Total Noob

Lesco

Lesco

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Name
Tony
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Hi all, and hello from sunny Swindon. :cool:

I am totally new to photograpy, apart from taking the odd photo at family weddings/christinings/holidays, I have at present a Leica D-Lux 2 which I brought from a friend for £50 as he had finished with it, its a bit beaten up but takes decent photo's on fully automatic. OK now to the questions.

My brother and I are going to take a beginners photograpy course at our local collage and after a lot of reading up and studying on the internet I am going to purchase a Canon 550D and basic lens kit that comes with it.

When I get into this and start to learn a little bit about photograpy what would be a good, all round, every day use, Telephoto lens, and wide angle lens to buy for this camera, I suppose I am willing to pay a few hundred quid for them if they last well so my budget is say £600 too £800 for both and bearing in mind that it will be a few months before I get these as like I said I need to learn the basics from the very beginning.

Thanks in advance for any help and advice on this matter.
 
if i were you i would get the sigma 10-20mm for your wide angle and the canon 70-200
f4 L lens.if you bought both second hand it would surely leave you some money for some lee filters.you could then keep the kit lens as your walk about lens.i plan on getting the 70-200 myself and have heard great reports about it and the sigma aswell.
 
Thanks Stuart for the speedy reply sir.

What second hand stores do you use for your lenes, can you recommend any I should keep an eye on please?
 
Both suggested lenses are superb, I have both on the 500D and love them to bits, another option dependign on the style of photography you enjoy would be a Canon 70-300 IS USM, not an L lens but still great image quality and would give you some extra reach if required.

The 200 could limit you if you were trying to shoot through fences for example...

The lenses you need will alter depending on what you shoot so this would help with any forthcoming suggestions...
 
Thanks for that Ryan.

I am a signalman for Network Rail, and my goal is to get some good pictures of trains, signalboxes, and surrounding wildlife, but I have a long way to go yet :bang:
 
Another option for the longer lens would be the ef-s 55-250 IS lens - okay, it's kit lens type build quality, but the glass is actually very good, and if you're not using long lenses all that regulary it's half the size and less than half the cost of the 70-200 F4 L. I bought one a year ago to see if I had a real need for longer lenses on my EOS450D and to be honest, I've not really found a need to upgrade (though it'd be nice to have a EF mount lens to work with my EOS-3)

Edit: oh - and another +1 for the Sigma 10-20 wide lens.
 
you live in Swindon right? Get down town to t4 cameras, the guys in there are top drawer (wouldn't go to Great Western Cameras). Don't spend on L lenses yet, too much money too soon. T4 hold 2nd hand kit with warranties etc. The 28 - 135mm is a great all rounder and fits well with the 75- 300mm.
 
Sorry to pop in again but from experience I would disagree with the to quick, to soon argument.

Camera lenses hold their value pretty well, especially the better the lens. If it were me and unfortunately I learnt the hard way I would rather buy right first time than have to sell and swap lenses further down the line.

I would get the best you can afford when you can get them...
 
Tony

I was in a similar situation to you not that long ago and initially purchased a Canon 500D. My advice is to identify the lenses that will cover all your needs. You will probably find that the ideal choices would consist of a 2.8L glass, both wide angle and telephoto. I bought a brand new 70-200 2.8L IS after originally buying the 55-250mm IS and I absolutely love the 70-200 - but it cost me ten times the 55-250. I'm now stuck because I can't afford to spend a lot on a shorter range lens so I'm going to pick up the 'Nifty Fifty' 50mm 1.8 as a cheap stop-gap until I can afford something in that range that is a little more robust.

My advice would be to buy second hand to begin with and gradually trade up as you can afford it. You'll normally get close to the value you paid for the second hand lenses when you go to sell them on again. My choice would be to eventually work towards a 24-70mm 2.8L and 70-200mm 2.8L combination which will set you back a fair chunk of cash, but there will be other suitable options out there. I simply prefer to splash out once and get the best available to me.
 
There are equally strong arguments to either buy top range first time or trade up, no-one is right or wrong in this respect. It is down to the individual and his/her wallet to decide the best route.
 
I'll throw in my thoughts on the subject just to add to the confusion!

I broadly agree with all the recommendations so far but will add the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS lens into the miix, it's a good price for an IS lens covering this range of focal lengths.

Definitely invest in the infamous "nifty fifty", a fantastic lens, very versatile, fast and cheap to boot - a rare combination when buying lenses.

For an ultra-wide angle lens, I agree with going for the Sigma 10-20mm, it's substantially cheaper than Canon's 10-22mm. You'll get the equivalent angle of view as a full-frame camera from your APS-C sensor.

Good luck. :)
 
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