Which daily prime for my crop-sensor Canon 60D?

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Migroo

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Chris
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Hi everyone,

I have just upgraded from a 450D to a 60D. Love the difference, and the upgrade means that I'm not going to upgrade to full-frame any time soon.

I have the following lenses:
Canon 15-85mm, which is fantastic. I love the sharpness of the images, and focussing is fast!
Canon 50mm f1.8 - this is too long for me, I need something a bit wider as a prime.

I know that the 50mm lens is effectively a 80mm telephoto on my crop sensor, and that to get a 50mm field of view, I would need something like a 32mm lens, if it existed. It doesn't have to be spot on effective 50mm, and I'd be happy with something a bit wider than that...

So - I'm looking for something between 20mm and 30mm which will give me a nice field of view. It needs to be nice and wide as my 15-85 isn't great for low light. It must be sharp, and focus quickly.

What do you suggest? Canon seem to offer a few in this region, like the 35mm F2, but I only found 'OK' reviews on this...

Any ideas? :)

Budget, really about £300 - no higher. Ideally second hand, so that I can sell it if I don't get on with it and recoup some money!
 
Yes this is a big short coming in the canon range no budget 35mm. They have 28mm f1.8 and there is the new 40mm pancake. Other than that there is the sigma 30mm f1.4 which is meant to be pretty good.
 
Personally if at all possible I'd choose a USM/HSM lens as I find that being able to manually adjust the focus at any time is a great help.

The new Sigma 35mm f1.4 seems to be getting good reviews/previews but it'll be relatively large and I think I'd be more tempted towards a more compact lens in the 28-32mm range, either f1.4 or f1.8.

When I has a Canon APS-C I had a Sigma 30mm f1.4 HSM and apart from a gritty feel to the focus ring I couldn't really fault it and it's quite compact and you get a hood and a case with it.
 
The Canon 35mm f/2 is a fantastic lens.

Beautiful IQ and pin sharp even at f/2.

Amazon are selling them at just over £200 new at present.
 
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Canon's 28mm f/1.8 is worth a look. I've used it on both my 40D and now on my 5Dc and it's a much under rated little lens.

Definitely worth a second look.
 
+1 for the sigma - I have a 60d and 15-85mm also, and I find the 30mm f1.4 compliments them well when you need something for lowlight :thumbs:

I also have a 50mm which I love for portraits but 30mm is a more useful general length, imho
 
Sigma 30mm or the Canon 28mm, both suited well to crop bodies.

Sigma can deffo be had for under £300!
 
I have a full frame camera and the canon 35 1.4 is magical. Its a hard lens to master and really makes you think about your compositions but when you get it right, the combination of wide angle wide aperture gives you a very powerful and interesting image. The sigma 35 1.4 is supposed to be just as good or even better.

I really like the 35mm focal length, its nicer than 50mm IMO, but some like the 50mm more, depends on what you shoot.

I had a 24 70 2.8 zoom which whilst covered pretty much all the ”normal" range and itself is an amazing lens, just lacked the magic of a fast prime.

If you can blag or borrow one of the 35mm lenses suggested I don't think you'll be disappointed, even on a crop. take a look at the various 35mm groups on flickr,there is some truly inspirational photographs being taken with that lens.
 
Im not sure about only "ok" reviews on the 35 f/2. I had one and its a fantastic lens, and this is what i read time after time from other users.
Its AF is a bit noisy and doesn't have USM but i didn't find either to be a problem.
I guess the 40mm Pancake is a bit too close to the 50mm to consider.
I'd say its an ideal walk around on the 60D, at least, i found that to be true when i had my 35 f2.

If going for a Sigma 30 f/1.4 try and by from somewhere with a good returns policy ;-)
 
cuthbert said:
I have a full frame camera and the canon 35 1.4 is magical. Its a hard lens to master and really makes you think about your compositions but when you get it right, the combination of wide angle wide aperture gives you a very powerful and interesting image. The sigma 35 1.4 is supposed to be just as good or even better.

I really like the 35mm focal length, its nicer than 50mm IMO, but some like the 50mm more, depends on what you shoot.

I had a 24 70 2.8 zoom which whilst covered pretty much all the ”normal" range and itself is an amazing lens, just lacked the magic of a fast prime.

If you can blag or borrow one of the 35mm lenses suggested I don't think you'll be disappointed, even on a crop. take a look at the various 35mm groups on flickr,there is some truly inspirational photographs being taken with that lens.
Click to expand...

Strangely, on FF (well, my film bodies) I prefer wider angle - 28mm / 35mm, yet on my crop DLSR, I prefer the 50mm equiv. Not sure why though! :shrug:
 
I think you just get into a crop mindset :D I use a 55mm on my G1 (x2 crop) but I wouldn't dream of having a 110mm lens as my standard on my 5D :thinking: :D
 
Hi everyone

thanks for all your input.

I found a really good review of the Canon EF 28mm f1.8 lens:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/lenses/28mm-f18.htm

I found a review of the Sigma 30mm f1.4, which wasn't particularly complementary!
http://www.photozone.de/Reviews/298-sigma-af-30mm-f14-ex-hsm-dc-test-report--review

Looks like I'm going to keep my eye open for the Canon 28mm f1.8, unless there are others that I really ought to consider?

In terms of the 40mm pancake, I think its just too long to consider (effective focal length 64mm).
 
Hi Dave,

Thanks for the link to the review - interesting to read, and I'm after better performance than 'we expect more from a prime'.. so do I :) and thats the reason I'm buying a prime in the first place! After all, I have the focal range covered, so I want to see an ultra-sharp improvement.

The search continues then! :)
 
+1 for the Canon 35 f2. I bought one second hand for £200 earlier in the year when I had some spare cash. I got the 35 f2, a 50 f1.4 and an 85 f1.8 and they are fantastic. The IQ of all three are excellent, the AF speed is very reasonable (the 35 is slightly slower than the 50 but not by much) and for the price I paid they are a real bargain.
 
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