Request for a lens suggestion

kayos

Right so I've had my camera (EOS 40D) a while and been using either my f/1.8 50mm or my EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lenses.

Happy with both but starting to find I could do with a bit more zoomage. And with the honeymoon coming up this could really annoy me. Worst part is with all the other wedding bits and bobs on my plate the last thing I have time for is researching a new lens. So any suggestions for a lens with a bit more zoom than the 135mm that is suitable for Landscape/wildlife and wont break the bank.

pixbyjohn

There are a few 70-300 lens for sale on www.adverts.ie
plus a few more expensive Canon lens

kayos

I suppose given the above reply I should add the following. I'm looking for advice on a given lens that has good recommendations. Not a generic answer.

I'm normally well able to do the reading up but as I said in my OP I've enough things on my plate with the wedding. Just looking for some helpful friendly advice.

kelly1

kayos wrote: »

Right so I've had my camera (EOS 40D) a while and been using either my f/1.8 50mm or my EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lenses.

Happy with both but starting to find I could do with a bit more zoomage. And with the honeymoon coming up this could really annoy me. Worst part is with all the other wedding bits and bobs on my plate the last thing I have time for is researching a new lens. So any suggestions for a lens with a bit more zoom than the 135mm that is suitable for Landscape/wildlife and wont break the bank.

Do you need a fast aperture e.g f/2.8?

hbr

kayos wrote: »

Right so I've had my camera (EOS 40D) a while and been using either my f/1.8 50mm or my EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lenses.

Happy with both but starting to find I could do with a bit more zoomage. And with the honeymoon coming up this could really annoy me. Worst part is with all the other wedding bits and bobs on my plate the last thing I have time for is researching a new lens. So any suggestions for a lens with a bit more zoom than the 135mm that is suitable for Landscape/wildlife and wont break the bank.

There are a few standard 70(ish) to 300mm lenses that are reasonably priced.
Canon 75-300mm, Tamron 70-300mm, Sigma 70-300mm APO and non-APO
versions. The Sigma 70-300mm APO is probably the best of this bunch. I
have one and I'm very pleased with it.

Next step up is the Canon 70-300mm IS USM which is highly regarded.
I believe there is also an IS (OS or whatever they call it) version of
the Sigma 70-300mm which might be looking at.

And then there is the more expensive options like the Canon L series
70-200mm which comes in various versions. Sigma and Tamron also
make similar f/2.8 lenses.

Beyond that, the sky is the limit. Well no, actually, the Canon 1200mm
is the limit. You can pick up a cheap used one at B&H for $120,000.00

kayos

kelly1 wrote: »

Do you need a fast aperture e.g f/2.8?

I'm no pro so going for fast aperture might be a bit of overkill, although rainforests might be a bit dim so something semi decent would be nice I've had no problems with my 3.5 - 5.6 speed so far.

@hbr thanks for the suggestions will take a look at them. As for L series I'd love one but weddings tend to restrict the budget. Some day...

hbr

kayos wrote: »

@hbr thanks for the suggestions will take a look at them. As for L series I'd love one but weddings tend to restrict the budget. Some day...

The Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO DG is a lot of bang for your buck. You can
pick up the Canon mount version for around €90-120 used or just over €200 new.

Con:
Slow and noisy autofocus. Sticky macro switch. No IS. A bit
slow at the long end, but this is true of any similar lens.

Pro:
Optically good, especially up to about 250mm. Comes
with a high quality case and lens hood unlike the Canon
equivalent.

@300mm





@190mm

veryrandom

I have a similar question, i have a nikon D90 and a 18-55mm and a 55-200mm. I was wondering if anyone could recommend any lenses or steer me in the direction of any good ones? I would intend to use them on mostly weddings/portraits/fashion...

davgtrek

dont see a collossal difference in 135 & 200mm zoom wise. for honeymoon and dramatic landscapes etc why not think wide angle as opposed to zoom.

for 40d go with either canon 10-22 or tokina 11-16

fair enough wildlife is zoom territory but unless your specifically hunting it to photo you'd prob need a lot more than 200 anyway to fill the frame with anything wild and unusual.

definitely spend the money on wide angle IMHO

kayos

davgtrek wrote: »

dont see a collossal difference in 135 & 200mm zoom wise. for honeymoon and dramatic landscapes etc why not think wide angle as opposed to zoom.

for 40d go with either canon 10-22 or tokina 11-16

fair enough wildlife is zoom territory but unless your specifically hunting it to photo you'd prob need a lot more than 200 anyway to fill the frame with anything wild and unusual.

definitely spend the money on wide angle IMHO

Was thinking zoom as we're staying in a rain forest with a lot of wild life. Plus I'm finding the 135 a bit of a limit at the moment.

