Lense Recommendation

[Rattler]

I will start off by telling you I am a newb at the DSLRs. I bought a Canon T2i back in July after several brands of those little point-and-shoots and love it. It came with the 18-55 lense. I borrowed a 55-250 IS and ended up with one of those. I recently bought the 50 that is fun to play with. I was looking at B&H and would like to pick up a wide-angle for landscapes. I would also like to keep it less than $500. What would you guys recommend? I saw a number of "off-brands" that seemed to be good prices and I know I have heard of most of them.

Help me get some new glass!

 

[Hopeless Diamond]

Not sure where the price point is these days but for a UWA (Ultra wide angle) the Tokina 11-16 is one of the best. It's susceptible to flaring but is super sharp and captures some great images. I think there may be an update version available, which would be more $ but probably have better flare control coatings.

 

[chadlanc]

+1 on the tokina 11-16. I've used the cine modded duclos 11-16 and its wonderful.

 

[tibfibber]

Tokina 11-16 is really a great lens, and one I wish I had - not for landscape work, but street shooting. The f/2.8 is a great tool to work with, but not particularly advantageous for landscapes unless you're shooting under low light. It's also around $700, which takes it out of the budget lens/bang for your buck category for most new shooters. My 12-24 f/4 Tokina has served me very well over the years, and even been put back together twice by Tokina Service in Huntington Beach CA. Street price is around $400 - and the extra range may wind up being more useful. I usually shoot in environments where I'm working in low light (theatre, street, reportage etc) where I need a fast lens/shallow DOF, and a f/4 lens doesn't work as well. The last time I used the 11-16 was on a FF body (5D mkiii) shooting in the middle of the night in the Tenderloin, San Francisco. It worked brilliantly, once you accepted the vignetting on the full frame sensor. But, I'm getting off track from the OP's question.

It's worth remembering that quality lenses hold their value remarkably well. If you buy a decent lens and don't abuse the heck outta it, you should be able to resell it quite easily if it doesn't work out for you. On POTN it's not uncommon for see stuff sold within a day of being posted. Tokina makes very solid lenses, and if I remember correctly, was started by Nikon/Nikkor folks. Canon 10-22 is quite popular, but it's around the same price as the 11-16 Tokina. Sigma 10-20 is under $500.

Personally I'd recommend either Canon 17-40L . You can pick up a used one under $500. Or the 15-85 IS, rather then going all the way into UWA territory.

Good option is renting a lens you are interested in for a week, and seeing how you like it. There are some great rental companies out there, but my vote goes to Borrowlenses.com. The 15-85 is $41 for a week.

 

[Rattler]

Thanks for all the info guys! Being a newb, I still mananged to understand a lot of the info.

I was going to ask where you guys rent lenses from. That may be the best way to go. we are going out to AZ to visit my M-I-L and are hoping to get out to the Superstition Mountains. I think renting one would be the ideal thing.

 

[RHINO]

tokina 11-16 is a fantastic lens. i was hemming and hawing about it for a while but when i got it, holy cow, i love this lens.

i am a crap photog who just likes to play with the camera, here are a couple shots for example of non pro level stuff (more real world regular joe) i say get it, donate some plasma if you need to, you will love the lens.

 

[verdesardog]

It seems to me that your 18-55 mm lens should be fine for landscapes...what about it is not suiting you?

 

[Rattler]

It seems to me that your 18-55 mm lens should be fine for landscapes...what about it is not suiting you?

I really can't quite put my finger on it but I am just not that happy with it's landscapes. It works great for a lot of other things. I had an excellent chance to mess with it while we went to the UP when I was in a boot for my achillies and the wife got to do all the driving. It just didn't seem to grab enough area I guess.

 

[gm13]

It just didn't seem to grab enough area I guess.

Given the crop sensor it's really a 28.8mm(ff) field of view. 11mm(17.6 ff) would probably give you the width you're looking for.

 

[Rattler]

Well I was debating on renting a wide-angle for our trip but I think I am just going to give the 18-55 a try (plus I got short on time to order!). It will be a good test. We are headed to AZ. Probably hitting south Grand Canyon and the Superstition Mountains.

 

[Rattler]

I ended up renting the Tnika 11-16 for a fall color trip we took a we weeks ago and really liked it and it is on my list. That one is on the back-burner for now though. A friend of mine is the photographer for an magazine. He had a bit up on facebook today looking for an intern. I asked a few questions and next thing you know, he had me talked into doing it. Luckily I have a real job he can work around. It is just going to be shooting a bunch of group photos at local celebrations and some black-tie events. Plus it should be fun and good experience.

Anyway, my Canon 18-55 has been acting kind of funky and I am not that happy with it to begin with. What would be a good sub-$700 replacement for it? I will be shooting in some low-light situations not to mention I like to shoot concerts at a local venue which is also a lot of low light.

I will be picking up that 11-16 before next summer though. I really liked it and hope to use it to shoot some outdoor pics for more magazine articles. I have one under my belt and I am waiting to hear on the second. I came up with a few more ideas for articles to cover next year too.

I have also fallen in love with Lightroom!

 

[Scott Brady]

Take a look at the 17-55mm 2.8 with IS. It will be the only lens you will need on that camera for quite some time.

Then buy a 70-200mm in whatever variant fits your budget. All are super sharp, both the F4 and the F2.8

 

[loren85022]

One suggestion would be to go into a site like www.flickr.com and study the metadata of photos you like. You can usually find groups about particular lenses. One thing to note is the actual zoom setting or millimeter of the shot. Wide angle lenses tend to distort perspective. Especially on DX frame. With a foreground subject it can often look great. I suspect most architecture and landscape photos are greater than 24mm.. A nice light compact 50mm fixed f1.4 or 1.8 is fun. Especially in low light.


Sent from my iToaster

 

[Rattler]

I was debating on picking up that 60D from Christophe but I figured better glass is more important. Pat Bonish told me to use my T2i until the shutter falls off it. Otherwise I will go broke trying to keep up with the technology and be buying a new camera every 6 months.

I will take a look at those. I know the Sigmas have been suggested by a couple elsewhere.

 

[Rattler]

One suggestion would be to go into a site like www.flickr.com and study the metadata of photos you like. You can usually find groups about particular lenses. One thing to note is the actual zoom setting or millimeter of the shot. Wide angle lenses tend to distort perspective. Especially on DX frame. With a foreground subject it can often look great. I suspect most architecture and landscape photos are greater than 24mm.. A nice light compact 50mm fixed f1.4 or 1.8 is fun. Especially in low light.


Sent from my iToaster

I got the Canon 50MM prime (along with about every other Canon owner!) I like to use that for concerts at a small venue we go to. I have used that flickr data for concert pics as a matter of fact but I need to look up some nice landscapes I really like. Thanks!