What lens would you buy if.......

[philipfirth1983]

you had £400.00 to spend on one?

Im looking for one that I can use on portraits and maybe macro or landscapes. Is there a lens that can do all 3? It would be going on a 350D. Been looking on a few sites but get overwhelmed with the choice. The lenses that I have are 17-55 kit lens, 50MM canon 1.4 mk2 and a tamron 200-400 IF.

Thanks in advance.

Phil

 

[AliB]

The 50mm you've got is a cracker so for macro just add some extension tubes and that's macro sorted

Trade the 17-55 for the 17-85, that's portrait sorted and not too costly either.

If there is enough left in the kitty, go wide with a 10-20mm.

Well, you asked!

 

[pauld]

Do you mean 17-55 or 18-55 kit -- I would not trade the 17-55 for anything it is IMHO an excellent lens. Canon 100mm 2.8 USM has some very good reviews but then again so does 105mm Sigma. Have a look at
www.the-digital-picture.com/

 

[AliB]

Might find the 100 or 105mm a bit long on a crop sensor though. I sometimes find it a bit much on a full frame!

No doubt it's good for macro and yes I've done portraits with it but might be a tad long for that. Useless for landscapes. Have a word with some of the macro chaps about extention tubes.

 

[pauld]

Depends if you want 1:1 with macro if so you will need to add 50mm extension. 100mm macro is 1:1 (lifesize) and has about 12'' focusing distance a good workable distance ... and digital camera rates it for portrait but I have never used it for this other than for my dogs and it is pretty good. As for landscapes - something different needed 10-22 probably.
Hope this helps...