Replacing kit lens with 1 prime lens?

AndyWest

AndyWest

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I'll be totally honest here, I don't think my 17-50mm f2.8 is hitting the right spot with me. Looking at my images I have found that the IQ of primes is a fair bit better than zooms so I got to thinking....

If you had to replace your kit/walk about 18-50mm,ish lens, which Prime would you go for? I have often thought about just having one lens and using my legs! It would most certainly be lighter and less fussy to use plus wider aperture! I will be getting a Canon 85mm f1.8 tomorrow which will do me for that end but to cover the kit area I thought 24mm would be about right. What do you think?

I would dearly love the 24mm f1.4 L but that is a tad expensive, what would be a great alternative?
 
Not sure what you'd use it for, but the Sigma 30mm f1.4 seems to get good reviews on a crop, not owned one but did a fair bit of research a while and seemed a good pick (and not too expensive compared to some others).

Al
 
Siggy 30mm f1.4 would be a nice lens on a smallish body.

PS akr beat me to it.

I have one and I like it, it's small and sharp and the HSM is nice and it comes with a hood and a case.
 
its a great thought and something i've pondered , i have a 1.4 50mm and love it but i dont think its without its limitations , i do like the idea of using one lens and getting used to it properly though , less is more !!
 
mrgas said:
its a great thought and something i've pondered , i have a 1.4 50mm and love it but i dont think its without its limitations , i do like the idea of using one lens and getting used to it properly though , less is more !!
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I really want a Canon 50mm f1.4 (which i will get one day soon) and my brother has the 24mm f1.4L which is the ultimate lens of this focal range for me.

The Siggy 30mm f1.4 is another lens I have lusted after but on a x1.6 crop it may be a tad too much?
 
I have a Sigma 30mm 1.4, it's close to a 50mm on film/ff body.
 
I'll be using it on my 550d with it's x1.6 crop.

Is there anything smaller (20, 24mm) that has supurb gobsmacking IQ and f1.4 or f1.8? that is around £300-£400ish
 
Something to do with lusting after loads of lenses....which I admit to!! :naughty:
 
AndyWest said:
I'll be totally honest here, I don't think my 17-50mm f2.8 is hitting the right spot with me. Looking at my images I have found that the IQ of primes is a fair bit better than zooms so I got to thinking....

If you had to replace your kit/walk about 18-50mm,ish lens, what would you go for? I have often thought about just having one lens and using my legs! It would most certainly be lighter and less fussy to use plus wider aperture! I will be getting a Canon 85mm f1.8 tomorrow which will do me for that end but to cover the kit area I thought 24mm would be about right. What do you think?

I would dearly love the 24mm f1.4 L but that is a tad expensive, what would be a great alternative?
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My sig says it all really.

The rough equivalent on crop will be a 30mm lens. Perhaps the Sigma, or Canon 28?

I have one camera and one lens. No fuss, no messing about deciding which lens to use, just put the camera to my eye and shoot. I like it this way; some don't...
 
trencheel303 said:
My sig says it all really.

The rough equivalent on crop will be a 30mm lens. Perhaps the Sigma, or Canon 28?

I have one camera and one lens. No fuss, no messing about deciding which lens to use, just put the camera to my eye and shoot. I like it this way; some don't...
Click to expand...
I like your thinking!! I can't quite go that far but a few quality primes would do me I think.

How does the Canon 28mm f1.8 stack up against the Siggy 30mm f1.4 or just generally?
 
I don't know as I have no experience of either. Focal length wise, you will be in the same ballpark as a fifty on FF though.
 
mastertrinity said:
im guessing it would have to equate to around 35/36mm on aps-c sensor so i'd say a 24mm variant.
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No, doesn't have to be. 24-30mm would be fine. I have been playing with my Olympus OM manual focus lenses and 28mm is about right but i really do like the look of the 30mm f1.4 sigma. I have seen some impressive images from the 24mm f/1.8 EX DG ASPHERICAL MACRO also but I have read SO many reports of Sigma front/back focusing it has put me right off.....but I guess all I have to do is send it for calibration if it is out?!?!
 
there are some siggys pretty wide . 20mm f1.8 , 30mm f1.4 , 24mm f1.8, 28mm f1.8 - only don't know which can u use on full frame. although I have no clue how good are they.
 
I've been looking into this recently too, having sold a 24-70 (Sigma) I went to a 17-50 but now need to get something to replace it. Prime seemed the right thing to go for and after a lot of research I've plumped for the Canon 35 f/2. Pretty much 50mm on a crop body too.

