Lens Selection for 20D

Hello All,

I am an amature 20D user with a couple of basic lenses (the kit 18-55 and a Canon 75-300). I am now looking to purchase a new lens in the range of 18mm or 24mm to around 125mm. I am looking for a sharp lens that I can keep on the camera for most shots.

I have read many reviews of various lenses from Canon, Sigma, and other manufacturers and, to be honest, I am somewhat confused. I have read reviews that state that all of these lenses are good lenses (the high end ones - currently in the $450-600 range with the Canon being on the upper price range and the others being on the lower). The confusion is related to the reasoning for going with the Canon lenses versus the other manufacturers.

I'd like to get some recommendations from other amature photographers about the lenses that they use and their recommendations.

Thanks in advance,

Hi Jim, welcome. I'd recommend you spend a nice evening with a cup of tea or coffee reading this sticky: https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=86975

It's helpful. Best wishes.

It's all about the image quality you expect vs the price you are willing to pay for glass.

High image quality will require primes while acceptable quality for a print can come from a consumer lens like the 28-135mm IS 3.5 Zoom. I loved this lens until I started shooting my first L. Damn L bug! After that all the consumer glass ended up on Ebay and on to primes.

So if you strive to achive perfection in the image and tend to study you're shots for imperfections then you'll certainly need to put a few K($) aside to fill the goodie bag

IMO Fill the bag with something like this:
EF 85 F1.8 (Portrait - Sharp and cost effective)
EF 17-40 F4 L (Landscape - Contrasty / Sharp / Ultra-Wide)
EF 24-105mm F4 IS (Great travel lens - Quick and Tack Sharp)
EF 200mm F2.8 L (Kids/Sports - Fast as heck! Super Nice Images!)
Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 EX/HSM (General - Tack on with the Canon equiv - Much less $$)
Canon 100mm F2.8 Macro (Lifesize Bugs - Should be an L! Great price)
EF-25 Extension Tube (Make any lens a great Macro)
580EX Flash (Great flexibility)

Those are good recommendations, though I try not to buy a lens slower than f/2.8 if at all possible. You might consider the Tamron 28-75 or the Sigma 24-70 (both f/2.8 ) for a nice, midrange zoom. There is also a Tamron 17-35 with a variable aperture of f/2.8-4.0 that is a decent, affordable lens.

I own the 85mm and the 200mm listed above, and they're both fantastic lenses with great image quality and very affordable prices.

Look at the Canon EF-S 17 - 85. Can't beat the combination of range & IS for the money.