Which lens for general photography. (1 Viewer)

RoyH · Oct 2, 2004

Hi all,
Could any of the members please give me advice on which lens is suitable for use as a general purpose lens to use with my 10D. I already have the Canon 100 - 400L USM IS...works very well. I need a lens to replace my E20 fixed zoom lens if or when I decide to sell.
What are your views on the new Tamron model SP AF28 - 75mm f/2.8 XR Di.
Sigma also have a new lens but no price yet. 28 - 70mm EX DG.
What about Macro lenses...you comments please.
I know which would be the best Canon EF 24 - 70mm L USM f/2.8 but that is £935. Until I sell my E20 that would be out of the question at the moment.
Please excuse me as I am quite new to photograpy so I would appreciate your expert help.

Regards,

Roy.

Adey Baker · Oct 2, 2004

You won't get much of a wide-angle effect on the 10D with anything starting at 28 or even 24mm because of the 1.6x focal-length increase due to the sensor being smaller than the full frame of a 35mm camera.

For a proper wide-angle effect you'll need to look for something starting in the teens of mm's - I haven't used any myself so I can't give a first-hand recommendation.

Unfortunately, the new lenses introduced with the 20D are not compatible with the 10D.

There's a danger (if that's the right word!) in spending a lot of time and money on buying specialist lenses for your main interest - birds, macro subjects, etc. - and then getting 'any old lens' to cover everything else in the world under the 'general photography' heading! The danger being that by lumping everything together you won't give the same thought to getting the best shots as you would with birds, etc. (speaking from first-hand knowledge, here!). Every one of your 'general' subjects is someone else's 'specialist' subject.

As for macro lenses, there's no doubt that the most popular focal-lengths seem to be those around 90mm to 105mm - longer than that and as well as expense, you can start to get problems with camera-shake, depth of field, etc.

I use a 50mm macro lens on a 35mm camera and find that the main concern is avoiding getting my shadow into the shot!

RoyH · Oct 3, 2004

Adey Baker said:
You won't get much of a wide-angle effect on the 10D with anything starting at 28 or even 24mm because of the 1.6x focal-length increase due to the sensor being smaller than the full frame of a 35mm camera.

For a proper wide-angle effect you'll need to look for something starting in the teens of mm's - I haven't used any myself so I can't give a first-hand recommendation.

Unfortunately, the new lenses introduced with the 20D are not compatible with the 10D.

There's a danger (if that's the right word!) in spending a lot of time and money on buying specialist lenses for your main interest - birds, macro subjects, etc. - and then getting 'any old lens' to cover everything else in the world under the 'general photography' heading! The danger being that by lumping everything together you won't give the same thought to getting the best shots as you would with birds, etc. (speaking from first-hand knowledge, here!). Every one of your 'general' subjects is someone else's 'specialist' subject.

As for macro lenses, there's no doubt that the most popular focal-lengths seem to be those around 90mm to 105mm - longer than that and as well as expense, you can start to get problems with camera-shake, depth of field, etc.

I use a 50mm macro lens on a 35mm camera and find that the main concern is avoiding getting my shadow into the shot!

Hello Adey, many thanks for your interesting comments and you have taught me more than I knew on this subject. My E20 fixed zoom lens is 16 - 36mm and that has been quite useful for general work so if I could get a lens like that to fit the 10D I would be happy. After using IS for two months this has spoilt me...its a dream to use.

Thank you again for your help.

Roy.

kit-monster · Nov 23, 2004

A general lens that won't break the bank is the 28-135 IS. It's a nice walkabout lens for general photography. If you want wide, then the 17-40L f4 is highly regarded or if you're feeling flush, the 16-35L f2.8. I managed to get an older second hand 17-35L f2.8 which is very solid and cheaper second hand than a new 17-40. The 24-70L is one of Canon's best lenses.

As for Macro, you've got several options.

