Upgrade from Standard Canon 18-55mm Lens *Advice*

[digitaldanuk]

Hi all, I am soon to depart on travels which will give me a lot of potential for some stunning landscapes and as such I am thinking of upgrading my standard Canon 18-55mm Lens that came with the Kit with my 400D.

I was on the verge of getting the Canon 17-85 IS USM until I read comments regarding its image quality. Obviously what I am looking for is a great landscape picture with great image quality.

Now i am a bit of a noobie when it comes to photography and I am not sure what the alternatives to the 17-85 would be so I would really appreciate your comments.

Cheers,
Dan

[Dave Stone]

I have the Canon 17-85 IS USM and it is pin sharp, great lens.

[swag72]

How about an EF-S 17-55 IS. Awesome lens. If that's too pricey Tamron do a similar lens, 17-50mm I think, that gets quite good press.

[marky_h]

Welcome to TP, Dan :thumbs: - do you have a budget in mind? Speaking from personal experience, the 17-85mm IS is quite good, image quality-wise, but f/4 as the maximum aperture is not ideal, and it worsens to f/5.6 at the long end.

I can highly recommend the Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC - very sharp, and good value for money at around £196 or so at Jessops currently. Some will recommend Sigma's 24-70mm f/2.8 EX, but I personally find 24mm too long as the minimum focal length on a crop body.

Tamron's 17-50mm f/2.8 is pretty highly thought of too.

If you have more to spend (£600 or so), look at the Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 IS - a stunning lens :).

[digitaldanuk]

but f/4 as the maximum aperture is not ideal, and it worsens to f/5.6 at the long end.

Wow guys thanks for such the fast response! Yeah this was another issue I didn't like about the 17-85 that put me off... Plus I heard issues with image quality at 17 which to be honest is likely to be my most common use when it comes to taking pics of the landscapes in Patagonia! :D

Im gonna check out those ones you all suggested now.. Meantime - keep the advice coming - its great - Have already used previous threads to help with insuring it all :D

Cheers,

Dan

[digitaldanuk]

Had a look at those and they look good. A few things though and that is I dont want the lens to be much longer than 10cm else ill have issues fitting it into my bag.... also, how do you get a 77mm filter size lens onto a 58mm filter size body (my 400D) sorry if this is a noob question :\

Cheers guys

[TheWombat]

Welcome to TP, Dan :thumbs: - do you have a budget in mind? Speaking from personal experience, the 17-85mm IS is quite good, image quality-wise, but f/4 as the maximum aperture is not ideal, and it worsens to f/5.6 at the long end.

I can highly recommend the Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC - very sharp, and good value for money at around £196 or so at Jessops currently. Some will recommend Sigma's 24-70mm f/2.8 EX, but I personally find 24mm too long as the minimum focal length on a crop body.

Tamron's 17-50mm f/2.8 is pretty highly thought of too.

If you have more to spend (£600 or so), look at the Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 IS - a stunning lens :).

A great summation Marky--absolutely spot on.I rationalised a lot of my gear a while back and the one I miss (for travel) is the Sigma 17-70mm.Get a good copy and it is tough to beat for a trip.If you dont need the extra reach that Tammy is a great value alternate to the Canon.
Pete.

[swag72]

Had a look at those and they look good. A few things though and that is I dont want the lens to be much longer than 10cm else ill have issues fitting it into my bag.... also, how do you get a 77mm filter size lens onto a 58mm filter size body (my 400D) sorry if this is a noob question :\

Cheers guys

It's the glass end that is 77mm not the camera end:thumbs: The camera ends are all the same size.

[digitaldanuk]

The camera ends are all the same size.

I knew it was gonna be a noob question but wantned to make sure :P

So the tamron and the Sigma would all nicely slot onto my 400D? -- ooh but what about my ND and Circ Polarising 58mm filters? Would i have to get more? :\

I am erring away from the Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 IS A) cause tis a bit expensive and B) tis a bit long and i dont think itll fit in my case!!

So i guess it's a toss up beteen the tamron 17-50:
http://www.tamron.com/lenses/prod/1750_diII_a016.asp

And the sigma 17-70:
http://www.sigma-imaging-uk.com/lenses/dclenses/17-70mm.htm

TheWombat- what do you mean by "dont need the extra reach"?

Oh, and one last question:
Would you say that the image quality between the above is definitely a lot better than my standard canon 18-55? Just want to be sure that I am justifying the expense ;)


Cheers,

Dan

[chilliz]

TheWombat- what do you mean by "dont need the extra reach"?


Dan

The Tamron is 50 at the top end, the Sigma is 70 and the Canon is 85.

I can also vouch for the Sigma 17 - 70, a nice F2.8 at the short end too :thumbs:

[RichardtheSane]

Oh, and one last question:
Would you say that the image quality between the above is definitely a lot better than my standard canon 18-55? Just want to be sure that I am justifying the expense ;)


Yes to both.
If I were buying everything tells me to go for the Tamron - very sharp, well built. I have considered both lenses but the fact the focus ring rotates when the camer focuses bothers me a bit. Hence why I am with the 17-85 IS that came in my 40D kit.

