Newbie Needs Help w/Lenses

[ohnnyj]

Hello all:

I am finally going to make a digicam purchase, namely the new Digital Rebel XT. It would be great if I could get some recommendations for lenses. I am not a professional photographer but would like some decent lenses. More specifically I would at least like on that can do extremely close up shots. And does anyone think it a good idea to get the kit, or is the lense not worth it and I might as well get a better one and save the extra money?

Oh and BTW: black or silver?

Thanks.

[rdenney]

Hello all:

I am finally going to make a digicam purchase, namely the new Digital Rebel XT. It would be great if I could get some recommendations for lenses. I am not a professional photographer but would like some decent lenses. More specifically I would at least like on that can do extremely close up shots. And does anyone think it a good idea to get the kit, or is the lense not worth it and I might as well get a better one and save the extra money?

Oh and BTW: black or silver?

Thanks.

Black if you want to hang with the cool kids. Or silver, depending on which cool kids you want to hang with.

It depends on what you mean by "decent". Read: How much do you have to spend?

If you have a specific application in mind, then I would suggest investing first in that application and then "get by" for more general-purpose uses. You mentioned macro photography, even using the word "extreme". Thus, I would suggest getting a purpose-built macro lens of good quality. That could be Canon's 100mm macro lens, the 50mm macro lens (you'll need the additional extender to get to "extreme"), or perhaps a Sigma EX 180mm macro lens or the like. All are good. The longer lenses give you more working distance, which is not always a good thing (such as on a copy stand, for example).

But even the 50mm lens is a little long to be a general-purpose lens on an APS-sized sensor for which a normal lens is 28mm. Most folks want a zoom lens that ventures into both wide and telephoto ranges, and there are a number of lenses in that category. The 18-55 kit lens is one such. It's not great, but it's good enough for most things and will meet most people's snapshooting needs. The Canon 20-35 USM is better, less versatile, and in their prosumer price range (several hundred dollars). In my opinion, the 28-135IS is not as generally versatile, because it provides no wide angle capability, despite how good a lens it is. All the 28- or 24-whatever lenses fall into this category from my perspective, even some that are truly outstanding. If you have more money left, the 17-40L is an outstanding lens with a little more versatility than the 20-35, a little better image quality, and about twice the price tag.

No general-purpoose lens of which I'm aware will be really good at extreme close-ups, so I think you're better off considering two lenses to start with. Macro is more demanding and that's your primary application, so spend there. Maybe the kit plus a good macro lens will meet your needs for a long time. The kit lens is so inexpensive that it's a cheap experiment, and if you later upgrade lenses (as you surely will), you won't feel too bad if you replace the kit lens's functionality with the new stuff that you buy.

Rick "who started with the 20-35 and who still uses it, despite having added many, many more lenses to the bag" Denney

[wolf]

Two excellent lens that will cover a good range are the Tamron 17-35 f/2.8-4 ( to replace the kit lens) and the Tamrom 28-75 f/2.8 Both lens are of very high optical quality and cheaper than the Canon equivalent.

For close up (macro) the Canon 100 f/2.8 macro or the Sigma 105 f/2.8 EX macro.

[roanjohn]

check out the sticky on the EF EF-S section of this forum. YOu will find TONS of lens questions answered.

:-)

Ro1

[ohnnyj]

Thanks for the replies. The reason I say I would like a lense that does extreme close ups is that I would like to be able to take photographs of computer hardware (such as video cards, motherboards, etc.) and get good detail out of them. The only other digital cameras I have used (a Canon PowerShot A75 and a Sony DSC-10) did not produce good results.

I will check out the Lense sticky as well and thanks for the information.

BTW: What is the difference between USM/non USM? And macro = close up right? Sorry, I am new at this.

[Jon]

USM motors are quieter and, if they're Ring-type USM, generally faster focussing and allow manual override of the auto-focus.

Macro, if it's applied to a prime (fixed focal length) lens, means that the lens will focus to 1/2 life size or closer. When applied to zoom lenses it's a marketing term that means the lens focusses "really close", which can be whatever the marketroids want it to be that particular day.

[ohnnyj]

Well I did a little digging and I must say that I never realized how expensive this can get. I found this (http://www.usa.canon.com/html/eflenses/lenses/mp_e65_28/mp_e65_28.html) lense over at Canon through one of the sticky links, and it costs about as much as the camera itself. Needless to say I don't need something that extreme, I'm just an amatuer.

[Jon]

I'd suggest the 100 mm f/2.8. It'll give you enough working distance that you won't be trying to push the lens in past the bigger components on the boards.

[Todd Jacobsen]

Well I did a little digging and I must say that I never realized how expensive this can get. I found this (http://www.usa.canon.com/html/eflenses/lenses/mp_e65_28/mp_e65_28.html) lense over at Canon through one of the sticky links, and it costs about as much as the camera itself. Needless to say I don't need something that extreme, I'm just an amatuer.

Doesn't matter if you're an amatuer.

Are you investing or just shooting? Lenses are long term vs camera body (short term). Digital cameras have a lifespan similar to computers. But the lenses, they CAN last a LONG time (decade).

Just a happy snap guy, suggest kit lenses.

Want to get serious about your photo skills, invest in good equipment.

Close ups? Talking macro, wide angle, or telephoto? All can do "close ups" just depends on your interpretation.

[vinnyveez]

Doesn't matter if you're an amatuer.

Are you investing or just shooting? Lenses are long term vs camera body (short term). Digital cameras have a lifespan similar to computers. But the lenses, they CAN last a LONG time (decade).

Just a happy snap guy, suggest kit lenses.

Want to get serious about your photo skills, invest in good equipment.

Close ups? Talking macro, wide angle, or telephoto? All can do "close ups" just depends on your interpretation.

good points, ill bring them up t my wife the next time i want a new lens. lol

[Andy_T]

Johnny,

just to make that clear, you will need a macro lens (and especially the MP-65) only when you want to get good close-ups of a single chip on your board and want it to fill the whole screen. The MP-65 will allow you to get a good shot of something the size of a single pin of a computer chip or a jumper.

Do you need this?

Best regards,
Andy

[PhotosGuy]

Ids get the kit lens, too. It's not bad at f/11, & great as a 'walk around' lens, shooting in the rain & sand storms, etc. ;-) (I have one + 4 Nikkors!) ;-)