Recommend a Replacement For the 18-55 kit lens, CANON

gothgirl

gothgirl

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So my kit currently consists of a 18-55 kit lens (non IS)

a 50mm 1.8

and a 55-250 IS Canon

Can anyone recommend a good replacement / upgrade to the 18-55 kit lens ?

I am not after L glass, I can't afford much but would like another lens of a similar focal range but slightly sharper / faster.
 
Depends what your budget is

Canon 17-55mm f2.8 £580
Canon 15-85mm f3.5-5.6 £580
Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 £256
Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 VC £340
Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 £285
Sigma 17-70mm f2.8-4 £330

Or you could look at secondhand lenses and make some saving, pickup the 15-85 or 17-55 for around £350
 
pete.rush said:
Depends what your budget is

Canon 17-55mm f2.8 £580
Canon 15-85mm f3.5-5.6 £580
Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 £256
Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 VC £340
Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 £285
Sigma 17-70mm f2.8-4 £330

Or you could look at secondhand lenses and make some saving, pickup the 15-85 or 17-55 for around £350
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NOWHERE NEAR THAT

lol

£100 Or less, used is fine
 
You'd be lucky to find anything better than your kit lens for £100
 
The best lens I've ever owned was a canon 15-85, sharper than the L lenses I've had since and a great focal range. I bought it new from Ebay direct from China for around £380 including import duty but sold it on here once I went full frame.
 
Not many options under £200 to be honest, Canon 17-85 or 18-135 maybe? should be a slight step up from the 18-55, and both have IS, and if you traded in the 18-55 should be reachable with £100 to £150 (on MPB for example).
 
Your best bet is the newer IS kit lens it should be achievable in budget and is a huge improvement.
 
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For £100 don't. You won't get anything worthwhile. Sorry.
Best save it and add to it slowly.

What's lacking from what you have, you seem to have most of the range covered except very long. What's your requirement and what camera do you have? If a walkabout lens then I'd agree the 15-85 on a crop is an excellent lens.
 
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I have a 40d, though am thinking of upgrading to a 500 or 550d

Is the IS much better ?
 
Byker28i said:
For £100 don't. You won't get anything worthwhile. Sorry.
Best save it and add to it slowly.

What's lacking from what you have, you seem to have most of the range covered except very long. What's your requirement and what camera do you have? If a walkabout lens then I'd agree the 15-85 on a crop is an excellent lens.
Click to expand...

Think you must have missed that the op is using the ancient kit lens before canon updated it with IS and decent optics, I know I did on first read!

gothgirl said:
I have a 40d, though am thinking of upgrading to a 500 or 550d

Is the IS much better ?
Click to expand...

Yes the IS kit lens is a massive improvement on it's predecessor which was a pretty poor lens all round.
 
The original kit lens has it's limitations but it's not as bad as some make out.
So which lens would you suggest for £100, seeing as she has the 50mm f1.8? The replacement kit lens is ok, but the is doesn't add much, the body is better made.

However I stand by my original advice to wait, save up, rather than rush out and buy something that might not give any improvement depending on the limitations she's seeing at the moment.
 
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gothgirl said:
I have a 40d, though am thinking of upgrading to a 500 or 550d

Is the IS much better ?
Click to expand...

40d was a good camera but anything over about iso1600 you start to notice the noise. 500 or 550d will give you better low light performance, smaller camera and different batteries.

What do you shoot, what limitations are you finding at the moment?
 
I was going to suggest the 15-85, but I didn't realised it was still so expensive. I bought my 7D and 15-85 as a kit from Argos in December 2012 and with my cash back from Canon and cash back on my credit card, the total cost was less than a £1000!
 
gothgirl said:
I have a 40d, though am thinking of upgrading to a 500 or 550d

Is the IS much better ?
Click to expand...

For £100 max budget, then I'd maybe suggest looking at the 18-55IS lens as it is better then the non IS, but if you can I'd suggest trying it out to see if you can to see if you are happy with the difference / if it's worth spending the money. If you can stretch your budget some, the Tamron 17-50 lens gets a good following...Personally, rather than spending now for something, I'd try to save up and then buy the lens you want...

Incidentally, the 40D is a great body :)
 
400D and cheap kit lens in the hands of a 12 year old
125707518.jpg

125707517.jpg
 
Keep your 40D and save for better glass.
A 500 0r 550 isn't an upgrade, it's a downgrade if anything IMO.
 
