How to use £1,000 (APS-C Sensor)?

aserota

aserota

Messages
754
Name
Adam
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi All,

I am new to the forum and have been reading some excellent articles over the last few days.

I currently have a Canon 40D which I am reasonably happy with. I have been travelling in Madagascar and plan to be travelling in a few months for a year across NZ, Australia, PNG and Thailand. I am currently working full time on farms and am looking to upgrade my current lenses to some with a little more panache.

My current setup is:
- Canon 40D
- Canon 18-55mm IS
- Canon 55-250mm IS Mark II
- Canon 50mm 1.8 Mark II

I am looking for a set of lenses that come in under £1,000 and are sharper across the board (as all bar the 50mm are a little soft and lacking in general). I've been testing a number of Cameras (FF and APS-C) and lenses and have come up with the following choices of lenses.

My new look setup is below:
- Canon 40D
- Canon 10-22mm
- Tamron 17-50 2.8 Non VC
- Canon 50mm 1.8 Mark II (already owned)
- Canon 70-200mm f4 L Non IS


Price wise, I think the 70-200mm and 10-22mm can be had 2nd hand for £400 each and the Tamron could be picked up for around £200 - which comes in under budget. I like the fact my walkabout lens can go down to 2.8 as the 40D doesn't have the higher ISO the 7D or other FF Canons have. The 10-22mm would also be a bonus as I loved the 17-35mm L on a 5D used earlier today (and gives a similar setup).


Has anyone got any other suggestions regards setup?




Couple of photos:
55-250mm - http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...0679462008283.408778.515498282&type=3&theater

18-55mm - http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...0679462008283.408778.515498282&type=3&theater

50mm - http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...1335509033283.482611.515498282&type=3&theater
 
If it was my money, I would keep the Canon 70-200 but loose the Canon 10-22 and the Tamron and get the Sigma 10-20 and the Canon 17-55 2.8 IS instead. That would stretch the budget a bit and might mean selling the 50.

http://www.mpbphotographic.co.uk/us...igma-10-20mm-f/4-5.6-ex-dc-hsm,-canon-ef-fit/
The Canon 17-55 can be had for under £500 on eBay but they pop up on here for good prices from time to time (I know, I got mine from here!:))

This is assuming you don't mind buying second hand?
 
Last edited:
Is there much difference between the Sigma and Canon (10-20mm's) in terms of image quality and performance?

2nd hand is definitely the way forward for me currently
 
Last edited:
aserota said:
Is there much difference between the Sigma and Canon (10-20mm's) in terms of image quality and performance?
Click to expand...

The Canon is definitely the better lens but I personally couldn't see a couple of hundred quid difference in picture quality.
 
aserota said:
Is there much difference between the Sigma and Canon (10-20mm's) in terms of image quality and performance?

2nd hand is definitely the way forward for me currently
Click to expand...

I would get Canon or Tokina. To be fair I used 10-20 before getting Tokina 12-24 and the difference was day and night.
 
Rico said:
The Canon is definitely the better lens but I personally couldn't see a couple of hundred quid difference in picture quality.
Click to expand...

Many people can though, plenty have upgraded to the Canon from the Sigma offering.

I would be happy with the setup you suggested.
 
I plan to go for the Canon 10-22 as reviews for the Sigma and Tamron lenses are not always positive. Looks like I've tracked down the 3 lenses now, will go and see them and fingers crossed take them home!
 
As budget is an issue I would go for the Sigma 10-20mm over the Canon 10-22mm, I used one for several years on my 30D. 50D and 7D and never felt my 10-20mm was lacking in IQ.

The IS and USM of the Canon 17-55mm on the other hand is a definite advantage over the Tamron 17-50mm
 
I think that the most expensive lens should be the one that you're going to use the most. If that's going to be in the 24-70 range then I'd consider whether the non VC Tamron is the best option (I'm not saying it isn't). Spending £400 each on a wide and a telephoto lens to leave them behind most of the time while you use something a lot cheaper seems kind of wrong to me. I have no experience of that Tamron lens (although I have a 70-300VC that I've had very good results from), if it punches well above its' weight then just ignore me. :)
 
OK so I've been making progress with my new lenses and have also bought some additional ones at good prices which I plan to resell soon when I have decided my favourite.

I have the Canon 10-22 arriving soon and a Tamron 17-50 non VC. The final choice is a telephoto lens which I'm unsure about. I bought a Canon 200mm f2.8 ISII which is lot of fun, but I'm finding is a little impractical when not used for football or where you are guaranteed a position to take photos from. This has lead me towards to the Canon 70-200mm f4 non IS, which I've bought as well (not arrived yet).

I'm really enjoying the 2.8 in a longer lens and have been offered a Canon 80-200mm f2.8 non IS for £500 which seems perfect to me. Any opinions on this lenses over a 70-200? I don't mind about the lack of MF or IS, and the price is excellent
 
aserota said:
I bought a Canon 200mm f2.8 ISII which is lot of fun, but I'm finding is a little impractical when not used for football or where you are guaranteed a position to take photos from. This has lead me towards to the Canon 70-200mm f4 non IS, which I've bought as well (not arrived yet).

I'm really enjoying the 2.8 in a longer lens and have been offered a Canon 80-200mm f2.8 non IS for £500 which seems perfect to me. Any opinions on this lenses over a 70-200? I don't mind about the lack of MF or IS, and the price is excellent
Click to expand...

70-200mm f/4 non IS is excellent, and so is that prime.

I would run away from 80-200mm even if it is very sharp. They are really prone to massive flare (a hood is a must), the AF is noisy and slow as hell and they must be beaten up to death. Canon wouldn't service them either.
 
I have both the Canon EF-S 10-22mm and the 70-200 F4L and I do love both. Not sure why people are saying they wouldn't get much use out of the 10-22mm because I get plenty of use out of mine :D

It depends what other lenses you have though. If you have a decent 18-55mm lens (ie: not the kit lens) then I can imagine you'd make do with that since 18mm would probably be wide enough for a lot of shots. I don't tend to carry my kit lens much lately so the 10-22mm gets alot of use and the next lens up is my 40mm STM before my 70-200mm.

Also, if you wanna get some good use of the 70-200mm F4L then get practising because you'll need very stable hands to use without a bipod/tripod hehe :)
 
All ordered up now, getting pretty excited for everything to arrive! Fingers crossed we will have another motorbike trials event at our farm in a few weeks to put everything through it's paces. Kit will be:

Canon 20D (My 40D is currently under repair)
Canon 10-22
Tamron 17-50 f2.8 non VC
Canon 70-200mm f4L non IS
Canon 200m f2.8L Mark II

and also some oldies to play with:
Tamron 300mm f5.6
Super Takumar Asahi 200mm f4
 
Good stuff :) you keeping both 70-200mm lenses? I play on selling my F4L for a F2.8L mk2 when I can justify the cost lol
 
Just buying the f4, which I'll eventually swap for the f2.8 if need be.
 
Good luck using that Tamron 17-50 2.8 to focus on anything close to fast moving. That's exactly the reason why I dumped it for the Canon 17-55 2.8.
 
All has now arrived and the kit seems increadibly impressive so far, can't wait to go travelling (the 200mm 2.8 will stay at home)

111.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top