Spec me a general purpose lens

Funky-Melon · 16 Jul 2018 at 10:44

Hi all,

Thinking of getting a 'walk around' lens to avoid taking all of my lenses out with me every time I go somewhere. I have a 60D and it still produces some pretty nice shots, so I think I'm going to stick with it for now (was researching mirrorless but too expensive for me at the moment). Would much rather grab the camera with one lens that's usable most of the time for just general shooting.

List of current gear:
Canon EF 70-200mm
Canon EF-S 10-18mm
Canon EF 40mm
Canon EF-S 18-55
Canon EF 100mm macro

Budget - £500ish

So far I've found:
- Tamron 18-200 mm DiII VC, though on a crop it's not going to be too wide
- Canon EF-S 18-135 mm
- Canon EF-S 17-85mm though this has got very mixed reviews

I shoot mostly landscape with a fair bit of just general 'out and about' stuff on weekends so anything that's reasonably wide with a fair bit of reach would be ideal.

At £500 I know there will be compromises, sharpness is the main thing I'm after though as the rest you can mostly fix in post processing.

Thanks
Funky

EDIT - Happy to sell some of the current lenses to fund a better one if need be.

i know nothing · 16 Jul 2018 at 11:36

Is the Sigma 17-50 f2.8 any good on Canon? I ask as it's supposed to be a great choice for a Nikon APS-C camera (although I wasn't impressed with it). Maybe worth a look for Canon? Certainly well within budget. They also do a 17-70mm f/2.8-4 as well, which I have no idea how good it is, also within budget.

Schizo · 16 Jul 2018 at 13:55

I have some great lens now and my next walkabout lens is the canon L 17-40 F4,sharp as a tack on F4 and a great lens to walk around with.

There is also the 24-70 which i use a lot on walk abouts.

Admiral Huddy · 16 Jul 2018 at 14:28

Tamron 18‑270mm f3.5‑6.3 Di II VC PZD : RRP - £319 approx

Whilst it might not be the best optically, it's focal range will give you some leniency and flexibility if your travel around with out having to carry and change lenses.. With VC as well and 5 year warranty it's a snip on £300.. You get them second hand A+ condition for under £160.

edit.. I've just noticed they also do a
Tamron 18‑400mm f3.5‑6.3 Di II VC HLD that's only 1/3 stop higher than the 100-400 EF IS II USM

review:
https://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/tamron_18_400mm_f3_5_6_3_di_ii_vc_hld_review/

Funky-Melon · 16 Jul 2018 at 16:28

Thanks guys, I like the look of the Tamron.

The problem with the Canon 17-40, is on a crop sensor it's not going to be particularly wide.

Does anyone have any experience with the Canon EF-S 15-85mm? Nice range on it and there are a few of them around second hand for not a lot.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-EF-S15-85IS-3-5-5-6-USM-Lens/dp/B002NEFLDM

Schizo · 16 Jul 2018 at 16:51

I have a crop sensor camera (canon 750d) and find all my lens perfect,just walk back a few steps to get the shot you need or move forward.

EsaT · 16 Jul 2018 at 20:58

Funky-Melon said:
Would much rather grab the camera with one lens that's usable most of the time for just general shooting.

So far I've found:
- Tamron 18-200 mm DiII VC, though on a crop it's not going to be too wide
- Canon EF-S 18-135 mm
- Canon EF-S 17-85mm though this has got very mixed reviews

I shoot mostly landscape with a fair bit of just general 'out and about' stuff on weekends so anything that's reasonably wide with a fair bit of reach would be ideal.

Not to mention how easy it's to increase weight of camera bag to level where hauling camera feels like work instead of fun spare time...

All those are really at same level in wide angle, if you have tendency to switch to super wide zoom regularly:

Funky-Melon said:
The problem with the Canon 17-40, is on a crop sensor it's not going to be particularly wide.

