Need help choosing lens for first time DSLR buyer with interest in Landscape Photography

Hi everyone,

I am buying my very first DSLR soon and I am debating what lenses I want to buy to accompany it to start off with. I am going to be getting either a Canon 7D or a 70D and I will most likely buy used or a refurb. I want to basically save money on the cost of the body knowing that if I take to photography as much as I expect to I will upgrade down the road. It would be easier to just buy a brand new camera and a 2 lens bundle, but I would like to consider buying at least one higher quality lens that I could see keeping long term.

I am just learning at this point, so something high end and exorbitantly expensive is not practical for me at this point. I can’t justify spending $1,000 plus on a single lens when I don’t even know the basics yet. What I want is a set of lenses that are a good range of Wide Angle and Zoom. I’m also considering that at some point in the future I may upgrade to full frame, so I think it is wise for me to consider at least SOME EF lenses.

Before I get into more detail here I should take a step back and describe what I want to use the camera for.
What I want to shoot:

I do landscape painting as a hobby and mostly from photograph, so as you can imagine a good photo reference is critical. I also frequently go to car shows too.

If I had to break down what I want to shoot in order of importance to me it would be:
Landscapes
Cars
Action (road racing, rally racing, and autocross racing mostly)
Portraits (because I would have access to a DSLR, not really something I intend to focus on)
Travel Photography

I DON’T see myself shooting the following:
Sports
Wildlife
Professional Portraits
Professional Video

So for my intended purposes I see myself going one of two directions:

A) I buy an inexpensive EF-S Wide Angle Zoom lens and I spend the money on an EF (possibly L glass) “Walk About” zoom lens.

B) I buy an inexpensive EF-S “Walk About Lens” and I spend the money on a more capable Wide Angle Lens.

Knowing that I can pick up a common used EF-S “Kit lens” like the 18-55 IS STM or the 50-250 IS STM for around $80-$150 used I am basically willing to spend about $400-$700 on another higher quality lens.

Given that I will shoot primarily Landscapes (with some architecture as well) and cars, what would benefit me more?

A great Wide Angle Lens and an “acceptable zoom?”

A low end Wide Angle Lens and an L glass Walk About or longer range zoom lens?

Can you give me some recommendations for both scenarios?

Scenario A:

Let’s just assume for all practical purposes that I buy a used EF-S 18-55 IS STM lens and I am looking at a better
“Walk About Lens” then the EFS 50-250 IS STM lens.

I have read great things about the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Lens as being a good Walk About for FF cameras and I know that with the 1.6X factor of the crop sensor it’s effectively 38mm – 168 mm. If it is good enough for zoom range it will be a great starter lens for if/when I upgrade to FF someday.

Is there something else I am missing that may be better than this option in the $500-700 used price range?

Anything from Sigma or Tamron that is FF compatible?

How much am I really going to miss the difference in range on this compared to the EF-S 55-250? is the extra 82 mm of reach really going to be a big improvement in zoom capability? For example if I were trying to zoom in on a car during a road race or a distant landmark would I be disappointed with the shot because the 24-105 just didn’t have enough reach (when compared to the 55-250 EF-S) to capture the amount of detail I wanted?

Scenario B:

If I go with the EF-S 55-250 that opens me up to what I’ve heard are some great wide angle lenses like the Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Lens, Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens, or the Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD IF, but those aren’t FF compatible.

Is there an EF lens that would let me get similar results, or on a crop sensor with a 1.6x factor are none of the EF lens going to get as wide as an EF-S in this case?

Outside of the lenses I have mentioned are there other EF-S wide angle lenses I should consider in the $400-700 max (used) price range?

Heya,

Used 60D
Used/New 10-18 STM (general and landscape)
Used 18-55 STM (general and landscape)
Used 55-250 STM (road racing and the like, also very distant landscape, don't forget telephoto is important in landscape too!)
Used/New 50mm F1.8 STM (portrait)

That's what I would suggest starting with. Plenty of quality for a large print even. These lenses are fine. You don't need a $500+ lens unless it has a property you must have. But for landscape, you're stopping down to F8 and beyond, so these lenses are literally indistinguishable from almost all other lenses when stopped down other than pixel level stuff that you will not see a print anyways (assuming 20x30" as the largest print you do, anything less and it's not going to matter, anything higher and the resolution is more important than the lens).

Don't worry about full frame compatibility.
Stay on budget.
Don't get caught up in the idea of a magic bullet fix on a camera system.
The above stuff is very sharp, very good color and contrast, and will do very well with landscaping.
The above is budget friendly, but still very high quality.

For camera bodies, anything from a T3i, T4i, T5i, 50D, 60D, 7D are all perfectly good for what you're doing. The 7D just has a lot more autofocus options for action, but you're not doing that. This is why I suggest a 60D to save even more and have the same sensor--same image quality, less cost.

Very best,

60d is more than enough. The pic quality between the 70d and 60d are nearly the same. Like Mal wrote the t3i, t4i, t5i etc are all great cameras. Its the build quality, ergonomics,fps that's different. Then pick up the 18-55 and 55-250 and call it a day. Skip the primes for a while until you see what focal length you like and why that prime would suit your purpose. If and when you upgrade you won't have lost much money at all.

When I first got into photography i bought a 50d body only for roughly 1000USD. By the time I sold it it wasn't worth half that. Of course exchange rates and devaluation of money didn't help either, lol. In the sale I also sold my sigma 24-70 which I bought new (but is now an old model) for a bath. The only sale I broke even on was my tamron 70-300 which I bought used for cheap.
None of these lenses were top of the line and they aren't nearly as good as the ones recommended to you. But they did there job and I learned what focal lengths and types of photography i like to shoot.

