Canon EOS 500D, need advise for lens investment (VERY near future)


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sam204

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Apr 29, 2009
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Hi,

Just got a Canon EOS 500D w/kit lens 18-55 3.5-5.6 IS. Will start shoot right-away.
Have read quite a bit on lenses and guess that I would want to look at investing in the hereunder for the purposes as mentioned:

1) Canon lens 50 1.8 - for portraits and
2) a 28-105mm - for general purpose photos (travelling etc).

The remaining questions are :
a) Would it be achievable to get the item 1 & 2 within the budget of S$300 ?
b) shall I invest in tele lens (70-200 mm) instead of 28-105mm ?
Hmmm... what would be the price like, then ?


Appreciate your input.

Thanks in advance.
 

Skip the 28-105. Use your kit lens for general purpose.

As for price, there's a price guide posted in the Canon section. Fer second hand, look and the Canon marketplace section.
 

50f1.8 + 55-250

You need to stretch ur budget to 400-500 i guess
 

I wouldnt suggest getting the 50mm for portraits. how often do you take portraits? and with that, you might need to get a tripod as well. basically, got to look into the needs. mainly, for general purposes as you have mentioned, the 18-55 is already a useful for a start to experiment with your new camera. a good telephoto lens is useful. probably for later, after you're tired of the current lens. some good recommendations for telephoto lenses are the 18-200mm lens (particularly good for the small depth of field, 18mm) and the 55-250mm lens as well.
 

play with your new toy first and decide later........ the kit lens is an OK piece of glass and nothing to be ashamed of.... it is hard for you to make an educated decision if you have not even tried out the abilities of your kit lens

Do not foolishly seek the BBB disease ..... there will be time enough later (in a few short months) to get infected
 

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yeah, i think if you're new and all just work with you kit lens. it's actually pretty good. 55-200 would be a good idea. i personally have a 50mm f.18 lens, and i'm pretty pleased with it, as i use it for portraits. see what kind of photos you'd gunning for before buying your next lens.
 

Play with the Kit-Lens 1st.... Then see what you are really interested in.... macro, portraits, landscape.... etc, before planning your next buy. ;)
 

when I was new I thought the kit was pretty shitty.. but as it turns out I did not have knowledge on my tools..

I suggest using f 8.0 to f 16 for your shots with kit lens when possible as it will get you very sharp pictures.

As testament.. I use my kit lens for almost all of my recent shots even though I have a 50 prime and 70-300 lens in my arsenal. But than Again I have an external flash so that makes the kit lens pretty damn powerful.
 

ALL,
TQVM.

Per insight/advise by 'elder'-bros will:

1st - Play with it.
2nd - (After sometime ~ of a later date) will consider next lens 55-250 or 70-300
3rd - and 50 prime (much later !)

Thanks again. Cheers.
 

My opinion.

Stay with the kit lens and buy the 50 1.8 prime for low light shooting. And most importantly, DO NOT read those lens review forums. Read only the photography techniques sections. Rgds,
 

Play and experiment. Don't rush headlong into buying lenses (though I am somewhat guilty of that) =p
 

Hi,

Just got a Canon EOS 500D w/kit lens 18-55 3.5-5.6 IS. Will start shoot right-away.
Have read quite a bit on lenses and guess that I would want to look at investing in the hereunder for the purposes as mentioned:

1) Canon lens 50 1.8 - for portraits and
2) a 28-105mm - for general purpose photos (travelling etc).

The remaining questions are :
a) Would it be achievable to get the item 1 & 2 within the budget of S$300 ?
b) shall I invest in tele lens (70-200 mm) instead of 28-105mm ?
Hmmm... what would be the price like, then ?


Appreciate your input.

Thanks in advance.

My advice, get the EF 50 f/1.8, its only $130 i think and delivers pretty good bang for the buck, I still have it in my inventory...

A 28-105 on your crop body I find rather questionable, you're losing out on the wide end and aren't gaining enough in terms of reach. An EF 70-200 f/4 L IS would be a good investment, its very light & portable compared to the f/2.8, very sharp and fits nicely into the line-up of lenses. Although it means you have to change lenses if you wish to go long, I've never had a problem with stopping and swapping out lenses. Price is the problem should be around 1.9k but L lenses tend to hold their value well and would probably stay with you for a long time, unless you swap systems.

If you want a do it all lens why not consider either the Canon or Sigma 18-200 IS/OS which are considerably cheaper than the 70-200 f4, but lacking the same level of build and image quality.
 

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