Beginner Newbie lens help.

D700graham

D700graham

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Hi all, I joined this forum a while back now and have been sort of in the shadows, reading things, etc. I did not have a camera but have just purchased an old camera, a Canon 7D, boxed with all the bits for £380, with a shutter count of 12,451, so it has not really been used much. Anyway I would like some info on a walkabout lens ? Been looking at the Canon 17-40 ?.
It would be stopping on my camera for most things, as I don't have a particular 'subject' or speciality? Yet. Any info you guys could give me would be appreciated. My budget is between 200-400 ?
 
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17-40/4 L is designed for full frame cameras. It will work fine, but compared to EF-S lenses designed for crop-format cameras like the 7D, it loses out on focal length range and maximum aperture. Suggest either Canon 15-85mm f3.5-5.6 IS or 17-55mm f2.8 IS. They are the best walkabout options at similar cost to the 17-40, though there are cheaper alternatives from third-party brands.
 
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Get either the canon 17-55 f2.8 ,the15-85 f3.5-5.6( not the 17-85) or if you want an all purpose the 18-135
 
gremlin16 said:
personally i would get yourself one fixed prime of either 35mm or 50mm. You will learn much more about photography using that one lens than a short zoom of the range you mentioned.
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If you bought it to learn photography, get a fast 1.4 or 1.8 fixed focal length lens. Canon make a 35mm f/2 lens. The old one was a bit ropey, but the new IS USM one is good. There was a time not long ago when a kit lens was a fixed 50mm lens (35mm on your camera).
 
Ok guys thank you, will start looking.
 
In my opinion the best walkabout lens for any camera is the Canon 28-135mm IS USM lens - you lose a bit at the short end but it's a great lens which can be had for reasonable prices.

The f1.8 is also a great fixed lens and image wise is as sharp as any L glass lens from 2.8 onwards - it's also less then £100 new and even cheaper here S/H as is the 28-135mm lens.
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I know of someone selling a tokina at-x pro 16-50mm f2.8 DX is this worth looking at ?
 
petersmart said:
In my opinion the best walkabout lens for any camera is the Canon 28-135mm IS USM lens - you lose a bit at the short end but it's a great lens which can be had for reasonable prices.
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I had the Canon 28-135mm lens and hated it! It was never sharp and produced dull. muddy-looking photos - at least compared to the 17-40mm f/4 and the 24-105mm f/4 lenses I rented (or maybe I just had a bad copy?). If I hadn't switched to Fuji, I would have bought one (or eventually both) of these.
 
d300graham said:
Hi all, I joined this forum a while back now and have been sort of in the shadows, reading things, etc. I did not have a camera but have just purchased an old camera, a Canon 7D, boxed with all the bits for £380, with a shutter count of 12,451, so it has not really been used much. Anyway I would like some info on a walkabout lens ? Been looking at the Canon 17-40 ?.
It would be stopping on my camera for most things, as I don't have a particular 'subject' or speciality? Yet. Any info you guys could give me would be appreciated. My budget is between 200-400 ?
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The lenses I mentioned were more than 200-400. Ones in that price range (if you want to stay with a Canon lens) are the 18-55mm "kit" lens or the 18-135mm so you can see which focal length(s) you prefer. If you want to start with a prime, I liked the 35mm f/2.
 
Ms_Tex said:
I had the Canon 28-135mm lens and hated it! It was never sharp and produced dull. muddy-looking photos - at least compared to the 17-40mm f/4 and the 24-105mm f/4 lenses I rented (or maybe I just had a bad copy?). If I hadn't switched to Fuji, I would have bought one (or eventually both) of these.
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Well I've used it on my 1DsII, 350D, and 40D and had no probs at all, so maybe you had a bad copy but I've owned 2 and both have been very good.

I also have the 24-105mm L and it will be slightly better obviously but I can't say the difference is really extreme.
 
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