Got <$400 to spend on one lens

I bought the XTi months ago with the kit lens. Still quite new to dSLR.

I have a budget of ~$300 and $400 at the most on camera equipment. I've looked at different lenses to begin my lens collection. Initially, I tried the Canon EF 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II USM & Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM (both less than $300). These two seemed most logical to choose from because of the reach. My first thoughts were: "I might occasionally need a tripod to take photos with these two, and probably not usable indoors. Not that sharp." I'm still wondering if i should look at lenses at this range at this point. I may be wrong about these two lenses. So, I'm going to ask you: How often do you use lenses of this range and for what applications? Can u post images with the lens used with settings and tripod use?

Last night, I've been looking at the Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM (~$300), and liked the sample images. I find that I like photos with bokeh, macros, portraits, landscapes. Given, I have the kitlens, is this lens still a good buy? Would I be able to use it as a general purpose lens? Does it have enough leverage over the kit lens for me to buy it? Can you post images taken with this lens?

What other lens could I consider given my budget?

Please help me. Thank you!

Thing is... $400 is enough to buy one very decent lens... but if you want to do the normal panoply of hobby-photography shots then you will likely want/need more than one lens.

So, your budget allows you to get one lens that is very good at what it does but can't do everything for you... or to get more than one lens to cover the focal lengths you are likely going to want but end up with lenses that are very compromised.

If you have never used longer focal lengths then you don't realize what they can do for you... get you images from afar! Maybe you are at a distance because of stealth, or perhaps you are at a ball game and stuck back in the bleachers somewhere.... thus I'd recommend looking at a telephoto zoom, from Canon or perhaps other companies.

Please do not be caught up in other people's obsessions... there are people on this forum who spends 10's of thousands of $ on photo gear - and still are not happy.

-gt

That's pretty much my dilemma. I'm starting my lens collection, and cannot decide whether to get a telephoto zoom or the Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM. I've also considered the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM. Those are the only lens at this price range that I've considered, although the Macro is over my budget.

This buy is really constrained by the price more than anything else, IQ, and if the lens offers a large benefit over what I already have (kit lens).

Carlo Mendoza said:

... I find that I like photos
with bokeh, macros, portraits, landscapes. Given, I have the
kitlens, is this lens still a good buy? Would I be able to use it
as a general purpose lens? Does it have enough leverage over the
kit lens for me to buy it? Can you post images taken with this lens?

Click to expand...

The 50/1.4 is a sweet lens, and it was the first lens I bought besides the kit lens. It is a great portrait lens and its speed will allow for some good creative fun. It is not, however, wide enough for what most of us consider "general purpose." For that, I recommend that you spend your money on either a Canon 28mm f1.8 lens or a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 lens, the latter of which does everything the kit lens does, only better.

--
Amin

equipment in profile

Carlo Mendoza said:

I bought the XTi months ago with the kit lens. Still quite new to
dSLR.

I have a budget of ~$300 and $400 at the most on camera equipment.
I've looked at different lenses to begin my lens collection.
Initially, I tried the Canon EF 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II USM & Canon
EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM (both less than $300). These two seemed
most logical to choose from because of the reach. My first thoughts
were: "I might occasionally need a tripod to take photos with these
two, and probably not usable indoors. Not that sharp." I'm still
wondering if i should look at lenses at this range at this point. I
may be wrong about these two lenses. So, I'm going to ask you: How
often do you use lenses of this range and for what applications?
Can u post images with the lens used with settings and tripod use?

Last night, I've been looking at the Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM
(~$300), and liked the sample images. I find that I like photos
with bokeh, macros, portraits, landscapes. Given, I have the
kitlens, is this lens still a good buy? Would I be able to use it
as a general purpose lens? Does it have enough leverage over the
kit lens for me to buy it? Can you post images taken with this lens?

What other lens could I consider given my budget?

Please help me. Thank you!

Click to expand...

First of all, what do you think the kit lens is missing? Is that you want a faster lens? If so, you can get a fast prime like 50/1.4 if that is the focal length that you need. Alternatively, for a cheaper alternative, the 50/1.8 is also a good choice. If you need a normal view prime, there is 28/1.8 or 35/2. If you always wish you have a longer lens, go for a tele. zoom but with your budget, I don't think you can get a decent cannon tele. zoom (I only know cannon lenses). For macros, there is also the EF-S 60 macro and EF 100 macro, both might be slightly over your budget though. For portraits, I still think the 50/1.8 is a good choice at $75 although the $300 50/1.4 is definitely better but 4 times the cost. I have also heard people use the 50/1.8 with extension tubes for macro with reasonable results.

