Beginner The right first lens for Canon 600d (DSLR first timer)

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Hello all,

I'm looking at getting my first DSLR. I've settled on a Canon 600d, and I need help deciding what lens is right for me. My budget isn't strong (and won't be anytime soon) so I'd like / need this to be a keeper for a good while, so I don't want to just grab the lens kit knowing I'll have to (or desire to) ditch it later. I've done a lot of research and looked at samples and can't decide. I don't have a big budget and was hoping to keep my spending below £300, but can stretch to £350. I can get this camera with the 18-55 lens kit, but I get mixed reviews and shots on flickr are mixed. I'm wondering now if I should just skip the lens kit, buy the body, then buy a lens seperately. The EF 50 mm f/1.8 II Lens seems to have caught my eye the most. I've seen sample images of this on flickr and it looks impressive to me. Though, I don't know how much post-processing has been done and whatnot so I don't know how believable the photos are to my eyes.

The kind of shots I like are landscape, bokeh, low light / night time, street. General stuff outside. Long exposure shots. No portraiture. I like little close up stuff too (like Danbo shots), not necessarily macro-close (though I've read this is achievable relatively cheaply by macro tubes, which I'd definitely like to get into at one point). The only thing that worries me with this lens is, given the cam's cropped sensor, it works out at 80mm, which is considerably more than the 18-55 (about 28.8-88). I'm not sure how much of a problem this could be? But as I say, I've seen some really nice shots up close on the flickr group for the 50mm lens. The fixed focal length doesn't really worry me - I'm happy to move around, where possible, to get my shot (so used to it from a camera phone :) ). At some point I'll pick up the EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II Lens for when I want to get into longer shots anyway. I know there's no one lens suits all answer, but I just really want to keep the lenses (costs) small; I can't be buying USM lenses here and there. I guess I'm a little worried if skipping the lens kit would be wise for what I've mentioned previously.

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.
 
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You seem to have a fear of owning more than one lens? Would recommend the 18-55mm kit lens and 50mm, which is a cracking little lens but in itself has its limitations. The 50mm regularly sells in the classifieds for around £50-60.

I wouldn't recommend buying a DSLR and having the 50mm as your only lens.
 
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If you don't expect to face low light often, buy the kit, it will serve you well.
 
I would like the low light, a lot of my shots would be.

I've been keeping an eye on lots of these cams (with lens kit now) at eBay and it seems almost everyone doesn't have the warranty card (with recently bought purchases). I don't know how trusty DSLRs are second hand, but looking for brand new I can get the Nikon 3200 for about £329 @ currys with 2 year guarentee. What do people have to say about it? It appears to be the Nikon equivalent of the 600d. From a quick google someone commented "higher noise ceiling (better low light)".
 
I've been keeping an eye on lots of these cams (with lens kit now) at eBay and it seems almost everyone doesn't have the warranty card (with recently bought purchases).
Warranty card? What's that? Over the years I've had to send literally dozens of items to Canon and Nikon for repairs under warranty, and I've never once had to produce a warranty card. Proof of purchase, sure. But not a warranty card.

Plus, I'm not even sure that a warranty is transferable if you buy an item second-hand.
 
I can get the Nikon 3200 for about £329.. What do people have to say about it? It appears to be the Nikon equivalent of the 600d.
It's a good camera. But all modern DSLRs are good cameras.

Nikon and Canon try hard not to 'man mark' one another. Cameras which sit in comparable positions in their respective ranges (such as the 600D and D3200) usually have quite different feature sets. So one will do some things better, the other will do other things better. But for a beginner they will all do most things well enough.

One thing to bear in mind is that your first DSLR is unlikely to be your last; and switching brands can be costly; and within each manufacturer's range there is an awful lot of 'shared DNA' in terms of functionality, menu structures, ergonomics etc. If you're not sure which system to buy into, it makes sense to try to get your hands on the csmeras you're considering and try them out. You might find that one is much more intuitive to you than another.
 
So should I just stick with the 600d and just use the kit lens? I'm finding the Nikon lenses are more expensive. People here are telling me what to do but not why.

When I checked the Canon T&Cs about warranty it was saying there is some kind of warranty card in the box and that you need to supply this with the original receipt.

Assuming you're right, should I just look out for a camera in excellent condition with low usage and hope for the best?
 
So should I just stick with the 600d and just use the kit lens?.....................People here are telling me what to do but not why.


That's not what people are suggesting. There isn't 'one' lens that you should 'just' use, the whole point of buying a camera with interchangeable lenses is to change the lens on them as you see fit for the situation.
 
When I checked the Canon T&Cs about warranty it was saying there is some kind of warranty card in the box and that you need to supply this with the original receipt.
I guess the bit of the warranty small print which is bothering you is this:
EWS service free of charge may be obtained only against presentation of this warranty card together with the original invoice/cash ticket issued to the customer by the retailer, and if the warranty card states (a) the purchaser's name, (b) the retailer's name and address, (c) the model name and serial number, if any, of the purchased product and (d) the date of purchase of the product. Canon reserves the right to refuse warranty service if this information is not complete or has been removed or changed after the original purchase of the product by the consumer from the retailer.
The reality is that retailers do not fill out the warranty cards before sending the product to you, so this is unenforceable. Really, don't worry about it.
 
My first DSLR in 2011 was a Canon 1000d, and I found it satisfactory as a beginner, but limited. We were burgled in 2012, and they took all my camera equipment, which, although I was cheesed off, it did work in my favour as I could get all new stuff!
I bought the Canon 600d as the insurance replacement, and I love it. Okay, it's not the 5D or the 1D, but I then I haven't got NEAR the budget for one! Also, photography is my hobby, not my job. I have found it to be a great "beginners" camera, and I know I will have it for a few years to come. Also, I think it's better to get a "basic" DSLR, and spend money on lenses. If you get it, you will find being able to use the swivel live view screen a FABULOUS tool!

