Lenses - Reviews And Other Information

[Basti]

as per title. i know very little about the available lenses, brands, quality etc. therefore thought it'd be a good idea to get this going. so what are your favourite, what do you use (and for what kinda pics ), what do you want etc

[siddr20]

If you looking to upgrade that stock kit lens (18-55 IS) for your canon SLR or even a nikon slr, i recommend the sigma 17-70 f2.8 lens.

It costs only 438 brand new (cheaper for nikon i think)

The images from this lens is much sharper and the extra reach over the stock kit is worth upgrading to

[siddr20]

List of lenses and information about it.

It might help others

Lens_Tables.pdf

[ZENNON]

Interested in Canon I take it?

[siddr20]

Interested in Canon I take it?

?

[ZENNON]

Was going to comment on Nikon lenses - being a Nikonian and all - but then I thought Basti has a Canon.....

[siddr20]

I thought the thread was about lens reviews for all sorts of cameras?

[Basti]

yeah all sorts of camera's. i'll get my info from whats relevant to me and any potential nikonians will also get what they need.

what should i be looking for in a good lens for indoor/low light photography?

[Levi_]

A better option than the Sigma 17-70 f/2.8 is the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8, if you're willing to sacrifice the extra reach at the long end, the Tamron is hugely sharper.

If you're looking for a good lens for cheap, buy the Canon 50mm f/1.8, being a prime it's a lot sharper than the kit 18-55 (I mean a lot sharper) and you can pick one up for about $100-$150 new. It's probably one of the best lenses you can get for your money.

The 70-200 L series lens in all flavors is brilliant, if you need a good zoom, buy one of these (just pick the one that fits your budget).

For some really good, detailed reviews have a look at: http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/

[siddr20]

Agreed on the 50mm I picked mine up brand new for 119. Its a lens every photographer should have

For low light, the 50mm is excellent!!

what should i be looking for in a good lens for indoor/low light photography?

Depends, what sort of photograph you want to shoot.

Do you want to shoot indoor sports? Or do you want to shoot events (like dance performances, gigs, etc) etc etc..

It also depends on where you sit. If you are in the front row the 50mm would be perfect (just as an example).. But lets face it how often do you get front row seats. So a nice zoom lens will come in handy. Pic one that has a large aperture)

Also comes down to your budget.

But for low light shots, you would want the aperture to be large (small f-number, eg f1.4-2.8).

Edit: How good is that tamron 17-50 with close up shots (macro)? The sigma 17-70 is sorta like a macro lens (well i guess it is).. Will focus on objects pretty close up!!

Edited September 25, 2008 by siddr20

[ZENNON]

yeah all sorts of camera's. i'll get my info from whats relevant to me and any potential nikonians will also get what they need.

what should i be looking for in a good lens for indoor/low light photography?

well in that case!

*/me takes a deep breath*

yeah for low light small F number is what you want (ie lens can open big and let lots of light in quickly)

good option here for both nikon and cannons is the 50mm f/1.8

for nikon ppl the 18-70 kit lens is awesome - heaps better than the other two (18-55 and 18-135)

i bought a sigma 105mm for macro - haven't used it yet (only got it like 2 days ago) but will let you know how that goes!

other good lens (wide angle) is the sigma 10-20mm - also avaiable with nikon and canon mounts

ps. girl friends sister lent me a tamron 70-300 too but its rather cheap so not expecting much...

(again will update once i have some time (and day light) too play with it)

edit: oops should have read above post better before i replied lol

anyway - one thing i was also going to add is regardless of lens vibration reduction (VR) is good - especially for handheld/lowlight stuff

(think its called IS in Cannon world )

[evade]

Sigma 10-20 for Canon

Great lens and I use it heaps..however I think I should have shelled out for the Canon 10-22.

..paid about 700 for mine..Not sure what they are now.

Canon 50mm 1.8/nifty fifty..

its practically disposable for the cost...worth getting even if you just want to play around with it.

$120-$150

Canon 70-200 2.8 IS ..

I love this lens..its a bloody tank though...if you've never used one before you'll be surprised at how heavy it is haha..great for car stuff..one of the IS modes is good for panning..its sharp..and expensive..look to spend around $2-2.5k

Next lens I want is a canon 17-55 2.8 IS...however since I may go full frame soon and its an EF-S lens..I might look at a 17-40 L instead

decisions..

