How to decide on a lens?????

[JarrothsMom]

I just got my new Canon Rebel xt. I love it but now I need a new lens. I had NOOOO idea all the types they have. I have studied and know about Zoom, Wide angle, telephoto, and Macro. So with my own judgement I am leaning toward a telephoto or zoom. I want to be able to take pictures of things without them knowing...you know REAL life. I love to see the joy in eyes and excitement you loose when you say "look at me" My son also is in Tae kwon Do and I take pictures of that. Alot of indoor too. What do you think would be a good Around 200 $$ that I could start with???

 

[handicap18]

$200 isn't going to get you much of a zoom telephoto lens. You will be able to get the 50mm f/1.8 lens which is very good for low light indoor. Not sure if it will be long enough for the Tae kwon Do matches. That will depend on how close you can get.

$200 will get you an ok at best 3rd party older 70-300mm zoom lens that wont be very good indoors.

 

[JarrothsMom]

I would rather have better quality and have to get closer to him. I foiund this one
Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
...not sure...is that Manual focus...why is it only $179. I dont understand
One more thing...What is a good...(apeture (f) for indoor photos) I think the one I have not is not too bad. However I want to be able to take it inside a gym at school...or will that deal with shutter...man i have alot to learn. I am trying to learn. Just so much info...kind of gets confussing. thanks for being patient with people like me...hehehe

 

[mabas9395]

My rule of thumb for deciding on a new lens is pick the most expensive one the wife will let me get!

 

[vflipo]

IMHO I would go with the next step up from that one and get the USM, especially if you plan on doing indoor and action shots. USM lenses auto focus faster and are quieter than non USM lenses. I personally prefer an f2.8 (or bigger) for any type of shooting, but the 4.0-5.6 isn't bad depending on the lighting, and will usually be alright for outdoor shooting. But, with the bigger the aperture (smaller f stop number) you have a better chance of getting amazing action shots. The bigger aperture will allow you to shoot with faster shutter speeds. Hope that helped some

Also, I have found that waiting a little longer to get a better lens is worth it. If you really want quality shots, it is important to get a lens that fits your needs (which sometimes means spending more $$). I use it on my husband a lot and say "I'd rather wait and spend $500 (just a random amount) later than 200 now only to find I don't like it and will spend another 500 later to get what I really wanted"

 

[Jalva22]

It's still going to be over your $200 range, but on a tight budget for indoor sports you'll do better with a fast prime lens (meaning, it has one focal length and you do all the zooming with your feet). But you need to be kind of close to the action. I shoot basketball from the corner of the court with a Canon 100mm f/2.0. If you can get a little closer than that, the 85mm f/1.8 is great as well. The 85mm will run you around $350 and the 100mm will run closer to $400. They let in tons of light and are very sharp lenses. They also focus extremely fast. Very high quality lenses.

I glanced at a few reviews of the 75-300 4-5.6 IS USM. Sounds like a decent lens for the money. The price is going to be a result of its build quality being inferior to better lenses to a large degree. Sounds like you will not get completely sharp images when using the zoom at its max. Another caution is that if you are zooming in toward the long end of the lens' range you will only be able to get an aperture of 5.6. I don't know if you can use flash or not for your indoor shooting, but 5.6 will not let in enough light for a decent shot in most poorly-lit gyms. Even its widest aperture of 4.0 isn't going to do the job for action shots in low lighting without flash. You simply won't be able to get the shutter speed you need. Which is why I would point you back to one of the primes I mentioned earlier.

Welcome to the money pit of DSLR photography! It's fun though!

Good luck!

 

[JarrothsMom]

Thank you all...what I have decided to do is get the 50mm f1.8 it is only 85 dollars. get closer...but just wait and save money for a good...I mean GREAT telophoto lens. I need something now for the good indoor pics so figured the 50mm is ok yet the f1.8 makes it GREAT for what I want. I now know that I just have to get to the comp early to get a close up. Thank you all!!!

 

[Amps]

Here's a great telephoto lense for you that from what I've read is the absolute best bang for the buck.

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS

It has lense based image stabilization, a price tag of $300 or less and all the reviews I've read have given it praise for it's image quality. It may not be quite fast enough (f/4-5.6) to help freeze action in low light but that is very hard to find in a good telephoto lense.

I'll be picking up one to try on my Xti some time in the next few weeks.