Does anyone have any experience with the Canon EF-S 15-85mm? Nice range on it and there are a few of them around second hand for not a lot.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-EF-S15-85IS-3-5-5-6-USM-Lens/dp/B002NEFLDM

Seems to be very decent lens for its type:
http://www.opticallimits.com/canon-eos/465-canon_1585_3556is?start=2
https://www.imaging-resource.com/lenses/canon/ef-s-15-85mm-f3.5-5.6-is-usm/review/
https://www.lenstip.com/220.11-Lens_review-Canon_EF-S_15-85_mm_f_3.5-5.6_IS_USM_Summary.html
And would give that wide end for landscapes/sceneries.

Myself used 28-300mm field of view giving lens as main lens for seven years and while loosing some tele 24-200mm FOV is nice for landscapes/sceneries.
(weather sealing also improvement with risk of some rain in storm chasing... one other storm chaser managed to turn AF lens to MF lens in that hobby)

Schizo said:
I have a crop sensor camera (canon 750d) and find all my lens perfect, just walk back a few steps to get the shot you need or move forward.

Foot zoom works well for small things like people etc.
With landscapes/nature it's usually lot harder...

Funky-Melon · 16 Jul 2018 at 21:12

Well, that turned out well...

I was chatting to my Dad earlier on asking what lenses he has, he has a 100D and started out in photography about 2 years ago, he also has among a few of his other lenses (unknown to me) a 15-85mm that he picked up second hand a while back which he said I could have....As he's just today picked up a Sony A7 III with 28-70mm kit lens.

I'm not going to say no to a free lens, he's obviously smitten with his new toy, very grateful

Will report back when I pick it up

On a side note, what's a sensible upgrade from a 60D these days? The 70D looked like a pretty minor bump in specs compared to the 60D and the 80D seems very expensive for what it is? If it's that much better I could sell the 60D and my 600D with one of my kit lenses and it'll make the upgrade a little less painful.

sHo0sH · 17 Jul 2018 at 07:32

I personally would have gone with the original canon 24-70L - it's an incredible lens.

RE upgrade from 60D - Canon's system is ranked by the number of 0's after the initial number, the less 0's the better the camera. So anything with a higher initial number and less 0's

MichaelAwkward · 17 Jul 2018 at 13:23

24-70 L is not well suited to a crop body. It's range is all wrong and it's unnecassarily big/heavy.

I was going to suggest the 15-85. It's a great all purpose lens for cropped cameras. For free, you're laughing!

Personally I don't think it'd be worth upgrading your 60D until you know specifically why. Worth checking with MPB or Wex what kind of trade in value they'd give you for both the 60D and 600D though.

Admiral Huddy · 17 Jul 2018 at 13:42

I still think the Tamron 18‑270mm is a good choice given your criteria.

Funky-Melon · 17 Jul 2018 at 14:46

MichaelAwkward said:
Personally I don't think it'd be worth upgrading your 60D until you know specifically why.

2 reasons really, I'd like more focus points, the 9 I have on the 60D are a bit limiting sometimes, things have moved on quite a bit in that area.

Secondly for better low light performance, I know full frame is the way to go on that, I'm not sure if any crop sensor will be much better. I borrowed a 6D from a friend at work and that really impressed me, was expensive at the time now.

Third reason is it's just nice to have a new camera, even when you know you don't need one

MichaelAwkward · 17 Jul 2018 at 14:49

The newer crop Canon bodies are better in those regards, so it depends how much trade in you could get to go towards an 80D (even a used one if you're happy with that).

Donnie Fisher · 29 Jul 2018 at 23:34

Regarding an upgrade to the dslr side:

I just traded my 6D full frame for an 80D via mbp.com Painless simple process really.

Went for the 80D because of the video features and the dual pixel autofocus. Although the 6D images were lovely ( really, really lovely) , the lack of focus points and tracking + video was really limiting and I am wanting to get more from that side of things at the moment. The 80D won out over the 6D mk2, and 7D because:

7D - no touch screen - really helps for the vids I take.
6D mk2 - much smaller area of autofocus - which I would have found limiting like the 6D ( i shoot a fair amount of moving subjects )

So far, I'm very happy with the upgrade. 80D has a large, fast working autofocus. Dual pixel vid focus is awesome too. Pic quality I have no complaints about ( although i think at hte moment, the 6D edges it on stills )

Funky-Melon · 30 Jul 2018 at 18:53

Interesting you mention that.

