Canon APS-C: Which lens?

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aeronic

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Steven
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I am finding that my current lens setup does not allow for the sort of photography that I'm trying to take. In particular, the 50 f/1.8 is too much of a telephoto, and the 18-135 f/3.5-5.6 is too slow for indoors.

The photos I am trying to take are usually indoors of family, children, pets etc. I think that something in the range of 24-30mm would be ideal, but at the moment, I can't move far enough backwards with my 50mm.

I would love the 17-55 ef-s but unfortunately at £550+ that's too expensive.

ps. I have a Canon 550D
 
The Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 sounds like it fits the bill perfectly - you are looking for a 17-55 f/2.8 but don't have the budget for it, which is why the Tamron is often so popular.
 
Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX (c.£350), has a bit of a marmite reputation (you'll either love it or hate it) and a very strong following amongst those that love it. I use mine as an everyday walkabout lens. I came to this lens for the same reason you describe, using a 50mm I would lift the camera to my eye and find I was having to take a few steps backwards to get the shot that my eyes saw.
 
The Canon 35mm f/2 is the perfect focal length on a crop and very sharp wide open, far more so than the 50mm f/1.8.

If you don't want a prime, it's not as fast, but the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 non vc is very sharp and a bargain at £266 from amazon.
 
I was thinking of a prime tbh, as the faster aperture certainly helps in low light (indoors my house it's pretty dark). Alternatively, I might be better off using a zoom and bouncing the flash...

Hmm, the 35mm f/2.0 doesn't have USM which puts me off a bit.
 
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Always go for the fast lens first, then think about the flash if you still need one.
 
17-50 Tamron is great lens, but AF is extremely loud (not that it makes it a bad lens). Also the Canon 35 f2 get great reviews. When I had crop camera I had the Tamron, mainly for the flexibility of a zoom.
 
I used to have the 17-50 non-VC Tamron -

Very sharp, but focus hunts and like Oskar said the AF is very loud. In any case going to F2.8 isn't going to help you indoors.

I'm actually going through the same process now of thinking about buying a lens of equivalent to 50mm on FF. Not sure about the Sigma 1.4's though, there seem to be a lot of bad copies out there and its not something I would risk 2nd hand.

Tbh Canon 35mm seems quite good - I've seen reviews from people who sold their 35L and live with the 35 F2, they say its more than worth its price.
 
OP - you say your house is dark. I'd go for flash in that case. Even with f/1.8 and what not, focussing might be a problem because of low contrast indoors; adding light in makes it so much easier and bouncing off ceilings and walls can produce some really nice stuff. I always reach for the flash before the fast lenses when photographing my little boy, and although I prefer flash use anyway, it gives me way more exposure options than a fast lens with shallow DoF.

Case in point:


Charlie by Pat MacInnes, on Flickr

Never would have got this type of shot using ambient light
 
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Thanks for all the suggestions.

@specialman - it's not *that* dark, just the same as most houses!
 
aeronic said:
Thanks for all the suggestions.

@specialman - it's not *that* dark, just the same as most houses!
Click to expand...

I know what you mean :) My back room is not so dark you can't see but I find with certain lenses (even my 50mm f/1.8) that latching onto focus isn't always gauranteed, although more importantly, without flash I'm having to ramp up the ISO and get shutter speeds as low as I can just to give me some depth-of-field. That paper thin DoF is pointless if you can;'t get your focus spot-on.. With flash I can use even the lamest of lenses (my 60mm macro isn't great for anything moving) and set at f/5(ish) I can usually get 9/10 shot spot-on :)
 
No one has mentioned using a tripod. With children this could be quite limiting, but it can be done and allows quite slow shutter speeds and all the advantages of available light. Since buying an excellent pan and tilt head Manfrotto head I'm a convert to tripod use for many types of low-light shots.

Just thought it was worth mentioning, though not to everyone's taste!

Romney
 
Hi.

Shutter speed is not an issue. With is I can hand hold at 50th seconds. I need faster for subjects that wont stay still! (2 year holds )
 
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