solution. You can probably pick on up at a reasonable price used. I sold mine to a friend and he loved it but it needed a repair shortly after he bought it. I know how I treated it, but I don't know how he did. I never had a problem with it, I mention this to alert you that problems may arise with a used lens. I purchased a factory refurb 70-300 DO lens and it is wonderful, no problems at all.

[geoff_foale]

If you are happy with a 50 mm lens you can get by without IS especially if you also use a tripod or monopod. Once you get up to around 100 mm particularly with larger zooms, you might as well buy IS first as last. Once tried on these larger lenses you wouldn't want to be without it.

[stephan_fenstemaker]

I'm 16 and just moving from a Sony DSC-H1. My problem is that I can afford the 17-85 IS but I'm not sure if my hobby is worth the $1,400 it would take to get both the 400D XTi and a really good lens. I have to mention the most of the reason I'm moving from the Sony, is that almost every photo taken came out soft or blurry. How long can I expect a good lens last? Would the 50mm f/1.8 be good choice if I just want to test the waters?

[walang_pangalan]

<i>but I'm not sure if my hobby is worth the $1,400 it would take to get both the 400D XTi and a really good lens.</i>

 

<p>If you can afford it, spend the money. The worst case is you find photography is not for you; it's a little easier selling good stuff than not-so-good.

 

<p>As for buying an XTi because a Sony is taking soft pictures ... a tripod may be a better idea.

 

<p>And yeah, you can get the 50/1.8 without much harm.

[stephan_fenstemaker]

This is my last question, how easy is it to sell a lens?

[J.W. Wall]

One place to learn: http://www.photo.net/learn/making-photographs/lens

[keith_lubow]

There are a million answers to this question, so all I can do is offer my opinion.

 

And that is:

 

Learn with a fixed, normal, fast lens. Nothing can ever replace the lessons that it will force you to learn. I am not preaching the philosophy of almost always using the same lens, but in the early stages of learning, I believe that a normal lens will be the best tool for educating yourself.

 

On your camera, the two lenses that most closely fit the bill are the Canon 28mm f/1.8 and the Sigma 30mm f/1.4. The Sigma's big disadvantage is that it will only work on 1.6 crop digital camera bodies, but it is faster by 2/3 of a stop, which is a notable amount.

 

Keith

[jerry_cipriano2]

Stephan,

 

All of the zoom recommendations are good, however you expressed your concern about a $1400 investment at the end and the fact that you are 16 yrs old. With that in mind, the 50mm/1.8 may be a good starting point, although the 50mm lens on the Digital Rebel is good for street shooting and shots of 1 and 2 people. Travel photos of landscapes and buildings won't fit into this focal range. Group or party shots of people won't fit in. You will probably find that shots of 1 or 2 people are much more interesting and revealing than shots of your 5 best buddies together. The 50mm lens will take razor sharp photos and auto-focus quickly and accurately. For only $70, you can play with this for 6 months to a year and then decide which zoom and zoom range you need and can afford. For a prime lens, I would prefer the Canon 28mm/1.8 that Keith L. mentions above, but I believe that is around $300. For that same $300, you would have a choice of zooms.

 

I agree with Keith L. that it is theoretically best to "learn with a fixed, normal, fast lens", but I have encouraged my wife to do that to no avail. No matter how much better learning with a normal prime lens is, some people are just not interested in spending the time to learn the nuances. Just let me push the damn button and that expensive camera should read my mind and take perfect pictures as I intended every time!

 

Secondly, it is fairly easy to sell a used lens to an end user over the internet or locally for a reasonable used price. Some stores will also buy your lens, but the stores don't give you much money for it. You probably wouldn't want to sell the 50mm lens if you later bought another lens. If you bought a zoom, you might want to sell it later for a different zoom that you feel is better or more appropriate for you. Many of the posters above have bought and then replaced various zooms. I have bought and then sold 3 zooms and gave one away. However, I have never sold my 50mm/1.8 which I've had for about 18-20 years.