Lens Suggestions for new T5i User

[ChrisJr]

What lens(es) do you suggest for taking pictures like the ones below?  These were taken with my iPhone.  But I'm hoping to be able to take better pics with my new T5i.

[Skirball]

The T5i and kit lens will have better resolution and sharpness than your iPhone.  You can shoot the pictures you posted with your T5i and kit lens, no question.  The difference is that the iPhone puts in instragram-like filters and HDR capabilites for "creative effects".  In my eye these don't necessarily lead to better pictures, but many people seem to think otherwise, hence the popularity.  If that's what you're looking for, with your T5i, you have a couple options:

You'll need to get a program to post process your photos.  Free software like Picasa usually has these types of filters.  I don't use Photoshop Elements, but I wouldn't be surprised if it has similar one-touch editing effects.  More upper end software like Lightroom or Photoshop (full version) are designed to allow you to make the changes instead of one-touch editing - but there are presets (Lightroom) and plugins (Photoshop) that can do this kind of stuff.

HDR is a different topic, and a big one outside the scope of this discussion. There are many types, from true HDR, to tonemapping, to effects that just emulate the look.  That first photo looks like there's some HDR, but it's very light and it works - in my opinion.   It is the one thing that I think camera phones have adapted well - when it's used lightly.  Doing it on your T5i will take a bit more work using third party software, and is best if you shoot in RAW and use a tripod.  However, the results, if done well, can be far better than what a cell phone can do.

[ebiggs1]

ChrisJr,

These are simply general DSLR pictures and thus require a general all around lens.  Ones that come with the Rebel T5i can do this.  There are others as step up lenses, too.

I do recommend Photoshop Elements for your choice post editing program.  Others are kinda like your iphone, they work but are really not great.  PSE, also let's you catalog your shots so some day when you want to find that special one, you can.

A great picture is 1/2 made in the camera, 1/2 made by the lens and 1/2 made in post editiing.  I know that adds up some how!

[ScottyP]

You are lucky your favorite kind of photography is landscapes, as it requires less expensive equipment than some other subject matter like sports, birds, or dim light shots of people.

If you just get a tripod with the basic kit lens/lenses you will be in good shape. The tripod lets you shoot a slower shutter speed than you could shoot handheld, so you can take all the time you need to let the light flow into the camera. No immediate need for expensive things like wide apertures, fast autofocus, high-ISO image quality, etc..

[ezpop]

If your T5i doesn't come with a lens, you may consider the followings.

1. Canon EF-S 17 - 55 mm F2.8 IS lens which is a high quality crop sensor lens with L quality. It cannot be used on a FF camera if you want to upgrade later. But it is very good indeed.

2. Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM is wider and can as well reach more so it is a very nice walk around lens.

3. For longer zoom lens, EF 55 250 (all versions) has excellent value. You may pick up one $150 used or go for the STM for more if you shoot video.

4. Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM is a new UWA lens with excellent price tag. Lots of good comments. Best value for landscape photography.

5. You may consider also EF 50 1.8 or the cute 40mm f2.8 pancake lens for light weight and wide apertuture. 50 1.8 can be a good portrait lens (equivalent to 80mm on a T5i)

6. If you are tight on budget, I recommend Tamron 17 50 Non VC which has a constant f2.8 aperture and is very sharp but fraction of the price of lens #1 above. The only drawback is the loud fcous motor ( not as noisy as the 50 1.8 though. I owned 2 of those but sold since upgrade to FF.

[ebiggs1]

ezpop.

Wow, you must have as many lenses as I do?

[TCampbell]

Landscapes are not particularly demanding on a lens.  It helps to have a moderately wide angle of view (e.g. like the 18mm end of the EF-S 18-55mm kit lens).  You usually want sharp focus from near to far and to that end you select a high f-stop setting (e.g. f/11 or f/16).

Also, in low light where the exposure times may get long, a tripod is your friend.

Several of these have dark foregrounds and a landscape photographer might use a simple filter to fix that.   You could pick up something called a "gradient neutral density" filter.  This is a rectangular shaped piece of "glass" (really resin and not true glass) but it's clear on one half, a tinted on the other half.  The idea is this allows the camera to bring up the exposure on the foreground (in the lower half of the frame) while not bringing up the exposure on the sky (the upper half of the frame) for a more balanced exposure.

You can read about them here: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/graduated-neutral-density-filters.htm

Or here:  http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-grads.shtml

You can spend a lot of money on these sorts of filters (e.g. Lee filters is high end) but there are some entry-level filters that are low-cost.  

A Cokin P121 (three stop GND which Cokin will refer to as an "ND8" (meaning 1/8th of the light is transmitted through the tinted half) is just over $30, but you need a holder (a Cokin P series holder is $12) and the adapter ring which needs to be sized for whatever filter thread diameter the camera lens uses.  The Canon 18-55mm kit lenses (regardless of whether it's the STM vs. non-STM version) both happen to use the same 58mm diamter thread size.  The 58mm adapter ring is about $18.  

