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Canon Kit Lenses

danj

danj

modern primitive
I recently traded in my beloved T90 and my two EOS film cameras and bought a Canon EOS digital body. Needing to save money (read: cheap bastard) I decided to use the Canon EOS lenses I already owned rather than buying new ones.

The "nifty fifty" (Canon EF 50mm f1.8 II) is great. It's not really sharp wide open (duh) but tack sharp once stopped down to f4 or smaller and doesn't give up, even at f22. Overall, I am very happy with this lens and understand why it has so many fans. It has shortcomings, it's has no distance scale and feels cheap but it sure is optically up to snuff.

The other lens is the Canon EF 28-80mm f3.5-5.6 II kit lens. This one is very much a mixed bag. Wide open - at all focal lengths - it's extremely soft and virtually unusable, unless one is going for a soft focus effect. This lens must be stopped down to be really usable and by f8 it is very sharp and by f11 exceptionally so. I'm surprised at how good this lens is when stopped down, at least in the range of f5.6 to f16. f22 is a mess - sharpness is still there but contrast goes away, probably due to diffraction. This lens is useless wide open and at f22. This means I have a lens that's good outdoors in bright light and indoors with a flash. Yes, it's a cheap lens but Canon should have could have done better. I won't be throwing it away but I will be looking for another lens that's better at the extremes (more suitable as a walk-around).

Any suggestions for a good but modestly priced lens in the same general focal lengths? It has to be an EF lens for the EF-S will not work with my EOS.

The camera is a 10D - an older model but a good one. Picture quality blows my 12mp Canon P&S into the weeds - when used with a good lens.
 
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I think you will really like your Canon eos Dslr I have 2 of them. I have the digital rebel. XT and the T2i. My favorite lens (though not cheap) is my 70-200f4 L. Lens. I get all of my stuff from B&H photo. They are great to work with and also sell used gear as well
 
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Is that an older Canon Zoom? The new kit lens 18-55 IS that comes with the bodies is really a good lens. It gets great reviews for the money, and can usually be found used for under a hundred bucks, many times way under. Just make sure it is the Image Stabilized version, as the older one is not nearly as good and about what you already have.
 
If you need good Canon EF zoom lenses, my recommendation is save up for L lenses whether new or used. Lenses, if treated with proper care, will last you a lifetime unlike digital bodies which you'll probably go thru every 5 or so years.

In Canon's lineup, there is night and day difference between their L zoom lenses and their "consumer" zooms in both optics as well as build quality.

For you purpose, you can go with either a 24-70/2.8L new or used or for less money find a used 28-70/2.8L which was the older design. Some people even feel the older design is better in many aspects. If you prefer a wider zoom, the 17-40/4L is a great lens and a great value and unless you need the faster speed of the 16-35/2.8, it's really a no-brainer. Since I use a wide angle mostly outdoors for landscapes and scenics, I opted for the 17-40.

If you're happy with your nifty fifty, you may at some point look into getting the 50/1.4 which has better build and also sharper at wider apertures with much better bokeh than the nifty fifty which I find is unappealing in this regard. Another great lens is the 85/1.8 which is also reasonably priced.
 
VinylHanger said:
Is that an older Canon Zoom? The new kit lens 18-55 IS that comes with the bodies is really a good lens. It gets great reviews for the money, and can usually be found used for under a hundred bucks, many times way under. Just make sure it is the Image Stabilized version, as the older one is not nearly as good and about what you already have.
Click to expand...

One can't use the EF-S lenses on the EOS 10D. EF lenses only due to the full-size mirror. The first to use the EF-S lenses were the Digital Rebel and the 20D.
 
trhee said:
If you need good Canon EF zoom lenses, my recommendation is save up for L lenses whether new or used. Lenses, if treated with proper care, will last you a lifetime unlike digital bodies which you'll probably go thru every 5 or so years.

In Canon's lineup, there is night and day difference between their L zoom lenses and their "consumer" zooms in both optics as well as build quality.

For you purpose, you can go with either a 24-70/2.8L new or used or for less money find a used 28-70/2.8L which was the older design. Some people even feel the older design is better in many aspects. If you prefer a wider zoom, the 17-40/4L is a great lens and a great value and unless you need the faster speed of the 16-35/2.8, it's really a no-brainer. Since I use a wide angle mostly outdoors for landscapes and scenics, I opted for the 17-40.

If you're happy with your nifty fifty, you may at some point look into getting the 50/1.4 which has better build and also sharper at wider apertures with much better bokeh than the nifty fifty which I find is unappealing in this regard. Another great lens is the 85/1.8 which is also reasonably priced.
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I tried the 100mm 2.8 today and was mightily impressed. It's a great lens at only $1,000. Also tried the 17 - 45 (I think) 2.8 L, the "kit" lens for the 1D. Wow! And only about $1700. I also tried a 70 - 200 L - one of the white lenses and only $4500. All three of those lenses made me drool but are a little above my common-sense budget. :D

I'm returning the lens tomorrow and will report forthwith.
 
