600D Lens Progression

Good morning/evening folks.

Long time lurker, first time poster. I am currently using a 600D with a 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 IS STM and 55-250 f/4-5.6 IS STM. I am looking to get some advice in relation to upgrading my 18-55mm lens. I would be using this lens primarily for landscape photography.

I have looked in to getting the Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 Ex Dc OS HSM as it gets good write ups without breaking the bank, and is very similar to what I am currently using in terms of focal length.

The problem I am having is that the 600D will do me fine for the next couple of years but there may come a time I want to upgrade. If I were to upgrade, I am unsure if any of the crop sensors would be worth the investment over a full frame camera.

Should I go for something like the above Sigma lens or should I be going for an EF fit lens that I can use just now and eventually use on a full frame camera? The difference being that the Canon EF lenses cost double and then some of what the Sigma would cost.

I think the 80/90D would be a worthy upgrade in a couple years time so I may stay on a crop sensor and not bother going full frame, but it's a consideration I want to factor in before I start buying better lenses.

Thanks for any advice!

That is a good question and I believe many of us are in the same boat. Canon seems to be moving out of the EF mount for good and going mirrorless.

So unless you go mirrorless, anything with an EF mount may become obsolete although there are some adapters out there that I have yet to test.

That being said, for landscape photography with a crop sensor camera (and this is also valid for a 90D), 17 mm is too narrow in my opinion. A true landscape photography lens on a crop sensor should be more like a 10-20 mm lens (or similar). Don’t forget that 17 mm on a crop sensor is the same as 27 mm but again, 17 mm is still considered wide. If you’re asking my opinion however, I own a Sigma 17-50 lens which is a good lens but if I want to take a real landscape, I need to use my Sigma 10-20 lens (although I have never been happy with it as it is too soft). Honestly, I now take most of my wide landscape shots with the iPhone 11 that now has a super wide lens (but a bit less megapixels).

Thanks for the reply!

I don't see myself going mirrorless anytime soon as there will be a high price entry to that and if anything it would drive down the price of the EF fit lenses.

As for the 10-20mm wide lens, I understand why a 10mm focal length would be good with the wife angle landscape shots, but so far I have got on fine with 17mm.  That, and as you said - the wide angle Sigma is a bit soft.

I do want to get a 14mm lens at some point for astrophotography so that would be good for wide angle shots when I need a bit more landscape in my images and it wouldn't be soft.

This is a really interesting way of looking at it.

On one hand, if I were to go full frame I would need lenses for the camera which is where the 24-70mm and 70-200mm lens come in to it. If I was to stay on a crop sensor I would get the 70-200mm f/4 Non-IS as it is fantastic for long landscape shots, though I wouldn't need the 24-70mm.

I am happy with the shots I am taking just now and certainly see myself sticking with what I have for the next year or so, I just want to have something in mind in terms of saving.

My camera is missing a few featured compared to the 80D though I have yet to run in to any problems with the 600D. I can't fault the picture quality and I can do everything I need to on it. The only thing I have noticed so far is that I can't set the white balance to a specific value though this can be fixed in post as I shoot in RAW. This would only be an issue if I was trying to shoot images with minimal amount of work done in post.

The screen on the top of the camera that the X0D bodies have is nice though hardly essential, and as I don't do sport or wildlife, I wouldn't benefit from the shutter speed and focal points. This may change as I got the 55-250mm lens to try my hand at wildlife and I may enjoy it and want to progress with it, in which case a crop would probably be better as I would get more reach out of lenses.

Edit: here is a photo I took with the IS II kit lens, I since went with the IS STM as it doesn't rotate at the front so helps with filters.