Ouch on the prices of those wide angles.... But it does make sense as there are some amazing coast lines to take into consideration. Crap I could end up spending more than I had hoped. Or make do with the 28mm (not exactly wide but it could do).

WTS 1 Soul, slightly used.

davgtrek

Yea. I hear ya on price.
Its actually crazy. If all us enthusiasts stood back and took a rational view of lens/body costs. Totally ridiculous really. All techno hype we get caught up in.

If it were me I wouldn't let the honeymoon solely determine my lens choice as Its over in 2 weeks or whatever ( I know the memories are for life etc. ) and you will want this lens for years and over a few bodies especially if ur gonna drop 8 or 900 on one. No point in it gathering dust afterwards cause you have no rain forests near your house !!!

However you did mention landscapes. So wide is the no brainer there.
You did mention that the wide angles were expensive. Those ones are way cheaper than a perceived decent zoom. For any less money you would end up with a large slow zoom of kit standard. You already have one of these !

If it were me I'd not worry about the eyeball shot of the golden lemur.
The whole wildlife thing is a niche interest. How many posters/shots of wildlife do you have on your walls at home. To me the images/memories if wildlife related are of the animal/bird in its surroundings almost more than the close up itself.

But I suspect being in a rainforest is uncomfortable enough never mind with a big lump of a lens and slr hanging around your neck. So I'd throw on the wide angle and bring the small 50mm lens if you wanted a few nice portraits and pack light. Unless you have a very understanding wife who wont mind you lugging a big camera rucksack and stopping to change lens and composing left right and centre :-)

The tokina 11-16 gets fantastic reviews and its f2.8 which means it really comes into its own indoors/low light at parties, concerts, gatherings where a wide angle shot can be very dramatic and effective.

The 10-22 has more reach. I have it with a 40d ( spent others money to get these. If it were my own limited cash i'd get the tokina. ) but forget about much indoor stuff as its too slow and the 40d high iso is not great anyway.
In good light its excellent.

Finally one last thing. Remember that video is upon us in a big way and any lens I would buy now I would make sure it balanced well with video.
Your next slr body WILL have fantastic video quality and will be demanding image wise on a lens and will show up an inferior lens.
So make sure it has nice manual focus rings and quick focusing for video.

Good luck with your purchase.

kayos

Well honey moon is done and dusted and I coughed up for the tokina....well worth every penny.

Between the tokina and the 135mm I was covered apart from one evening when I was trying to get a few monkeys a good distance away (I had even borrowed a 255 ef-s that I never brought).

The tokina was the one stuck on the camera most of the time.

Only problem? Heat and massive humidity ment I had to have the camera out of the villa for a good while before it would stop fogging up. That made me miss more great shots than the lack of a zoom.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39921124@N04/sets/72157624533130763/

For some of the pics

PCPhoto

congrats on getting married !!

some nice pics - especially the cityscape ...at night !!!

I'm off next weekend ...not a honeymoon but holidays with the missus, 3 weeks in USA (Toronto-San Fran-Hawaii-Vegas-New York)

gonna be manic - so far I have REDUCED my equipment list to this:
Fujifilm F31+underwater housing
Canon G10+underwater housing
Canon G11 (gonna buy an underwater housing in Hawaii)
Canon 5D (and underwater housing and strobe)
Canon 1D mk4
Canon 7D
50mm macro
16-35mm
24-70mm
70-200mm
580ex flash(2)
1.4x Converter
Hasselblad H1
35mm HC
80mm HC
Tripod
memory cards, chargers, film, batteries

Need to get filters and learn how to do landscape photography within the next 3 days.

my main thing is to get nice pics of Niagra, Grand Canyon, Alcatraz, Golden gate bridge, Statue of Liberty, new york in general and sea turtles and fish underwater in Hawaii - fingers crossed.... herself has said she doesn't mind me going off taking pics as long as she gets to put some of them up in her house.... which seems like a fair deal....just hope I get something decent at each place.

hbr

PCPhoto wrote: »

gonna be manic - so far I have REDUCED my equipment list to this:

You can hire an Antonov 225 from Air Foyle.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_An-225

Enjoy the holiday.