In my hunt for a new camera, i have come to the conclusion that i am going to get the Canon 450D however i want to save costs so am thinking of getting a body only deal and then buying 1 IS lens, but my question to you is the following:
If you could only have 1 lens that is good for general use, what would it be?
I am thinking of the Canon EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM. This seems to be very good lens for walking about and shooting. My next lens will probably be a 1.4/1.8 50 mm Mk1 but for now i need to choose just one lens to do me until i can afford a few more.
Over to you people, look forward to you responses.
That sounds like a good all around lens. My usual walkaround lens is a 28-300 and I find that I often want a bit more of a wideangle view than what that provides. Maybe one that goes down to about 17 or 18mm? Depends on how much you use wideangle views.
If I had one lens to chose I would go with this! Might be a tad bit long for your needs though, a little bit larger than you budget as well. I agree with yospiff that the 28-135 might be lacking in the wide end for an all around lens, though I hear good things about that lens.
I used to own the 28-135, but I sold it. I had some peeves with it. Mostly, it was too slow, making the finder image too dark. It also is nearly impossible to get shallow DOF. 28mm is not nearly wide enough.
IMO, you'd be much better off with something in the 17-40, 17-55 range.
I'm happy with my Sigma 18-200 3.5-6.3 OS lens on my Canon 400D. It rarely comes off the camera. It may not be a professional quality lens but it's reasonably priced and fairly lightweight and has a great zoom range, especially since you can crop to equal a longer lens with our cameras.
The Canon 24-105L would be my first choice for a single lens (even on a cropped sensor camera), but it's not cheap. Anything less will mean settling in some area- either the lens is not wide enough, not enough zoom, too slow, or compromises image quality. If the 24-105 is too expensive, I would either go for a stabilized Sigma or Canon 18-200 superzoom, or go for a narrower zoom range that suits your usual subjects (Canon 17-40 for wide angle, Tamron 28-75 for general walkaround & portraits or Canon 70-200 f/4L if you typically shoot from a distance (zoo animals, kids' soccer games, etc.). The Canon 28-135 is OK, but probably not much better than the 18-200 lenses noted above, so IMO you might as well go for the larger range.
I use Nikon lenses. When I got the first DSLR, I did ok with the 24-120mm for about 6 months, then I started buying older manual lenses. I have been very happy with the 18-70mm as well, and that is what is usually in the ready to shoot mode on the camera in my bag. I can always crop some, but if you don't have the short end, you can't make it wider without shooting a panorama set.
I assume that you are asking more about focal length than about a particular lens or f range. You will find the 50mm very useful when the light is low, or if you want a smaller and lighter set up to tote with you.
Depending on your budget, whether you ever plan on buying a full-frame camera body (5D or 5D Mark II), and whether you want a good wide end, you couldn't go wrong with any of the following:
- Canon 17-55 IS kit lens (very cheapest)
- Canon 28-135 IS (relatively inexpensive)
- Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 (relatively inexpensive, no IS)
- Canon 24-105 f/4L IS (if you ever plan on going full-frame - aka buying a 5D)
- Canon 17-55 f/2.8 IS (if you don't plan on going full-frame)
My advice to you would be to get the kit lens (only $60 more for great, general purpose, IS lens), shoot with it for a while, and then decide what more you want.
If I had to chose just one lens, it would be the Canon 85 F1.8. Fortunately I dont have too, because every one of my lens are my favorite, it just depends on what I am shooting at the time.
My advice to you would be to get the kit lens (only $60 more for great, general purpose, IS lens), shoot with it for a while, and then decide what more you want.
A good recommendation, but that would be the 18-55 IS lens (the 17-55 is far from cheap!)
Oops. You're right, the kit lens is 18-55. But for $60, it's a steal and a great lens start with.
You'll spend $60 now, and after a while, you'll notice - gee I wish I could take better pictures in low light (faster lens), or I wish I could zoom farther to get my child paying sports (longer lens), or wow I'd love to take super close images of flowers (macro lens), or man those ultra-wide angle landscapes are cool (ultra-wide).
Whereas if you spend $350 on a general purpose zoom now, you'll have the exact same realizations later. =)
Oops. You're right, the kit lens is 18-55. But for $60, it's a steal and a great lens start with.
You'll spend $60 now, and after a while, you'll notice - gee I wish I could take better pictures in low light (faster lens), or I wish I could zoom farther to get my child paying sports (longer lens), or wow I'd love to take super close images of flowers (macro lens), or man those ultra-wide angle landscapes are cool (ultra-wide).
Whereas if you spend $350 on a general purpose zoom now, you'll have the exact same realizations later. =)
Ohhhh...I was nearly able to purchase that camera from B&H now, just needs a few more pounds in the paypal account and i am good to go. £404 for 450D + 18-55mm IS lens, thats including shipping. That will leave me with a nice little amount for the extras i need. I am sooo close its starting to frustrate me, lol. They also do a kit as above but with a Canon 75 - 300 (non IS)but its out of stock. Would that be something to consider?
I primarily shoot with the 28-135mm IS USM Canon lens on a 40D and I love it. But I have several older Minolta manual focus lens that I use for long range stuff. I was able to find a decent adapter to fit all of my old stuff.
I don't know too much information or cost, but I saw today that Canon just released an IS 18-200mm lens. I don't know if it has the ultra sonic motor (USM) like the 28-135mm lens, which I have found is a useful feature (especially when using a polarizing filter). 28mm is not quite wide enough and extra length is always a plus.
