Lens for daughter's Camera

Raincloud

Raincloud

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Daughter has a Canon 500D with stock lens, 18-55. I would like to get her a better lens now that she has been using the camera for several months.

She is only 14 and likes to photograph anything and everything!

A better zoom would be ideal. Any ideas?

I dont want to spend a load of money and i will prob get it 2nd hand anyway. Thanks
 
I usually steer away from answering questions as my knowledge of gear is limited. What constitutes a "better" zoom? In what way is the lens restricting her development?
I recently bought an adapter for my Nikon cameras and bought some vintage lenses off fleabay. Having loads of fun and be creative without spending a lot of money. This image was shot with a £19,99 lens.
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Raincloud said:
Daughter has a Canon 500D with stock lens, 18-55. I would like to get her a better lens now that she has been using the camera for several months.

She is only 14 and likes to photograph anything and everything!

A better zoom would be ideal. Any ideas?

I dont want to spend a load of money and i will prob get it 2nd hand anyway. Thanks
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I have to agree with @mossienet

In what way is the 18-55mm holding her back?
Wider?
Longer?
Too high an ISO in poor(er) light?
etc?

When it comes to "better" without some specification context, saying better is none too helpful when asking for others advice ;)
 
I like manual lenses but DSLR's aren't IMO the right tools to use them on. They are IMO much better and much easier to use and enjoy on mirrorless cameras.

I think one nice upgrade from a standard kit lens could be a 17/18-50mm f2.8 as they'll be optically better than the kit lens plus they offer f2.8 throughout their focal length range. Tamron and Sigma both make ones that crop up on the used market at reasonable prices.
 
If she wants a standard lens with similar focal length but shallower DOF for creative purposes Id look into the Tamron 17-50mm 2.8, if she wants more reach and wants to keep the 18-55 Id look into the 55-250 IS which should give her more opportunities to shoot subjects at a distance. Neither are crazy money.
 
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I would get her the 50mm 1.8 STM, excellent lens for the money and a great one to learn with. No zoom but it encourages you to think more about composition. It's sharp, bright and will deliver that shallow DOF look. It can be had for as little as £99 new

If it has to be a zoom then the Tamron 17-50 2.8 that Twist mentions is pretty good, it was the first decent lens I used when I started shooting with Nikon and it was a noticeable step up from the 18-55 I'd used prior
 
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I can't afford a mirrorless but I'm happy with the results from my old D700 and £20 lens. Creativity is way more important than gear. Lockdown forced me to look closer to home in terms of composition. Spent ages in the garden and country lanes, observing "stuff" way more closely.
Yashinon Flowers Trial-9591-Edit-Edit.jpg
 
mossienet said:
I can't afford a mirrorless but I'm happy with the results from my old D700 and £20 lens. Creativity is way more important than gear. Lockdown forced me to look closer to home in terms of composition. Spent ages in the garden and country lanes, observing "stuff" way more closely.
View attachment 289232
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That's lovely, and I'm all for vintage lenses too - if you do the research you can find some real gems for very little money. I'm not sure I would recomend them to beginners though, until they're a bit more competent.
 
twist said:
Amazon frequently go down to £89, crazy value.
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Proper steal, I've only ever used it via an AF adapter on Fuji but found it decent and AF was alright even using it that way. Not the fastest or sharpest lens in the world , when I did change to the Fuji 35mm that blew it away [3.5 times the cost of course] but without direct comparison the Canon 50 is solid enough. I think it's the cheapest 50mm for any system? [not inc third party]
 
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twist said:
If she wants a standard lens with similar focal length but shallower DOF for creative purposes Id look into the Tamron 17-50mm 2.8, if she wants more reach and wants to keep the 18-55 Id look into the 55-250 IS which should give her more opportunities to shoot subjects at a distance. Neither are crazy money.
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I agree the 55-250 is superb value based on what you get for your money.
 
Peter10d said:
I agree the 55-250 is superb value based on what you get for your money.
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The 55-250 STM is a stunning lens also for the money, I was really impressed with that one. The AF adapter I used at the time [fringer] plus lens combined was cheaper than the Fuji 55-200, and I honestly felt the Canon was better -at 1/5th the cost of the Fuji. I am really tempted to get it again even though I shoot Fuji, if I can find that adapter for as cheap again
 
It'd be interesting to know if she wants arty and / or autofocus, and also different ranges.

If she wants to photo anything / everything l am guessing that includes distant scenery > 100 metres away? In that case manual focus lens + adapter might not be viable, as she'd lose infinity focus.

Would it be possible to buy a menagerie of adapted manual lenses + a native autofocus lens?

The following Canon EOS adapters will open up a galaxy of cheap manual lenses you can use, and you might still get far focus if the lens has a very long focal length (these adapters tend to be quite slimline at least for the EOS)?
P/K
M42
M39
P/B

The adapters are very cheap (as low as £5). The lenses can be had for as little as £12. Don't be put off by adverts stating "a small patch of fungus". You could get a bargain with such lenses, the fungus wouldn't have any visible effect.

People consider arty to be f/2.8 or lower numbers, but you can get arty shots with anything. (ok ok this is really blase, sorry)

Then, one of the autofocus lenses people have mentioned for your Canon EF / EF-S mount camera.

If she doesn't do the dishes confiscate it all and replace it with an M39 mount enlarger lens and an M39 to EOS adapter.

Total cost: as little as £120 for 3 adapters, 3 manual focus lenses plus 1 native longer focal length autofocus lens for your Canon 500D. Possibly even lower if the adverts mention inconsequential fungus spots. Oh and a few quid for the rotten M39 enlarger lens hehe.

Welcome.
 
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Raincloud said:
I used to own the 50mm 1.8.

I know she likes to take shots at various zooms.
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There's a couple variations on the 50 1.8 for Canon, there was 2 [I believe] versions prior to the STM version and they were a bit junk. The STM version is decent and no reason not to have it at that price. But if she does prefer a zoom chek around for a used copy of that Tamron 17-50 2.8. That combined with the 55-250 STM is a really nice combination for a beginner, hell, even for a vet! if you can't get decent images using those then it's give up time!
 
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