Square One with Lenses

[sdsalyer]

Greetings, all. :)

 

I am at square one with the EOS system. I have an Elan 7 and will be purchasing

a dSLR (likely a used 20D) very soon. I have already picked up a 50mm f/1.8 II

for the Elan 7 and I am really enjoying using such a fast lens. I am looking to

the future though and pondering on a sort of "lens acquisition path", so to speak.

 

I have a PowerShot S3 IS but I will likely sell it once I have a dSLR. I

mention this because its 12x image stabilized zoom covers just about everything

except wide angle and it will be rough giving that up (though I have steeled

myself for it). I am seriously considering a zoom like the 28-135 USM IS to

compensate for losing the S3's versatility. Whatever dSLR I end up with will be

my only camera for a while most likely, but I don't want to be caught without

the "right lens" in the interim of building up a collection.

 

Despite all that, I really like prime lenses. It just makes sense to have a

lens which does one thing properly than attempt to do a dozen things half as

well (granted, that's a generalization). Ideally I'd eventually cover all the

bases with a nice wide angle (24mm?), a normal lens (I've already got the

50/1.8), a portrait/macro lens (100mm or so), and a telephoto (200mm+, maybe a

zoom) -- that's all speaking in full frame terms. It will be a long, long time

before I will fulfill all of those niches, though.

 

What really bugs me about this whole business, is the crop factor on dSLR's (and

the EF-S lenses, but I digress). As I mentioned, I have an Elan 7 and enjoy

shooting film as well, so it will just be annoying to swap the same lens from

one camera to another and have it change from 100mm to 160mm (though I'm sure

it's useful at the telephoto end from time to time). Eventually I'd like to

have a full frame camera like the 5D for this reason alone, but that will likely

be months or years down the road.

 

Well, enough rambling... I apologize for it. :) I suppose my question is:

should I buy an "all-around" zoom like the 28-135 USM IS (any other

suggestions?) for starters, or start working on the prime collection right away

(bear in mind it will be 1 lens at a time with months of saving pennies in

between)? I realize the "lens acquisition path" is very personal for each

individual, but I'd enjoy hearing the "route" others have taken as well.

 

Thank you :)

 

SDS

[wood]

Do you need a walk around lens? If yes, then consider getting the 28-135 now. If not, be patient and build your prime collection gradually. I filled my need for walk around lenses first and am now "saving pennies" for good primes, starting with the 100 macro. I am using the 20d and will eventually switch to a full frame when the prices come down (hopefully) considerably.

[james_sigle]

Spencer,

When I went from film to digital, I started with an EF-S 17-85mm IS zoom and a 70-200mm f4 L zoom. This gave me very good coverage at a minimal price while I explored the new media. The 28-135 is well reguarded on film cameras and the 17-85 is the crop digital equivelant, both in coverage and image quality. And the 70-200 is top quality in any media (any of the four versions). It is very reasonablly priced in the f4, non-IS version. You may find that digital is more demanding of lenses than film was and, like me you wlll lust after more and better lenses. So consider this one way to start.

 

Jim

 

PS. These lenses have lost very little value in four years.

[alan_myers]

Hi SDS,

 

Hey, I was shooting film for 25 years before switching to digital, and I survived ;)

 

As I see it, you have two choices. One is to spend more money on the camera and get the 5D, so your lenses will act exactly the same as they did on the Elan 7 (but you only have one lens to consider). The other choice is to accept that the lens' focal length will be cropped to 1.6X of what you are used to, and deal with it.

 

I've used the 28-135 a lot, on both film and 1.6X digital cameras, and it's a decent lens. I eventually upgraded to the 24-70/2.8 for the faster, constant aperture and better environmental sealing of an L-series lens. But, the image quality of the 28-135 was pretty good and I managed to get a lot of good shots with it.

 

And, there are a ton of brand spanking new 28-135s coming onto the secondhand market right now, so you may be able to get a bargain on a nice one. The reason 28-135 are so plentiful is the current 40D intro offer: the camera in a kit with the 28-135. Buyers who already have that lens or something else covering the range are still buying the kit because Canon is only charging $200 more for it than for the 40D body alone. Savvy owners know they can make some money selling that lens, for say $300 to $350 (still a good deal to the buyer) and end up with a net cost for their 40D that's $100-$150 below the going prices.

 

Do get the lens hood for the 28-135, if that's the route you take. It's important and not included with it (like all non-L-series lenses).

 

You could also add a Tokina 12-24/4 ($450-500 now) as a useful second lens, if wide angle is your thing. Or, a Canon EF-S 10-22 (around $650 I think.) The EF-S lens will fit 20D and later, but not 10D and earlier because those cameras preceded the EF-S lenses. EF-S cannot be used on your Elan 7 or any of the other film or full frame D-SLRs.

 

A two lens kit could actually give you pretty wide coverage for walk around purposes. The focal lengths you are used to would be approx. 45-210 (for the 28-135), 19-38 (for the 12-24) or 16-35 (for the 10-22).

