Novice question

[avasile]

Hello everyone - I am new to Canon world and I learn as much as possible every day. I have a Canon Rebel EOS XTI with the standard 18-55 mm lens.

I would like to move on to the next step and get a better lens(s) - one for close up, portaits (higher aperture) and one for every day use.  Mostly  I take picture of kids and family - so it will be running and diverse lighting most of the time.

My budget is alo limited in the sense that I cannot afford most of teh 1000.00 versions 🙂

Right now I am looking for someting that will give more the f3.5 and more sharp images.

I know everyone asked around but the camera model that I have was not mentioned ... but I am sure that most of the lens should work.

Thank you.

Adrian

[ScottyP]

Hi Adrian.

You are on a budget and needing a wider aperture and a general purpose focal length.

You are shooting a crop frame Rebel so the "classic portrait range" would be 50mm up to 85mm. There is some wiggle room in that though. A wider lens (lower mm) may give you more general purpose uses in addition to portraits.

Getting a fixed focal length lens (a prime) instead of a zoom would give you a wider aperture and a sharper image and a lower price too.

For a one lens solution I would look at either the Canon 40mm f/2.8 pancake ($150-$200) or at a 50mm lens such as Canon 50mm f/1.4 ($375). The 50 is probably a bit better for the portraits being a little tighter view and less distorting of nose and forehead when close to subject. The 40 would be a bit more versatile on the general purpose stuff.

If you meant you want 2 lenses my answer would change. You could get that 40 plus an 85mm f/1.8 ($375) for very tight portraits (on your body) OR the 40 mm plus a Canon Efs 60mm MACRO which could do the portraits and also let you do giant blowup shots of tiny stuff close up like flowers, bugs, coins, etc. If that holds interest for you.

Just my suggestions. Good luck!

[avasile]

Scott thank you for your reply.

I am looking for 2 lenses indeed - so just to make sure I understood:

• I should get the  Canon 50mm f/1.4 for closeups and portraits 
• And then what about the every day use like landscape, kids running etc? would the 85mm f/1.8 ($375) do it?

Thank you again.

Adrian

[ScottyP · Accepted solution]

Adrian,

Portraits: Anything between 50 and 85 will be good for the portraits if the aperture is f/2.8 or wider. 50 mm would double up as general purpose shooting. 85 mm would double up as a modest telephoto if you shoot the kids running around outside where they are a bit farther away but would be harder to use indoors where you cant stand back 15-20 feet to squeeze 2 people in the shot. 60 mm would be good at portraits but would do double duty as a macro lens too.

Landscape: Landscape is USUALLY done with a wider lens, but not always. For that you might stick with the 18mm end of your kit lens. Landscapes don't move so if you use a tripod you can shoot with a narrow aperture for a wide depth of field in focus (like f/11 or f/16) because you can set crazy-long shutter times, like 1 second or 30 seconds or 1 minute or whatever you need.

General purpose: For the general purpose shots you probably want something wider than for portraits, and you can crop the image a little in post if needed. 40mm would be very good for that.

[Skirball]

I totally agree with Scotty on the 50/1.4.  That'd be the first thing I get.

For the other stuff it's not so easy.  Kids and landscapes are two very different things that require different glass.  You really want a zoom (with length) for kids, no question.  Landscape you want wide.  I'd grab a cheap refurbished 55-250 kit lens from the Canon site for grabbing kids.  Couple that with the 50 and it should give you some new things to play with.  Down the road when you want to upgrade again either get a nice wide for landscape, or a decent general zoom (Sigma makes a 17-70 that covers a nice range).

[avasile]

This is great - thank you all for your feedback.

I will definetively get the 50 version and then will see - I am already looking at my next versionup for  the camera.

Exciting.

[Skirball]

I was going to comment on your first post:

I was really glad to see someone post that they have an older Rebel camera and they were looking to upgrade...  their lenses.  It's hard to not get sucked into upgrading the camera with all the new releases, but you're absolutely doing it right.  Get some new glass, it'll transform your camera into something new.  Coming from the 18-55 kit, you've got all kinds of room to expand.  The 50 will add all new levels of sharpness and speed.  A telephoto will let you track your kids as they're running around.  A wide angle will definitely change how you look at things through the lens.  An upgraded zoom lens can really change things compared to that kit lens.  A 100mm macro will absolutely blow you away with how sharp pictures can be from what you thought was an old camera...  the list goes on.  It's all about the glass.

[koolkat]

Some really good information on lens has been given and here is what I did this last weekend. I've filled plenty of CF cards with my XTI and still enjoy using it but have moved on to a 7D. Shooting some landscapes with the 7D and my Tamron 18x270 I was getting some great landscape shots as it's the widest lens I currently have. As i was set up for landscapes, a mule eared deer came out of nowhere and with the length of the Tamron was able to use that one lens for landscapes then a twist of the lens and I was getting some nice running deer through the pine trees. Since I have a mild selection of lens, it was nice to take care of both situations with one lens. Remember, you can rent lens and see how they fit your style prior to buying and that's been something I've done and for me it's worked just great.

[ebiggs1]

Unfortunately fast lens, zoom and cheap don't ever go in the same sentence!

I am good with the suggestion of the 50 mm f1.4 ( effective focal length is 80 mm).

I would, however, get the 35mm f2 as a walk around lens. It's effective focal length will be 56 mm.

A 50 mm lens is considered "normal". And both of these lens are fast, way better than your f5.6 zoom.

I have three XTi's and to this day one of them rides with me in the pick-up with a 35 mm f2 on it, all the time.

It is a fantastic, go any where, easy to carry and use rig. I just love XTi's.

Forget the 40 idea.

[avasile]

Scott a quick follow up on this.

I just purchased the 50 mm 1/4 lens - looks great and it does great close up shots.

I am a little lost since it doesn't have the notion of "zoom" as I am used with the other lens - the question I have for you please is: can I use thislens for normal pictures? That is can I take shots with a smaller F number let's say 10 - will I be able to takle shots with a good DOF or just close up shots?

Thank you again.

Adrian