low budget holy trinity lenses?

akcron

akcron

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Hello all.
If someone was to ask you what 3 lenses you would recommend for someone either Nikon or Canon who had just stated with a very low budget who wanted to do a bit of sports, portraits and landscape etc but was limited to £150 per lens ( new or second hand)
What would you tell them to go and buy and why?
 
35mm 1.8G or 50mm 1.8G nikon that is, both lenses are super sharp, i have used both but i own a 35mm
 
akcron said:
Hello all.
If someone was to ask you what 3 lenses you would recommend for someone either Nikon or Canon who had just stated with a very low budget who wanted to do a bit of sports, portraits and landscape etc but was limited to £150 per lens ( new or second hand)
What would you tell them to go and buy and why?
Click to expand...

For Nikon on that budget I'd say 18-70mm DX (about £100 used) and either an old push/pull 80-200mm f/2.8 (providing your camera has a built in motor) or something like a 70-300mm VR, but that'll probably be £300 used.

The 18-70mm is as good as any general purpose zoom.... sharp, well made, cheap and with very capable optics that control CAs and distortion very well.

80-200mm.... super sharp, built like a tank, fast aperture

Those two would probably eat all of your £450 budget
 
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Depends....

For Canon I'd probably get a 70-200mm f4 l and a 50mm 1.8 for that money, not a trinity i know but thats what I'd go for. Or if the emphasis is on landscape, spend a bit more on a short wide zoom, and get a cheap (but IMO pretty good) 55-250 IS for the longer stuff. No idea for Nikon!
 
Nikkor 105/2.5 AiS £170 ish used, sharp as a tack wide open, nice and compact, but manual focus (not an issue for me) ;)
 
I'd say you need to decide what your favourite subject is first, say you want to shoot sports, then a canon 70-200f4 or sigma 70-200f2.8 could cover sport and portrait for about £350-£370 second hand leaving the rest for a better portait lens like a 50mm f1.8 or a kit 18-55mm lens for landscapes.

Alternatively If you really like landscapes, you maybe able to get something like a sigma 10-20mm then spend the rest on a 50mm 1.8 and a 55-250mm.

Tons of options really
 
For Canon:

50mm f1.8 for portraits
18-55 IS kit for landscapes
55-250 IS for sports

Decent sharpness, low cost and more than adequate results for the outlay.
 
PeteMo said:
For Canon:

50mm f1.8 for portraits
18-55 IS kit for landscapes
55-250 IS for sports

Decent sharpness, low cost and more than adequate results for the outlay.
Click to expand...

:thumbs:
maybe go with the 17-85IS for a more walk about kind of lens.
 
Martyn... said:
Nikkor 105/2.5 AiS £170 ish used, sharp as a tack wide open, nice and compact, but manual focus (not an issue for me) ;)
Click to expand...

Agree superb lens and also it's cheaper alternative the Series E 100mm f2.8

Or as a zoom the oh so sharp 75-150 f3.5

And get a 18-70 for the wide end. And also the 50mm f1.8
 
PeteMo said:
For Canon:

50mm f1.8 for portraits
18-55 IS kit for landscapes
55-250 IS for sports

Decent sharpness, low cost and more than adequate results for the outlay.
Click to expand...

+1

If you get a decent copy of the 50mm 1.8 it'll produce some tack sharp shots, and the 55-250mm IS is one cracking lens for the price (not so good in poor light though)

...and, for a kit lens, the 18-55mm IS will produce some very good results once you get to know it's strengths/weaknesses (mega barrel distortion at 18 mm, but easily fixable in PS)
 
PeteMo said:
For Canon:

50mm f1.8 for portraits
18-55 IS kit for landscapes
55-250 IS for sports

Decent sharpness, low cost and more than adequate results for the outlay.
Click to expand...

Agreed!
unless a used tamron 17-50 f/2.8 falls into budget (been a while since I checked what they go for).
 
stokecity_m said:
for £150?

the canon 55-250mm IS is the best tele photo lens in budget
Click to expand...

ie: for £450 total, i wouldn't try to get 3 lenses at all, but 1 or 2 better lenses more suited to what's being shot.

But PeteMo's suggestion is spot on for 3 at this money
 
For Nikon, and trying to stick as close to the £150 budget as possible:

Sigma 10-20 £250
Nikon 18-70 £80
Nikon 55-200 VR £100

That would make quite a nice line up for most stuff though I'd personally want a nice fast prime in the bag too.
 
Canon OR Nikon (and again its not a trinity but a duo) and this comes from my experience as I have used this combo on both Canon and Nikon :)

sigma 17-70 F2.8-F4.5 (£150 odd) (possibly Tamron 17-50 Non-VC)
Sigma 70-200 F2.8 hsm (£300 if you're patient)

IMHO if you are patient and get good copies they're an excellent combination of lenses
 
85mm f1.8 AFD- 315
50mm f1.8 AFD- 88
35mm f1.8 AFS- 154

Total would be £557 brand new but if you get them second hand £450 is doable. Fast good quality low light primes. All great for portraiture and lanscapes. Sports the 85mm might be abit far though
 
Thanks everyone for the replies.
At the moment i have the 18-55is and 55-250is and am going to add a 50mm1.8, so as per some of the replies i think that trio will be ok for now.

Again thanks for the replies.:thumbs:
 
£450 for 3 lenses ranging from sports/portrait/landscape well you could get something, but nothing great, personally, I would concentrate on buying 1 lens at at time.

Canon 50mm f1.8 (used £70) could be a good initial outlay, the f1.4 much better.

Sports lens, depends what you mean about sports, track & field, football, rugby, motorsport, yes the 55-250mm might suffice, but most racing circuits, your need 400mm+, rallying, you need fast optics, as with football/rugby/floodlighting or indoor sports, so no the 55-250mm doesn't cut the mustard, tick the boxes. Personally used I would recommend a sigma 100-300mm f4 fantastic lens if you can find one, bottom of the pile maybe a canon 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS but definitely way above the £150 for a sports lens.

Landscapes, do you mean UWA like sigma 10-20mm or canon 10-22mm or more a standard zoom like 15-85mm f3.5-5.6 which could be ideal for walkaround / landscape / portrait lens on a budget or the tamron 17-50mm f2.8

Personally stick with 1 lens and buy the best 1 for your budget
 
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PeteMo said:
For Canon:

50mm f1.8 for portraits
18-55 IS kit for landscapes
55-250 IS for sports

Decent sharpness, low cost and more than adequate results for the outlay.
Click to expand...

+ another 1 for this. For the OP's budget you wont get better than these, but stretching the budget a bit I'd try the 50 f1.4, 15-85 or 18-135 (I've just got an 18-135 for £170) and you'll get a good length for general and wide shots.
 
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