70D lenses

[sjp711]

Hey fellow photo people! I'm on the hunt for a nice but non-expensive everyday lens that will allow me to take pictures of my active 1yr old, indoor events, outdoor adventures, candids and family portraits. A second lens to give me that "bokeh" effect that I love shooting and the 3rd lens to have some fun with, like the fisheye effect.

[ScottyP]

Hi,

I assume you already have a kit lens that came with the camera? (Do you already have the camera?). What lens do you have?

It is better to have a small number of high quality lenses than lots of so-so ones. Shooting for three lenses may force you towards doing the latter. Personally I would skip the 3rd one with the fun effects, and maybe have fun on the computer in post instead.

The "bokeh" effect calls for a wide aperture lens, probably a prime. On a crop like a 70d, a 50mm is a good choice, as it lets you do portraits as well as general purpose shooting. If you already have a kit zoom and you have the basic focal lengths covered that way, then you could use a 50mm to cover both your #1 and #2 needs (good everyday lens, and good bokeh lens).

By not getting 3 lenses, perhaps you can afford one good one.

I think a Canon 50mm f/1.4 would work for about $375.00. For a little more ($950.00) you could get the new Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art, which is a sharper lens, which won a lot of awards and praise when it came out recently.

If you do go in for a "fun effects" lens, consider Macro to shoot big closeups of bugs, flowers, coins, etc., rather than fisheye. Fisheye gets old pretty quick.

[sjp711]

Hi Scott,
No, I do not have the camera yet. I wanted to make sure I knew what I was buying before I put money on the table. I was thinking of buying the camera kit with the 18-135mm lens. Can I get by with that being my everyday lens? I really enjoy shooting pictures in the "bokeh" effect, I'm addicted. So I definitely want a lens that will give me that. Per your message, are you saying that I can get #1 and #2 using the kit lens? Please correct me if I'm wrong. I don't need a high end lens for the fisheye, just something on the cheaper side to play with. I've never had a fun lens to play around with so I'm just excited to see what I can get out of it then maybe work my way up to a more expensive "fun" lens if I like it. Something like this would be fine for now - http://lenshero.com/lens/Samyang-8mm-f3.5-Canon-ef-lens

What do you think?

I will look into buying less lenses and perhaps one really good one. What do you think of the 10-22mm? Just when I think I have the lenses figured out, I realize I still have a lot of learning left to do. Thanks for taking the time to help me out.

My other option was to maybe get a more expensive camera like the 7D or 6D with a kit lens then work my way up to getting a 2nd lens later since I'm on a budget right now. What would you do if you were in my shoes? Less expensive camera with better lenses or more expensive camera and maybe better lenses in the future.

[Skirball]

The 18-135 would be fine for everyday use; that's what it's designed for.  There are better lenses, but it's fine to start.  It will not give you a lot of bokeh though.  For that I'd recommend a fast prime, like a 50mm 1.4 or 85mm 1.8.

All that said, why are you looking at a 70D?  By the sounds of it you're realtively new to SLR photography.  Is there something about the 70D that has you looking at it, or did you just choose it by the pricepoint?  Unless you plan on shooting a lot of video I would actually recommend a cheaper camera, like the 700D or even the 600D, and put your money towards lenses; they will have a much greater impact on the quality of your photography than the camera.

The 6D is in a whole different league.  The 'kit lens" for the 6D is the 24-105, and it will not be able to use many of the cheaper lenses.

[ScottyP]

Hi,

1.)  I was not saying the kit lens can do bokeh.  I was saying once you have the kit lens in your bag to cover all those focal lengths between 15 and 85 (or whatever), then you can get a wide aperture prime like a 50 f/1.4 and it will do your bokeh, as well as work pretty well as an everyday general-purpose "walk around" lens too.  

2.)  Spend money on lenses, not on camera bodies.  At least at first, until you build up a nice little collection of 2-4 good lenses.  They come out with a new Rebel camera body every year, and a new 70d level camera body every few years.  But the lenses are only replaced with new versions every decade or two.  Lots of the lenses still current in the Canon lineup are about 20 years old.  The lens makes a bigger difference in the quality of the photo than the camera body does.  

I don't know how much you are looking to spend, but if getting a less expensive T5i camera instead of a 70d would allow you to purchase a better lens, I would do that in a heartbeat.

The kit lenses will be just fine in good light, so something like the 15-85 will take a lot of great pictures for you.  You can even make it give you some bokeh if you set up the shot right.  Zoom in to the longest focal length, select the widest aperture (the lowest "f/ number) that the kit lens will give you, stand as close to the subject as possible, and position your subject so that the background is as far behind the subject as possible.  

But for when you want a lot of bokeh, or when you want to shoot indoors in a room that isn't especially bright, you will benefit from a lens like the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4.  

If you got a kit lens, and a 50mm prime, that would be more than enough to be off to a very very good start.  Better than probably 90% of people start with.  I would not try to cram any special effects lenses in at first.  Learn how to shoot, learn what you like to shoot, then consider what you want for a 3rd lens.

[Skirball]

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@ScottyP wrote:

I don't know how much you are looking to spend, but if getting a less expensive T5i camera instead of a 70d would allow you to purchase a better lens, I would do that in a heartbeat.

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OP, if you're going to get anything out of these two threads, I think this is probably the most important.  I whole-heartedly agree with the above.  Especially if it's the difference between only getting 1-2 lenses and getting 2-3+.