Best lens for under 200$ for 1st gen canon 5D

[george63636]

Hi Everyone im new to this forum. I have a Canon 5d first gen that was recnetly handed down to me. I would love to start using it but i sadly dont have a lense. Im not looking to spend crazy money actully litttle money as possible. What is the best lens for the least amount of money that will do good. used lens are also in my mind. Thanks alot !

[TTMartin]

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@george63636 wrote:
Is the canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS a wide angle lens??? Is it worth the price out of all these mentioned . It's definitely in my price range

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28mm-135mm is a good zoom range on a full frame camera. It is as wide angle as they typical kit lens you'll find on most APS-C cameras. It is a good walk around lens for a full frame camera. I would recommend getting both the EF 28-135mm IS and the EF 50mm f1.8 STM if you can afford them both.

[ebiggs1]

Hmmmm, I am going against popular advice.  As usual I guess!  If you are serious about the 28-135mm, I would forget the 50mm f1.8.  You will never use it or at best very little.  Prime lenses, which the 50mm is, have a more limited use.  The single value it offers is speed.

Get the 28-135mm.  Use it for a while and then later decide if you need the faster 50mm.  You may find you don't. After all 50mm is included inside the 28-135mm, Right?   Of course right.

As to whether the 28-135mm is a wide angle, yes it is.  Along with being a medium tele.  Anything under 50mm is considered wide. Anything over 50mm is considered tele.  In this lens ti iis not a huge amount either way.

The 28-135mm on a 5D will make a very nice combo.

[daleg]

allow me to recommend an alternative approach.

while I own the 28-135mm (it really is a very convenient consumer grade zoom and with an early form of IS) - that lens would be far down my list of recommendations.

I suggest you match your camera to the best available contemporary (made at the same time lens).  Simply stated, it's a match that makes sense.

Consider a used copy of the Canon EF 35mm f2.0.  This is the lens that preceded the f2.0 IS USM version.  You will love the IQ of this lens, and with a max aperture of f2.0, you have a nice lens for low-light photography.  And besides, Henri Cartier-Bresson (and many others) made a career with essentially this lens - though a CZ variant.

Alternatively, any of 50mm f1.8's (Mk I - metal mount, Mk II, or STM) would work - as would the 40mm STM.  All are ok - although if I had to choose,  I'd favor the STMs - but I'd still go with the 35/2.

A terrific second lens - to complement the 35/2 - would be an 85mm f1.8 USM - a very respectable portrait lens.

Your 5D is a timeless digital machine.  Consider matching it with solid, classic, excellent optics.  These are not all that expenive either.

& don't forget - have fun!

[RobertTheFat]

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@daleg wrote:

allow me to recommend an alternative approach.

while I own the 28-135mm (it really is a very convenient consumer grade zoom and with an early form of IS) - that lens would be far down my list of recommendations.

I suggest you match your camera to the best available contemporary (made at the same time lens).  Simply stated, it's a match that makes sense.

Consider a used copy of the Canon EF 35mm f2.0.  This is the lens that preceded the f2.0 IS USM version.  You will love the IQ of this lens, and with a max aperture of f2.0, you have a nice lens for low-light photography.  And besides, Henri Cartier-Bresson (and many others) made a career with essentially this lens - though a CZ variant.

Alternatively, any of 50mm f1.8's (Mk I - metal mount, Mk II, or STM) would work - as would the 40mm STM.  All are ok - although if I had to choose,  I'd favor the STMs - but I'd still go with the 35/2.

A terrific second lens - to complement the 35/2 - would be an 85mm f1.8 USM - a very respectable portrait lens.

Your 5D is a timeless digital machine.  Consider matching it with solid, classic, excellent optics.  These are not all that expenive either.

& don't forget - have fun!

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This thread is wandering into an area I don't know much about, so I don't propose to get argumentative. But I offer the following two points for whatever they're worth:

1)  I have a bit of experience with the 28-135. (I got one as a kit lens when I bought my 50D. I didn't really need it, so I gave it to my wife.) It's an optically good, well made lens. If its zoom and aperture ranges are what you want and need, I see no reason to avoid it.

2)  I think we may take it as fact that if Henri Cartier-Bresson (whose customary camera was a rangefinder Leica) were alive today, he would not be using the same lens he used during his career.

[ebiggs1]

Amen, Bob from Boston.