Canon 600D - Which Single Lens?

Al1944

Al1944

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Which single lens (not too expensive!) would fit the bill for all round use - wide angle to reasonable telephoto (as in 35mm - 200mm on a film camera).

As an aside, does the kit lens 18-55mm give good results?

Thanks,
Al
 
I would suggest that two lenses will be better because it is awfully difficult to make a zoom which is good across such a wide range. The 18-55 is okay, perhaps a little slow but certainly not a bad lens. How about getting something like the EF-S 55-250mm to complement your 18-55? Both of these are light to carry and will cover a wide range. You can then upgrade the 18-55 to something better once funds permit.

What exactly is your budget?
 
Thanks for your reply. Having fallen into the SLR trap years ago and ending up wth a bag full of lenses, I don't want to be tempted to go down that route again. Not really interested in having more than one lens, hence my question. I'm on the verge of buying a 600d because I really prefer the handling - and the viewfinder! I would like a bit of telephoto but being retired don't want to fork out too much. I did contemplate the Canon SX50 bridge (or similar) but not sure if I could live with the IQ.

Al
 
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Canon 18-135 IS is a good lens, the STM version is meant to be even sharper if you can stretch your budget that far.
 
Not getting much of a benefit using an STM lens on a 600D. The STM lenses are designed to go with the 650D to provide near silent auto focus for video but they can be used for stills on other bodies. The 18-135 STM is slightly sharper than the non STM but it's also about twice the price at over £400.

ABout the best all in one range lens is the Tamron 18-270 PZD which uses a Piezo motor for autofocus and is fairly sharp and fast AF. All superzooms will lose some IQ because of the design and magnification, but the Tamron does get some very good reviews. Heres some examples taken with it http://www.motleypixel.com/reviews/index.htm?openfolder=Tamron Primes/Tamron SP 90mm f2.8 Di Macro/
 
Al1944 said:
Thanks for your reply. Having fallen into the SLR trap years ago and ending up wth a bag full of lenses, I don't want to be tempted to go down that route again. Not really interested in having more than one lens, hence my question. I'm on the verge of buying a 600d because I really prefer the handling - and the viewfinder! I would like a bit of telephoto but being retired don't want to fork out too much. I did contemplate the Canon SX50 bridge (or similar) but not sure if I could live with the IQ.

Al
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So you want 1 lens that does it all, but are also worried about IQ. The whole idea of an SLR is to put the right lens on the front to take the picture. These hyperzooms are all mouth and no substance, at best for holiday snaps.

If you want a 600D, your best option is a 15-85mm f3.5-5.6 IS plus a 70-200mm f4 IS. 1 Body 2 lenses would be your best option.

But personally, there are some very good bridge camera's out there that may fit your requirements better or something like the Sony Nex 5 or 7, Panasonic G5 or nikons V1 or J1 would suit you better.
 
CSB said:
Canon 18-135 IS is a good lens, the STM version is meant to be even sharper if you can stretch your budget that far.
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Thanks vey much. That range would suit me and the non STM would probably be adequate for my expectations.

Al
 
When I got my first DSLR my first lens was a Sigma 28-300mm which will doubtless be dismissed as complete crap by many people but it did have the advantages of covering a wide range and being a one lens solution which made it a good day out and holiday lens. The disadvantages of the 28-300mm are the loss of width and the rather pedestrian aperture range.

The newer 17/18-xxx lenses will give better width but will still have the rather pedestrian aperture range but other than that I personally think that they're a perfectly valid choice if you can avoid pixel peeping.

I took some of my favourite shots with that 28-300mm. It's true that they lack ultimate image quality when pixel peeping and the shots may contain more distortion than shorter focal range lenses would give but if all you want is a whole image to view / print at reasonable sizes I think these lenses make a lot of sense. I'd want a wide aperture prime too though for the occasions when the superzoom max aperture isn't wide enough.
 
I'm fairly confident that a 600D with a zoom will give better results than, say, the SX50 I mentioned, so nice to see that someone sort of agrees ;)

Al
 
Al1944 said:
I'm fairly confident that a 600D with a zoom will give better results than, say, the SX50 I mentioned, so nice to see that someone sort of agrees ;)

Al
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It depends on the lens you put on the DSLR. cr%p lens decent body = cr&p images. Average body decent lens = decent images.

Yes the DSLR will give you much better results than a bridge camera, but it does depend on the quality of glass you put on it.

If you want your money to stretch further, have a look at buying used equipment, but your best option is just 2 lenses to cover the range you want.
 
Never been a fan of an "all in one lens" - like an 18-250 lens, feel there is to much of a compromise, although I can see the benefit to one in certain areas.
As you're starting out, buy the body and kit lens to start with, maybe look at the Canon 55-250IS lens to go with it and enjoy your new purchase.
Then over time, I'd see what focal length you generally use and then save up to buy a very good quality lens covering that range.
 
Al, I have always been dubious about superzoom bridges, especially the image quality from their superzooms. However, I recently actually tried one out and was so impressed I bought one! Images (large, fine JPEGs) print very well up to A3+, straight out of the camera - no corrections, no tweaks, no PP whatsoever. The camera is a Fujifilm HS30EXR (a quick Google will give you the specs) and I'm very impressed. OK, ultimate image quality isn't quite up to my D700 but it comes pretty damn close at a fraction of the cost and weight!

If you would like a sample image, straight out of camera, PM me your e-mail address and I'll send you one. Unsure as to file size - they're on another machine at the moment - yet to be transfered onto this one.
 
Thanks very much for the info and offer. Funnily enough I went to Currys this afternoon to check out the 600D and looked at both the HS30EXR and the Canon SX50IS. Liked the manual zoom of the Fuji but didn't like the tilting screen. The Canon, on the other hand, felt very good. I've had a couple of Canons with the variangle screen and wouldn't now be without it. So if I did go down that route, which I don't think I will at the moment, it would be the Canon for me.

Thanks again,
Al
 
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