Upgrading my capabilities on a budget

[brian robinson]

I am a new kid on the block with modern lenses having resumed

photography as a hobby after 20 years. My last camera was a Nikon

F2 Photomic with Nikkor f1.8 50mm. That camera is getting tired

(light meter is a bit twitchy) althought it still produces good

results and intend keeping it as a backup.

 

I recently purchased a Canon EOS33 with a Canon 28-105 USM II lens.

This combo works a treat and I am very happy with the results so

far. I am however, feeling the urge to go wider and longer - down

to 20mm wide and up to 200mm long.

 

I have decided to stick with Canon lenses and my thinking so far is

to keep the 28-105 USM and buy two other lenses - the 70-200 f4L and

20-35 USM. Later on I could pick up a 1.4 tele-converter. Is this a

good plan or should I trade the 28-105 on a 20mm prime and pick up a

50mm f1.8 to complement the 70-200 (or maybe the 200mm f2.8)?

 

Thanks from a keen, budget conscious photographer.

[yakim_peled1]

These are excellent choices. Yes, primes will always be optically better than zooms (except some L ones) but a whole set of primes will cost you quite a bit. So, keeping in mind that your budget is limited and that you are happy with your 28-105/3.5-4.5 USM, I'd advise you to stick to your choices. However, see if you can find a used 20-35/2.8 L or 17-35/2.8 USM L in a good price. I found a 17-35 for 400$.

[photobyalan.com]

You won't go wrong with the 70-200/4L. It's an excellent, sharp lens that will give you great results. Sure, you'll lose a stop compared to the 2.8 version, but you'll save about $450. Any of Canon's prime lenses should give you significatly better performance than the 28-105. The 50/1.8 is an excellent lens. I don't have experience with Canon's 20mm, but it should be very good. If you don't need the versatility of a zoom, the 20, 50 and 70-200 combination works pretty well. I used that exact combination for nearly a year and was happy with it, although I recently purchased the 28-70/2.8L for a bit more versatility when shooting weddings, etc. If you decide that you need to something between 20 and 50, then you could, then you could sell the 28-105 and get the 20-35 and the 50/1.8. These are all pretty good lenses, it just depends on your particular needs and shooting style.

 

While Canon's 1.4x TC is excellent, it will only improve your reach on the 70-200 to an effective 280mm. Unfortunately, if you went with the 2x, the 2-stop light loss on the f/4 lens would make viewing difficult and autofocus virtually unusable. I believe Canon's autofocus is disabled if the maximum effective aperture is less than f/5.6.

[jersey_emt]

I would get the 20-35 and the 70-200 as you had mentioned. But I would also pick up the 50mm f/1.8, because it's just so cheap (about $80) and it's one of Canon's sharpest lenses. Also keep the zoom you already have, it'll be a good one to have when you are traveling light and still want a decent range of focal lengths available to you.

[vandit]

Might I recommend the Tokina 19-35 as an alternative to the Canon wide angle? It is supposed to be very good, and having bought one, I have to concur. Excellent little gem.

[eosdoc]

<a href=mailto:uce@ftc.gov></a>

G'day Brian,

<P>

You have a good plan for glass, but did you budget for a flash?

[dong_wah_chin]

...it finally falls onto the type of photography you do. If you do potraits, I would suggest you getting the 135 f2L. 50mm is cheap but that shouldn't be the reason to get it. Have you considered before 3rd party lenses? Don't discount their quality just because they are not from Canon or non-L lenses. A 70-200 f4L could get you a 70-200 Sigma HSM f2.8. That was the way that I took as I am budget concious too.

[fx]

I had the same setup [EOS 30 w/ 28-105 USM II] and traded in the zoom for a 50 f/1.4 after 1 week. The versatility factor basically went out the window but I couldn't live without the 50 f/1.4 because it's an awesome lens and I shoot a lot in low-light(dusk, night). I recently picked up the 20-35 f/3.5 and it's given me excellent results thus far. The zoom is really useful when shooting wide because sometimes you want to crop out certain parts of the frame or when you don't want to get too close to your subject on the street level because at 20mm your subject will look pretty small in size. My plan is to pick up a tele-lens in 2 months, either the 70-200 f/4L or the 135 f/2L. My mind is leaning towards the 135 f/2L because it's one of Canon's best and I like to stay inconspicuous(I think the white lens will attract too much attention). Besides, the f/2 will be wonderful for my low-light applications. If I need more reach I can pick up the 1.4 TC later and still have a faster apperture(135 f/2 + 1.4TC = f/2.8) than the 70-200 f/4.

 

Looks like we are in the same boat in terms of equipment setup.

[brian robinson]

Thanks for prompting me on the question of a flash Julian. I have been researching the four corners of the net and made just a little progress.

 

So far, I have discovered that, in a Canon brand, I need an EX model to make full use of my camera (EOS33) capabilities. Let me know if this is correct. What for example will I miss out on if I pick up a used 430EZ on ebay?.

 

So far I am looking at the Canon 420EX, but I think I should also look at some third party units as well - where do I start?

[fx]

The 420EX is great for low-light AF assist if you want to take advantage of the EOS 30/33's 7 focusing points. With the 430EZ only the center AF sensor is covered. The camera's onboard E-TTL flash controls makes things simple and pretty much automatic which means you don't have to muck about with manual controls(the 420EX doesn't have manual capabilities anyways). It's relatively light weight, simple, pretty powerful and compliments the EOS 30/33 perfectly. The 430EZ is a capable flash unit if you are looking for manual controls for portraiture work and such. Both flashes will yeild excellent photos when used correctly.

[yakim_peled1]

Well, I recently upgraded my body only to get E-TTL as you can see, I think it's great. The only flashes that will give you E-TTL are canon's EX flashes and the Sigma 500 Super. See http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash for "Everything you ever wanted to know about EOS flashes". In the same site there is an article about the 500 super http://photonotes.org/reviews/sigma-ef-500-super.