This is a rather unusual post for this blog, which normally focuses on programming. However, amongst my readers there are plenty of photo hobbyists so this post may come in handy to a few of you. I’ve also added a ‘Photography’ category for possible future posts.
My original purchase
When I purchased my Canon EOS 30D
For $80 I got a very sharp optic, which is able to reproduce beautiful colors and contrasts, and it’s a very “fast” lens given the extremely large maximum aperture. Sure, it doesn’t focus that quickly, especially in low light situations (it not USM). It’s also made out of inexpensive plastic (unlike the previous version which was much more robust). But for what it costs, there is really no reason not to own it. The f/1.4 version
Time to upgrade my lens arsenal
I’m quite happy with my initial purchase that I made back in 2006. The 30D is a very nice camera and that 50mm (aka “nifty fifty”) gets the job done (I’ve a few nice pictures up on my flickr account that were taken with it). Considering the 1.6 crop factor introduced by the APS sized Canon sensor on cameras like my 30D, the 50mm is equivalent to 80mm on a 35mm film camera or on a full frame digital camera. 80mm is typically a focal length well suited for portraits, and that’s an area of photography that interests me a lot.
Despite the darn good deal, this inexpensive lens is still a prime that doesn’t offer too much flexibility. Sure I can “zoom with my feet” but this is not always possible and there is a wide range of focal lengths that become challenging to emulate with this single lens alone, simply by getting closer or backing down a bit.
With my old equipment from the film days not being compatible with my digital camera, and a need to gain some flexibility for a range of photographic subjects, from landscapes to fashion and people photography, or why not, even some product shots, I decided to add a few lenses to my arsenal. The challenge of course was to find great lenses without breaking the bank.
I decided to split the useful (to me) range of focal lengths amongst three lenses:
- 1 Super Wide-Angle
- 1 Mid-range zoom
- 1 Telephoto zoom
With each lens, I was looking for the following characteristics:
- Excellent image quality
- Fixed maximum aperture (at least f/4) across the zoom range
- Well built
- Stellar reviews
- Less than $600
After careful consideration and having weighed all the possibilities, I came up with a combo that I believe is hard to beat for what I paid. As usual in fact, I put my money where my mouth is, and I’ve already ordered the three lenses and I should received them soon.
Super-wide angle
The choice here was not so easy. There are a few valid options for affordable wide angle lenses. Canon, Sigma, Tamron and Tokina all make very good super wide angles targeted towards crop digital bodies. Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
Mid-range zoom
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
Telephoto zoom
In the telphoto zoom arena, Canon produces the finest lenses available on the market. Most of them are way out of my prefixed budget, but the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM
Conclusion
To recap, in matter of days my lens collection will be composed of:
- Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens
- Tokina AF 12-24mm f/4 AT-X 124AF Pro DX
- Tamron AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical (IF)
- Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM
So there you have it, three top notch lenses (and a bargain one) that won’t break the bank and that will give you lots of versatility as well. I really look forward to receiving them and I hope that I made your own decision process a little bit easier.
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I have the Nifty Fifty (hard to think of a reason why any Canon SLR owner shouldn’t).
Prices here in the UK are somewhat higher than those you quote (although we seem to have lost the $1 = £1 equation for the moment). So the Tokina 12-24 is close to $800. Ugh.
At the long end, I felt I needed something longer than the 70-200 (about $840 here), so I gave up on the red band (sigh) and went for the 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS. The difference in price got me a tripod.
Very nice, thanks. I anticipate getting a new tele and wide angle lens set when the cathedral I live across the street from finishes their ongoing restoration, and I’ll definitely start by looking at these.
Antonio, what about customs fees? I bought both a used and a new lens last year from US and paid customs tax and fees on both of them. Are you going to buy them in person in US or will ship it to Canada?
Anyway, great price on the 70-200. I’m considering a move from Sony to Canon mostly because of lens prices… Sony/Minolta lenses are just too expensive.
@Vitor: Photographic goods imported from the US are duty free in Canada. You won’t pay sale taxes in the US but Canadian customs will charge you local taxes, which is 14% in Ontario, through your courier.