Byker28i said:
The original kit lens has it's limitations but it's not as bad as some make out.
So which lens would you suggest for £100, seeing as she has the 50mm f1.8? The replacement kit lens is ok, but the is doesn't add much, the body is better made.

However I stand by my original advice to wait, save up, rather than rush out and buy something that might not give any improvement depending on the limitations she's seeing at the moment.
Click to expand...

The IS kit lens is a massive improvement over it's predecessor it's even better than the 17-85mm USM, I agree that the original kit lens isn't as bad as some people made out but it was a very limited lens especially when compared to it's replacement. If on a limited budget as the OP is then it is a noticeable improvement and the addition of IS will also increase the keeper rate in hand held photography.
 
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gothgirl said:
I have a 40d, though am thinking of upgrading to a 500 or 550d
Click to expand...

That's not an upgrade, it's a significant ergonomic downgrade.

£50 would get you the 17-85mm IS, but it's only any good in very good light - full sunlight or with good off-camera flash it does a very good job, but so does the bottom of a beer glass if you get the light right.

The nifty-fifty would open up more creative options, although on the 40D I always preferred a shorter prime (between 30mm and 40mm - maybe postpone for now and save up for the 40/2.8?).
 
2.8 lens imo, are heavier tho, but worth it most of the time :)
 
How much does the 40mm 2.8 go for ? I would very much like a 30mm or 40mm prime,

I wanted the 550d for cropping, and better low light, but other than that I am happy with my 40d.

I shoot a lot of low light / no light, and often can't use flash because of the animals I am shooting

I also really want to get into gig photography and music, so another fast prime would no go amiss...

Definitely going to trade up my kit lens for the IS, even if its not a massive improvement, it's an improvement none the less and for the sake of £35 with a years guarantee from wex, can't go wrong
 
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gothgirl said:
How much does the 40mm 2.8 go for ? I would very much like a 30mm or 40mm prime
Click to expand...
CPB have the 40/2.8 listed as available for just under £150 new - didn't check who it was from. The Sigma 30/1.4EX was my all-time favourite lens on the 40D, shot a few gigs with that one - good focal length for APS-C, fast and excellent image quality, but unfortunately not even close to budget.

Without knowing which animals you're shooting, is manual focus and aperture out of the question?
 
I tend to shoot for shutter speed, to ensure I am freezing the movement, before my subject... moves lol

I rarely use flash, and sometimes not even stationary lights, due to light sensitive eyes.

Usually I am

TV MODE

160 or Higher Shutter Speed
ISO auto or 800+
+1 or +2 points of Exp comp.

Though I have shot in manual a couple of times, set my app to 2.0 or 2.5, shutter to 160, left ISO on auto and again put in 1 or 2 stops of exp comp
 
Not sure if this might do?
But I have used one of these for over ten years now, here's an example of a recent photo taken with it.
Farnborough Air Show 2014.
View attachment 26064
This isn't HDR just levels tweaked in Light room.
Canon EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM, Exif; 135mm f/6.3 @1/640 ISO 50
This lens has full time manual focus when in Auto focus.
I have seen this go for between £100-130 inc p&p on eBay (UK)
 
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Just to comment further, I realise you'll loose some at the bottom end, 10mm, but that just means you'll have to get another wide angle lens to cover the bottom end.
At least this is IS & USM & full frame for when you need.
 
Well I have ordered the 18-55mm IS from WEX, couldn't go wrong at £35 with 12 months guarantee ! :)
 
Yep £35, and I'm very happy with it too :-)


Sent from my iPhone using Talk Photography Forums
 
KingRoach said:
Good deal with IS and warranty. It will do just what you want a kit lens to do. Price is not weird at all though. Just right. Since when has a kit lens ever been sold near £200 @Chris Fallon?
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This IS didn't used to be a kit lens, so most people end up with the non is version as I did

The IS however is much more of an improvement that I thought it would be
 
KingRoach said:
Good deal with IS and warranty. It will do just what you want a kit lens to do. Price is not weird at all though. Just right. Since when has a kit lens ever been sold near £200 @Chris Fallon?
Click to expand...

I don't know as I am a beginner. I was just intrigued because I have the non IS version of the 18-55mm lens and thought if it was that cheap I would upgrade mine to the IS version... I looked on WEX and it is priced at near on £200... or am I reading it wrong?? @KingRoach ??
 
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