help with lens choice
Sep 3, 2014 12:28:45 #
bob fleer
Loc: Annapolis, MD
I have a canon 70d my interests moostly nature birding, landscape, macro and family stuff. I have a canon 24-105 macro and a canon 50mm kit lens. On order is the tamron 150-600. Any additional thougts, was thinking about a 70 or 75-250?
Sep 3, 2014 12:35:04 #
One that I have that is very good for buildings close up with out fisheye effect is sigma 10-20 f3.5
RegisG
RegisG
Sep 3, 2014 12:46:17 #
I have a sigma 18-50 2.8 that I use for all my landscapes, however the next on my list for landscape is Tokina 11-16 which I heard is terrific.
Sep 3, 2014 13:07:29 #
I used the Tokina 11-16 for about 3 Years now.
the best I ever had, beats the nikon. Sharp, fast, great color reproduction, easy to use.
A jewel! I only wish the full frame one would be as good.
the best I ever had, beats the nikon. Sharp, fast, great color reproduction, easy to use.
A jewel! I only wish the full frame one would be as good.
Sep 3, 2014 13:17:43 #
If you decide to go with a wide-angle and are on a budget, the new Canon 10-18 @ only $299.00 is a very nice lens. I recently got it and have just started playing with it. Lots of fun. And it is built for an APS-C camera like your 70D.
Sep 4, 2014 10:50:33 #
bob fleer wrote:
I have a canon 70d my interests moostly nature birding, landscape, macro and family stuff. I have a canon 24-105 macro and a canon 50mm kit lens. On order is the tamron 150-600. Any additional thougts, was thinking about a 70 or 75-250?
The lens that rides my 5d about 99% of the time is a 70-200 2.8 IS. It isn't light, it isn't compact, and it isn't cheap, but with a1.4x, it handles moderate distances well. With a 500d diopter, closeups are very manageble. Haven't tried the f4 version, but my understanding is it works very well also and the price, weight, etc differences are significant.
Here is a recent teasel with dewdrops with the 500d closeup installed. Handheld by the way.
Hope this helps.
Sep 4, 2014 19:04:16 #
bob fleer
Loc: Annapolis, MD
thank you all foe the help, a question for StrangerHart.
Who makes the lens you are talking about the
Who makes the lens you are talking about the
Sep 4, 2014 19:05:43 #
Sep 4, 2014 19:09:16 #
bob fleer wrote:
I have a canon 70d my interests moostly nature birding, landscape, macro and family stuff. I have a canon 24-105 macro and a canon 50mm kit lens. On order is the tamron 150-600. Any additional thougts, was thinking about a 70 or 75-250?
Why get redundant ranges. Get something that you don't have and think you will use.
Sep 4, 2014 19:12:44 #
Sep 5, 2014 09:28:21 #
bob fleer wrote:
thank you all foe the help, a question for StrangerHart.
Who makes the lens you are talking about the
Who makes the lens you are talking about the
It is a Canon 70-200 2.8 IS. Anything else, feel free to contact me at strangerhart77@yahoo.com
Sep 5, 2014 14:07:37 #
amfoto1
Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA
If it has "IS" it's a Canon lens. If it's an f2.8, there have been two versions... the original and the Mark II that replaced it about a year ago. Both are excellent and the Mark II is phenomenal.
But, like Joer above, I'm baffled why you would want to overlap with the 150-600 you have already ordered.
You say you want to shoot "nature birding, landscape, macro and family stuff"...
The 150-600mm will serve as your "nature birding" lens.
Your 24-105 can cover most "family stuff" and also is capable of pretty close focus, near macro work... to about 0.23X or roughly 1/4 life size on it's own. Add a 25mm macro extension tube to it and 0.60X is possible, or roughly 2/3 life size.
The 50/1.8 II (not really a "kit" lens, just Canon's cheapest lens) you have is good for "family" portraiture where you want a larger aperture for blurred background effects. On 70D a 50mm behaves as a short telephotos, so is nice for this purpose. The larger aperture potential may seem helpful for low light... however, the 50/1.8 in particular has pretty iffy focus drive, so will likely be of marginal help in low light shooting situations. The EF 50/1.4 USM or EF 50/1.2L USM are better for low light use. So is the Sigma 50/1.4 HSM.
An alternative to the 50mm might be a true macro lens... Canon EF-S 60/2.8 USM or Tamron SP 60/2.0 both are capable of 1:1 or 1.0X magnification (true life size, meaning you can photograph a 15x22mm object with your 70D) and are excellent lenses. Thanks to their similar focal length, these macro lenses might serve dual purpose... both for macro and for portraiture. The Tamron has a 1-stop larger aperture, making it a bit better for shallow depth of field effects such as might be wanted in portraits. OTOH the USM focus drive of the Canon is superior (a bit faster, though no macro lens is terribly fast focusing). Both the Canon and the Tamron 60mm lenses are "crop only" and compact, and are internal focusing (they don't increase in length when focused closer).