[Xmetal]

My own personal experiences: Canon lenses

EF 17-40mm F/4L Used this at a wedding back in April on a 5D, great for portraiture and group shooting and awesome value for money but it does tend to distort at the corners slightly at 17mm which can make people look taller (or wider) than they really are so be careful.

EF 50mm F/1.8 I own one, use it fairly frequently and it makes for a good studio portraiture lens as well as a general knock-about lens that you can throw around. Teaches you a lot about DOF and shooting in lower light. Downside is it isn't USM which means it's not as fast as one would think and it's very noisy when focusing.

EF-S 18-55mm Kit lens I think of this lens as a night out at the pub: It all starts out good but once you've had a few drinks you get cocky and it all goes pear-shaped. I still have mine and use it when I want to use my Cokin filter collection or my ND filters - I don't use it for much else. Recommend upgrading to an EF-S 17-85mm USM IS lens or EF 28-70mm F2.8L if you want better quality images.

EF 70-200mm F/2.8L It's big, heavy and it's white which means people will notice you in the street, at events or just in general when you use it and they will also automatically assume you're a pro. I've only used the non-IS version but even still the image quality and focal speed is superb. Throw a 2x converter behind it and you've got 400mm at the far end and F4.0 to play with. I used this for a full day at Wakefield Park without a tripod and believe me my wrists were paying for it the next day.

Zenitar 16mm F/2.8 Fisheye I bought it off eBay for $250 from a bloke in Belarus and being a manual lens it took a while to get used to, in the time i've owned it i've got some amazing photos out of it and it has more than paid for itself on a few occasions where i've used it. It doesn't work the best with APS-C crop DSLRS but there is still enough barrel distortion there for it to be noticed.

[LatinR33]

Hey Guys,

Sorry for bringing back an old thread.

I have a Nikon D90 and have the Kit lens (18-55) and a 50mm F1.8 Prime lens.

Want to buy a nice zoom lens for a reasonable price.

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with the Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 Nikon Mount? It doesnt have image stabilisation like the Nikon brand but is half the price also.

Was also thinking the 18-200mm VR Nikon but its the same price as the lens above and heard it has massive distortion problems from 130mm onwards.

Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks.

[Echo63]

Lenses i have experience with

all used in canon mount on 350d, 40d and 1dmk2n bodys

Canon 18-55mm f4-5.6

Cheap "kit lens" it works but it isnt great

only fits 1.6crop cameras (20d,30d,40d,50d 300d,350d,400d,450d,1000d)

Hard to manually focus

canon 75-300mm f4-5.6 (non USM version)

a good light lens, with a fairly long zoom range

Pros - Cheap Long zoom, pretty good quality for the price

Cons - S L O W Autofocus, slow aperture

Canon 50mm f1.8

Small light cheap prime Practically disposable for the price

Pros - great for low light stuff or those on a budget, very sharp (especially for the price) great as a portrait lens

Cons - Very flimsy construction - easy to break, Autofocus accuracy isnt too good in low light, choppy Bokeh, Noisy AF

Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6

good sharp wide angle

Pros - will fit all canon bodys (including film cameras) focuses fast and accurately

Cons - vignettes at the wide end on full frame and 1.3 crop bodys (all 1d and 5d models, and film camera bodys) has a very distinctive look that some may not like

Sigma 24-70mm f2.8

good cheap f2.8 "walkaround lens"

Pros - well built, fast aperture, 1/3rd the price of the Canon L equivalent

Cons - expensive 86mm filter size, heavy, irritating method of switching between manual and auto focus, Sounds like a swarm of bees when autofocusing

Sigma 70-200mm f2.8

practically lives on my 1dmk2n

Pros - 1/2 the price of the canon L series equivalent, built solidly, focuses fast

Cons - isnt the cool white colour of the canon equvalent

Canon 300mm f2.8 L IS

The lens to own for motorsport

Pros - Lightning quick autofocus, very sharp, Image stabilization works very well, can preset a focus distance and return to it quickly by turning a ring, takes a teleconverter very well, hand holdable for short periods of time, Very nice Creamy Bokeh

Cons - Very expensive (7-10k), heavy (4kg), can damage lens mounts/mirror boxes if you pick it up by the camera body instead of the lens.

Canon 400mm f2.8L IS

As above - just longer and heavier

dont even think about trying to hand hold this one - 7ish kilos, and 10-15grand

need a monopod or tripod, and some experience in using long lenses/heavy lenses, but if you have the technique the image quality is brilliant

Edited December 9, 2008 by Echo63