 

If you shoot a lot, you will find your savings in film and processing will quickly recoup your investment in the camera and lenses. When I first bought my 10D, it was almost double the price of today's 40D. Still, I shot a lot of film and saw "break even" with the digital camera in about 6 months. Rechargeable batteries are another possibly significant savings, if not already using them in your Elan 7. On the other hand, you may have to shell out some $$$ for software, RAM, hard disk storage space, color calibration and photo quality printer and inks for your post processing!

 

You might consider hanging onto the S3. I'm not familiar with the camera in particular, but I know more than a few D-SLR users who keep a digital P&S around as a backup, for macro work, etc. The two types of digital cameras can compliment each other pretty well.

[gdanmitchell]

A few thoughts...

 

If your experience with 35mm SLRs goes back far enough, you may still have a left-over misconception about zoom lens quality. While the best primes

_can_ be somewhat sharper than some zooms, the best zooms today are very good and in many cases compete will with primes for most purposes.

 

As you go to crop, as you probably know, you'll need to reset your mind about focal lengths. 30mm or so on crop is more or less equivalent to your

50mm prime on 35mm film. People looking to replicate the effect of a 35mm SLR 50mm "normal" lens often look to a 35mm or 28mm lens. The Canon

35mm f/2 is well-regarded for picture quality and price.

 

28mm is not very wide at all on a crop body. (Note that above I pointed out that 28mm is very close to the equivalent of your 50mm on film in terms of

angle of view.) You will probably want something quite a bit wider at the wide angle end, unless you simply don't like shooting wide angle at all. Typical

wide angle crop lenses go to somewhere in the 16mm, 17mm, or 18mm range. 17mm is very common, and is about equivalent to the field of view that

your 35mm film SLR gave you with a 27mm lens.

 

Confused yet? :-)

 

A list of commonly used Canon zooms that will get you into that range includes:

 

EFS 17-55mm f/2.8 IS

 

EFS 18-55mm f/4-f/5.6 (Kit lens)

 

EF 17-70mm f/4 L

 

EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L

 

EFS 17-85mm f/4-f/5.6 IS

 

If you check into this you'll find that this set includes lenses of widely varying prices and capabilities.

 

Good luck,

 

Dan

[wayne_campbell]

Very well put, Alan. One of the more cogent responses I've seen in a while.

[steve santikarn]

Spencer you are in luck. With the introduction of the 40D bundled with the 28-135 lens you'll be able to pick up the 30D and the zoom lens for a reasonable price. The prices of the 20D and the 30D are not likely to be that much different, you might as well get the 30D for its larger LCD, and probably the 30D will depreciate a bit slower than the 20D as it is perceived to be the newer model.

[William Michael]

>>> I realize the "lens acquisition path" is very personal for each individual, but I'd enjoy hearing the "route" others have taken as well. <<<

 

Your post indicates you have much of it logically sorted, are a system thinker and like to buy right once and keep it: I am too and here is my two cents, having travelled your route.

 

1. In 2005 I changed manufactures systems, as well as medium. I thought I would continue shooting film. Now all my 135 film gear is gone and I have 645 still gathering dust, in the silly reasoning I will use it?

 

I even considered buying a Canon 135 Film body with my 20D. I am now glad I did not. I would postpone the detailed (read expensive) choice of lenses until you are 6 months at least with your 20D and have thrashed it. I did and I am happy I did.

 

2. From point 1 >>> I also decided the best `system` (read lenses and bodies) is APS-C and 135mm, so I now am just waiting for the 5D to be the right price. Hence I do not buy any APS-C mount lenses, and to that end am happy to accommodate the lack of wide I have at the moment.

 

You can argue that you will use your film body: that is fine. The point is, I suggest arguing that fact after doing it, or not doing it, for a while.

 

3. Two months ago I also decided that a more complete system would be to have also include a Powershot S5IS into my kit. Such has great advantages.

 

4. I too love prime lenses, but recognize (as mentioned) that some zoom lenses are quite outstanding: to that end I will only conscience the F2.8L trilogy.

 

5. If I were making the step now, I would be much more tempted with a 5D, than a 20D as the first step into digital: (because of the relative prices then, to now and to overcome the lack of wide). However, I still would want a two body system.

 

Hope that helps.

 

WW

[sdsalyer]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I have some thinking to do on where to start with lenses, but first I've got to get my hands on a dSLR.

 

The EF-S lens idea bugs me. While it's great that they're designed specifically to compensate for the small-sensor issue, they won't mount up to my Elan 7, nor a full frame dSLR if I ever get my hands on one in the future. If I'm going to spend several hundred dollars on a lens, I want it work on my current and future cameras alike.

 

However, if I manage to pick up an EF-S lens in the deal with a camera, I might hang on to it for a while anyways. That would take a lot of the sting out of it I suppose. :)

 

Thanks again everyone. I really appreciate it.

 

SDS