What is the diffrence????

I was looking to get a new Lens for my Rebel and was looking at the Cannon Lenes. What is the diffrence between EF, EF-S, EF-L? I see the "L" cost the most so I am going to say that it is a better quality of a lens. Also where can I read up on the appatures and stuff at to understand more. I have always just point and shot but want to expand more and be able to take better pictures than just using the "action" settings on ths camera.

Thanks.

Not a professional, but suggest starting out with something like the Tamron 28-75 f/2.8. I used the 28-105 for a while. Nice way to stick your toes in the water. IMOHP

EF lenses fit any Canon SLR body, either digital or film.

EF-S lenses fit only crop camera body, these are cameras such as the 20D, 30D and the Digital Rebel line, such as the XT and XTi. They will not allow the camera to work properly on a old film camera.

L series lenses are professional grade equipment and generally offer better performance.

Reading the sticky lens threads at the top of the page on this section of the forum is a great place to start to learn about lenses.

Welcome aboard.

Do you have a camera yet? If you do, do you have the kit lens? If you have not bought the camera yet, I would suggest you get the kit lens. Yes, it is not the best lens out there and has its limitations, however it is an excellent learning tool for beginners and will allow you to define what you like to shoot and that will allow you to determine what types of lenses you will need for your kit.

I started with a Rebel 35mm camera and have "upgraded" to a digital rebel that my brother bought and used for about 5 months and then I bought it off of him. I love it and i am going to sell the 35mm version.

I have the Cannon EF-S 18-55 which came with the camera. I did not use it a whole lot at first but like it a lot. I like to shoot trains, sunsets and my daughter running around doing what ever, mostly causing chaos, and find that I use it a lot for that. I also have Cannon 28-80 that came with the 35mm Rebel, and bought a Tamron 75-300 Tele-Macro 1:3.9, (what is says on the side), for a telephoto lens.

Still learning about all the diffrent lenses but I would like to upgrade and buy a good quality lens. I see everyone talking about the 50mm guys and thought about one of them. I figure, have not seen any pictures with that lens that I can think of, but it would be good for train shots and some sunsets.

I do not get a whole lot of time to go train chasing, and when I do I have the little one with me. It is hard to keep her occupied while trying to shoot pictures, but do enjoy it when I can.

Here are some links to the picture that I have shot. Nothing to great just for the fact that I can not really get into a good spot to shoot safely and keep her happy, she is 22 months old and wants to do what ever I am doing, until it blow the horn at a crossing then she had enough.

Trains:

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the 50mm that everyone talks about is the 50mm f/1.8, otherwise known as the "nifty fifty". its popular because it is a sharp, fast, and very low cost lens. you can find it for less than $100. being an f/1.8 lens means it has a wide aperture and it will work well in low light, and also make a narrow depth of field, which makes the background blur out nicely.

you could try that lens, or its nicer brother, the 50 f/1.4, which focuses faster, more quietly, more accurately, and has an even wider aperture.

Hulka,

Well, I am not surprised you like the range of the 18-55 kit lens, it is just about the same as your 28-80 when you take the crop of the camera into account. With the crop cameras from Canon, you need to multiply the focal length of each lens by 1.6 to see what its effective range will be on the camera, so the 18-55 kit lens works out to about 29-88, right where most of your photos probably lie.

I don't know how old your 28-80 is, but it likely will not give you great performance on a digital camera, as it started life on a film camera. Digital lenses have special coatings to reduce ghosting and flare. I would keep it as a backup for now.

The nifty fifty is a nice little lens, very sharp. But with the crop factor, it works out to an 80mm lens, so it can be a little tight for indoor work. It is also a prime lens, meaning it is a fixed focal length, so if you want to get closer or further away from the shot, you have to move. It is also not terrible for a cheap portrait lens.

Your Tamron zoom is not a bad lens, but is a consumer grade lens. It can get some decent results if you work within its limitations.

You will find that each lens you get has its own sweet spot, the area in which it will achieve its best results. You will have to spend time with each lens to learn each one. Reading reviews here and on other sites can greatly aid in this too.

