Everyday lens????

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Cranky

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I've just bought a 400d body only so I'm looking for a lens with a limited budget (£100ish)

I'm searching the forum but seem to be getting more and more confused on what lens I should be looking at, sooooo I'm after being pointed back in the right direction. :thumbs:

My problem is I seem to take alot of landscape/wildlife pictures but also like the close up stuff, is there a good alrounder out there that is in my budget or am I after the world on a stick??

Oh and a random question, my old DSC-H2 has a 12x zoom, whats the equivalent lens size?? (if there is such a thing) :thumbs:

Thanks in advance
 
I think I will be the bearer of bad news, but there is no good all rounder. You will probably need two lenses to fit your needs.
Under £100 will get you a used kit lens - the 18-55mm IS (IN fact there may still be one for sale in the sale forum) and then maybe look out for a Sigma 70-300mm that will do the Wildlife and some close up stuff.
 
I thought as much but it was worth asking, i've seen some lenses do 18-125 would this be slightly better for me or are they a compramise?
 
I would go for the suggestion above if you can. Go for the 2nd hand market.
 
Sigma 70-300 APO (the better version) is under £100 in the Jessops sale at the moment...
 
Hmmm, i'll have to keep an eye on the for sale section to get the most for my money i'm thinking,

One thing I am having problems with is understanding the zoom limits of different lenses, say for instance I wanted to take a photo of a bucket like the one in the link below:

http://www.worksafeforlife.ca/images/wallpaper-bucket-800x600.jpg

on an 18-55 lens roughly how far away could I be to take the same image?
 
Maybe you should go down the camera shop and have a look through a couple of lenses.
Even if you don't buy them from there it will give you an idea.

18-55 will be fine for most things. Landscapes, portraits etc, it will be useless for wildlife. I think 200mm is minimum and 300mm+ better.

Most of the shots I seem to take are around 400mm as you keep far away from wildlife as possible so not to spook it :)
 
I own both of the lenses mentioned, the Sigma 70-300 APO and the Canon 18-55mm IS which I use with my Canon 400D body.

The main problem I have is as a walk-about lens for me personally, I found the 18-55 didn't have the reach if I wanted to take a quick picture of some wildlife should I spot something, rather than the usual landscapes. This actually happened on boxing day, I was walking around with the 18-55 on and a Robin popped into view. It stayed on the same branch for about 30 seconds and even allowed me to get within about 6-8 feet of it. But the reach just wasn't there, so I missed a good shot. It is however great for landscapes, indoor use and so on.

The Sigma 70-300 APO is a great lens for the money, definately go for the APO version that has the better glass in it. It's great on bright days where you can up the shutter speed and use it handheld with great sharp results. I personally wouldn't use it over 250 however, as with most lenses it tends to lose some of the clarity near the max focal length.

I'm still a beginner to be honest, but looking to get another lens myself as a walk-about lens. Likely something inbetween the 18-55 and 70-300 that I currently have. The main problem is the budget, if I could afford it, I may well get the 17-85mm IS.

Don't forget to checkout www.camerapricebuster.co.uk, gives you a great idea on the best new prices for certain products.
 
Cranky, you don't have much choice bud. Best bet is the Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS already mentioned at around £100 (it's much better than the non-IS version, even if that is quite a bit cheaper). You cannot get by without having a lens around this focal length range - that's why it's the 'standard kit lens'. (Why didn't you get one with the camera, by the way?) It will handle your 'bucket' image no probs!

For wildlife/sport and longer reach, Canon makes a sister lens, EF-S 55-250mm IS for under £200 which would be my choice, but there are lots of other options.

To answer your other question about a 12x zoom, Canon makes an 11x EF-S 18-200mm IS which is pretty amazing, and both Sigma and Tamron have similar. Way beyond your current budget though :(

Richard.
 
£100 is quite a modest budget for a lens. Taking the second-hand route is where I'd suggest you'd be better off and as others have suggested, the 18-55mm kit lens sounds like it would meet your requirements as a general use lens.

Getting yourself down to a camera shop would be a good way to get a feel for the focal lengths.
 
Cheers people appreciate the advice,

I only got the body as it was a secondhand deal so I think i'll take your advice and go into a shop and have a look at different lenses, it should help me figure out what i'm trying to understand.

:thumbs:
 
Hi,

It sounds like you're just geting started with digital photography? You're going to have lots of fun whatever your budget and, don't worry, we've all been where you are now at sometime in our lives so keep asking lots of questions.

You might find this review - and others by the same reviewer to be of help:

"Out-Of-Production" EOS Lens Guide: Revealing The Classic Canon EF Gems"

http://reviews.ebay.co.uk/CANON-CLA...uot-BEST-BUYS-quot_W0QQugidZ10000000003443419

Good luck!
 
Cranky said:
Oh and a random question, my old DSC-H2 has a 12x zoom, whats the equivalent lens size?? (if there is such a thing) :thumbs:
Click to expand...
There certainly is such a thing.

The equivalent focal length range on your 400D would be about 22-270mm.

You can get super-zooms which cover very wide ranges. For example:
* Sigma 18-200mm ~£150-£200
* Sigma 18-200mm OS ~£260-£300
* Tamron 18-200mm ~£150-£180
* Tamron 18-250mm ~ £280-£300

But inevitably there's a trade-off between image quality and convenience.

A combination of Canon 18-55mm IS (kit lens, ~£100) and Sigma 70-300mm APO (~£130-£150 - about £30 more than the non-APO, but worth it) would cover the same sort of range and give you significantly better image quality.
 
I also forgot to mention that i have one of the Sigma 18-200's. It's actually quite a nice lens to carry around as it's light and gives quite nice images to be honest. At either end it's got a few issues but it's not that bad.

It actually came with my D200 (second hand) the plan was to keep it until i have enough to get a 70-300VR and then sell it on but i may even decide to hang on to it for when i want to travel with a single lens for most outcomes!
 
mak1 said:
I also forgot to mention that i have one of the Sigma 18-200's. It's actually quite a nice lens to carry around as it's light and gives quite nice images to be honest. At either end it's got a few issues but it's not that bad.
Click to expand...
Me too. I have one and it lives on my camera. The OS version is better (better image quality, better build quality, and OS) but the standard version is a good lens for the money.
 
What about the Canon EF-S 55-250mm IS at £190? It would be a perfect partner for the Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS i would have thought? It gets great reviews from the people that actually use it. I think i'm going to go with this combo.
 
StewartR said:
There certainly is such a thing.

The equivalent focal length range on your 400D would be about 22-270mm.

You can get super-zooms which cover very wide ranges. For example:
* Sigma 18-200mm ~£150-£200
* Sigma 18-200mm OS ~£260-£300
* Tamron 18-200mm ~£150-£180
* Tamron 18-250mm ~ £280-£300

But inevitably there's a trade-off between image quality and convenience.

A combination of Canon 18-55mm IS (kit lens, ~£100) and Sigma 70-300mm APO (~£130-£150 - about £30 more than the non-APO, but worth it) would cover the same sort of range and give you significantly better image quality.
Click to expand...

Ahhh that makes it all a little more understandable thanks :thumbs:
 
Mod edit: no selling outwith classifieds please

Fair doos, just helping the chap out. :naughty:
 
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