Extension tubes on your 100-400 work quite well. Not true macro but you can get pretty good magnification and benefit from 400mm + IS which is great for insects that are reasonably large and you don't want to get too close. I found this combination works well for butterflies as a tripod isn't really an option.

As for dedicated Macro lenses, then you've got 50mm, 100m and 180mm or there abouts. Sigma make excellent Macro lenses and quite a few Pro's will use Canon L glass for all bar Macro work. I have a second hand Sigma 180 which is about as big and heavy as your 100-400 at 100. It's great when you don't want to spook insects. Here's an example - Mosquito. AF is slow and DOF is very narrow but it's a bit special!
I also have a Canon 100 Macro which is almost L quality. It has excellent contrast and also makes a good portrait lens. Af is fast.
I don't have a 50mm Macro. Would be nice to get some more DOF. can't justify 3 Macro lenses at the moment!

RoyH · Nov 23, 2004

kit-monster said:
A general lens that won't break the bank is the 28-135 IS. It's a nice walkabout lens for general photography. If you want wide, then the 17-40L f4 is highly regarded or if you're feeling flush, the 16-35L f2.8. I managed to get an older second hand 17-35L f2.8 which is very solid and cheaper second hand than a new 17-40. The 24-70L is one of Canon's best lenses.

As for Macro, you've got several options.

Extension tubes on your 100-400 work quite well. Not true macro but you can get pretty good magnification and benefit from 400mm + IS which is great for insects that are reasonably large and you don't want to get too close. I found this combination works well for butterflies as a tripod isn't really an option.

As for dedicated Macro lenses, then you've got 50mm, 100m and 180mm or there abouts. Sigma make excellent Macro lenses and quite a few Pro's will use Canon L glass for all bar Macro work. I have a second hand Sigma 180 which is about as big and heavy as your 100-400 at 100. It's great when you don't want to spook insects. Here's an example - Mosquito. AF is slow and DOF is very narrow but it's a bit special!
I also have a Canon 100 Macro which is almost L quality. It has excellent contrast and also makes a good portrait lens. Af is fast.
I don't have a 50mm Macro. Would be nice to get some more DOF. can't justify 3 Macro lenses at the moment!

Thank you for replying to this thread that I posted sometime ago. I have had my 10D now for 3 months which came with a 100-400L IS USM lens and I am very pleased with the results. I am thinking of buying the Tamron 28-75mm XR Di f2.8 shortly to fill the cap below 100 mm. My friend has just purchased the Sigma 180 and your right it is heavy but does a good macro job, he has taken a few shots of insects like your mozzy. I have been quite successful this summer taking butterfly shots, having to stand off at 1.8m makes the job a lot easier for taking spooked easily subjects. I've also had great results recently with motor sport. The canon 100-400 works well also taking small birds up to about 20 feet away...close cropping helps the final results. The IS is a dream to use, all of my images have been hand held using this combo.

Many thanks for your comments.

Regards,

Roy.

Ragna · Nov 23, 2004

Roy iam thinking of getting a Canon digital slr as i already have a range of lenses,but iam also looking at a good general lens and am cosidering Tamron 28-75 SP or Sigma 24 -60EX,Ive seen some very good user reviews on the Tamron www.fredmiranda.com is a good site just click reviews at the top.If this lens was 24-75 then this would be the lens to get but on a 10d it work out at 44-110 or there abouts.Only seen one review on the Sigma as its a bit new.If you check out the above web site on the Tamron review someone put up another site this is also worth a check the Tamron came third just behind the Canon 24-70L ,the 17-40L also gets good reviews this works out at about 28-64(but remember that the perspective will still be 17mm-40 eg very wide angle at the 17mm end)Keep us informed as to any decisions that you make.

Ragna · Nov 23, 2004

Roy also check www.photographyreview.com. more reviews for 28-75 Tamron and 1 review 24-60ex Sigma.

Which lens for general photography. (1 Viewer)

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