 

[pjacobi]

My suggestion is review the last 100-200 picture with your camera and 18-55 kit lens. Count how many were shot at 18mm, 35mm, and 55mm.

There are some programs available to do this automatically, but the process is very easy to do by eye. Just estimate the focal length and add a tick mark to one of the three column.

If most of your shots were at 55mm, then you probably want a telephoto lens.

If most were at 18mm, then you might want a wide angle lens.

I alway thought I needed a telephoto len, but after this process, I discovered that I shoot mostly wide angle shots and would benefit more from a wide angle lens.


-Paul

 

[handicap18]

Thank you all...what I have decided to do is get the 50mm f1.8 it is only 85 dollars. get closer...but just wait and save money for a good...I mean GREAT telophoto lens. I need something now for the good indoor pics so figured the 50mm is ok yet the f1.8 makes it GREAT for what I want. I now know that I just have to get to the comp early to get a close up. Thank you all!!!

That is a good one to start with. Keep in mind that f/stops are fractions. So the bigger the number the smaller the hole. Typically for indoor events where no flash is allowed you want to have a lens that is f/2.8 or wider. This also means lots of money (with one exception, the 50mm f/1.8). The lenses that the pro's use are VERY expensive. You don't have to go that route obviously. The best available is going to be the 70-200mm f/2.8 for around $1700. Unlike the kit lens that you have and also the inexpensive zoom lenses that have been mentioned, the 70-200mm f/2.8 is able to keep f/2.8 f/stop throughout the entire zoom range. No matter what focal length your at, its widest aperture will always be f/2.8. With your kit lens it has an f/stop range. In other words, the more you zoom in the smaller the widest aperture gets. While you can get f/3.5 at the 18mm end, when you zoom out to 50mm the aperture closes to f/5.6. Same with the 75-300mm $179 lens you referenced. At 75mm the widest aperture is f/4. As you zoom towards 300mm the aperture gets smaller. So at 300mm the widest it can get is f/5.6. Thats a full stop smaller.

To help illustrate the differences here is an f/stop chart.

My suggestion is review the last 100-200 picture with your camera and 18-55 kit lens. Count how many were shot at 18mm, 35mm, and 55mm.

There are some programs available to do this automatically, but the process is very easy to do by eye. Just estimate the focal length and add a tick mark to one of the three column.

If most of your shots were at 55mm, then you probably want a telephoto lens.

If most were at 18mm, then you might want a wide angle lens.

I alway thought I needed a telephoto len, but after this process, I discovered that I shoot mostly wide angle shots and would benefit more from a wide angle lens.
-Paul

There is a program that I have used a number of times, but of course when I got the new computer I didn't transfer the program and now I can't remember the name of it. A few others here have used it as well. The old computer isn't set up right now so I can't check there. GRRRRRRRR

I'll find it eventually.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Subscribing. I've got to figure this whole lens thing out.

 

[Groucho]

There is a program that I have used a number of times, but of course when I got the new computer I didn't transfer the program and now I can't remember the name of it. A few others here have used it as well. The old computer isn't set up right now so I can't check there. GRRRRRRRR

I'll find it eventually.

What I used is called Exposure Plot and is freeware.

It creates graphs like this, which is my focal length usage on my last WDW trip:

Needless to say, I favored my 50mm F1.4 a lot. And my Zenitar 16mm.

 

[GatheringNoMoss]

My rule of thumb for deciding on a new lens is pick the most expensive one the wife will let me get!

or husband

 

[Shutterbug]

My quandry at the moment for my zoom lens is either the 70-300 USM IS or the 70-200 4.0 "L" lens. They close to the same price.

 

[BorisMD]

Here's a great telephoto lense for you that from what I've read is the absolute best bang for the buck.

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS

It has lense based image stabilization, a price tag of $300 or less and all the reviews I've read have given it praise for it's image quality. It may not be quite fast enough (f/4-5.6) to help freeze action in low light but that is very hard to find in a good telephoto lense.

I'll be picking up one to try on my Xti some time in the next few weeks.

A friend of mine got his hands on one of these and I took a quick look at it. While it does have some nice features, the one thing I really don't like is that it is not a USM focusing lens. The front element rotates with focusing and zooming. Basically, it operates like a IS Zoom version of the original kit lens.

On the other hand, he also has the EF-S 17-85 IS USM, and that lens is sweet for the money.

Regards,

Boris

 

[handicap18]

What I used is called Exposure Plot and is freeware.

YES!

Thank you Groucho!