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Photography Question 

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First time DSLR - lenses?


I am upgrading from a fairly basic digital camera to a D SLR, probably Canon Rebel. What lens(es) should I buy with my camera purchase and do they have to be Canon? I take mostly shots of family, my son's sport events (so I need some zoom). I guess I am a serious hobbyist...


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April 27, 2006

 

robert G. Fately
  My, Beverly, you've opened a can of worms here - this is a very open ended question (that's been covered a lot already in these forums - you could search a bit, too).

But, to answer your question - no, the lenses do not have to be Canon-made, they do need to have the Canon mount. Besides Canon's own, there are third party lens manufacturers that offer lenses that will work just fine on the DSLR - Sigma, Tamron and Tokina are the most well considered brands. Each makes some really fine glass, and each (even Canon) make some dogs as well.

No doubt the "kit" lens that will come with your camera will be a zoom lens.

[Sidebar definition here: a zoom lens is one that allows you to change the focal length, as opposed to a so-called "prime" lens, which is one focal length (a 70-200MM lens is a zoom, a 200MM lens is a prime). Well, technically, a zoom allows you to change focal length while maintaining focus - a "varifocal" lens can change focal length but requires that you refocus when you do...just to quiet the uber-geeks on this site that might correct me. A telephoto lens is one with a focal length that achieves a magnification effect - the kind you would use for sports shots, for example, when you're on the sideline and your son is in the middle of the field. There are telephoto zooms, and also wide-angle zooms, and also wide-angle to telephoto zooms.]

The lens that is usually packaged with DSLRs today is a moderate wide-angle to telephoto type zoom (like an 18-70 or something). This should serve you pretty well for the general family shots, but the telephoto side might not be long enough for you to really "get into the action".

So, you may want to consider a telephoto zoom. At this point, price will be a consideration, as the excellent 70-200MM f2.8 lens is optically great and quite fast (meaning that you can use faster shutter speeds) but is also heavy to lug around and costly (about $1700US). So you may desire a less costly lens - again, for general sports I would think that a lens that goes out to 200 or 300MM will be most suitable for your needs.

No doubt plenty of others here will proffer suggestions as to which lens to get. I will mention that the super-zooms - that is, lenses that go from 28MM to 300MM - which are available today are okay overall, but optically they have more compromises and so their image quality isn't as good as the less variable zoom lenses.


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April 27, 2006

 
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