Lens in your standard kit.

MadFrankie

MadFrankie

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Gary
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Hi guys and gals.

I recently posted asking about your go to walkabout lens for a crop camera and got some great responses and I need some more help...

I've kind of narrowed it down to a 15-85 / 17-55 / 24-105 and possibly a 24-70 if one came up but the more I research and think about it the less sure I get.

My first choice is between 15-85 and 17-55. I like the range on the 15-85 but the fixed f2.8 on the 17-55.

I'm taking landscapes and pics of my dog and daughter mainly but I'm getting into astro, so the f2.8 is great but also the flexibility of the wide focal range is useful. Looking at the exif through my photo album I'm taking mainly 17-50mm shots but then some of my better candids are at the 85mm length.

I'm actually wondering if I'm looking for the impossible and I'm now thinking that there isn't a one lens fits all.

How many of you use one lens 90% of the time and how many have a small handful of lenses that you swap between, perhaps a wide, 10-22, standard 17-55 and then a tele 70-200 or similar.

If you do have that set up, do you find it a bane to carry it about and / or swap them. Do you feel you miss shots?

Or am I being overly critical of my options?
 
Stop over-thinking things.. what other people do is not what you should do, what's right for them may not be right for you.

It's very unlikely the "perfect" anything exists. Go with your gut, change your mind later if you need to..
 
Gary

It depends on where your walkabout is, In a narrow street a wide angle lens but for landscapes a completely different lens may be a better choice. I try and research on the internet what the area is like that I am going to visit and then base my lens decision on that.
On a cruise I have been using 2 lenses one being on a crop sensor camera Nikon D300 I use either a af-s 70-300mm VR lens or a af-s 12-24mm vr lens. That way hopefully I cover wide and distance

Then again if I go to say Egypt and wary of having a big camera around my neck I take my panasonic HC-X900M camcorder which I put in a pocket
 
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I mainly use my 24-105mm as its my walkabout lens but do use other lens when required eg generally use 17-40mm for landscapes, 70-300mm for wildlife, 50mm for portraits and also have a macro lens
 
These bad boys for me when on a bagless walkabout, one on camera one in pocket.

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MadFrankie said:
I've kind of narrowed it down to a 15-85 / 17-55 / 24-105 and possibly a 24-70 if one came up but the more I research and think about it the less sure I get.
Click to expand...

Go for the 17-55. It's by far and away the best zoom lens in the EF-S system. The 2.8 will not only give you better astro photos but it will give you easier focusing in low-light situations regardless of the aperture you choose.

If you like the 85mm end of your (I presume 17-85) kit lens, I'd suggest you also get the EF 85mm f/1.8 lens, which is a gorgeous lens and you'll be amazed at the difference between your shots before and with it. But even without the 85mm you will find that shooting at 55mm on the 17-55 and cropping down will still likely give you better photos than now.
 
I found I never used my 55-200 lens even though the 55mm top end of my other zoom was a bit short for some family trips out. I'm in the process of swapping the 55-200 lens for a 18-200 so I can have a lens that I leave on the camera for days out with the family. I still have other lenses which I use for more 'serious' photography. If I were you I'd probably get the 15-85 as that covers most situations you refer to even if you don't get the 2.8 option.
 
The 15-85mm is a great lens and probably stays on my 50D 80% of the time, but of course doesn't have f/2.8.
 
On my crop body, the 18-135 is all but welded on! Often just take that when out for a wander but keep a 10-24 and a 55-200 in the bag if I'm expecting to need them (or even just want them!)
 
I used to love the 15-85 when I was shooting Canon. Wide enough for expansive landscapes, long enough for close cropped headshots. Not f2.8 but that didn't matter to me, it might to you though.
 
It's more fun to work within limitations to get your photo. Don't work to carry your gear.

Missed shots are okay as hobbist. You can't get every shots.

Fujifilm 10-24mm and 60mm are my standard kit when I go out to do photography. Replace 60mm with 55-200mm when I really need telephoto.

But my walk-about camera is actually Fujifilm X100 with its fixed 35mm 135-eqiv lens. It covers 80% of my photography needs and comes in a ever-ready leather bag, so I can abuse it inside my man-bag or wife's magic bottomless bag.
 
I have the 40mm it is a handy lens to carry around just in case as it doesn't take up much space at all in the bag.
 
The 17-55mm f2.8 is a great lens and probably the sharpest zoom canon do for aps-c dslrs, But for a do all lens your best option is a 15-85mm, that's what I used when I had a crop sensor camera. I got fed up carrying and changing my kit 18-55mm stm, 10-18mm stm & 55-250 stm.
 
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Personally my 70-300 is the one usually attached to my camera, but I also carry around a 50mm 1.8, the standard 18-55 kit lens, extension tubes, ring flash and the raynox 250.

I mainly photograph animals/wildlife, so the 70-300 works for me, every now and then i swap over to the 50mm with extension tubes for some insects, and the 18-55 is there as a 'just in case' lens really, but it only ever really see's my camera when i'm indoors and bored.
 
Just back off my hols and my 27mm lens has been on my Fuji 95% of the time. Ideal focal length for me, and on the XT10, it will fit into cargo pants pockets with ease. I used the 14mm for the remaining 5%.
I used to use a fast zoom on a full frame slr as my standard kit, and while this gave me flexibility, I now prefer using a small prime the majority of the time.
Don't get me wrong, I still have a bagful of fast primes, zooms and telephoto at home, but I pick and choose depending on what I'm doing, and default to a small prime as a so-called walkabout lens.
 
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