I need help choosing a high quality lense

marino420td

marino420td

Premium Member
I currently own a Canon 10d which is a great camera for my skill level. However, I have crappy lenses and want to upgrade. Most of my shooting is of my kids and family. Much of it is done indoors so I'm thinking I need a fast lense. I'm looking for a walk around lense that will be on my camera 90% of the time.

Like the title says, I want a quality lense that will last me a long time so I'm looking at the Canon L series. I have found a Canon 28-70 f2.8L lense but it will be $900 used. I'm not opposed to spending this much, I'm just afraid of spending this much on the wrong lense.

Any suggestions?
 
That's a great lens (I'm assuming that you meant 24-70 f/2.8). I have one and that's what is on my camera 90% of the time. it is, however, very large and heavy. The 24-105 f/4 IS would also make an excellent "walk around" lens. It's not quite as fast as the 24-70 but it's also a lot smaller and is image stabilized.

It is, unfortunately, no cheaper than the 24-70 however. ;)
 
I had the 24-105 F/4L for my 30D for a while. It was a nice lens but I didn't find it wide enough for a real good walk-around lens and I didn't care for the F/4. I ended up with the 17-55 F/2.8 IS and really like it. It's missing the red stripe but I find the optics on par with L series lenses. Many consider that the holy-grail for a crop camera, F/2.8 AND IS which simply rocks. It's about $950 for the lens but I find it worth it.
 
Really, it comes down to what you shoot. As you can see, Blazer and I have very different opinions. I do primarily landscape and outdoor photography. As such I'm rarely below f/8 and almost always on a tripod.

What types of photography do you like to do?
 
I did mean 28-70 as I found a used lense in this range. I think Canon replaced it with the 24-70 and a new one would be an extra $200.

I never use a tripod, most shooting is done indoors. Some outdoor shooting. Mainly just carrying the camera around when the family travels.

Right now I almost always shoot with a Canon EF 28-80 f3.5-5.6 II. This is a really cheap lense I bought on ebay for $130. I hate it and can't seem to get good shots with it at all. I also have a Canon EF 70-210 f3.5-4.5 Ultrasonic that is borrowed indefinitely from a friend. I really like this lense, especially when shooting outdoors. But it is not wide enough for the everyday shooting I like to do.

I forgot to add that I also have a Canon 50mm f1.8 prime lense. This is a great, affordable lense that I use occasionally.
 
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Gotcha, that's a good lens but I never found 28 to be "wide enough" for my style of shooting. You should be able to pick up the 24-70 or 24-105 for around the same price used.

The beauty of the 17-55 F/2.8 IS that blazer mentioned is that it's smaller and lighter than the others mentioned. If you're carting the camera around that's a concern.

Something you might consider is renting to see it it's really what you want. If you can't find a camera store locally that will oblige you you can try places like rentglass.com
 
No local camera stores, unfortunately. Where are good places to buy used lenses? I search fredmiranda.com and ebay. Any others?

Also the 17-55 is an EF-S lense. Will that work on my 10d?
 
Check B&H and Adorama.

The benefit of buying from those two are you can return it if there's a problem. With eBay you're hosed.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. I just found another deal on a Canon EF 28-70 f2.8L with lense caps, hood and hard case for $800 shipped. I bought it.

All of the reviews I have found on this lense are excellent. I think it will be a little heavy but so am I. I can't wait to have a good lense to work with.

I'll let you know what I think when I receive it.
 
Beer I have struggled with new versus used lenses also. I am worried about internal problems with used glass though. It that normally a concern, or no?
 
I only own one "used" lens. It's my 24-70 2.8L. I bought it from B&H so it was returnable if it had problems.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10192891#post10192891 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by marino420td
Also the 17-55 is an EF-S lense. Will that work on my 10d?
Click to expand...

:) Glad you found something but just to follow up on this question - NO it will not. There are supposedly various ways to modify things to get the EF-S mount to work but its both VERY risky and impractical to do so. Even though the 10D is a crop sensor it was built before Canon introduced the EF-S lens mount. Basically the issue comes from the 10D's mirror/mirror box and the fact that EF-S lenses protrude into the camera body some because they're made for the smaller sensors. The 10D's mirror box is physically larger than the crop sensor camera's that were made for the EF-S lenses, so when you combine a bigger mirror with a lens that protrudes into the body things just go to heck in a hand basket ;).
 
I received the lense today and had to play around. This is one of the first pictures I took with it.

mini-Tang.jpg
 
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