Canon 70D lense option

[Dragonfire665]

Hello everyone. I bought my wife a Canon 70D and she has the following lenses. Not the best, but they are doing the job for the moment.

Canon EFS 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS II

Canon EF 50mm 1:1.8 II

Canon Zoom EF-S 55-250mm 1:4-5.6 IS II

We are going to China at the end of June this year and I am looking to buy her a lense as a gift. One that can take close up photos and some what of distance. I dont want to carry this bag all thru China for 3 weeks. So if I can have her just bring the body and 1 lense that will be great. We are visiting many places, like Beijing, Hong Kong, Shaighai and others so there are many landscapes and close up shots that I will like for her to get.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

[kvbarkley]

How close?

[Dragonfire665]

thats a good question. I dont know if my wife is going to be taking food shots, or up close animals or flowers, like she had done before. Just tossing examples here.

[kvbarkley]

That is important. If you need a Macro that can go 1:1, it puts on a big constraint.

[Dragonfire665]

Yea I will be honest with you. I wouldnt know. I am still learning when it comes to lenses. As stated I dont know what is out there that can satisfied our needs for this upcoming vacation without losing photo quality.

[ScottyP]

I don't think they need or want macro. In China you want scenery in your shots and macro is for tiny things like jewelry or bugs. 

A wide angle lens lens would be a good choice for scenery and wide angle lenses also have good closeup ability for those food shots. 

[TTMartin]

---

@Dragonfire665 wrote:

Hello everyone. I bought my wife a Canon 70D and she has the following lenses. Not the best, but they are doing the job for the moment.

Canon EFS 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS II

Canon EF 50mm 1:1.8 II

Canon Zoom EF-S 55-250mm 1:4-5.6 IS II

We are going to China at the end of June this year and I am looking to buy her a lense as a gift. One that can take close up photos and some what of distance. I dont want to carry this bag all thru China for 3 weeks. So if I can have her just bring the body and 1 lense that will be great. We are visiting many places, like Beijing, Hong Kong, Shaighai and others so there are many landscapes and close up shots that I will like for her to get.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

---

The best one lens solution for the 70D is the EF-S 18-135 IS STM lens. Be sure to get the STM version. Yes it is that much better!

[jrhoffman75]

18-135 is an excellent one-lens solution.

[kvbarkley]

No, you want the *new* USM version, it is that much better!*

https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/products/details/lenses/ef/standard-zoom/ef-s-18-1...

*Now with more NANO!

[TCampbell]

Canon does make an 18-200mm lens (these are sometimes referred to as "super zoom" lenses because they have quite a range).  

Here's the link:  https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/products/details/lenses/ef/standard-zoom/ef-s-18-2...

I should caution that it's an older lens ... so optically it doesn't compete as well with some of the newer lenses.  It's sharp near the center, but goes soft around edges and corners and has a bit of chromatic aberration (color fringing / bleeding).

If optical quality is important, you'd do better to bring two lenses (an 18-55mm and the 55-250mm) such as the two you already have (although the new STM and USM versions are much improved optically).

I think Tamron and Sigma make super-zooms as well but as I recall, the Canon super-zoom (even though it's not stellar) outperforms them.  THE primary emphasis on super-zoom lenses is convenience at a reasonable price point -- but that implies sacrificing a bit of quality.