Christmas choice zoom

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stewart borland

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stewart borland
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My daughter has a Canon eos 200D and has asked for a canon EF-S 18-55 F3.5 - 5.6 for Christmas but there are so many? Why?
What's the difference and which is the best one?
Seems to be for macro (is there a better canon lens for Macro?)
Sorry, I am total novice, so don't waste your time with tech talk, I won't understand :giggle:
She's loving the hobby I got her started on and has a couple of lenses already but is talking about macro and apart from this lens has a Meike MK-S-AFSA on the list - does that make sense or is there a lens that does it all?
Many thanks for your time and for helping 'Santa' get it right :)
 
Hi Stewart.

If looking for a 18-50mm zoom and if funds allow Santa may want to get her a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 or a Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 as I think either of these would be a much better option than any 18-50mm f3.5-5.6 but of course the f2.8 lenses cost more. If you'd consider buying a used lens these are relatively easy to find at good used dealers.

If she'd rather have a macro lens and again if Santa would look at a used one a film era or newer digital era manual focus lens may be an option as macro is usually done using manual focus anyway. I have a film era Sigma 50mm f2.8 which is a true 1:1 macro lens and it cost about £60. Others in the 50/60 or so range are available used for under £100. Be careful if looking at film era non Canon macro lenses as they may need an adapter to mount on the Canon camera. With some lenses this is easily and cheaply done with an adapter costing £10 or so but others can't be adapted so easily.

Another option is to go for a 17-50mm f2.8 zoom and think about getting some close up filters. These are effectively magnifying lenses which screw to the front of the lens. They're not as good as a macro lens but some aren't too bad at all. I have a set (they often come in sets of 3 or 4) which cost (I think...) £17 and they're ok but this was some time ago. Another cheaper option than a macro lens is to use an extension tube. Note that with tubes and close up filters you can only focus on things that are close up and to focus at longer distances you need to remove them so they're more faff on than a macro lens which just like an ordinary lens will focus at any distance.

Soz if any of that is toooo much to take in but if it is just ask... and good luck choosing! :D
 
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stewart borland said:
My daughter has a Canon eos 200D and has asked for a canon EF-S 18-55 F3.5 - 5.6 for Christmas but there are so many? Why?
What's the difference and which is the best one?
Seems to be for macro (is there a better canon lens for Macro?)
Sorry, I am total novice, so don't waste your time with tech talk, I won't understand :giggle:
She's loving the hobby I got her started on and has a couple of lenses already but is talking about macro and apart from this lens has a Meike MK-S-AFSA on the list - does that make sense or is there a lens that does it all?
Many thanks for your time and for helping 'Santa' get it right :)
Click to expand...
Hi

Do you have a budget in mind ?
May help us steer you in the right direction
 
Hi Stewart....not easy eh?
EF-S18-55 f/3.5-5.6......there have been several versions of this lens simply because it's been around for some time and has been updated. It's the lens generally bundled with consumer cameras as a starting point. The MkI, MkII etc designation apart, there are two types of focus motor in these lenses....USM (ultra sonic) and STM (stepper motor)....and these are responsible for moving the lens internals to focus the image on the sensor. All that said, it's probably true that the optical differences (image quality) will not be noticeable to all but the aficionados. I advise you to make certain that this is the lens that she specified as it would be unusual (but not unheard of) that she didn't receive one when she got the camera. There is an EF-S 15-85 f/3.5-5.6 so make sure that you haven't transposed a few numbers.....I'd hate Christmas to take an early downturn.

Macro is strictly 1:1....ie, the object is projected life size onto the sensor so you'd be able to reproduce an object of 22x15mm at full size. The term 'macro is often misused by both users and manufacturers to cover close-up type potography (think flowers and alike). There are no 'true' macro zoom lenses in the Canon line-up so it's worth interogating your daughter some more to find out exactly what she's looking to achieve.

Bob
 
Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 for £159...

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/used-equi...-vc-ld-aspherical-if-canon-ef-fit/sku-858097/

Close up filter set...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Close-up-F...9Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

Some people like Reynox close up filters like this...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Raynox-RAD...ox+close+up+filter+67mm&qid=1570185257&sr=8-6

I prefer the cheap close up filters.

If you buy something like these make sure you get some that fit the lens. For example a lens may have a front filter thread of 67mm so you you'll need a 67mm close up filter. Or you can get filters to fit your largest diameter lens and use cheap step up rings for other lenses. Like this 52-67mm step up ring...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ares-Foto®-Step-Filteradapter-Adapter/dp/B01IMELXY2/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=2CUXOQ0NPX4LB&keywords=52-67mm+step-up+ring&qid=1570185450&sprefix=52-67mm,aps,195&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyRUY4SEs5SzUyM1lBJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNzIzNjAxMUpBUVBVNjdVMUJFNSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDU5MDIzMTJLU0s4TUpYWlJCVCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

With this you can use lenses with a 52mm thread too.

Lots of options :D
 
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