The "basic" kit lens is absolutely fine. I also bought a sigma (I think) 70-300mm lens, but I never really use that. I had a Tamaron macro, but when that was stolen, they replaced it with a Canon Macro EF 100mm USM, which was about on a par with what was stolen.

My favourite lens is my little nifty-fifty.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-EF-50...F8&qid=1413293514&sr=8-1&keywords=nifty+fifty
It's a smashing little lens for the price! It's a fixed zoom. Okay, it has it's limitations, it's a bit plasticy, you can't get too close to the subject, and the manual focusing is small and fiddley, but it's fabulous for the price! And the aperture goes to f/1.8! It doesn't have IS, and you can buy better......but you have to pay a couple of hundred more.

I have never used a Nikon Camera, but only because it was Canon vs Nikon, and I went for Canon as I felt you got more for your money. (But I'm not going to get into that debate!)
 
our work camera is a 450D and kit lens - it works fine for everything we want it to do - events, landscapes ,etc it not the best lens in the world ever but for a beginner the 18-55 Is is fine.

to be honest as a begginer theres no point in puttng a lot of cash out on something more expensive like a 17-55 f2.8 until you know what you want to do with it

you can get a 18-55 IS second hand for about 50 quid - if you look after it , if you do want to upgrade after a couple of years you'll get about 50 quid for it , so you won't have lost anything by waiting.
 
It s a nice lens - i regret mine getting nicked - thing is though as an only lens on a crop its a bit narrow at the short end, especially as the op says she likes landscape
 
One of the best all round lenses at a reasonable price would be a used Canon 28-135mm IS USM lens.
But most people would find 28mm too restrictive at the wide end on a camera with an APS-C sensor. That's why most 'kit' lenses start somewhere around 18mm.
 
we heard you the first time stu ;)
 
Before they were stolen my Tamron 17-50 and Nikon D7000 hardly parted.
 
I've also got the canon 600d with the the kit lens, the kit lens makes great pictures but it's obviously not great for zooming, i'm looking for another lens now, if i was you i'd only buy its body and look for another lens, but it really depends on what you want (sorry for my poor english)
 
I've also got the canon 600d with the the kit lens, the kit lens makes great pictures but it's obviously not great for zooming, i'm looking for another lens now, if i was you i'd only buy its body and look for another lens, but it really depends on what you want (sorry for my poor english)

I taker it you mean its not great for long range pictures - its perfectly alright for zooming (as in it being an 18-55 zoom). To be honest the point of the DSLR (and the CSC for that matter) is interchangeable lenses , so you don't want to try and just get one lens that does everything.

If i was going to upgrade a 18-55 , i'd suggest going to the 17-50 f2.8 , but you'd still need a longer lens as well if you want to take long rage shots (sports, wildlife, reportage etc)

The cheap option for that is the canon 50-250 which is probably the best budget mid length zoom ive come across , the more expensive option is the 70-200 F2.8 (obviously there are a bunch of other options beween those two.

If you want a really long lens I suggest the sigma 150-500 OS , but thats overklll for a begginer until you deterimine what it is you want to do
 
I taker it you mean its not great for long range pictures - its perfectly alright for zooming (as in it being an 18-55 zoom). To be honest the point of the DSLR (and the CSC for that matter) is interchangeable lenses , so you don't want to try and just get one lens that does everything.

If i was going to upgrade a 18-55 , i'd suggest going to the 17-50 f2.8 , but you'd still need a longer lens as well if you want to take long rage shots (sports, wildlife, reportage etc)

The cheap option for that is the canon 50-250 which is probably the best budget mid length zoom ive come across , the more expensive option is the 70-200 F2.8 (obviously there are a bunch of other options beween those two.

If you want a really long lens I suggest the sigma 150-500 OS , but thats overklll for a begginer until you deterimine what it is you want to do
Yes, sorry, that's what i ment, english is not my first language so talking about photography is pretty hard for me, your answer has also helped me out so thank you!
 
For a beginner setup you can do a lot worse than the 18-55 kit lens, the 55-250IS kit lens and the 'my first prime' lens the 50mm f1.8.
That will cover a lot of eventualities until you decide whether you enjoy photography enough and which genre of photography you really enjoy, then can consider replacing lenses with higher quality ones.

If you buy a body only camera, with careful buying on the secondhand market you could probably get those three lenses for about £ 225, which gives you a bit of room with your £ 300 budget to buy a bag, or a tripod, or a flash, or some extension tubes (£20 from eBay - the type with focus pins and metal mounts).
 
Body - secondhand, reputable seller, check shutter actuation count.

Lens - kit zoom will give a taste of different focal lengths and you may find that there are certain lengths you favour. On the other hand it'll be less good in low light, will have barrel distortion wide, and possibly flare problems contre-jour. But it'll be cheap. One lens for a crop sensor? 35mm f1.8. Then stop agonising about shopping, or filling a bag up with gizmos, and get taking photographs.
 
I'm a beginner and bought a Canon 1100d with an 18-55mm lens. Think I paid about 350 for it as a kit a year or two ago.
I invested in a Canon 55-250mm IS lens last week and to be honest I have been blown away by the quality compared to the kit lens! And for a little over 90 quid you can't go wrong.
I will buy a nifty fifty in the near future but for now these two lenses will get me started, onto what i can see being a pretty expensive and enjoyable hobby! :)
 
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