Beginner What lens for a beginner?

They are two totally different lens... chalk and cheese.... tell us what sort of photogrpahy you want to do and we can better advise :)
 
A lens I would always recommend as a great general walkabout lens is the Canon 28-135mm IS USM lens.

I have had one of these or several tears now and always keep it handy.

The other lens I would never get rid of is the Canon 50mm f1.8 which is an exceptionally sharp lens with the quality of an L glass lens.

The 75-300mm lens is a reasonable lens but after 200mm it starts to get quite soft.
 
petersmart said:
A lens I would always recommend as a great general walkabout lens is the Canon 28-135mm IS USM lens.

I have had one of these or several tears now and always keep it handy.

The other lens I would never get rid of is the Canon 50mm f1.8 which is an exceptionally sharp lens with the quality of an L glass lens.

The 75-300mm lens is a reasonable lens but after 200mm it starts to get quite soft.
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Whereas for me 28mm isn't wide enough on a crop body (I am assuming it is seeing as it is a beginner question).

If you want a telephoto then the 55-250 is the best budget option on Canon, otherwise if you don't already have one then a 18-50 type lens is useful for everyday use, if you can stretch something like a Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 would be ideal.
 
Welcome to TP, Riddhi.
Riddhi Sengupta said:
Mostly closeups and also nature photography.
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How close is a close-up? Or to put it another way, how big are the things you'd like to photograph? Taking photos of things which are a few millimetres across is quite different to taking photos of things which are a few centimetres across....

Any what kind of nature are we talking about? Again it can make a very big difference to the kind of kit that you'd need.
 
I missed the bit about wanting to photograph close ups but for that my recommendation would be the 50mm f1.8 lens with a set of Auto Extension tubes:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/20926615@N05/albums/72157625975281497

and with 2 sets of extension tubes you are really into almost super macro:

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/harold-the-spider.637407/

One advantage of the 50mm f1.8 lens is that f1.8 gives a bit more light when trying those kinds of shots.

And this was taken with the 28-135mm lens on my 350D a few weeks ago:

0147.jpg

So it is quite versatile on any camera.

Personally I would never buy EF-S lenses simply because if the OP ever wanted to go FF then they would be no good at all.

I have a variety of cameras from FF to a 1.3 crop (1D mkIIN) and 1.6 crop (Canon 40D and 350D) and only one EF-S lens, the kit lens on the 350D, and have never felt disadvantaged at all using EF lenses.
.
 
If you are wanting to do a lot of close up work the Canon-EF-S-60mm-f-2.8-Macro-USM-Lens is worth a look. I use mine for many other applications too.

Blue Bottle 1.jpg
 
You can do macro by reversing a lens. Assuming crop camera the Kit lens at 18mm will give you a good close-up to start with without buying a lens.
 
The 75-300 isn't regarded as being a particularly good lens, I would suggest the EF-S 55-250 IS or one of the Sigma or Tamron 70-300's as being optically better in broadly the same price bracket.

My advice to a new photographer, who possibly hasn't decided where their interests in photography really lie, would be to get the 55-250 or similar as your second lens, as its a good companion to the 18-55 kit lens you probably already have, and then to consider the 50mm f1.8 as a possibly 3rd lens.
 
I wouldn't recommend the 75-300 either, tried for sports and not happy with results.
 
petersmart said:
So it is quite versatile on any camera.

Personally I would never buy EF-S lenses simply because if the OP ever wanted to go FF then they would be no good at all.

I have a variety of cameras from FF to a 1.3 crop (1D mkIIN) and 1.6 crop (Canon 40D and 350D) and only one EF-S lens, the kit lens on the 350D, and have never felt disadvantaged at all using EF lenses.
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Except for lacking any real wide angle (which may or may not be of relevance to the OP).
 
andrewc said:
and then to consider the 50mm f1.8 as a possibly 3rd lens.
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Is the 50mm still your recommendation considering the OP is likely to have a crop sensor camera? The 50mm would give a modest telephoto field of view in such a situation. Not sure if there is any suitable Canon 35mm f/1.8 for EF-S?
 
My first lens was the 50mm prime and broughtabout a very nice intro to photography.
 
The 50mm prime is a great lens but there is a learning curve in getting the best out of it. Don't expect to open it right up to f1.8 and get awesome shots - you will be disappointed. Used at narrower apertures you shouldn't have any problems at all, just take your time using it wide open.
 
my choice is the first one. however, it is up to you to choose depending on the type and style you like
 
I bought the 50mm prime and whilst it's a useful little lens , I struggled with it on a crop sensor. I found it too long for most indoors shots. I have since used it on FF and find it much better.
Personally on an APSC body I would go for the 35mm
 
petersmart said:
I missed the bit about wanting to photograph close ups but for that my recommendation would be the 50mm f1.8 lens with a set of Auto Extension tubes:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/20926615@N05/albums/72157625975281497

and with 2 sets of extension tubes you are really into almost super macro:

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/harold-the-spider.637407/

One advantage of the 50mm f1.8 lens is that f1.8 gives a bit more light when trying those kinds of shots.

And this was taken with the 28-135mm lens on my 350D a few weeks ago:

View attachment 93817

So it is quite versatile on any camera.

Personally I would never buy EF-S lenses simply because if the OP ever wanted to go FF then they would be no good at all.

I have a variety of cameras from FF to a 1.3 crop (1D mkIIN) and 1.6 crop (Canon 40D and 350D) and only one EF-S lens, the kit lens on the 350D, and have never felt disadvantaged at all using EF lenses.
.
Click to expand...
I don't have the 50mm lens but those photos show that the quality is as good as the canon 60mm macro lens which I do own. Saying that I don't know how the ease of use compares e.g. working distance, focus etc.
 
petersmart said:
The 75-300mm lens is a reasonable lens but after 200mm it starts to get quite soft.
Click to expand...

A much better option for not much more money is the Canon 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM lens: http://www.canon.co.uk/lenses/ef-70-300mm-f-4-5-6-is-usm-lens/

Depending on what camera you have (crop or full frame), the 55-250 may be an even better option as mentioned by Ned.

Typically you would buy any of the above as a second lens after you've covered the wide to medium focal lengths with a zoom or a prime.
 
If you haven't got the 18-55mm kit lens it might be a even better bet at least you have a variety of focal lengths to experiment with.
I would Suggest you use it like a fixed prime i.e. Set a focal length say 30mm and see how that works for you.
At 55mm it's a short telephoto with a good close up ratio and you can pick up a cheap set of screw in close up filters to get you even closer off eBay if needed.
And I would go with a efs 50-250mm which should more than be enough to cover most your needs for the immediate future:)
Just get out and about shooting images it's the best way to learn.
 
My opinion is that EF 50mm f/1.8 STM is the lens you anyway must have it. When I was a beginner, I enjoy the EF 50mm f/1.8 a lot - a 50mm prime really helps you learning how to shoot very very fast. So, I vote for the EF 50mm f/1.8 STM, no matter what kind of photos you are interested in.
 
Think you are all wasting your time on this thread. Look at the date and look at OP's profile. He won't be back.
 
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