[marky_h]

Either the Sigma or the Tamron will be a lot sharper than the 18-55mm kit lens, with better colour reproduction too. The Tamron is probably marginally sharper, but with the cheap price at Jessops, I'd plump for the Siggy at the moment - oh, and check the classifieds here too, as used ones crop up fairly often :). You will need new filters though :( - the Sigma is a 72mm thread, and the Tamron 67mm, I think.

[awhyu]

Hi Dan!
I hope you enjoy your new adventure into the world of photography! Hope you get some great landscape shots too!

I am not going to make a suggestions on lens, but more like perhaps make a suggestion on how to save yourself some money!


You said you are new to the world of photography, and like you I started with the canon 18-55mm lens (kit lens). It is a good training lens I think!

Taking the advice of a friend who is a semi-pro he told me to use the kit lens until I discovered the limitations of the lens as well as knowing what type of lens(es) I need as I grew and developed my interests in the world of photography.


Yes, good lenses will always help but in my opinion to master composition and elements of design is even more important for a novice because no matter how sharp the lens is, the lens can only take what we point the camera at!

I hope this provides another point of view!

Cheers,

Andy

[RichardtheSane]

Another point worth mentioning - you'll be at F8 or more for most landscape work, so sharpness becomes less of an issue as the difference between lenses reduces drastically.

[digitaldanuk]

Hi everyone - some fantastic points very well made. Thanks for all your great advice.

Best wishes and happy new year!
From dan

[DigitalRelish]

Another point worth mentioning - you'll be at F8 or more for most landscape work, so sharpness becomes less of an issue as the difference between lenses reduces drastically.

Just to add to that - as you're travelling, I don't know if you're taking a tripod or any other means of camera support, but using an f/8 aperture might require shutter speeds where hand-held shots are more at risk of camera shake.

Will you be taking a tripod with you?

[digitaldanuk]

Will you be taking a tripod with you?

I have a gorillapod which I will be taking but as far as a tripod is concerned I am not sure yet as it is quite cumbersome and I need to be careful as to the weight of what I take due to baggage and space limits.

[TheWombat]

[QUOTE=digitaldanuk;1169206]I knew it was gonna be a noob question but wantned to make sure :P

So the tamron and the Sigma would all nicely slot onto my 400D? -- ooh but what about my ND and Circ Polarising 58mm filters? Would i have to get more? :\

I am erring away from the Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 IS A) cause tis a bit expensive and B) tis a bit long and i dont think itll fit in my case!!

So i guess it's a toss up beteen the tamron 17-50:
http://www.tamron.com/lenses/prod/1750_diII_a016.asp

And the sigma 17-70:
http://www.sigma-imaging-uk.com/lenses/dclenses/17-70mm.htm


Yes I know 20mm is not much--but travelling light it can make a difference.It was my travel lens of choice on my old 400D.With a bit more kit in my bag I prefer a constant f/2.8.The best is undoubtedly the Canon--but it is expensive,the lens hood(a necessity) is extra,its bigger and can be a bit of a dust hoover.The Tamron and Sigma alternatives are now very highly respected and IMHO all are much better than the kit lens.The choice is yours----They are all good.
Pete.

[InkZ]

+1 for Sigma 17-70.

The only downside with it is no IS and it's only 2.8 at the wide end, but then what more do you want for a £200 lens!

I bought one for my walkabout and love it :)

[digitaldanuk]

Thanks guys for all the advice and input. I think, after all your cmoments, that, I may well leave it. Primarily because I have just receieved some nice filters 58mm for christmas and buying a new lens would deem them pointless and I dont think I am that good a photographer yet to warrant the extra expense of new filters and plus if most of my shots are wide-end then like you say the difference is going to be less noticeable.

But thanks for all your advice guys, even though I have decided to stick with what I have got, it is cause of your input and you have saved me spending a lot of money and ending up disappointed!

:D

[Craikeybaby]

I can't believe that no one has mentioned the 17-40f4L, it is a great landscape lens!

[MJ Stebbings]

Another vote for the Sigma 17-70 here, love the lens.
I think as far as travels go, you would be better with the 17-70 as the extra reach against the Tamron 17-50 will mean that you may get more shots that you want. Unless your packing a 55-200 then id go for the 17-70 without a doubt

[digitaldanuk]

Thanks guys,

I have one last question. I am still looking out for lenses... but can't seem to find any decent ones that actually have a 58mm filter size....

Does anyone know of any decent wide-angle zooms with 58mm filter size that is better than the standard 18-55 that comes with the 400D kit? All the ones recommended so far seem to be 60 and above mm filter size.

[RichardtheSane]

I think the only option you have is the 18-55mm IS which is the next gen kit lens.

[Craikeybaby]

Why do you want to keep the 58mm filter size? Generally the better lenses need bigger filters as they let more light in...

[digitaldanuk]

Cause my girlfriend spent a lot of money this christmas on me on getting me some nice 58mm filters for our holiday! :D