Cokin also sells a "kit" which has a 1-stop, 2-stop, and 3-stop version of their gradient neutral density filter and also includes the holder bracket (but not the $18 adapter ring) for about $80.

[ChrisJr]

Thank you all for the feedback and suggestions.  I'm thinking about purchasing the following lenses.  Let me know what you think and if you have a suggestion for a better lens in the same price range (nothing with an L attached to it, lol)

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM

Canon EF-S 55.250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM

I have a T5i with the kit 18-55 IS STM lens.

I talked about landscapes being pictures that I like to take, but I'm thinking about all pictures now.  Family pictures, vacation pictures, kid's sports, and whatever else comes up.  I understand that at the prices I'm looking at, I'm not going to get super high quality lenses, but I want to get the most bang for my small bucks.

Also, I was thinking about getting B+W Clear UV Haze with Multi-Resistant Coating filters for all of those lenses.  Is that an ok choice? 

Last thing.  What should I look for in a tripod?  I'm assuming something lightweight and sturdy.  But besides that, what should I look for?  Any suggestions in for tripods?

Thank you all for your time and suggestions.

[TCampbell]

The 50mm is a bargain for low-light shots and shots where you want minimal "depth of field" (meaning your subject is sharp, but the background is blurred.)  The quality of the background blur is marginal on the 50mm f/1.8 version and significantly better on the f/1.4 version (but the f/1.4 version is about $400 -- but has better aperture, better bokeh quality, better build quality, and a faster focusing motor.)  So get the f/1.8 is looking for a bargain.  Get the f/1.4 version if you want the quality.

The EF-S 10-18mm is great for wide landscape shots and wide-angle lenses tend to be preferred for landscape photography.  The stretch the sense of depth in the side and help you take in a dramatic wide view.  You don't need low-focal ratio lenses for landscapes because you'll be shooting high focal-ratios (aperture value) anyway (you want to maximize depth of field -- usually).

You can find a good review over at the-digital-picture.com  see:  http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-S-10-18mm-f-4.5-5.6-IS-STM-Lens.aspx

I very rarely used my 55-250mm lens when I owned one (I gave my copy away to my nephew).  I found that if I wanted a longer zoom lens, I also needed a lower focal ratio.  I wasn't very happy with the optical performance of my original 55-250 (the new "STM" version is greatly improved over the model I had).  

As for the UV filter... this is a sometimes hotly debated topic.

Inside your camera, there is a UV filter located diretly in front of the camera sensor.  So you don't actually need a "UV" filter to block UV (that's already done so the filter is redundant.)  The justificiation for the filter is usually that it offers some protection to the lens.  

Whenever you put glass in front of your glass, you create the possibility of degrading optical quality, degrading contrast, creating "ghosting" and also creating flare.  So there are some down-sides.  If you're going to put glass in front of your glass, it really SHOULD have anti-reflective coatings and be "good" glass -- not cheap stuff.  It's sort of tragic to buy a really nice DSLR camera system... and then put low-grade glass in front of the lens reducing the quality of the shots you can capture.

B+W are top-rated for thread-on filters.  They have excellent anti-reflective coatings.  So ghosting and flare should be minimal (you can never technically get to zero but you can make the chances of it really low.)

Alterantively, a lens hood also offers protection.  If the camera lens doesn't have it's front cap on and it bangs into something... it'll bang into the hood and not the glass.  But the hood doesn't have the downsides that a filter might have.

I do "own" filters for all my lenses... but I don't have them on the lens.  I'd only attach them if I expected to be in some sort of environment where i want the extra protection (perhaps there a good chance of rain on the day I'm going out... or the wind is really blowing and I want protection from sand & dust, etc.  People who have young children might want it just because small children can't resist the temptation of putting their fingers on the nice shiny glass, etc.)

[ebiggs1]

Personally I would not buy or own any of the lenses you have or are thinking about.  The combo you have put together would certainly cover anything you would ever likely come across.  If that is your goal than go for it and don't look back.

However for what you want to spend you can get a truly top notch lens and start a really good lens inventory.

My suggestion is to the sell the kit lens you already have. Not buy any of what you listed, particularly the 50mm f1.8,  and buy the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens.  One exception in your list is the EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM.  It is a fairly nice lens and makes a nice UWA.  For a tele I would prefer the EF 70-200mm f/4L USM.  Non IS to save a bit.

If you don't need all the lenses at the same time perhaps you could save up for a bit as I know these suggestions are more expensive.

As to tripods, get the best on you can afford.  Light weight may just mean light duty and exactly what you don't want in a tripod.

I am a proponet for protector (UV, Haze, etc) filter use.  Especially if you are going to involver small children.  But at any rate it is always better to clean a filter than to clean the front element.  The times a B+W UV filter will effect your pictures will be few and far between if ever.  However if you think it might it removes as easily as it went on.

However, number 2, it really doesn't make a lot of sense to spend good money on top of the line filter for middle of the line,

or beginner,  lenses.  For instance a 52mm B+W UV filter is about $30 bucks to put on a $100 (50mm f1.8) dollar lens?

Money comes dear so make your choices wisely.