Which lens for 60D / 7D?

omens

omens

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I'm still struggling with which camera. The battle between new 60D and secondhand/grey 7D seems to be neverending. Heart says 7D, head says 60D.

Decided to look at lenses instead, which seems to be even more of a headache than choosing cameras. I doubt I'll ever want to move into full frame.

I've been thinking about a general lens, a 50mm (or maybe 35mm) lens, and a nice telephoto (maybe the 70-200 f/4). But dreams are dreams and there's reality.

Budgeting around £1000 for the camera + lens so looking at:

- EF-S 15-85 mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens, which seems like a reasonable choice for £550
- EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens , which is brighter but more expensive
- EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS USM Lens, which I spotted on the 60D that Lok was waving around on the digitalREV review.

Main aim would be to get to grips with dSLR photography and not waste money on a zillion lenses when one or two may do.

Thoughts?
 
How about...

A Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 and a 30mm f1.4? You could even think about adding a macro, something like a 50mm? and to keep the costs down you could get a legacy macro as most macro is manual focus anyway.
 
Any reason for Tamron other than cost? Is it as effective as the Canon version?
 
It's a lot smaller and lighter and when I owned one I thought that it was the sharpest zoom I'd ever shot with. Sharpness isn't everything of course but I do wonder what you'd gain a great deal, image quality wise, from the much more expensive and bigger and heavier Canon in real world shooting.

Plus, if one of the options we were talking about was a Sigma lens people may well be advising against Sigma because of focus issues and sample variation and as the 17-55mm is perhaps (arguably... and so say some internet sites...) Canon's most unreliable lens maybe quality should come into the decision.
 
Out of the 3 your looking at I would def go for the 15-85mm it produces stunning IQ as good as the 24-105L
 
The EF 17-55mm IS is IMHO the best lens for a crop body. It replaced the 24-105 on my 7D and I never looked back.
 
I've had same questions but for my 650d...

Regarding reviews from other websites most people choose the 15-85 and has been quoted at times as close to a L lens quality for crop body. Also the 15mm wide angle has been rated

I have also been looking at Sigma new 17-70 2.4-4 C, which seems to be doing ok but nearly 1/2 price of canon and a stop faster

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/sigma-17-70mm-f-2-8-4-dc-macro-os-hsm-c-lens-review-21927

It also won the best entry lens at tipa awards '13
 
ive got the 24-105 L on my 60d and its fantastic. perfect for me as an everyday walkabout lens.

Depends what you shoot though.
 
The 24-105mm is not a great general lens on the 7D or 60D because it is equivalent to about 38mm at the wide end, which limits your wide shooting. The 15-85mm is a great compromise as it offers a wide zoom range equivalent to about 24-130mm ish, better flexibility than the 17-55mm, but with a few stops less light.
 
I was aiming to just have a general purpose lens. The more I read about lenses, the more I realise I could buy a single lens for every purpose.

Things I like to shoot:

- small events like our family party
- friends and family for when I visit them or they visit me
- walkabout: buildings, landscape - more likely to have people in it eg friends/family posing
- cars at car shows (mainly stationary)

I'm still in the early stages of exploring photography hence I didn't go all out with cameras and lenses.
 
15-85 then tbh
something with some range or if you want a one stop shop, a 18-250 lens, the new sigma one maybe?
I have a 18-125 on a 7D but rarely use it, but it's quite versitile
 
I'll second the Tamron 17-50 F/2.8 on a 7D. Exactly what I shoot with the majority of the time, and pretty much the same general usage as you've listed. I paid around £200 for my non-VC version used. Just love it, very sharp, nice and fast, zoom range is perfect for a walkabout.
 
omens said:
I was aiming to just have a general purpose lens. The more I read about lenses, the more I realise I could buy a single lens for every purpose.

Things I like to shoot:

- small events like our family party
- friends and family for when I visit them or they visit me
- walkabout: buildings, landscape - more likely to have people in it eg friends/family posing
- cars at car shows (mainly stationary)

I'm still in the early stages of exploring photography hence I didn't go all out with cameras and lenses.
Click to expand...

Hi

I think your initial thoughts and options are spot on, with looking to choose 1 lens to get going with. I'd be probably looking at the 15-85IS lens as a kit lens combined with the body (will probably be cheaper than buying separately). The 24-105 gives you a constant F4 and a longer reach, but you do suffer with a loss of the wider end...Then there is the Tamron 17-50 F2.8 as an option.

Be careful you don't go down the one lens does everything route - eg 18-200 etc, as I think you'd be disappointed with the results and will end up buying more lenses.

I think you need to decide on which body you're going for initially - this will then decide if you can get a lens with the body (ie a kit lens) and what funds you'll have left.

With regards to the body, It sounds like you've been looking into them in detail, so you are aware of the differences with the bodies, but I would strongly recommend you have a look at them and feel them in your hands, they are 2 different cameras, with a different size and weight to them.
 
Looking at getting an all round zoom, can i ask, would the Tamron 17-50 be a good lens to use as i only use a nifty fifty at the mo. Is it as good as the Nifty IQ wise?
 
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