I think the kit lens is a little soft, but for what I paid, I do not regret buying it with the body. As posted originally, I really like portrait & macro type photos with bokeh. I want to be able to use the lens in low light conditions, and most importantly be able to take sharp photos. The Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM looks like the one I'm going to buy.

I'd still like to see some samples from users of this forum using the Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM.

You might consider the Canon 28-105 which is well within your budget, and produces very good images.

Carlo Mendoza said:

I bought the XTi months ago with the kit lens. Still quite new to
dSLR.

I have a budget of ~$300 and $400 at the most on camera equipment.
I've looked at different lenses to begin my lens collection.
Initially, I tried the Canon EF 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II USM & Canon
EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM (both less than $300). These two seemed
most logical to choose from because of the reach. My first thoughts
were: "I might occasionally need a tripod to take photos with these
two, and probably not usable indoors. Not that sharp." I'm still
wondering if i should look at lenses at this range at this point. I
may be wrong about these two lenses. So, I'm going to ask you: How
often do you use lenses of this range and for what applications?
Can u post images with the lens used with settings and tripod use?

Last night, I've been looking at the Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM
(~$300), and liked the sample images. I find that I like photos
with bokeh, macros, portraits, landscapes. Given, I have the
kitlens, is this lens still a good buy? Would I be able to use it
as a general purpose lens? Does it have enough leverage over the
kit lens for me to buy it? Can you post images taken with this lens?

What other lens could I consider given my budget?

Please help me. Thank you!

Click to expand...

--
Gary

http://www.pbase.com/digitalgee

Building a lens collection on a budget is not a simple job, I know that from experience. You'll never be able to get everything you want, you just have to choose which things are most important to get first. If you want sharpness above everything else (which was my first choice) I'd recommend getting prime lenses. I don't have the 50 1.4 but I've heard good things about it. But as far as sharpness goes it doesn't seem to offer much advantage over the 50 1.8, which is what I chose. I'm very happy with the 1.8, and if I ever do upgrade to the 1.4 it will be for build quality and AF speed, not sharpness. If you go with the $70 1.8, that leaves enough for another prime like the 135 2.8 or the 85 1.8, or my choice when I bought the 50 1.8 was a used Tamron 90 2.8 macro, which is still about the sharpest lens I have. If you want to trade off sharpness for length, you're probably already looking at the best Canon options in your price range, but from what I've read I don't think they'll be much sharper than the kit lens. If you want a smaller sharpness upgrade than the primes while still keeping zoom convenience and getting some added length and IS, I'd look at the 28-135 IS.

You can extend your options by buying second-hand:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=search&Q=&b=8&a=321_2643&a=0&shs=&ci=3018&ac=&Submit.x=13&Submit.y=6
--
Jason, London UK
http://www.exemplaryphotos.com

Carlo Mendoza said:

That's pretty much my dilemma. I'm starting my lens collection, and
cannot decide whether to get a telephoto zoom or the Canon EF 50mm
f1.4 USM. I've also considered the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM.
Those are the only lens at this price range that I've considered,
although the Macro is over my budget.

Click to expand...

......I've been wanting the 100/2.8 macro myself. The best price for a new one that I've seen is at Adorama ($450). Another option though is to buy a used one. I've seen the USM version go for as little as $350 on Ebay and the older non-USM version for as little as maybe $275(?).

....From what I've read, it's an excellent value and does everything from macro to portraits to even indoor sports fairly well.

Dan Heimsoth said:

If you go with the $70 1.8, that leaves
enough for another prime like the 135 2.8 or the 85 1.8, or my
choice when I bought the 50 1.8 was a used Tamron 90 2.8 macro,
which is still about the sharpest lens I have.

Click to expand...

great call on the older version tamron 90 macro, in my old maxxum collection this was my best lens as well. Just did an ebay and keh search and couldn't find the non-Di version though in canon mount.

Also to add in, the Canon 100 2.0 is a very nice telephoto prime. It's long enough to offer a good change from the 50 1.8, but still very fast. With rebate it'll cost about $360, so along with a 50 1.8 it would only be slightly over budget.

many also seem to be happy with the 28-135 IS, which offers a little bit of everything at a step up from the kit lens in a convenient single lens package - which may be what you're looking for.

