Replacing Kit Lens

Nozebleed

Hi.. guy's. I bought myself a canon 500d there a few months back and im really happy with it. I'm now looking to replace the 18-55mm kit lens that came with it. Im just wondering what would make a good all round lens? What are you thoughs on purchasing second hand?

hbr

Nozebleed wrote: »

Hi.. guy's. I bought myself a canon 500d there a few months back and im really happy with it. I'm now looking to replace the 18-55mm kit lens that came with it. Im just wondering what would make a good all round lens? What are you thoughs on purchasing second hand?

I don't know that there is any such thing as a good all round lens. You
can get a good lens ie Canon 70-200mm L series or you can get an
all rounder like the 18-135mm or 18-200mm.

The best answer will depend on your own requirements. I also bought a
500D a few months ago. So far, I have bought a Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6
APO second hand on eBay and a 'Nifty Fifty' 50mm f/1.8 brand new on
eBay. I also bought some screw-on close-up lenses for the 50mm. Both
lenses are serving me well. The extra reach of the 70-300mm is great
for wildlife shots and the 50mm is much better than the kit lens in
low light.

Like most of us on this forum, I have a long wish list of lenses I
would like to have. Proper macro lens, high quality f/2.8 zoom lens,
wide angle lens etc..... Unfortunately, I have already spent my new
toy budget for the year

Have the kit lens you have, but also have an Olympus E420 that came with a 14-42 kit lens.


When I wanted a new lens, i ended up getting a 40-150 for the Olympus, and I am happy with it. So with that in mind, for me, a lens with a bit more zoom was the answer to keep me cheery. That said though, I don't photograph anything in particular. I wander about a lot with my cameras, but they rarely see action ( Imust actually start doing something...).


So yeah, if you're still just finding your feet then I'd go with a lens that has a bit more "reach", so you can play around with that for a while.


At the moment, however, I'm looking at getting my hands on a 50mm 1.8 lens. 1.8 is better than anything I currently have, so I'm curious to use one. Not as expensive as some other stuff either, which is never a bad thing.


I don't know all that much about lens brands or anything, but if your budget allows it, this looks interesting;


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TAMRON-AF-18-200MM-F3-5-6-3-XR-Di-II-LENS-CANON-FIT-NEW-/320535111228?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_CamerasPhoto_CameraAccessories_CameraLensesFilters_JN&hash=item4aa161a63c


Again, not sure if it'd work on your camera or what the lens is supposed to be like, but for price VS handiness, 18-200 is a fairly good focal range! (though at f/3.5-6.3 it's not something you'll be doing a lot of evening portraits with).


Again though, depends what you want to photograph, too.

Kintarō Hattori

Rather than looking for a good all round lens OP, what do you primarily want to take photos of?

Freddie59

Nozebleed wrote: »

Hi.. guy's. I bought myself a canon 500d there a few months back and im really happy with it. I'm now looking to replace the 18-55mm kit lens that came with it. Im just wondering what would make a good all round lens? What are you thoughs on purchasing second hand?

I bought a 450D from new in April '08, but upgraded to a Canon 40D in September '09 (purchased on eBay) with 3,000 actuations. Delighted with it. I also bought the Canon 17-55 f/2.8 lens from a local photographer in September 09. Got it for €630. Again delighted with it (bought through donedeal.ie).

Have a look at my Flickr photostream to see some shots taken with both (check the Exif data).

Hope that helps.

Regards,

Freddie.

dinneenp

I have a Pentax K-X, came with kit lens (18-55) and 55-300.
Thinking of swapping them for Tamron 18-250. I know people say it's not as good but I'm not going to inspect pictures, just take pics for photo blog, upload to flickr, print off the odd few etc. So it should work well for me.

I also got a 50mm 1.7 for low light,kid shots etc.

Nozebleed

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Rather than looking for a good all round lens OP, what do you primarily want to take photos of?

well i only really take the camera out during the summer..i usually shoot landscape pics like lough bray,glendalough etc... i bought the nifty fifty for portrait family pics at home..but i believe its great for landscape too. I do like the idea of a bit of zoom but not 300mm zoom!

cian1500ww

Can anyone recommend a good lens to replace the kit lens (18-55mm) that came with my Pentax KM ?? Looking for something for taking pictures of stationary cars. I've ordered myself a F1.7 50mm but I think I need something with more of a wide angle as it leaves it easier to get a car into a shot when there isn't much space.

CO2

I would recommend the following depending on what you want to shoot and budget available

Landscape: Canon 10-22 or Tokina 11-16

General: Canon 17-55 2.8

Telephoto: Canon 70-200 F4/F4IS

Prime: Sigma 30 1.4 (nice focal range on crop body)

As mentioned above the sigma 70-300 APO DG is an underated lens for the money and now comes in an OS variant

cian1500ww

cian1500ww wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a good lens to replace the kit lens (18-55mm) that came with my Pentax KM ?? Looking for something for taking pictures of stationary cars. I've ordered myself a F1.7 50mm but I think I need something with more of a wide angle as it leaves it easier to get a car into a shot when there isn't much space.

Anyone ??

the_tractor

cian1500ww wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a good lens to replace the kit lens (18-55mm) that came with my Pentax KM ?? Looking for something for taking pictures of stationary cars. I've ordered myself a F1.7 50mm but I think I need something with more of a wide angle as it leaves it easier to get a car into a shot when there isn't much space.

I have a K-x, basically the k-m replacement.
The Pentax kit lenses are supposed to be ok, but I was thinking of getting a Sigma 17-70mm lens to replace it. It would be a better all rounder than the kit, and have better quality than a 18-125/200 lens.

The good think about the Pentax cameras is that we do not need to buy the new expensive version as we have in built SR

cian1500ww

the_tractor wrote: »

I have a K-x, basically the k-m replacement.
The Pentax kit lenses are supposed to be ok, but I was thinking of getting a Sigma 17-70mm lens to replace it. It would be a better all rounder than the kit, and have better quality than a 18-125/200 lens.

The good think about the Pentax cameras is that we do not need to buy the new expensive version as we have in built SR

Thanks for that, seen the Sigma but I'm not sure on it. I was thinking of the Tamron SP 28-75mm as it has a constant aperture of f2.8. I need something that will produce pin sharp pictures in that rough focal length.

melekalikimaka

Nozebleed wrote: »

I do like the idea of a bit of zoom but not 300mm zoom!

[pedantic] 300mm is a measure meant of focal length not zoom. A ratio of the telephoto divided by the wide angle. so 70mm - 300mm would be 300/70 which would be 4.2 Times zoom, from the widest focal length.[/pedantic]

dinneenp

I bit the bullet and replaced my (K-X) kit lens with a Tamron 18-250. I know it has 'issues' at 18 or zoomed out max but as I'm using my camera for casual shooting for myself I hope/presume the quality will go good enough.

BTW I have a Pentax DAL 55-300 and 18-55 lenses for sale if anyone's interested, will post an ad in Adverts soon.

the_tractor

dinneenp wrote: »

BTW I have a Pentax DAL 55-300 and 18-55 lenses for sale if anyone's interested, will post an ad in Adverts soon.

I have the DAL 55-300 too.
It's a great lens - I would hang onto it if I was you.