Best Lens for EOS 7d...

Hi All!

I'm trying to help my wife to try and figure out the best lenses to have. We are going to purchase her a new Canon 7d to replace her Rebel xti. She has the following lens already:

EF 50mm F1.8
EF 75-300mm F/4-5.6 III
EFS 18-55mm (came with the XTI)

I want to get her the 7d body and another lens. I'm just not sure what lens would best suit her collection. I'd like to keep the price of the lens under $1000.00. Thank you all so much!

Jeff

Canon 17-55 2.8 IS, as much as I love my primes, when I had the 7D, that lens almost never left my camera. Those 2 were made for each other. & a lens I miss greatly.

JeffandOlivia wrote in post #14495140
Hi All!

I'm trying to help my wife to try and figure out the best lenses to have. We are going to purchase her a new Canon 7d to replace her Rebel xti. She has the following lens already:

EF 50mm F1.8
EF 75-300mm F/4-5.6 III
EFS 18-55mm (came with the XTI)

I want to get her the 7d body and another lens. I'm just not sure what lens would best suit her collection. I'd like to keep the price of the lens under $1000.00. Thank you all so much!

Jeff

Jeff, nobody can intelligently advise you as to what lens(es) would be best for you or your wife without our knowing what sort of photography they will be used for. Every photographer has a little different need for different focal lengths. Many photographers have no need for a really "fast" (very small f-stop number) lens because they always shoot with adequate light levels and/or don't try for ultra-blurred backgrounds. There are many lens options and each has its strong points and each has its weak points depending on how the photographer would use it.

The best question to ask your wife is "What can you NOT do with the existing lenses that you want to do?"

In the shorter range lenses. I have replaced my Tamron 17-50 non VC with the new Sigma 17-50 OS and am very happy! The Tamron was sharp but hunted to focus in extremly low light and the Sigma has image stabilization. The 70-200 compliments the 17-50 range well.

Happy shopping!

I can only say what my combo was for the 7D. Really liked this combo. Did not mis the range between 55 and 70.
Canon 17-55 (standard lens)
Canon 70-200 f/2.8 IS II (as tele) - the f/4 is also a very nice option
Canon 10-22 (as UWA)

Buying a 7d, then buy the 17-55mm f2.8 EF-S IS lens.

Superdaantje wrote in post #14495454
I can only say what my combo was for the 7D. Really liked this combo. Did not mis the range between 55 and 70.
Canon 17-55 (standard lens)
Canon 70-200 f/2.8 IS II (as tele) - the f/4 is also a very nice option
Canon 10-22 (as UWA)

If you were to have a only 3 lens for the 7D these are the ones I would pick.

Because you wanted to buy one lens under $1000, I would vote for the 24-105L. All around great performer. I'd have the extra range if I only had one lens to buy - I find the 55mm reach to be inadequate quite often.

Mind you, the one lens I want right now is the 17-55, but if I had to choose just one I would settle for the extra reach of the 24-105. I also like that I wouldn't have to sell it when I go FF.

My all purpose lens lineup when I traveled with the 7D was:

EFS 17-55mm f/2.8 IS
EF 70-200mm f/4 IS L
EFS 10-22mm

Without knowing what your wife likes to shoot, I would recommend those lens -- obtained in that order -- for all around shooting. You could substitute the 70-200mm f/2.8 IS II for the f/4 version, but it is twice the price and much larger & heavier than the f/4 version.

Hmm I personally dit not like the 24-105 on the 7D. I often mis the range between 17 and 24mm.
I had the 17-55 and 24-105 when I used the 7D the 17-55 was the walk around lens. The 24-105 was my favorite lens for leaving at home

For me the combo 17-55 an 70-200 was the combo that you always can found in my camera back.
When needing an UWA I used the 10-22

Best option go to the store en test both lenses. Only you can decided what lens best suites you.
Other option rent both lenses.

Canon 15-85, you can buy a decent flash with the money left.

Which of your current lenses do you use the most, and if one of the zooms at which end of of the zoom. If you are in the 75-300 range, I would get something with IS. If between 18-55 then get the 17-55 IS because the first 18-55 without IS (which is what came with most XTi cameras is not very good). If it does happen to be the 18-55 IS scratch the previous line and keep the lens unless you know you want/need an f/2.8 aperture. If you are often near 18mm and still seem to want more of the subject in the image then get a 10-22.

Another potential suggestion, if she doesn't have an external flash - get one.

Well, first of all I don't see anything at all from the wide end. She may want something like a Sigma 10-20. Also, the kit lens could be replaced with something better. The 17-55 is nice but it leaves her with a focal length gap from 55-75. I would look at the Sigma 17-70 f2.8-4 macro OS. This will give her a very nice lens - something much sharper than the kit with longer reach and a bit faster and she can focus wicked close to objects....about 2 inches from the front of the lens. It's less than $500 and you could use the difference to get her a flash unit or a second lens from the wider end.

On my 7D I have a 15-85 IS for general go anywhere use and the 50-500 for wildlife. I am not into changing lenses for every situation so this works for me. Hope this helps.

An UWA if she really needs something in that range, not everyone does.
Replace her 18-55 with something in that range and possibly at f/2.8
Replace the 75-300 with the better 70-300 if she likes that focal range
The 70-200mm f/4 non-IS is a great lens

A good general purpose lens like a 15-85, 18-135 or a 24-105 ($829 at Adorama, white box.) There are others depending on her style. I love my 24-105 for its focal range.

No one really knows except her. Choose the focal range she needs and go from there.