What would be your choice?

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Mark1203

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Mark
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Hi all,

With my birthday coming up my wife has offered to buy me a new lens!

I have a canon 60D.
The lenses I currently own are a Tamron 17-50 2.8 and a Canon 50mm 1.8.
I take mostly portraits but every now and then take the odd landscape. I also have recently been doing some wedding 2nd shooter work.
I have a budget up to about £850.

If you were in my situation what lens would you have?
What do you think is the best buy for my budget?

I look forward to your replies.
Thanks.
Mark.
 
Maybe a 70-200 to give you extended range. Useful at weddings and gives you a solution until you build up a kit of primes if that's what you would want.
 
I concur - a 70-200 would give you the range over the top end 50mm you've currently got. Landscape will be sorted by the 17-50. The 70-200 f4 is a superb lens if you're not going into dark places.
 
Am I right in thinking that the 70 - 200 F4 is sharper than the 2.8 version?
 
As you do a lot of portraiture it may be worth considering the 85 Sigma which a seriously nice bit of glass and has bokeh to die for.
If you fancy more range then also consider the Sigma 70-200 2.8.
Either of those would be very welcome in my camera bag!

Andy
 
Sigma 85mm that's a lens I have not even thought about .. I will look up so reviews thanks
 
With an 85mm on APS-C you're going to stand the chance of getting cramped for space and unless there's a lot of it you could be severely restricted to very tight shots, and very predictable portrait shots with pretty much zero context.

I'd go for a wide angle, but that's what I like. If you're reasonably happy with your current lenses range wise you could sell the 50mm f1.8 and get a Siggy 50mm f1.4 or go for something wider like a 20mm f1.8 or 30mm f1.4.
 
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There's a new 24-70 coming out "soonish" according to the Canon rumours site. That would be nice if you can wait and save the money. You'd need to save a bit more towards it, no doubt!

I have a 70-200 F4 non IS and I love it. I'd recommend one unless you're planning on using that range in lower light, then you might have a problem.

What I would recommend also is replacing the 50 1.8 with the Sigma 1.4. Unless you're really not wanting to replace it, the difference in quality of build and DOF is amazing. You definitely won't regret it.

You could also consider the Canon 30mm F2. That's supposed to be a really decent lens from what I've read, but I've never used one myself so couldn't offer any experiences with it.

For macro stuff I've got the Sigma 105 and while the build quality does leave me a bit wary, it's a cracking lens. Although some argue that the Canon 100 2.8 is better, and build quality I suppose it is really. IQ wise, I'm not so sure.

If you want to go nuts, you could get the 35mm F1.4, but that's more than your budget. Really nice lens though from every single photo I've ever seen with it.

http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/best_canon_eos_lenses.html

I've often found the above link to be helpful to then go off and find reviews of things :)
 
Looking at the siggy 1.4 I could sell the canon 50 1.8 buy the siggy and still have a fair bit of cash left over ... Now theres a thought. But I do like the idea if the 70 200 as well.
 
You could get the 70-200F4 non IS and the 50mm 1.4 within your budget, just. There is a new Canon 1.4 coming out, probably next year if you want to wait to see what they're going to do to challenge the Sigma 50mm. Or you could save a few quid and go for the Canon 50mm 1.4 which is nice, but it does have some mechanical issues regarding focus (feel free to correct me, I can't remember exactly what the issue is).
 
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With what i've seen on here recently from the 85mm lenses, i'd seriously consider that especially for your wedding togging
 
I didn't mention that because I could have sworn they said they had one. I've read far too many photography forums today!

I'd definitely be tempted by the 85mm 1.8. I've never seen a bad thing said about it. It all depends on what sort of photos you take at weddings really, and how much space you have I'd have thought. Now I won't claim to know much at all about wedding photography, but the few pros I've seen posting on a couple of forums all seem to use 35mm & 85mm on full frame, so on a crop 85mm might be a bit long. As I say though, it's dependant on situation too, so it's not set in stone. I nearly bought the 85L a couple of months ago, but decided to get the 60D and wait until I've got the 5DmkIII to upgrade to that.
 
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I thinking 85mm might be too long for a crop body but then again I want to go full frame next year so could be a good buy for the future. I do quite like the sound of the 50mm 1.4 siggy and the 70-200 f4 combo... It is difficult to try and get most useful focal length for your money. Thanks so far though for your postings... Any more advice would be appreciated.
Mark.
 
What do you feel is restricting you with your current lenses? Reach? Sharpness? Speed?

For an all round kit I find the wide zoom/mid prime/tele zoom to be a good combination, so 70-200 would be my suggestion, but that is for my style of photography, it may be different to you.
 
Craikeybaby said:
What do you feel is restricting you with your current lenses? Reach? Sharpness? Speed?

For an all round kit I find the wide zoom/mid prime/tele zoom to be a good combination, so 70-200 would be my suggestion, but that is for my style of photography, it may be different to you.
Click to expand...

I do like the idea of the 70 - 200 but I don't know if f4 is going to be quick enough for my style of photography. Anyone know if the sigma 70-200 2.8 is any good? I am thinking the canon 70 - 200 2.8 is out of my price range!
 
Well if your not going to be shooting in low light then the f4 will do you good
 
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