Carlo Mendoza said:

I have a budget of ~$300 and $400 at the most on camera equipment.
I've looked at different lenses to begin my lens collection.
Initially, I tried the Canon EF 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II USM & Canon
EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM (both less than $300). These two seemed
most logical to choose from because of the reach.

Click to expand...

I never used Canon EF 55-200, but people seem to like it. If you are looking at an inexpensive telephoto, then the Sigma 70-300 APO DG is a great deal at only $200. It far superior optically to the Canon 75-300. The drawback is that the AF system is slow.

Carlo Mendoza said:

My first thoughts
were: "I might occasionally need a tripod to take photos with these
two, and probably not usable indoors. Not that sharp."

Click to expand...

Well, as long as you keep the shutter speed up (about 2x focal), you don't need to worry about a tripod. Canon has very good high ISO performance, so it should not be too hard if you only use it outdoors. I don't think that these lenses are practical indoors, since just the focal length alone requires you to be across the room (even forgetting the slow f4.5-5.6 max aperture).

Carlo Mendoza said:

I'm still
wondering if i should look at lenses at this range at this point. I
may be wrong about these two lenses. So, I'm going to ask you: How
often do you use lenses of this range and for what applications?
Can u post images with the lens used with settings and tripod use?

Click to expand...

These telephotos are useful when you are limited from getting closer by a barrier (like when you are at a zoo). Unfortunately, these inexpensive telephotos are too slow for most field sports unless you have very good light.

Carlo Mendoza said:

Last night, I've been looking at the Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM
(~$300), and liked the sample images. I find that I like photos
with bokeh, macros, portraits, landscapes. Given, I have the
kitlens, is this lens still a good buy? Would I be able to use it
as a general purpose lens? Does it have enough leverage over the
kit lens for me to buy it? Can you post images taken with this lens?

Click to expand...

If you are under a budget, the 50 f1.4 is a luxury, since the 50 f1.8 costs about $80 and is optically similar when stopped down to f2.2 or greater.

Carlo Mendoza said:

What other lens could I consider given my budget?

Click to expand...

Other lenses to consider are the Canon 28-105 f3.5-4.5 (NOT the f4-5.6) for about $230 for a nice walk-around lens. If you do indoor sports (basketball or volleyball), you can also look at the 85 f1.8 for about $340.

Carlo,

Some well-considered opinions here about lens choices. But the question not asked or answered is this: What do you want or need to take pictures of? Leaving aside, for the moment, the issue of "bang for the buck," I think you need to determine the subjects you'll typically shoot: family gatherings? family portraits? close-up/macro photography? scenic? indoor sports? outdoor sports? wildlife?

When I bought my Rebel XT last year, my initial needs were for a) general "walkaround" shooting...family gatherings, other people stuff; and b) my kids' outdoor sports (soccer, baseball). Those needs led me to the Tamron 28-75 2.8 and the Canon 70-200 4L. As I have used each lens for their intended (and unintended) purposes, my lens needs have evolved. The 28-75 is not wide enough for some of the indoor group photos and outdoor scenic photos that I'd like to shoot, so I'll likely trade it for a Tamron 17-50 2.8. The 70-200 is proving to be just a bit short for some of my needs, so I might add a longer FL or buy a 1.4x TC. And both were too slow for my son's indoor basketball last winter, so I just bought the Canon 85 1.8 (about $370, before hood and filter)...shot at first game tonight...much better color/exposure than with the Tam 28-75, but I'm still working on getting the focus right with such a shallow DOF.

So all that's a long way of saying that the evolution of my lens buying has been determined by the evolution of my shooting needs. Once you know what you plan to shoot, you can look at all the lens options from Canon and third parties. You might consider approaching your lens acquisition "career" in the same way.

Hope this helps!

RHB

These two primes along with your kit lens would give you low lighting and portrait. Add some extension tubes and you have macro with the 50.

Are you looking for an all-around lens now or are you looking at beginning a collection? If the former, I suggest the 28-135 IS; this lens gets a good rating for sharpness at 28mm and is fairly fast at f/3.5, slowing to 5.6 at the long end. If you are looking at beginning a collection, start wide and then work up (you can't crop a narrow lens wider!). Perhaps start with the 24mm f/2.8 paired with the almost-free 50mm f/1.8.