I did look at wider lenses too and chose the Canon 28mm f/1.8 as the best of the bunch (the Sigma 30 f/1.4 IQ seems to be all over the place, especially the edges) but chose the 35 over that because it was cheaper and because I have up to 24mm covered already. I'm contemplating getting a 50 f/1.8 as well to fill the gap between 35 and 70 but that depends how much I can pick up a 35 f/2 for.
 
AndyWest said:
i really do like the look of the 30mm f1.4 sigma. I have seen some impressive images from the 24mm f/1.8 EX DG ASPHERICAL MACRO also but I have read SO many reports of Sigma front/back focusing it has put me right off.....but I guess all I have to do is send it for calibration if it is out?!?!
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I read a lot about this, and whilst I'm sure there are some issues, it looked to me that there was also some user error at f1.4 with people then blaming the lens.

And yes I believe you can send them to be calibrated (would be worth checking that) but it's a pain (not sure if you need to send your camera as well sometimes?)- you'd hope to buy it and it be good out of the box as such.

People with a 'good one' seem to get some cracking images though...

Al
 
I have the Sigma 20mm f1.8 and it's great, very sharp, maybe even better than the 30mm f1.4 and both are sharper wide open than the Sigma 50mm f1.4 which is also lovely.

PS Unlike Amp34 I have no complaints at all with the Sigma 30mm, IQ seems really good to me across the frame.

PPS. akr - I suspect that wide aperture issues are often user error. I've seen this myself when someone declared my 50mm f1.4 as a pile of poo but he was clearly leaning forward of back after focusing and you just can't do that at f1.4 and expect to hit focus. Telling someone it's their fault is a bad idea though as they usually take it as an insult to their manhood.
 
The Sigi 24mm f1.8 is a fantastic lens as is the 30mm f1.4 if you want crazy wide then the Sigma 14mm f2.8 at around £350 is a stonking great lens.
 
I took this with my Sigma 30mm at f1.4, hit it first time even though the dog was moving. No focus issue here...

t6-11c.jpg
 
I'm not joking...

I've also stopped telling people when I see dust bunnies in their pictures. :)
 
+1 for the Sigma 30mm on a 1.6 crop sensor.. I've been using mine for over a year (Flickr set) and it's my standard lens on a 40D. I've been so happy with the 30mm I'm seriously thinking about the 85mm f/1.4 when it comes out and selling the 17-85IS kit lens I've been carrying about but rarely using.
 
that pic is amazing ! one more lens on my list. maybe I even should sell me sigma 24-70 for this, although I will miss 70mm unless I get 85mm f1.4 ... grr.. GAS !!!!!
 
Another vote for the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 - I reckon mine is on my camera 60-70% of the time since I bought it. I've not had focus problems with mine (beyond screwing up on my own at f/1.4!) :)
 
I'm waiting for the Sigma 85mm f1.4 too but it seems to be taking it's time coming. It was announced ages ago.

A quick word on f1.4... if it's a sunny day, like my dogs on the beach shot... you might just need a fast shutter speed. That one was 1/8000 at ISO 100. :lol:
 
by 85mm f1.4 i didn't mean sigma(would love to). more like samyang or some other manual lens. 1/8000 wow. my camera only does 4000 , but then it's entry level. i think there was a minolta that did 1/12000 or even 14000.
 
I have lots of shots at 1/8000, which is the max on Canon xxD bodies, well, it's the max on my 20D anyway.

People think I'm mad but I personally see nothing wrong with using f1.4 for creative effect, it's not just for low light use IMVHO.
 
woof woof said:
I have the Sigma 20mm f1.8 and it's great, very sharp, maybe even better than the 30mm f1.4 and both are sharper wide open than the Sigma 50mm f1.4 which is also lovely.

PS Unlike Amp34 I have no complaints at all with the Sigma 30mm, IQ seems really good to me across the frame.
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http://www.photozone.de/canon-eos/298-sigma-af-30mm-f14-ex-hsm-dc-test-report--review?start=1

One of the reviews I read.

Probably ok for portraits or other mid frame things but for something full frame that is unacceptable IMO. I'd rather go for the 28 f/1.8 which appears to be pretty much identical but have faster AF and better IQ.

