Hi,

I recently came into some unexpected money ...:D

I plan use it to buy something really nice for me ... on this occasion I am going to blow €1000 on lenses to take me up a step up from my existing kit.

I currently own -

A new Canon EOS 20d DSLR & old Canon EOS 500

An assortment of lenses including -


Sigma 18-125mm f3.5-5.6 DC (a very average performer I got with 20D pacakge)
Canon EF 75-300mm f4-5.6 III USM (gets terrible reviews but I love mine even with its flaws)
SIGMA 28-70mm F2.8-4 (my old SLR lenss ... )
Tamron 80-210mm F4.5-5.6


OK ... I know... a pretty poor line up of lenses ... hence my decision to do somthing with about this ... I tend to do lots of travel, wildlife and scenery with a little sports and portraits for friends and family ...I want something that will give me razor sharpness and reasonable low light performance ...

My initial choice of walk around lens the Sigma 18-125mm DC was a bad one ... I have had some pleasing results with it, but it is too soft and hunts way too much for my liking ... so perhaps I need to bite the bullet a get a good quality replacement for the walk around. Will proably stick it out with the longer lens (Canon 75-300mm) for wildlife for now ... though this is probably not the best ..

So the question / challenge I have is how to spend my windfall on lenses to get the most bang for buck ???!!!

A lesson I learnt while on a recent trip to Egypt makes my first choice obvious - a fast prime for indoor work where flash is not allowed/desirable. I will probably go for Canon 50mm f1.8 which is quite cheap. Given the 1.6 conversion factor (50mm = 85mm on 20d) I could use this for portraits and indoor work ... leaving me with approx €900 to spend.

I think it is about planning the end game ... the lens I buy now will form part of a long term line up replacing everything I currently use ... so with that in mind, long term I will need (bearing in my the 1.6 conversion factor of the 20D) -


a Fast prime for indoor / low light / dept of field / portrait work 50mm = 80mm
a great walk around / general purpose lens in the 20-100mm (32-160mm) range
a good wide angle zoom at the 10-24mm (16-38mm) end for scenery and dramatic stuff
a Longer fast-ish (or at least image stabilised) zoom in the 70-300mm (110-480mm) range for wildlife, sports, people photography
a 1.4 teleconverter compatible with a much of above as possible


This represents the start of a transition to serious amateur photography for me ... enough dabbling!!

currently looking at -

Canon 17-85mm IS (leaving some spare change @ €449)
Canon 24-105mm IS f4.0L (second hand or blowing the €1000 budget)
Canon 24-70 f2.8L (ditto)

Advice based on personal experience is welcome from anyone ... what is a good basic lens line up for the Canon EOS 20D and subsequent (better) camera bodies ??

... looking through other web pages for inspiration has me driven potty !! :confused:



Thanks


Simon

Welcome to the Forums Simon. I think the 50mm f/1.8 is a great place to start.

Have you looked at the EF 17-40mm f/4L USM? I have never used it, but it's one of the many lenses on my "wish list". I think it would make a pretty good walk around lens. The range might be a little shorter than you want (27-64mm on the 20D) but worth a look. Sells for about $680 US.

I also think that they 24-70mm f/2.8L USM would be a great walk around lens and give you a nice range for portraits. If I was working on a $1000 budget, I would save up an extra hundred or so and go with this one. I have never used it, but it too is on my wish list. Be sure to check out the review section on this site for some good info on these lenses.

As I think that 1000 euros is about 1200 USD, this is what I would recommend:
The Canon 17-40 f/4.0L and a Sigma 10-20 f/4-5.6. This is what I use on my 20D, but that is not my only reason for recommending them.

Both lenses are very sharp, have well controlled flare aspects, and fast silent focusing. My "Prague Trip" link on the site listed below contains a bunch of pics all done with the 10-20 if you care to look. (caveat: broadband internet recommended)

The 17-40 is 700 USD and the 10-20 is 500 USD. A perfect fit for your budget.

You may notice that neither of these lenses are all that fast. In my opinion, the 20D is noise free enough to ISO 800 as to reduce the requirement for absolutely fast lenses (none of the interior shots in the gallery mentioned above used flash. Take a look at the EXIF data below each pic.) If you want primes for the sharpness, though, that is a different story.

They also both have 77mm filter threads. So you don't have to buy step-up rings or sets of filters for each different sized lens you will use.

Another good thing about the 17-40 is it is a regular EF mount not EF-S. Thus I can use it on my Elan 7 as well.

The only drawback with this situation is the gap from 40mm to 75mm you will have. I have not yet found this to be much of an issue, but depending on your habits, your results may vary.

Hope this helps.

My "Prague Trip" link on the site listed below contains a bunch of pics all done with the 10-20 if you care to look.


Thanks for all the responses thus far.

I had a look at your pics from Prague ... some nice results ... you have definitely whet my appetite for getting a proper wide angle.

I spoke to a pro photographer friend and he too says "get yourself a wide angle" for the outdoor landscapes ...

Truth be told ... this is good advice ... but it has upset my plan which was to add a few bob to my budget and go for the 24-105mm F4L ... probably not a bad thing ... I want to make the right decision here so no point in rushing ...

My limited experience with Sigma has hitherto been not so good ... but the 10-20mm lens does get some good reviews ...Why did you pick it over the Canon equivalent ?

Thanks

Simon

My limited experience with Sigma has hitherto been not so good ... but the 10-20mm lens does get some good reviews ...Why did you pick it over the Canon equivalent ?


Mainly price. The Canon is 300 USD more expensive and has IMO probably not that much better optically. And the Sigma is not an EF-S lens mount, so I can mount it on my film camera and get about 14mm without vignetting at the corners.