beginner needs help

shaylou

shaylou

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Shayne
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I decided to go with the Canon T3i and now I'm trying to figure out what lens I should get. The standard kit mostly comes with the 18-55mm but that lens is not so great from what I'm reading. (Image quality). I found myself asking what's the point of buying a good camera and slacking on one of the most important parts. I thought a more powerful zoom range might be nice so I priced a 18-135mm for 1000 bucks.(kit) That a little over my price range but ok. Now the reviews I see for that lens says the image quality is poor. The lens that stands out is the 15-85. Problem is the cost. I do not want to buy a lens that I will have to replace. I want to add to a lens collection as I go forward. With that in mind can anyone advise me on a general purpose starter lens around 500 that I wont want to replace later. Is there such a thing? Thanks for your help.
 
Welcome to TP :wave:

The 18-55mm is not a bad lens, in all honestly it's not the best lens in the world but then your not paying best money prices for the lens and it will be a fine lens for you moving forwards...

I own the 17-85 which is the prerunner to the 15-85 and it's a good lens but has a couple of issues, if your money can stretch to it a good upgrade you the 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 is the constant f/2.8 person but there is marked price increase for that lens

Try and avoid lens with massive focal ranges between the sort and long ends because your going to have to spend a lot of money to get a lens like this that has a high quality across the focal range :shrug:

Matt
MWHCVT
 
MWHCVT said:
Welcome to TP :wave:

The 18-55mm is not a bad lens, in all honestly it's not the best lens in the world but then your not paying best money prices for the lens and it will be a fine lens for you moving forwards...

I own the 17-85 which is the prerunner to the 15-85 and it's a good lens but has a couple of issues, if your money can stretch to it a good upgrade you the 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 is the constant f/2.8 person but there is marked price increase for that lens

Try and avoid lens with massive focal ranges between the sort and long ends because your going to have to spend a lot of money to get a lens like this that has a high quality across the focal range :shrug:

Matt
MWHCVT
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Thank you get the advise. I do see what you are talking about with the long focal range vs quality vs price. My main goal is to not buy something I will have to replace later. I have no problem adding to a collection of lenses over time but it seems like a waist to buy a not so good lens just to replace it later. Now if I could find someone to loan me about 500 bucks I would be good. Lol.
 
shaylou said:
Thank you get the advise. I do see what you are talking about with the long focal range vs quality vs price. My main goal is to not buy something I will have to replace later. I have no problem adding to a collection of lenses over time but it seems like a waist to buy a not so good lens just to replace it later. Now if I could find someone to loan me about 500 bucks I would be good. Lol.
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Are we talking bucks as in you are in the USA or bucks as in slang? Cos I bet lenses are cheaper over there, so it might sway the advice a little.
 
TCR4x4 said:
Are we talking bucks as in you are in the USA or bucks as in slang? Cos I bet lenses are cheaper over there, so it might sway the advice a little.
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I think the OP is in USA as he/she refers to a T3i which is a camera sold only on the American market. It's the EOS 600D over here.
 
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Depends if they bought grey market off Ebay too. Some sellers sell the T3i over here. One would presume they are in the US, but would help to know for sure.
 
TCR4x4 said:
Depends if they bought grey market off Ebay too. Some sellers sell the T3i over here. One would presume they are in the US, but would help to know for sure.
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Yes I am in the U.S. bucks/u.s. dollars. I came across a 17-85 is usm (used) for 285. Dollars. Seems like a good price but I don't know how I will be able to tell if its in good working condition. ( Amatuer). I also saw a used 17-40 L lens for 600 but that would put me way over my budget. I m not sure what to do at this point.
 
What about the 17-55mm IS? You sacrifice a bit of length, but the optics are on par with L glass. A superb super sharp everyday lens.
No idea on the prices they fetch over there, but over here they are around £700 new, so can be picked up second hand for a fair bit less.
When I had canon, I got my copy for £350.
 
TCR4x4 said:
What about the 17-55mm IS? You sacrifice a bit of length, but the optics are on par with L glass. A superb super sharp everyday lens.
No idea on the prices they fetch over there, but over here they are around £700 new, so can be picked up second hand for a fair bit less.
When I had canon, I got my copy for £350.
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I took yours and others advise along with a lot of research and got a second hand 17-55 2.8 Canon. I'm having problems with out of focus shoots at 2.8. It seems as if it clears up around f4 or so. I had someone check it out and they said it was fine. Again today I tried it out and even with a very fast shutter speed in good light (I was over exposed) the shots came back out of focus. I didn't think about trying it in apiture priority mode so I'll try that before I take it back in. This is really frustrating. Its not under warranty so I dont know if I should send it back to canon or take it to a local shop. How does canon feel about repairing second hand lenses?
 
How about buying the body only and going for a third party lens? The most obvious choice is the Tamron 17-50 2.8.
 
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