Lens Shortlist help - Mainly for Automotive photography

[Bedworth]

Hello people Just another thread about possible lens choices.

A little bit what i want them for to start. I mainly do Automotive Photography with some landscape/people shoots aswell but they are a rarety so i am looking to get a better selection of lenses.

At the moment I have Sigma 10-20mm/ 18-55 Canon IS/ canon 70-300 III/ Canon 50mm f1.8/ Canon 20-80mm

Camera Body - 60D

I am looking to get better quality Lenses but I am struggling to make a shortlist of 5 that I want to buy and watch the prices of over the next few months as by spring next year I want at least 2 better lenses so want to start the discussion/decision early. I will Not be bothered about lenses just for AC sensors as im looking at it realistically and I doubt I will ever upgrade to Full Frame as I wont be able to keep affording the equipment.

Lenses Im after -

1-Big Zoom lens - looking at the 70-200 2.8l but im unsure weather the IS is worth the extra money or not?

2-Smaller Zoom Lens - was looking at the 17-40mm 4l but been reading im better off getting the 18-50mm f2.8 ef-s, But is the quality as good as is meant to be?

3- Prime Lens - been looking at the canon's but are alot of money for what they are where as an equivelent sigma one is less than half the price and reviews are nearly the same but does anyone have any experience with the alternatives?

4- Fisheye / Wide Angle Lens - Looking for either a fisheye/ wide angle which will be used for indoor close events and for rolling shots on my rig but i dont know what will be an upgrade from the 10-20mm I have atm

5- All round lens- This for just using for random bits and pieces so isnt important but I would like it for just the convenience at time. Somethink like the 18-200mm


Thanks in advance for any help or advice. There is just soo much to look at I never know whats best so opinions are always good

 

[pooley]

Quite a difficult one to advise upon with so many alternatives and no budget, but I'll give it a try.

1. Do you really need the f2.8? if so, then are you shooting in low light? If you are then you'll find the IS useful, but personally I'd suggest taking a long look at the f4 IS version. I've just gone through the same dilema and got the f4 IS - couldn't be happier. If it's moving cars then I wouldn't have thought youd want to freeze everything too often without any wheel / background blur, so f2.8 may be a little redundant.

2. Best option around these focal lengths for me would be the canon 17-55 f2.8. Failing that, either the 17-40 you mention or a tamron 17-50 f2.8

3. Prime lens- I assume you mean the 50mm. Both the canon and sigma f1.4 versions are well regarded

4. If its wild and wacky you want, consider a tokina 10-17mm fisheye, it goes from a fully distorted 180 degree view at 10mm to a less distorted (although still quite a lot of barrel distortion) ultra wide of about 100 degree field of view at 17mm. For a standard ultra wide, canon 10-22mm, tokina 11-16mm are worth considering, maybe the sigma 8-16mm if you want ridiculously wide.

5. All round lens - no idea, never used one!

 

[Bedworth]

Thank you soo much. The budget really is around £1000 per lens but i can increase if need be. This is why im torn with the 2.8 IS or NON IS as its alot of extra money just for the IS feature which is why I need to determine weather its worth it. And atm it is looking like it is not


1. - I need the 2.8 as i do arrival shots at some evening events when the light is fading so the low f stop will help and stop me running up the ISO

2- I havnt looked at the Tamron, cheers will do that

3- yes sorry meant that 50mm really. The sigma might be the one in that range then

4- the tokina and sigma are the ones for me to check out there then i think

 

[pooley]

One more thing then, if the budget is around £1000 per lens, then personally, I'd be tempted to give one of the lenses a miss (you choose which one - I'm thinking the 50mm and the all rounder) and try and get the 70-200mm is ii. You can usually get them second hand around £1250-1300 and is a seriously top drawer lens if thats the focal lengths you use a lot