 Sarah Jarmon |
the next lens... I recently purchased a Canon Rebel XTi and it came with an EOS 18-55mm lens. I am wanting to start pursuing photography seriously, meaning portraits, weddings, etc.. and want to know what the best lens to purchase next would be. any insight would be helpful! thanks! ps. I enjoy outdoor photography equally as well..
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John P. Sandstedt |
Buy NOTHING!!!! Take a reasonable amount of time to learn about your camera and its kit lens. One might argue that the lens isn't the best, but you need to learn how to make it work to its fullest. If your manual is like mine [for the 30D,] you're having many problems understanding it. So take the time NOW to learn how your camera works. It has more features than you'll ever use. Once you've done this, consider what you will be photographing. Stop asking folks you don't know to solve your problems; rather, learn your camera and its foibles and come to your own decisions. People will tell you that I'm too critical but, think about what I've said - it's ONLY your decision that counts.
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R K Stephenson |
Hi, Sarah, You're going to get a lot of opinions on this. But here is some really good information right from the source: http://www.usa.canon.com/app/html/EFLenses101/app_portrait.html Personally, I have the 28-105 which is a good walking around lens and the f/2.8 70-200 which is a really good portrait lens for outdoors & candids. Since you're likely to want a shallow depth of field, consider looking at the the really fast lenses, too. Cheers, RK
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Jodi Pavey |
Sarah, The advise from John and RK are correct. 1) take the time to know your camera. So important. I purchased lens and later realized they did not give me what I really wanted. Only because I did not fully understand my camera. Most important though, is knowing the camera and taking the time to really know what you want to shoot. There is great advise from this site so take advantage. Good luck! Hope this helped in some small way.
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Alan N. Marcus |
Hi Sarah, Likely you will get lots of advice, what follows is hopefully some insight regarding focal length. When the camera is focused on a distant target (infinity), we measure the distance from about the middle of the lens barrel to the surface of the imaging chip (focal plane). This value we express in millimeters, it’s the focal length. The focal length determines what size objects will be reproduced. The longer the focal length the larger they become. Thus an 80mm lens projects images, the objects are reproduces twice the size when compared to a 40mm lens. It is customary to fit a camera with a lens having a focal length approximately equal to the diagonal measure of its picture area. When this condition is met the resulting image closely matches the human experience. Should the lens be a shorter value we enter into the realm of wide-angle, when set to a longer value we enter the world of telephoto. In the case of the Canon XTi the image dimensions of the internal imaging chip is 14.8mm by 22.2mm thus the diagonal measure is 26.7mm. Now your camera was purchased with a variable focal length lens, a zoom with a range of 18mm thru 55mm. The field of view at 18mm is 73° (a moderate wide-angle) at 27mm its 53° (normal i.e. the human experience) at 55mm its 27° a moderate telephoto. Most teaches and books choose to relate the way lenses presents images, making a comparison to the 35mm camera with its revered film format. This is true because this setup has been with us for about 100 years thus most who write and talk grew up with the 35mm. Also a high percentage of the after market lenses are designed to operate in this arena. Making this comparison, you camera has a crop factor of 1.6. This tells us that if your camera is operating with a 50mm lens mounted, it performs much like an 80mm mounted on a 35mm that’s 50 x 1.6 = 80. For what its worth: Most will likely deem the wide angle range starts at about 70% shorter than normal that’s 18mm and shorter for this camera. Most consider a good starting point for both portrait and telephoto to be about 250% of normal. That’s 65mm for this camera. Telephotos go out longer and longer depending on how much magnification you need. Sorry this is somewhat confusing. Others will likely clarify this for you. Alan Marcus, Anaheim, CA (marginal technical gobbledygook burn before reading.
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Diane Dupuis |
I have the same camera - but I skipped the kit lens and bought the $80 50 mm 1.8. It's a great little lens - sharp and great in low light! You'll need another for sure - but it's a great investment at that price. You just have to zoom with your feet though.
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- Ken Smith Contact Ken Smith Ken Smith's Gallery |
I got rid of my kit lens and got the 24-105mm Canon L lens, with Image Stabilization. It's a little expensive, though. But the 24-105mm range takes you a lot of places, without having to swap out lenses. I also agree with John...learn the camera first...
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