I only have a 50mm. What other lens/es do I NEED?

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I am only learning at the moment so the 50mm is great, but i'm going on holiday in a couple of months so would like perhaps another lens or two to cover me against all eventualities. I have a Canon 5d full frame, won't be doing macro or sports shooting. What do you reckon i'm missing out on? I could spend £400-£600 without feeling too guilty, any more than that might be a bit more painful but :shrug: I don't know what I need yet.

Any opinions appreciated!
 
70-300 loads to choose from but basically the most expensive you can afford will usually mean better.
 
What do you want to shoot? Do you feel that you're missing the wide angle or the telephoto capability? Both?

Give us a bit more to work with, and I'm sure you'll get plenty of suggestions.
 
The last time I went abroad I took my 5D+50mm f1.4 and also a LX5. The LX5 took care of the wide shots and provided a bit of zoom and I used the 5D for the stuff that really mattered. Once I took a GF1+20mm f1.7 too just to have something very portable and pocketable but capable of taking quality low light shots.

It it worth taking just the one lens and using a compact for other stuff? If you have one.
 
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I will be shooting landscapes and interesting parts of landscapes, travel photography type stuff (which I think the 50 will be fine for) - I had thought of the 17-40mm already and am very tempted with it, I have been wondering if I need something with a bit of zoom for things I can't necessarily move in closer to.

I might sound really stupid here but the 17-40....it won't zoom in will it? Not more than the 50mm?

ETA: We will take the compact camera as well so that is a good option Alan.
 
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The 40mm end of the 17-40mm is quite a bit wider than your 50mm.
 
Doodlydoo said:
I will be shooting landscapes and interesting parts of landscapes, travel photography type stuff (which I think the 50 will be fine for) - I had thought of the 17-40mm already and am very tempted with it, I have been wondering if I need something with a bit of zoom for things I can't necessarily move in closer to.

I might sound really stupid here but the 17-40....it won't zoom in will it? Not more than the 50mm?

ETA: We will take the compact camera as well so that is a good option Alan.
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No it will zoom from 17-40mm
 
Yeah but it won't zoom in to anything will it?
ETA: Gr8shot - that's what I thought, thanks.
 
The advantage of a decent zoom is you can get some good shots of people discreetly, sometimes makes better holiday photos when people aren't posing
 
Only you know what focal lengths you want, so if you decent on the focal lengths you want someone will suggest a decent lens.

All I know know is that I use my wide angle on my D700 70% of the time, 85/50mm primes 25% of the time, and my 70-300mm about 5% time.

If, as you seem to be saying, you mainly interested in landscape type stuff a 17-40 will be far more useful than a telephoto lens.
 
I do think a wide angle will be the next lens for me, it's just that I have come from only ever using a compact and being used to that zooming a little so wonder if I will miss that.
 
T_J_G said:
24-105 f4L in my opinion
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This. From what your said, this would be just about ideal. Wide enough on FF for landscape stuff, 105mm gives a useful reach in context of wandering around taking general pictures of stuff that isn't too far away. Constant F4 and a great IS system. You should easily be able to get one within your budget, second hand of course.
 
Doodlydoo said:
I will be shooting landscapes and interesting parts of landscapes, travel photography type stuff (which I think the 50 will be fine for) - I had thought of the 17-40mm already and am very tempted with it, I have been wondering if I need something with a bit of zoom for things I can't necessarily move in closer to.

I might sound really stupid here but the 17-40....it won't zoom in will it? Not more than the 50mm?

ETA: We will take the compact camera as well so that is a good option Alan.
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'Zoom' just means a lens with a variable focal length - so both a 17-40 and a 70-300 are 'Zoom' lenses.

Unfortunately, marketing for compacts tend to use the term 'Zoom' in a way that implies magnification, EG 5x Zoom, when actually what this means is that the longest focal length for a lens is 5 times the shortest focal length,

What I think you are looking for is a 'Telephoto' lens - IE one designed for taking shots of distant objects - usually this refers to a lens with a focal length of 100 or more.

So a 70-300 is a Telephoto, and also a zoom :)
 
Faldrax said:
'Zoom' just means a lens with a variable focal length - so both a 17-40 and a 70-300 are 'Zoom' lenses.

Unfortunately, marketing for compacts tend to use the term 'Zoom' in a way that implies magnification, EG 5x Zoom, when actually what this means is that the longest focal length for a lens is 5 times the shortest focal length,

What I think you are looking for is a 'Telephoto' lens - IE one designed for taking shots of distant objects - usually this refers to a lens with a focal length of 100 or more.

So a 70-300 is a Telephoto, and also a zoom :)
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Thanks, that makes perfect sense!
I guess I need to go and try a few different focal lengths to see for myself (unless there are any simulators online maybe?) and to get an idea of what it means practically.
 