I bought a Tamron 28 - 80 Aspherical and it's much sharper than the Canon lens. Tried it today - over 200 shots - and I'm quite pleased. It will be a good walk-around lens.

I bought it at Focal Point Photography in Dallas, OR. (No affiliation) It's really the only good camera store in the mid-Willamette Valley. We need to support local businesses for if we don't they will all disappear.
 
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danj said:
One can't use the EF-S lenses on the EOS 10D. EF lenses only due to the full-size mirror. The first to use the EF-S lenses were the Digital Rebel and the 20D.
Click to expand...

Ah, I didn't know that. Bummer. But it sounds like you ended up with a good lens in the end. I agree it is good to support local businesses, but the way my budget is, it is very hard to do. Every dollar counts.
 
Hi,
Congrats, on your new camera, I know it was hard to get rid of the film camera's
but that the way it is now, so When I went back to Canon from using Nikon
digital, I got a 5D so I had no lenses. I picked up a Tamron 17 to 35mm 2.8/4
lens there great lenses sharp and great color, next of ebay I got a kit system
two old style EOS lenses 50mm F1.8 model I and a 28to70mm 3.5/4.5 II, there
really nice lenses and just because there from the late 80's early 90's they still
work great.
 
VinylHanger said:
Ah, I didn't know that. Bummer. But it sounds like you ended up with a good lens in the end. I agree it is good to support local businesses, but the way my budget is, it is very hard to do. Every dollar counts.
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Every dollar does count but so does supporting local business, even if one has to pay a few more dollars to do it. If there is a substantial price difference then going online or to a box store may be a good option. Before I do that, and I do, I will always check locals to see if I can get what I need from them. I hate paying shipping plus the incredible inconvenience and hassle of dealing with any problems that may arise should the merchandise be defective or not what I ordered. Been there, done that.

As for Canon lenses - current lenses have colors that ID them. EF lenses have a red dot and can be used on full and crop sensor cameras. EF-S lenses are only for crop sensor cameras with small mirrors and have a white dot. The dot is the alignment mark that you line up with the dot on the camera lens mount to attach the lens. The 1D, 5D, 10D, D30, and D60 Canons all have the full-size mirrors and are not usable with the EF-S lenses. Even if they would mount without damaging the mirror there would be major vignetting as the EF-S image circle is designed for the APS-C (crop) sensors and lack sufficient coverage (or are too degraded on the edges) for the larger sensors. For those with the crop sensors and smaller mirrors (all APS-C crop models after the 10D) the EF-S lenses offer a great option as they are often a bit less expensive and often smaller and lighter. For example, my new Tamron EF would mount and work on an XS body but it would be a bit too big and heavy compared to the XS 18-55 EF-S kit lens, the physical dimensions of which are more in line with the diminutive XS body. The EF-S lenses are not for the Canon's 1.3 crop (APS-H) sensor models.

:boring::smoke::boring::beatnik:
 
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I'm not sure if you mean the Tamron 28-75/2.8. I used to own one, and it is considered a bargain lens with great optics in the Canon community. I used it for a couple years before getting a Canon 24-70/2.8L. Although the build quality isn't the greatest on the Tamron, it's optics are excellent.

danj said:
I bought a Tamron 28 - 80 Aspherical and it's much sharper than the Canon lens. Tried it today - over 200 shots - and I'm quite pleased. It will be a good walk-around lens.

I bought it at Focal Point Photography in Dallas, OR. (No affiliation) It's really the only good camera store in the mid-Willamette Valley. We need to support local businesses for if we don't they will all disappear.
Click to expand...
 
trhee said:
I'm not sure if you mean the Tamron 28-75/2.8. I used to own one, and it is considered a bargain lens with great optics in the Canon community. I used it for a couple years before getting a Canon 24-70/2.8L. Although the build quality isn't the greatest on the Tamron, it's optics are excellent.
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your right, there build quality's good, but optics are great, there not
build to the "L" series standard's, but if you need a quality lens that
sharp with great color Tamrons the way to go.:yes:
 
Nah, it's the 28-80 f3.5 Aspherical which makes it a "cheap" lens. It's orders of magnitude better than the Canon 28-80 EF II I had, both optically and in build quality, but nobody would ever mistake it for an L series Canon. Still, for a cheap lens it's great and will do nicely until I can get one of the better Canons or similar lens. It's only problem is that it really needs a lens hood outdoors (I do have one) because the big front element is right out there. (See pic - not my lens but from a retailers website. My lens is the same except for the mount.)
 

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