Bargain lenses for Canon?

Messiah Khan

Messiah Khan

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The media department here at work could do with some bargain lenses. the problem is; they're looking at a max of £300 for all of them.(Yes, I know:thinking: ) Ideally, they want a range, ie a wideangle one, and something with a bit of reach, or something for portraits etc. Will be fitted to a 350D. Any suggestions?
 
18-200mm all in one.

if budget is the main criteria then you will get more for the money with an all-in-one solution than 3 seperate lenses.
 
cmt said:
18-200mm all in one.

if budget is the main criteria then you will get more for the money with an all-in-one solution than 3 seperate lenses.
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Thanks for that cmt. Id like to see options for seperate ones if possible. I think it would encourage the students to consider what kit they need before going out shooting.
 
Sigma 75-300 APO £109.99 here

and

Tamron 17-35 £199.99
here

Just a gap between 35mm and 75mm, suppose if you can stretch a little you could get a 50mm F1.8 Canon in there too.

No real world experience of any other than the 50mm so just throwing around some ideas. Someone with more knowledge of these lenses will be along shortly I assume.
 
sorry, misunderstood when you said 'Media Department'. Thought you meant 'Staff', hence the suggestion of a 'Fisher-Price' Solution. :D

the suggested look ok, but do they have the standard 18-55 kit lens available to them?
 
mikeleslie, thanks for those. I'll have a closer look at them, but thats the sort of thing i'd be after.


cmt said:
sorry, misunderstood when you said 'Media Department'. Thought you meant 'Staff', hence the suggestion of a 'Fisher-Price' Solution. :D

the suggested look ok, but do they have the standard 18-55 kit lens available to them?
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Hehe. Yeah, I work at a 6th form college, so its for the media students to use. Yeah, all the cameras have the stock kit at the moment. I think they just want a bit of choice, so that the students can show that they are considering what they will be shooting, and choosing relevant kit as a result.
 
I think the tamron 55-200mm that I used to have is pretty decent for the cash, you can get them new for £74, dougdarter bought mine and gave it a pretty good review on these forums.
 
You could get an adaptor and get a lot of old manual lenses for £300. Plenty on ebay. Lots of makes can be adapted to work on a canon camera. Metering in Aperture priority works fine with no information from the lens.
 
RobertP said:
You could get an adaptor and get a lot of old manual lenses for £300. Plenty on ebay. Lots of makes can be adapted to work on a canon camera. Metering in Aperture priority works fine with no information from the lens.
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Thanks for the suggestion, but im not sure the finance office would be happy with getting things from ebay. Also getting students to use manual, your asking a lot of the lazy lot arn't you?:lol:
 
True :)

The only manual thing is focusing though. Ebay is not the only source. Camera shops have plenty too. And you can get a lot of glass for not much money.
 
May do them good to have to manual focus anyway :p
I think I'd probably suggest something like Alexisonfire - covered from 17-300 is a pretty decent range & a lot more affordable than I thought it would be.
I would be tempted to look at primes though as I know how much it helped me with composition, etc but not sure if anyone could suggest anything within budget or whether that would be a viable option :shrug:
 
RobertP said:
True :)

The only manual thing is focusing though. Ebay is not the only source. Camera shops have plenty too. And you can get a lot of glass for not much money.
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Thanks, I'll have a bit of a scout around to see what I can find.

moomike said:
May do them good to have to manual focus anyway :p
I think I'd probably suggest something like Alexisonfire - covered from 17-300 is a pretty decent range & a lot more affordable than I thought it would be.
I would be tempted to look at primes though as I know how much it helped me with composition, etc but not sure if anyone could suggest anything within budget or whether that would be a viable option :shrug:
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Hehe, your probably right there. I wouldn't mind to find some devent primes if that was possible withing the budget. I know the 50mm f1.8 is about as cheap as you can get, but are any other focal lengths possible on a shoestring budget? I certainly agree that it would help grately with things like composition, and generally being more creative.
 
The Sigma 18-125mm and the Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO together will cover your portrait needs and more for £260 fron OneStop. If they can stretch the budget a bit you can add the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens for £56 from there as well, total £316 delivered, buying in the UK will cost more of course.
 
Steep said:
The Sigma 18-125mm and the Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO together will cover your portrait needs and more for £260 fron OneStop. If they can stretch the budget a bit you can add the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens for £56 from there as well, total £316 delivered, buying in the UK will cost more of course.
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Thanks. I really doubt we could get stuff from Hong Kong tbh. I don't think the auditors would like that.:(
 
Tell the auditors they can have the lenses or a brochure with pictures of the lenses, their choice ;)
 
You simply HAVE to pick up the 50mm f1.8 - perfect portrait lens and stupidly good value. It's the best bargain lens out there in my opinion!

Cheers,
James
 
Ditto on the 50mm f/1.8. I'm amazed there's only been one suggestion for it - check www.camerapricebuster.com for the best price on it - last I looked, it was only around £65.
 
Really? Hmm, something wrong with my eyes - I am a bit drowsy after lunch!
 
Those liquid lunches eh? :)
 
lol - alas today not. Just a couple of bagels (and a bag of crisps :)).
 
Right, how does this sound;

Canon 50mm f1.8 £65ish
Tamron 70-300mm f4-5.6 DI £100ish

That needs me only needing a wide angle (wide as possible without going in to fisheye land) with a budget of about £180 left. Any suggestions or comments?

Edit; Sigma 18-125mm a good idea?


Edit Edit; Or... stick with the kit lens for wide angle, get 1x Tamron 70-300mm and x2-3 50mm f1.8s?
 
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