You actually don't have a bad starting setup, you have coverage from 18 to 300mm. You now have to decide how serious you want to get with photography and how much you want to spend on it. If you just want to have good pictures to remember things, that is one level of photography. And if you want to maybe sell some of your work, that is another. What I am saying is while there are lenses that are the best, you don't really have to buy the best to be happy with the results.

You will have to think about this and decide what you want to do. That will greatly influence what decisions you make about buying additional gear.

For now, I would recommend buying the nifty fifty, it is cheap, fast and a nice introduction into the world of primes. Next, I would seriously consider upgrading the kit lens. This is for two reason, you have some photographic experience and you have a small child. Most of your photography with your daughter can be covered in this range.

And while the kit lens is a decent value and good learning tool, it is neither fast enough, nor sharp enough for keeping up with her. For this, I would recommend a fast standard zoom, the same basic range of the kit lens, but with a wider aperture, either fixed or variable. There are many choices, but I will give you a few choices to review:

Canon 17-55 F2.8 IS USM - $1000
Sigma 17-70 F2.8-4 - $350
Tamron 17-50 F2.8

Each of these lenses is very well regarded here and on other sites, you will be able to find many reviews of them and many sample pictures. The best of the three is the Canon, as price would indicate, but that is also a lot of money and may be out of your reach. The Sigma and Tamron are both good lenses and have their advantages. Take some time and research them. I think you will be happy with either of them and they both will give you more latitude with your photography.

And of course, if you have questions, come on back and ask them here. You will find no shortage of advice and answers here.

The EF "L" I believe stands for "Luxury".

Typically it would have better build, some with weather sealing, better glass elements, better contrast, better sharpness, just overall better IQ.

They also have a much higher price tag.

The 17-40 f/4L and 70-200 f/4L are considered "bargain" lenses since they are relatively inexpensive for lenses that have the "L" designation.

For reading up on aperture, etc... you can buy a book by Petersen called "Understanding Exposure". This seems to be the universally recognized book to get started on! It is indeed a fantastic book. Great balance between the visual and literal.

I started out in Av mode, which is a mode that allows you to change the aperture while having the camera automatically calculate the shutter speed required for you to achieve, at least what the camera considers to be, proper exposure.

You can experiment with different aperture/shutter combination, how aperture affects Depth of Field and bokeh, how shutter speed affects subject movement, etc...

I actually did a lot of indoor shooting when I started out since I am a 9-5 guy. So a good way to learn was to use my tripod, find an inanimate object, like a cup, then start shooting away changing the f-stop, distance to the subject, distance between the subject and its background, bokeh and how these settings affect bokeh, Depth of Field, etc...

I guess I had too much time on my hands at night!

Hulka wrote in post #2655974
I was looking to get a new Lens for my Rebel and was looking at the Cannon Lenes. What is the diffrence between EF, EF-S, EF-L? I see the "L" cost the most so I am going to say that it is a better quality of a lens. Also where can I read up on the appatures and stuff at to understand more. I have always just point and shot but want to expand more and be able to take better pictures than just using the "action" settings on ths camera.

Thanks.

What is bokeh?

As for the 1k. Yes it is out of my price range right now. Maybe in a few years I will get one but I have another little girl coming in May so I will need the extra cash. I will look at getting that 50mm or maybe a little smaller fixed lens. I can probaly get that one passed the wife.

I work 6:30 to 14:30 so I get the best of both worlds in a sense.

Thanks for the help. Now it is time to sit down and read some more.

Hulka wrote in post #2662469
What is bokeh?

As for the 1k. Yes it is out of my price range right now. Maybe in a few years I will get one but I have another little girl coming in May so I will need the extra cash. I will look at getting that 50mm or maybe a little smaller fixed lens. I can probaly get that one passed the wife.

I work 6:30 to 14:30 so I get the best of both worlds in a sense.

Thanks for the help. Now it is time to sit down and read some more.

Bokeh, simply put, is the quality of background blur. Wikipedia has a whole discourse on the subject, but that's a simple explanation. Some lenses produce better bokeh than others.

If it were me, I'd just use the kit lens for a while. When you outgrow that, move on to something more expensive. The 50mm f/1.8 is around 80 bucks and is a fine lens. I've had one of them in both FD and EF mount since 1986.