Which lens for night photography?

[Goner]

really enjoy taking photos at night and I just love the way pictures at night look, I'm extremely new at photography in general and I have a Canon 600D T3i with a 18-55mm Lens.

I want to get another lens but I'm not exactly sure which would be the best lens for night photography. Any recommendations or tips?

Thank you

[ScottyP]

A really good walk-around zoom is the Canon EF-s 17-55 f/2.8 Ernie suggested.  It retails about $825.00 but you can get deals if you look, and used ones go for maybe $450.00 - $550.00.  (I'd sell  my pristine copy for $450 actually; I have no crop camera that fits it anymore).

The other way to go will be non-zooming, fixed focal length lenses, called "prime" lenses.  A list of affordable ones would include:

EF 50mm f/1.8 STM ($120.00)

So cheap you can excuse the flaws.  The newly designed STM version is the one to get.  Avoid the older ones.  The new one makes up for the flimsy build quality and slow buzzy autofocus of the old version of the "nifty fifty".

EF 40mm f/2.8 "pancake". ($150.00)

Pretty good image quality really, and a very usable focal length.

EF-s 24mm f/2.8 pancake ($150.00)

Read reviews.  Not familiar with this one.  Useful walk around length on a crop camera.

Other alternatives:

Sigma or Tamron version of the 17-55 f/2.8 (called 17-50 maybe).  I hear they are good but I'd prefer a used Canon 17-55 myself.

[Goner]

Thank you so much!!

[Waddizzle]

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@Goner wrote:
I appreciate your help so much, my budget is around $200 but id spend more if NEEDED

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Save up your money, and buy a lens that is much better than the 18-55mm kit lens that came with the camera.  I think the upgrade in image quality that you're looking is not to be found within your stated budget.. 

Someone above listed three Canon prime lenses that sell for under $200, a 50mm, a 40mm, and a 24mm.  The 50mm is f/1.8, while the other two are f/2.8.  Of those three, I think the widest, the 50mm, would be the best buy, which doesn't mean that it would give you the results that you might be looking for.  I also think the 50mm is the best lens of the three.

Depending upon the subject matter, almost any qualtiy lens can take qualtiy photographs at night, both with or without a flash. The key word here is "quality".  I would recommend a lens, but I do not know what focal lengths you are looking for.