Some alternatives macro lenses are the Canon 100mm (two versions) macro lenses, Tamron 90mm (two versions), Sigma 70mm, 105mm, and Tokina 100mm. I would not recommend a longer macro focal length on a 70D, for general purpose, handheld macro work. Longer lenses give more working distance, but are harder to hold steady and more "tripod only".
Among others, I have and use the Tamron SP 60/2.0, Canon EF 100/2.8 USM and Canon EF 180/3.5L macro lenses. The Canon 100/2.8 is what I generally use for serious macro work on crop sensor cameras such as your 70D. I use the cheaper, 100/2.8 USM (around $550)... not the more expensive 100L IS (over $1000) because stabilization just isn't a very big help when shooting higher magnification macro. Both are nice, though... especially since they can optionally be fitted with a tripod mounting ring. (Most other 60 to 105mm macros can't be fitted with a t'pod ring... While most 150, 180 and 200mm macro lenses come with a t'pod ring.)
You lack any wide angle lenses, which often are desirable for landscape photography. Your 24-105mm is a "standard to moderate telephoto" lens on 70D.
For "landscapes" someone suggested Tokina 11-16/2.8 and that is a good lens. However it's a bit prone to flare and in order to get the f2.8 aperture (which is rarely needed in landscape photography), there's a big trade-off in the minimal zoom range (only 5mm). Tokina also offers 12-28/4 which is new and I haven't had a chance to try out. But I have and use their earlier 12-24/4, which is an excellent lens and much more flare resistant than the 11-16. The Toki 12-24 is now discontinued, but last time I looked some were still available and being blown out at attractive sale prices (around $400, I think). It's still an excellent lens. I imagine the new 12-28mm is at least as good, maybe better, and look forward to trying one sometime.
I also have and use the Canon EF-S 10-22mm USM. This is one of the best ultrawides made by anyone, but of course as a Canon lens it can only be fitted to Canon cameras (and as an EF-S, can only be used on crop cameras like your 70D and my 7Ds). The Canon 10-22mm costs about $650 and is the most flare resistant of them all, is very well corrected and sharp from edge to edge. It has f3.5-5.6 aperture, not a large f2.8 aperture like the Toki 11-16mm. But, hey, for the most people a larger aperture on a wide angle lens is unnecessary.
Canon also has recently introduces an EF-S 10-18mm IS STM alternative, that sells for about half the price ($300). It's not built as well, uses a slightly "lesser" STM focus drive (tho it's very quiet and smooth, so might be better for videography), and reputedly isn't quite as sharp edge to edge as the 10-22mm. The 10-18mm does have IS (stabilization), but I wouldn't consider that a high priority feature on an ultrawide lens.
Besides the Canon and Tokina mentioned, there are also ultrawides from Sigma (8-16mm, two versions of 10-20mm, and a 12-24mm that's full frame capable), and from Tamron (10-24mm). They are all possibilities, of course.
So considering what you've got already or have on order, I'd recommend...
1. Macro lens: Canon or Tamron 60mm, might replace 50mm. Or 90, 100, 105mm, if you prefer. Among those, Canon 100mm is my top recommendation and the most full-featured, though Tamron 90mm are very good, too.
2. Wide angle landscape lens: Canon EF-S 10-22mm or Tokina 12-24/4 are my top recommendations.
But, like Joer above, I'm baffled why you would want to overlap with the 150-600 you have already ordered.
You say you want to shoot "nature birding, landscape, macro and family stuff"...
The 150-600mm will serve as your "nature birding" lens.
Your 24-105 can cover most "family stuff" and also is capable of pretty close focus, near macro work... to about 0.23X or roughly 1/4 life size on it's own. Add a 25mm macro extension tube to it and 0.60X is possible, or roughly 2/3 life size.
The 50/1.8 II (not really a "kit" lens, just Canon's cheapest lens) you have is good for "family" portraiture where you want a larger aperture for blurred background effects. On 70D a 50mm behaves as a short telephotos, so is nice for this purpose. The larger aperture potential may seem helpful for low light... however, the 50/1.8 in particular has pretty iffy focus drive, so will likely be of marginal help in low light shooting situations. The EF 50/1.4 USM or EF 50/1.2L USM are better for low light use. So is the Sigma 50/1.4 HSM.
An alternative to the 50mm might be a true macro lens... Canon EF-S 60/2.8 USM or Tamron SP 60/2.0 both are capable of 1:1 or 1.0X magnification (true life size, meaning you can photograph a 15x22mm object with your 70D) and are excellent lenses. Thanks to their similar focal length, these macro lenses might serve dual purpose... both for macro and for portraiture. The Tamron has a 1-stop larger aperture, making it a bit better for shallow depth of field effects such as might be wanted in portraits. OTOH the USM focus drive of the Canon is superior (a bit faster, though no macro lens is terribly fast focusing). Both the Canon and the Tamron 60mm lenses are "crop only" and compact, and are internal focusing (they don't increase in length when focused closer).