Doodlydoo said:
I am only learning at the moment so the 50mm is great, but i'm going on holiday in a couple of months so would like perhaps another lens or two to cover me against all eventualities. I have a Canon 5d full frame, won't be doing macro or sports shooting. What do you reckon i'm missing out on? I could spend £400-£600 without feeling too guilty, any more than that might be a bit more painful but :shrug: I don't know what I need yet.

Any opinions appreciated!
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You can do a hell of a lot with a 50mm on full frame. Don't feel like you have to buy anything, unless you want to.

Obvious choices if you do feel the need;
If you want to shoot wider: 17-40mm f/4L
If you want to shoot longer: 70-200mm f/4L
If you want to keep with primes: 20mm f/2.8 or 85mm f/1.8 or 100mm f/2.8 Macro
If you want a jack of all trades: 24-105mm f/4L
 
SixToes said:
You can do a hell of a lot with a 50mm on full frame. Don't feel like you have to buy anything, unless you want to.

Obvious choices if you do feel the need;
If you want to shoot wider: 17-40mm f/4L
If you want to shoot longer: 70-200mm f/4L
If you want to keep with primes: 20mm f/2.8 or 85mm f/1.8 or 100mm f/2.8 Macro
If you want a jack of all trades: 24-105mm f/4L
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I wouldn't mind just having the 50mm but worry about, if I want to fill the frame with something a bit further away - will cropping degrade the image? That kind of thing.
 
Doodlydoo said:
I wouldn't mind just having the 50mm but worry about, if I want to fill the frame with something a bit further away - will cropping degrade the image? That kind of thing.
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It depends how much you crop - the less of the frame your subject fills, the more quality you'll lose.

The thing is everyone thinks about what they shoot in a a different way. So, like you say maybe try a few lenses out, but also have a think about the times you've not been able to take the photo you wanted because something was too near or too far away, and see what that leads you to.
 
Doodlydoo said:
I wouldn't mind just having the 50mm but worry about, if I want to fill the frame with something a bit further away - will cropping degrade the image? That kind of thing.
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"Cropping" is just taking scissors to an image, it can't degrade the quality but you end up with a smaller image. If you then increase the size of your cropped image you will not get the same resolution.

If all you want is a screen image or a small print you can crop by quite a bit but blow a heavy crop up a lot and you'll be a lot less happy with the result :D
 
24-70 f/2.8. Wide enough for most landscape applications, short telephoto capabilities and fast enough for most "normal" uses. Keep the faster 50mm for when f/2.8 doesn't quite cut it.
 
My favourite combination on the 5d was a 17-40, 50 and 100 macro. I had a 70-200 which is an amazing lens but cranks up the weight and size of camera bag and i found it lived in the bag 95% of the time....
 
Nod said:
24-70 f/2.8. Wide enough for most landscape applications, short telephoto capabilities and fast enough for most "normal" uses. Keep the faster 50mm for when f/2.8 doesn't quite cut it.
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Massively out of budget for a canon version and the third party offerings are a bit of a mixed bag! The canon mk1 is also very big and heavy for a go everywhere option!
 
Doodlydoo said:
I wouldn't mind just having the 50mm but worry about, if I want to fill the frame with something a bit further away.
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Hi Charlotte

As in above threads, depends on what you want the lens to do...

You've mentioned a wider angle lens than the 50mm - the 17-40mm lens gets good following and is a wide angle on a full frame body like the 5D.

The 24-105IS lens is a great lens and gives you a nice coverage and is a good walk about lens for your body.

The 70-300IS is a telephoto lens and would allow you zoom in to things further away - as you say, to fill the frame with something further away...

I've one for sale in the classifieds if it's of any interest ....... http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=462816


It's a difficult decision as at the end of the day, money comes into it. I'd sit down and work out what you want to buy next - which way you want to go and what your maximum budget is that you want to spend, you say your happy to spend £4-600 without feeling guilty - you could possibly pick up 2 lenses for your max £600 / maybe a little more...

Hope this is of some help...
 
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you want a 24-70 f2.8 lens

Doodlydoo said:
I am only learning at the moment so the 50mm is great, but i'm going on holiday in a couple of months so would like perhaps another lens or two to cover me against all eventualities. I have a Canon 5d full frame, won't be doing macro or sports shooting. What do you reckon i'm missing out on? I could spend £400-£600 without feeling too guilty, any more than that might be a bit more painful but :shrug: I don't know what I need yet.

Any opinions appreciated!
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Thanks everyone. The 24-70 f2.8 is out of my price range at the moment.
The 17-40 & 24-105 are tempting though im still not sure which one.

Andyred - thanks for your advice, I haven't been on here long enough to be able to see the classifieds section yet.
 
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