I borrowed a friends 6D a year or so back and was amazed at the image quality and how well it handled high ISO levels. I would have thought the 80D would have been an upgrade in everything except image quality? It's still pretty untouchable when it comes to ISO levels.

I popped over to my parents yesterday and picked up the 15-85 - Looks very nice on the camera. I'm off from work this week so will be heading down to the Jurassic coast tomorrow to have a play with it and see how good it is.

I also had a play on my Dads A7 III while I was there, loved the image quality, very impressive, not a fan of the rest of it though. I'm sure it's just getting used to it but nothing for me comes close to the layout of a DSLR for quickly changing ISO/aperature/shutter speed while looking through the viewfinder. The Sony just felt unbalanced and a pain to hold with the Sony 24-240mm lens on it, big heavy lens and a tiny grip on the camera - Couldn't use it for a long period of time.

I struggle to see the point in mirrorless overall, you still need a bag, you still need lenses and it doesn't save much on weight....Maybe I'm missing the point?

MichaelAwkward · 30 Jul 2018 at 19:31

Main advantage of mirrorless is WYSIWYG, or what you see is what you get, so no more chimping.

A 24-240mm lens on any camera is going to feel unbalanced.

Raymond Lin · 31 Jul 2018 at 00:53

Funky-Melon said:
Interesting you mention that.

I borrowed a friends 6D a year or so back and was amazed at the image quality and how well it handled high ISO levels. I would have thought the 80D would have been an upgrade in everything except image quality? It's still pretty untouchable when it comes to ISO levels.

I popped over to my parents yesterday and picked up the 15-85 - Looks very nice on the camera. I'm off from work this week so will be heading down to the Jurassic coast tomorrow to have a play with it and see how good it is.

I also had a play on my Dads A7 III while I was there, loved the image quality, very impressive, not a fan of the rest of it though. I'm sure it's just getting used to it but nothing for me comes close to the layout of a DSLR for quickly changing ISO/aperature/shutter speed while looking through the viewfinder. The Sony just felt unbalanced and a pain to hold with the Sony 24-240mm lens on it, big heavy lens and a tiny grip on the camera - Couldn't use it for a long period of time.

I struggle to see the point in mirrorless overall, you still need a bag, you still need lenses and it doesn't save much on weight....Maybe I'm missing the point?

I can change most settings without looking at the 5D4, and everything without taking my face away from the OVF. I find myself having to pause more to change settings with the A73.

The IQ though is very good.

D.P. · 31 Jul 2018 at 07:12

MichaelAwkward said:
Main advantage of mirrorless is WYSIWYG, or what you see is what you get, so no more chimping.

A 24-240mm lens on any camera is going to feel unbalanced.

But you don't really because the EVF has far lower resolution and dynamic range so you neither get to see the real world in as much detail or see what the sensor is actually capable of collecting.
While EVFs have some advantages, they also have more disadvantages at this stage. And this WYSIWYG is obviously non-existent for sports or BiF work where getting critical focus is key but you can never know that through EVF.

And if you are chimping a lot you need to be working on your photographic skills rather than worrying about gear. As long as you know what you are doing, understand exposure and have a camera you can trust there is no need to chimp. No one chimped in the film era, and back then you had to be much more careful over exposure.

The main advantage for Mirrorless camera is not for consumers but manufacturers. They are much easier and cheaper to make. Mechanical mirrors that last 400K actuation and can flip at 12FPS are extremely complex and expensive, without anyway to lower costs. An EVF is much simpler, and in time the cost will reduce. The biggest advantage to consumers is the higher speed for sports. The lack of mirror slap is a potential big gain but then new DSLR are very good in this respect, e.g. the D850 is pretty flawless in that regard. And mirrorslap has been replaced by shutter slap that has plagued many Sony A models.