So you can see that for me in my sig that over 200mm isn't necessary. So I was willing to pay for the best in the market 70-200 zoom. My primes I just slowly added when I had extra cash and could use for a specific task.

you just need a camera and a lens to start with...from there you'll be able to see what focal lengths you'd rather have...personally i'd rather have the 18-135STM instead of the 18-55STM...with the 18-135, you might find you don't even need the 55-250STM

you don't need to go all in right away, using a camera is going to be the best thing to decide what lenses you need to look at next

starter camera and lens for landscape? get a used 5D classic and a new Samyang/Rokinon 14mm 2.8 Prime lens, should set you back $800 or less for the combo.

Don't get yourself stuck with the often-broadcast idea that "landscape" photography requires an ultra-wide-angle lens. Every experienced photographer that I know uses just about every focal length in his/her case at one time or another for "landscape" photography. That includes me.

If you get the two lenses that have been suggested above (18-55 and 55-250) with an APS-C format camera such as the 60D, you'll be ready for most anything you'd want to photograph. After you've used these two lenses for a while, you may figure out that you want something different because of limitations you've discovered but these two lenses are a perfect set for someone who's just starting out.

I'll echo the 60D recommendation. As a matter of fact my 60D with the Sigma 8-16 and the EFS18-200 is my llightweight travel kit for vacation.

I'd go

Used 60D

EFS 18-135 STM
EFS 10-18
EF 50 f1.8 STM for a prime.

As you are a first time DSLR buyer, I suggest one general-purpose lens and a "Crop" DSLR. My favorite choices would be a 60D or 70D and the 15-85EFs or 18-135EFs. Play with this kit for a while before adding an extreme wide angle or telephoto. If you go with a full-frame DSLR, which is quite a bit more expensive, I suggest one of the 24-105 lenses.

Samyang 14mm. You can indeed shoot landscapes with any lens, but if you're thinking fairly wide, for a crop sensor it's only 22mm. My second choice would be a Voigtlander 20. You need to decide how wide, but either can be had for about $350. You can shoot landscapes with a 200 if you choose (and are miles away). For architecture, it's wide all day.

For cars and travel, you'd want a 28mm (on a crop). Canon or Voigtlander again, about $450. The longest you'd probably want is a 35mm, and the Canon 35 ƒ2 is pretty nice, at least the newer IS version (refurb'd at $475), but so is the 40 stm for only $150.

For motorsports, you'd want something much longer. I don't have any economical recommendations for you. You can get most of your needs done with 2 lenses at less than $1000.

Just my 2¢, but don't waste your money on a kit lens if the end result is for a printed image, however if the shots are for painting reference only, I've pointed 2 painting buddies to the combo of 18-55 and 55-250 for their crop bodies. You're better off with a cheap body and good glass than cheap glass on anything.

You can also get a 16-35 2.8L II used for about the same $950 — PM me, I might have one for sale! You'd get AF and a fast 2.8, and you wouldn't need to decide on a specific prime FL yet. There is also a 17-40 out there, probably even cheaper.

My kit would be almost perfect for you. I cheaped and got 28-135 and but spent extra for the 10-22. I also messed up and got the non stm nifty. But all these lenses take wonderful pictures and fit my budget. They will continue to do so until a FF body is purchased and some L glass to go with it. I might add a 2x tele converter if the right deal comes along to get a little more reach out of the 28-135.

a 2X on that lens is a bad idea...a 55-250mm would be a million times better

Heya,

Food for thought:

I'm by no means a world class landscaper, but here's two "cheap" camera setups and some results from an entry-amateur person:

18MP Rebel + 18-55 II kit lens ($300 camera and a $50 lens these days):

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/oabT​Dt

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/zt4C​i1

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/zuf9​Yh

for a wide lens a tokina 11 - 20 2.8 fits perfectly
for a walk around lens a Sigma 17 - 70 f2.8 - f4
for a telephoto a canon 55 - 250
for a prime well that depends on what focal lengths you use most

Canon 17-40mm f/4L are going for around $400.00 used,. it's a total bargain you can shoot for years and years (until you shoot the newer 16-35mm )

Another vote for the 18-135mm for a general purpose lens, very wide to telephoto.
It nearly covers the focal range of six thousand dollars worth of L f/2.8 zooms.

The canon 10-18mm is very affordable for ULTRA WIDE on a crop body like the 60D.

I have used the 18-55 for landscapes and it does OK (it's definitely sharp enough at f8), but having recently had a chance to use one again, I remember why I replaced it. It's a pain for landscapes. By all means get one for general shooting, but it sounds like the 18-135 would be a much better option (I've never used one).

The reason the 18-55 is a pain - bad flare, rotating front element (pain with polarizers) and no full-time manual focus. 10-18 STM is supposed to be pretty good (I got and still have the 10-22 years before the 10-18 came out).

I think you are on the right track in your thinking. Better to replace 1-2 inexpensive lenses when you know what you will use then go out and buy expensive stuff you may not need.

OTOH buying used from reputable people here will not lose you much money if you need to resell.

Also Everything from the T1i to the 7D has about the same IQ from a sensor point of view. 70D I think is closer to the 7DII, so will be a tad better, but maybe not much for landscapes at ISO100-400 you can also open up the shadows more, but you could save a bunch by looking for a used 60D or going even older if you don't mind the ergonomics of a rebel for instance (T2i is 18MP, same sensor as the 7D).

I think they will all autofocus well enough for what you listed (esp with the center point), but I will say being able to use all the AF points on the 7D as X-type is really nice and personally I really like the AF system on the 7D for general shooting. Some of the rebels though have multiple X-type points I think (T4i?) and if you can get a 60D or something else a lot cheaper I would definitely consider it.