Some alternatives macro lenses are the Canon 100mm (two versions) macro lenses, Tamron 90mm (two versions), Sigma 70mm, 105mm, and Tokina 100mm. I would not recommend a longer macro focal length on a 70D, for general purpose, handheld macro work. Longer lenses give more working distance, but are harder to hold steady and more "tripod only".
Among others, I have and use the Tamron SP 60/2.0, Canon EF 100/2.8 USM and Canon EF 180/3.5L macro lenses. The Canon 100/2.8 is what I generally use for serious macro work on crop sensor cameras such as your 70D. I use the cheaper, 100/2.8 USM (around $550)... not the more expensive 100L IS (over $1000) because stabilization just isn't a very big help when shooting higher magnification macro. Both are nice, though... especially since they can optionally be fitted with a tripod mounting ring. (Most other 60 to 105mm macros can't be fitted with a t'pod ring... While most 150, 180 and 200mm macro lenses come with a t'pod ring.)
You lack any wide angle lenses, which often are desirable for landscape photography. Your 24-105mm is a "standard to moderate telephoto" lens on 70D.
For "landscapes" someone suggested Tokina 11-16/2.8 and that is a good lens. However it's a bit prone to flare and in order to get the f2.8 aperture (which is rarely needed in landscape photography), there's a big trade-off in the minimal zoom range (only 5mm). Tokina also offers 12-28/4 which is new and I haven't had a chance to try out. But I have and use their earlier 12-24/4, which is an excellent lens and much more flare resistant than the 11-16. The Toki 12-24 is now discontinued, but last time I looked some were still available and being blown out at attractive sale prices (around $400, I think). It's still an excellent lens. I imagine the new 12-28mm is at least as good, maybe better, and look forward to trying one sometime.
I also have and use the Canon EF-S 10-22mm USM. This is one of the best ultrawides made by anyone, but of course as a Canon lens it can only be fitted to Canon cameras (and as an EF-S, can only be used on crop cameras like your 70D and my 7Ds). The Canon 10-22mm costs about $650 and is the most flare resistant of them all, is very well corrected and sharp from edge to edge. It has f3.5-5.6 aperture, not a large f2.8 aperture like the Toki 11-16mm. But, hey, for the most people a larger aperture on a wide angle lens is unnecessary.
Canon also has recently introduces an EF-S 10-18mm IS STM alternative, that sells for about half the price ($300). It's not built as well, uses a slightly "lesser" STM focus drive (tho it's very quiet and smooth, so might be better for videography), and reputedly isn't quite as sharp edge to edge as the 10-22mm. The 10-18mm does have IS (stabilization), but I wouldn't consider that a high priority feature on an ultrawide lens.
Besides the Canon and Tokina mentioned, there are also ultrawides from Sigma (8-16mm, two versions of 10-20mm, and a 12-24mm that's full frame capable), and from Tamron (10-24mm). They are all possibilities, of course.
So considering what you've got already or have on order, I'd recommend...
1. Macro lens: Canon or Tamron 60mm, might replace 50mm. Or 90, 100, 105mm, if you prefer. Among those, Canon 100mm is my top recommendation and the most full-featured, though Tamron 90mm are very good, too.
2. Wide angle landscape lens: Canon EF-S 10-22mm or Tokina 12-24/4 are my top recommendations.
Sep 5, 2014 14:56:09 #
bob fleer
Loc: Annapolis, MD
thank you, helps a lot to get that insight. I agree to over lap becomes redundant and your choices are very helpful.
Sep 5, 2014 18:17:12 #
bob fleer wrote:
I have a canon 70d my interests moostly nature birding, landscape, macro and family stuff. I have a canon 24-105 macro and a canon 50mm kit lens. On order is the tamron 150-600. Any additional thougts, was thinking about a 70 or 75-250?
Slow down, it looks like you have already got the entire range covered. But if you must considering what you already have you might consider a Canon 10-18, only $299 and preforms pretty much the same as the 10-22 for 1/2 the price, at least that is what the reviews say...
I don't know what a 50mm kit lens is, I guess you are talking about a 50mm f/1.8, if you don't have a 50, consider a 1.4.... and then there is always a Macro lens... but be careful, those things are addicting, worse than drugs.
Sep 5, 2014 20:51:00 #
bob fleer
Loc: Annapolis, MD
the canon 24-105 is also a macro, 10-18 fills in for the landscape needs. As for a lens that may be easier at times with family while hiking or out on the boat with more reach then the 24-105 but not as cumbersome as the 150-600 will try using in various conditions and see before I make any changes, I do tend to over think.. Just thoughts.
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