Canon Lense Suggestion
- Thread starter Gondore
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TitusvileSurfer
New member
The Canon 100mm *IS* the lens for your tank. For overall general use I would go with something else...but what I would go with is a lot more expensive than the 100mm. Just stick with the 18-55 training wheel lens until you can buy a real one.
TitusvileSurfer
New member
It's an okay overall starter lens for someone who isn't too serious...which is why it comes cheap with the cheaper cameras. It's good enough to start with but bad enough to make you want to replace it once you figure out first hand why it isn't so great. This is why it is referred to as the training wheel lens. You can practice your settings and take some decent pictures but once you really get into photography, it often finds a permanent home on the shelf. Of course many buy a Rebel for cool factor and never get into photography. For them the 18-55 is the only lens they ever own and they are perfectly content with that. A nice point and shoot would have probably been a better option from a photography standpoint...but ignorance is bliss. The 17-55 IS (ef-s), 24-105, 24-70, or 17-40 would be great starter lenses overall depending on the camera.
DSLR photography is pretty expensive. Going to cheap rout is just that...you usually get cheap equipment.
DSLR photography is pretty expensive. Going to cheap rout is just that...you usually get cheap equipment.
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ludnix
New member
I think the 18-55mm lens' flaws are what makes it a good starter lens, especially as cheap as it is (< $100). Once you've played with it enough to discover it's drawbacks hopefully enough time will have passed for you make a more serious decision about your lenses or if you're if you're just taking casual enough photos for the 18-55 to get you by.
TitusvileSurfer
New member
Inclined to agree with ludnix, I could recommend lenses for your to buy all day. Do you really need those lenses? That is up to you. It's kind of like recommending lights for your reef tank. I can say get 250w metal halides with an icecap ballast (24-70 f/2.8), but if all you plan to keep are mushrooms, you can get by with a FAR less expensive setup (18-55).
DSLR photography is all about specializing. You need to know exactly what you are taking pictures of and buy equipment specifically designed to take those kinds of pictures. Point and shoot cameras are "jack of all trades, masters of none" cameras. DSLRs are "absolute masters of a select few trades" cameras. Of course if you spend $1,000,000 they could be "absolute masters of all trades" lol.
The point is you bought a camera designed to specialize, and you need to know exactly what you want to specialize the camera to shoot before you go buying stuff.
Croals? 100mm f/2.8 macro or 180mm f/3.5 macro
Fish? 24-70 f/2.8, 17-55 f/2.8 IS, 50mm f/1.4, or whatever
Wildlife? 70-200, 500mm, or whatever...
Portraits? 135mm f/2, 85mm f/1.2...
Sports? 70-200 f/2.8, 400mm f/2.8...
Each category (and sub category) requires certain equipment. Unless you are a millionaire you aren't going to buy ALL of the equipment for every job, so you need to figure out exactly what you are going to buy before you buy anything.
DSLR photography is all about specializing. You need to know exactly what you are taking pictures of and buy equipment specifically designed to take those kinds of pictures. Point and shoot cameras are "jack of all trades, masters of none" cameras. DSLRs are "absolute masters of a select few trades" cameras. Of course if you spend $1,000,000 they could be "absolute masters of all trades" lol.
The point is you bought a camera designed to specialize, and you need to know exactly what you want to specialize the camera to shoot before you go buying stuff.
Croals? 100mm f/2.8 macro or 180mm f/3.5 macro
Fish? 24-70 f/2.8, 17-55 f/2.8 IS, 50mm f/1.4, or whatever
Wildlife? 70-200, 500mm, or whatever...
Portraits? 135mm f/2, 85mm f/1.2...
Sports? 70-200 f/2.8, 400mm f/2.8...
Each category (and sub category) requires certain equipment. Unless you are a millionaire you aren't going to buy ALL of the equipment for every job, so you need to figure out exactly what you are going to buy before you buy anything.
Yeah, I guess I should be a bit more specific. I am thinking I will go with the 100mm for the tank. I need something for shipping pictures of my baby girl and most likely something for taking pictures on a vacation for example. My plan right now is to just purchase the Canon XSi body and the Canon 100mm macro lense and build from there.
jedininja
New member
Well if you are getting the 100mm macro now and don;t want to spend too much more money, I would go with the 50mm 1.8. It goes for less than $100, very nice and sharp, and is a good medium length lens. The only thing is that its not a zoom so you have to do some walking to get the shot you want.
fishkeeper2009
In Memoriam
I think canon lenses are highly overrated, to an experts eye, they may posses some unique qualities, but to a casual photographer, i cannot be more satisfied with a a sigma or quantaray, both are much cheaper and the quality is superb.
You also couldn't be more wrong. The lens has 1000x more to do with the resulting picture than the camera body. Why pay $500-$8000 for a camera body and force it to look through a crap lens?
Sigma makes some decent glass. Quantaray, however, doesn't make any. They aren't a manufacturer. It's a "brand" that Ritz stamps on lenses from a variety of lowest bidder sources. You get what you pay for.
TitusvileSurfer
New member
I agree that the above statement is rather ridiculous. It may make you happy, and that is good, but there IS a difference and a real lens IS worth it to most people who want more than snapshots.
ocreefer14
New member
BEST overall lens for everyday use. 17-55mm f 2.8. expensive, but WELL worth it!
TitusvileSurfer
New member
Of course you can only use it with the cheap cameras. I want a 5D (and I KNOW I will own one, along with a 1D) so the 24-70 is my best overall lens. They are both EXCELLENT.
dendronepthya
Premium Member
Those two lenses are very different. The 18-55 is considered a "walk-around" zoom that would spend a lot of time on your camera. The 100mm macro is going to be a short telephoto or a dedicated macro lens tied to a tripod. There is little to no overlap in application.
Excellent. That is basically what I thought but I wanted to confirm it with someone that actually knows what they are talking about. 
Alright, so my plan is to purchase the Canon XSi with the kit lense (18-55) and to also pickup the Canon 100mm macro lense. Any suggestions on a good bang for the buck tripod?
Alright, so my plan is to purchase the Canon XSi with the kit lense (18-55) and to also pickup the Canon 100mm macro lense. Any suggestions on a good bang for the buck tripod?
Roy G. Biv
Premium Member
17-55 2.8 (Most suggested "Best" lens for the XSi) - $900 - $1000
50 1.8 - $90 (Worth getting for that price)
18-55 kit lens (IS version) - $170
100 macro - $560 (A must for your tank)
Tamron 18-270 - $600
I use the Tamron most often. Its not the sharpest lens as compared to more expensive lenses. In my opinion it is the most versitile. Its basically the kit lens on steroids.
50 1.8 - $90 (Worth getting for that price)
18-55 kit lens (IS version) - $170
100 macro - $560 (A must for your tank)
Tamron 18-270 - $600
I use the Tamron most often. Its not the sharpest lens as compared to more expensive lenses. In my opinion it is the most versitile. Its basically the kit lens on steroids.
fishkeeper2009
In Memoriam
No that wasn't what I was trying to say, the lens is what matters, i'm just comparing lenses from different manufacturers, such as sigma to a famous canon lenses, i'm sure there's plenty of evidence that suggests canon lenses are better, but to my untrained eye, and if shopping on a budget the difference is not large enough to spend extra few hundred dollars. I can take just as good of a macro shot using a cheap $50 quantaray lens, of course i'm not a pro, so i'm sure i wouldn't be using either lens to its full potential but i wouldn't call it a snapshot either. To the op, good luck with whatever you choose to buy.
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