topic Re: 450D want to buy an additional lens for travel, Help me! in General Discussion

450D want to buy an additional lens for travel, Help me!

bjchitown — Tue, 28 May 2013 18:48:27 GMT

I own a canon 450D, and have a standard kit lens, along with a 10-22 EF-s, EF 70-200. I would like to upgrade the kit lens. At first I thought about a 24-105 EF L, but wondered how useful that would be on a crop of 1.6. Also considered 15-85 and 24-70. Am thinking of upgrading my camera to the 60D or the new one rumored to be coming out in the next few months. Tell me your experience to make the best choice. thanks. Going to Hawaii in the next few weeks.

Re: 450D want to buy an additional lens for travel, Help me!

diverhank — Tue, 28 May 2013 19:50:46 GMT

Unfortunately...whether a lens is good for you or not is only up to you. It is really hard for people like me to tell you what you should or should not use, especially when it comes to whether it's wide enough for you. Recently when I said 24mm is wide enough for my full frame 5D3, I got lambasted for saying that :).

One thing I can tell you is that the 24-105mm f/4L IS is a really good lens for the price - you can get a used one for about $700-750 and new for about $800-900. I had used it on a cropped 50D for a while and got decent results. For really wide landscape, I often take 2 or 3 then stitch them together.

I think it's best to show a few sample pictures. Here are examples of the 24-105 on a cropped 50D, stitched. These could have been better if I had used a tripod. They were taken handheld. Click on them for larger viewing via Flickr

Single frame, unstitched

Re: 450D want to buy an additional lens for travel, Help me!

Skirball — Tue, 28 May 2013 19:34:14 GMT

The 24-105 is a great lens, large range, with an L build. It'll also work on both crop and full frame. However, it's fairly large and heavy, and I agree that 24 isn't quite wide enough for my travel needs (however, if you plan on taking the 10-22 then I wouldn't worry about it).

I've never used the 15-85, but it has a very good reputation, almost a cult following among crop sensor shooters. It also has a great range, but wouldn't work on full frame. If you don't have any plans to go FF then I wouldn't worry. It's smaller and lighter, but not weather proof. It's also a little cheaper.

Both would make good travel lenses in my opinion, choose which of the above is more important to you.

Re: 450D want to buy an additional lens for travel, Help me!

bjchitown — Wed, 29 May 2013 00:25:01 GMT

Thanks for your input, and especially for sending me the photo's,they make me understand better. Enjoyed your your photography.

Re: 450D want to buy an additional lens for travel, Help me!

cicopo — Wed, 29 May 2013 00:38:42 GMT

There really aren't many choices in a quality lens in that range & you've pretty much named them in your post. The 24-105 is a bit smaller & lighter than the 24-70. I've owned both but because I'm not a shallow DOF kind of shooter I didn't keep the 24-70 very long even though it was a great copy. No idea on the 15-85 but it gets excellent reviews. If you can live with slightly lower IQ to get more versatility in a lighter travel set one of the better superzooms can fit the bill. Many frown on superzooms but I've had some good ones & got some excellent photos with them.

Re: 450D want to buy an additional lens for travel, Help me!

WahoGT — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 07:32:31 GMT

A 24-105L large and heavy? Seriously? I think you're thinking of the 24-70 f/2.8L instead, there's a reason it's nicknamed "the brick". The 24-105 IS, however, is much smaller and lighter than the 24-70 2.8L, but not quite built to the same standard IMO (I currently own both). No, it's not a 18-55, but it's nowhere near unmanageable. It's the primary lens on my gripped 5D Mark III all the time.

For travel, have you considered a super-zoom? Like the EF 18-200mm, or Sigma/Tamron equivalents? You give up a bit in total IQ and aperture, but you only have to carry one lens. They're also cheaper than the L's as well.

There's also the option to rent a lens for your trip. That would be MUCH cheaper, and lensrentals, borrowlenses, and a bunch of other companies out there will rent you Canon and 3rd party gear.