Soooo indecisive...i think

I have been looking to upgrade my kit 18-55 and was ready to buy a Sigma 17-70, good reviews nice range etc. However..... I have started looking at the awesome shots everyone gets from fast primes, 28, 30,35 & 50's. Now I don't know what to do. I would love to hear what everyone thinks.

I shot all sort of things from my cat to flowers to motorsport and landscapes.

Any thoughts?

pick up the nifty fifty...it's cheap, and will open up the prime world to you while on a budget...also i think i'd look at the tamron 17-50 f2.8...the sigma you were looking at is a variable aperture, so it's not always f2.8

My thoughts... the nifty 50 1.8 is super cheap, but not that great of a prime. If you spend a little more you can get some of the best affordable primes available for your 400D, such as the 85mm 1.8, sigma 30mm 1.4, or even 60mm macro. Depends on what focal length you want.

good luck!

red snapper wrote in post #7702436
I have been looking to upgrade my kit 18-55 and was ready to buy a Sigma 17-70, good reviews nice range etc. However..... I have started looking at the awesome shots everyone gets from fast primes, 28, 30,35 & 50's. Now I don't know what to do. I would love to hear what everyone thinks.

I shot all sort of things from my cat to flowers to motorsport and landscapes.

Any thoughts?

Fast primes are nice but so are sharp fast zooms.

I went through a "fast prime" stage, but for for me personally, I found out I like the versatility of fast zooms better.

The Sigma 17-70 is a very versatile lens and you will notice a big difference in Image Quality from both your 18-55 (non IS) and 75-300.

If you do decide to try some fast primes, buy used so you can sell them at close to what you bought them for.

Do you need to sell you kit lens to afford the next lens? If not, then try one of the primes. Flowers, landscapes, cats (except for kittens) are all fairly stationary objects where you'll have time to move yourself around to get the composition you want with a prime. And you'd still have your kit lens for a travel lens when a zoom might be more appropriate. If you have to sell the kit lens, the either the Tamron 17-50 or 28-75 should be considered.

Thanks for the thoughts, I am currently bidding on both a 17-70 and a 30 1.4 so we'll see which comes up, but I am still leaning towards the zoom for the versatility and mabye grab a prime later.

tempest68 wrote in post #7704845
Do you need to sell you kit lens to afford the next lens? If not, then try one of the primes. Flowers, landscapes, cats (except for kittens) are all fairly stationary objects where you'll have time to move yourself around to get the composition you want with a prime. And you'd still have your kit lens for a travel lens when a zoom might be more appropriate. If you have to sell the kit lens, the either the Tamron 17-50 or 28-75 should be considered.

My thoughts, also.

I replaced my kit lens with the (another kit lens) 18-55IS for us$70. Cheaper than a preowned 17-70 us$280.
And at the 17-70 price range I bet the Tamron 17-50 will be a better purchase, and it has constant f2.8.

Primes are fun to use, but multiple primes are not friendly on the pocket.

red snapper wrote in post #7702436
I have been looking to upgrade my kit 18-55 and was ready to buy a Sigma 17-70, good reviews nice range etc. However..... I have started looking at the awesome shots everyone gets from fast primes, 28, 30,35 & 50's. Now I don't know what to do. I would love to hear what everyone thinks.

I shot all sort of things from my cat to flowers to motorsport and landscapes.

Any thoughts?

you can get awesome shots from zoom's too. Don't buy a prime just to buy a prime. it may not fit your style of shooting.

I personally use both, while favoring the primes, but zooms still play an important role for certain situations. I'd have to agree w/ getting a cheap 50/1.8. Hell, I'll probably be selling mine soon. It's a good way to force you to use a single focal length and see how you feel about it.

The decision has been made due to a sucessful ebay win on the 17-70 for $AUS306 (retails new around mid $AUS500), which is about $US12, no really about $US217, our exchange rate has improved lately. Looking forward to the lens and will post some pics.

Thanks for the input.