Compared to say the 35 f/2

http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/428-canon_35_2_5d?start=1

Bear in mind the 30 f/1.4 is tested on a 350D, the 35 f/2 on a 5D MkII, although I have to admit the 28mm f/1.8 didn't get much better reviews than the Sigma either. Neither are seen as remarkable lenses oddly (you'd think a 30 ish mm lens would be easy to make...).
 
on my OM10 I get by perfectly with a three lens set up of 28mm f2.8, 50mm f1.8 and 135mm f3.5.

To get this equivalence on a crop sesnor your looking at 17mm, 31mm and 84mm the last two are easy to do you already have the 85mm f1.8 on the way which is a cracking lens and there is lots of choice around 30mm you could get the sigma that has already been mentioned the Canon 35mm f2 or one of Canons 28mm. The real problem is getting a decent wide prime as they are not hugely popular which is why for me going prime only isn't an option on a crop body.

If it had to be just one lens I would ideally want about a 40mm equivalence so on a crop you looking at 25mm so you ideal lens on the 24mm f1.4 is spot on but a tad expensive!
 
Amp34, I've had the Siggy 30mm f1.4 for years now and I've used it in all conditions and at all distances and I have no problem with it. It's a good lens. It's sharp and it's fast to focus and optical quality across the frame is just fine.

This is a 100% crop of the bottom right hand corner of an in camera jpeg I down loaded from my photobucket page and even despite such mangling you can see that there's nothing wrong with it.

br.jpg


Dunno why the review site didn't like it but in the real world I can't find any significant optical fault.

There might be better lenses out there so we'll all just have to try them and make up our mind what's best for us.
 
woof woof said:
I have lots of shots at 1/8000, which is the max on Canon xxD bodies, well, it's the max on my 20D anyway.

People think I'm mad but I personally see nothing wrong with using f1.4 for creative effect, it's not just for low light use IMVHO.
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of course you're not ! :) Can't wait to shoot 85 wide open. the bokeh is mad !
 
Thanks peeps.

Looking at Siggy 30mm f1.4, Siggy 28mm f1.8, Sigma 24mm f1.8 & Canon 28mm f1.8.

Siggy 24mm f1.8 looks an awesome lens from what i have seen on flickr and other image sites.
 
woof woof said:
I have lots of shots at 1/8000, which is the max on Canon xxD bodies, well, it's the max on my 20D anyway.

People think I'm mad but I personally see nothing wrong with using f1.4 for creative effect, it's not just for low light use IMVHO.
Click to expand...

I agree! I constantly open up the aperture on my 50 below f/2; and someone else here (on a wedding thread I think it was) put it perfectly; there may be a slight quality loss by using a lens wide open, but the artistic effect it achieves far outweighs that, and the smiles on people's faces prove it...

If you have a fast lens I see no point in pegging it at f/2.8.

As for huge apertures in sunlight, thank the lord for ISO 50! Btw, 1/8000 is the max on all Canon bodies IIRC *except* the very original Canon 1D which had a speed of 1/16000 for some bizarre reason, and the xxxD (rebels) which go up to 1/4000.
 
woof woof said:
I'm waiting for the Sigma 85mm f1.4 too but it seems to be taking it's time coming. It was announced ages ago.

A quick word on f1.4... if it's a sunny day, like my dogs on the beach shot... you might just need a fast shutter speed. That one was 1/8000 at ISO 100. :lol:
Click to expand...

update . been surfing around . sigmaphoto.com has the info on 85mm f1.4 and it says it will be available summer 2010. well it is summer 2010, but I think it's a good sign.
 
Amp34 said:
http://www.photozone.de/canon-eos/298-sigma-af-30mm-f14-ex-hsm-dc-test-report--review?start=1

One of the reviews I read.

Probably ok for portraits or other mid frame things but for something full frame that is unacceptable IMO. I'd rather go for the 28 f/1.8 which appears to be pretty much identical but have faster AF and better IQ.

Compared to say the 35 f/2

http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/428-canon_35_2_5d?start=1

Bear in mind the 30 f/1.4 is tested on a 350D, the 35 f/2 on a 5D MkII, although I have to admit the 28mm f/1.8 didn't get much better reviews than the Sigma either. Neither are seen as remarkable lenses oddly (you'd think a 30 ish mm lens would be easy to make...).
Click to expand...

The thing about the Sigma 30mm is that people who use it seem very positive about it (me included), and there are a lot of really nice sample pictures from it. I don't know why that doesn't come across in reviews. :shrug:
 
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