New 20D-what lens do I need?

[NEW CANON OWNER]

Switched from Olympus E10 to 20D..Looking for info on lenses. Camera used for old- time pictures taken outside under cover, day and evening, with only stationary fill light, no flash. Switching to 20D because of lag time. E10 equipped with 35-140mm equivalant with wide angle extension 20% (28mm equivalent). I confess terrible ignorance and confusion investigating lenses, so far my options I think are EFS 18-55 F3.5-5.6 or EFS 17-85 F4-5.6 ? Thank you for any opinions.




Thanks for the info, will do some more learning ie difference between EF & EFS

Attaching my best picture with Olympus E-10

PS Just found this forum today, alll day, great information!

[Jon]

The EF-series lenses will also fit, so there are the EF 16-35 f/2.8 L, 17-40 f/4 L, and assorted fixed focal length lenses from 17 mm (28 mm equivalent in 35 mm format) on up.

[GyRob]

17 TO 85 gives you a 27mm to 136 mm on the 20d.
Rob

[NEW CANON OWNER]

THANKS Jon and gyrob for your information. One more question, do you think the lenses suggested will cover approx 10' X 10' background at 8-12'. My studio has limited space.

[EricKonieczny]

For a good bang for the buck, take a look at the Canon EF 28-105, 3.5 - 4.5. It is a great walk around with versatility and cheap.

[Andy_T]

NCO,

you can try that out with your current E10 ... what is relevent is just the 'equivalent' focal length.

Your E10 gives you 35-140 equivalent, with the wide angle converter (WCON-08?) you get 28 mm.
The Canon 20D has a 1.6 crop factor, so an 18-55 mm lens will also give you about 29 mm (18x1.6=28.8 ) to 88 mm (55*1.6=88 ) equivalent focal length. The 18-55 kit lens is a decent lens (especially for the price), in my personal opinion the 17-85 lens is too expensive for what it has to offer. (I went with the 18-55 and Tamron 28-75/2.8 XR DI instead - cheaper, better image quality & constant f/2.8 )

The built-in flash of the 20D is rated for 18 mm (29 mm equ.) widest setting, if you use a wider lens like the 16-35, 17-40 or 17-85 on its widest setting, you will have to use an external flash, otherwise you get shadows in your picture. Using an external flash and bounding it off the ceiling is not a bad idea by any means, but annoying if you haven't planned it.

Also ... pay attention to DOF. With the small sensor of the E10, it gives you a DOF at f/2.8 that is similar to the DOF of the 20D at f/8. Very good if you want to isolate your subject from the background, not so good if you want to get a picture where everything is in sharp focus.

Best regards,
Andy

[Jon]

A 10 ft. FoV at 8-12 ft. distance would be about 17-24 mm f.l. lenses. That may be a bit wide for portraiture, if that's what you had in mind.