For new merchandise, at this stage, buying online from the States or buying in person from Canada causes you to incur the same extra cost (besides shipping). Considering that lenses are much cheaper in the US, you’ve the potential to save a lot.
Used equipment from the States is no longer a huge saving though, because the taxes still apply (while buying a second-hand item from another person in Canada would be free from any taxes).
Just be careful not to select any ground shipping methods because couriers will apply a substantial brokerage fee (which can be significantly high).
Amazon is my favorite shop for many reasons, amongst those their “no questions asked” return policy, but they won’t ship electronics and photo-video goods to Canada. If I were in the US I’d probably buy from them. However BHPhotoVideo ships to Canada and they have a wider range of items. I selected UPS Worldwide Saver, which doesn’t cost much at all. I placed my order yesterday at around 2 PM. The package is out for delivery this morning.
Nice article, and I agree with your choices. I have the 50mm f1.8, and the Tokina 12-24mm f4. I chose the Tamron 17-50 f2.8 instead of their 28-75 for my midrange…..the 70-200 f4 IS is hopefully on my horizon. Another strong contender should be the 85mm f1.8 – a great lens at a great price. At one point I thought I would only buy Canon – but then I realized that there are a lot of good quality lenses made by other manufacturers, at more reasonable prices.
I second the comment that the lack of a 17-55 or 17-85mm zoom is an omission. I tried using a 28-70 on a 1.6x crop and it was pretty much no fun for walk around use.
I’d make an addendum that includes either the kit 18-55, the $380 17-85 IS lens, or one of the third party 17-50mm f/2.8 lenses.
The 70-300 Canon IS lens might be nice alternative for some to the 70-200mm zoom. I know someone who’s entire kit is a 17-85mm, a 50mm f/1.8, and the 70-300mm IS lens.
Looks good! Should help people out.
These would be my exact choices too. I’ve actually used the Tamron 28-75mm as the standard lense on my 1.6x crop camera for years and relatively rarely need a wider lens, so it depends on your style of photography I guess.
I recently bought the Sigma 12-24mm instead of the Tokina and that’s a very nice lens too. It’s a fair bit larger than the Tokina because it is full-frame, with similar build quality and the extra bonus of HSM focussing.
I settled for the Sigma firstly because I got my hands on a near-new second hand lens at a very nice price, secondly because, like the Tamron, I could still use it with a full-frame camera if I ever buy one and thirdly because my girlfriend can also use it on her 35mm film SLR for mind-bogglingly wide 12mm shots 🙂
Good choices Antonio. I have the Tokina 12-24 (use it with my D200) and are very happy with it. I have to say though that I don’t use it that much, because my default zoom goes down to 18mm and the extra 6mm are not always worth the effort to bring along the Tokina and to change lenses…
Are you learning Lua now?
Hi Mariano,
I agree with you, if you already have a walkaround lens that reaches 18mm on the wider end, you won’t be using the Tokina too much. That’s the reason why I bought the Tamron 28-75 rather than the newer 17-50 model.
Regarding Lua, I’ve asked as a sort of general survey to see if we should consider it, but I’ve simply no time to learn it between work and private life. I’m currently trying to learn Objective-C (but I have so little time) and I feel that if I had to learn a new language, I’d opt for something different from Ruby/Python.
Hi Antonio,
that makes sense to me. I learn Lua, because I want to write a Flickr-Plugin for Adobe Lightroom and LR is scripted in Lua. In Version 2 they will provide a Lua API, so that is the reason I picked up Lua.
Anyway, Lua is nice and has some interesting concepts, but as I am Ruby programmer too it is hard to find another language that really blows your brain. So I see your reasoning behind chosing Objective-C. Or to me more specific it is a means to an end that is called Cocoa, right?
AF-S DX VR 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6G lens|
I would acquire the EF 70-200mm f/4L if i could use it with my current Tamron 1.4X TC even if I lost AF. Is that a viable solution? I don’t want to pay above $150 for a TC. I also find 200m too short for small and bigger birds like hawks and eagles. Would it make it a f/8 lens f/5.6???