450D Lens Idea

[Atomic]

I need some recomendations for lens. I have 450D with kit lens, Redsnapper tripod, Flipside 300 backpack, 2 4gb memory cards and that's pretty much it.

However, I want to expand my lens collection as I want to do landscape photos and others, but still unsure as what lens.

I need a lens for each category.

1) Landscape photography. So that includes hills, lakes, rivers, trees etc. I've read of the Sigma, Tokina and Tamron sorts of these, but still unsure.

2) City photography and buildings. I need a lens that is very good at this type of photograpy so if I was in a town or city and wanted to take images of buildings.

3) Aircraft photography. I need a lens that is very good at being used at airports and taking images of stationary and moving airccraft such as taxiing, landing and taking off. I have no interest in motor sport or very fast jet attack aircraft.

Also do I need seperate lens for category 1 & 2, or just one lens to do both sorts. I would also like 3 to be beneficial to landscape photography due to the zoom feature.

I have around £500 for per lens.

Thanks for help.

 

[syke]

Tamron 17-50 is fine for a walk about lens/landscape lens. Or if you wanted two dedicated I guess the Tokina 12-24/11-16 or Sigma 10-20 for the Landscape, and the Tamron for the Buildings. Not sure what lens for Aircraft, does depend on what kind of zoom you want, i'd say the Sigma 70-200 f2.8, to put one in the ballpark though.

 

[cokebottles]

Ok... I have some suggestions:

For 1 and 2, you could pick up a Sigma 10-20mm or a Canon 10-22mm. The Sigma should easily be available for £350, the Canon is likely to be a couple hundred pound more.

I have a 450D and owned the Sigma, and have used the Canon on numerous occaisions, there is not that much in it. Overall most aspects of the Canon are slightly better; sharpness, contrast, distortion. In my opinion the difference is marginal. I would buy the Sigma again without hesitation, however upon purchasing, I would advise taking some test shots on a tripod to confirm it's sharpness - Sigma have had a few quality control issues in the past.

For 3) the lens you choose would end up being dictated by how close you are managing to get to these aircraft. For a budget of £500 a safe bet would be the Canon 70-300m IS. If you buy just the Sigma as the "first two" lenses you could save £650 which might increase your budget for the third lens. You could then look at a Canon 70-200mm L F4 /F4 IS/F2.8. You would compromise on focal length, but gain in image quality, and if you can afford a F2.8 variant you are gaining in light gathering ability too. The 70-200mm Ls are great additions to any camera bag, and you'll undoubtedly find a use for them while out shooting landscapes and wandering cities too!

 

[griffo_001]

Another idea for lens 1/2 is the Canon 17-40 f4 L [~£500-550 online]- I've got one along with the Sigma 10-20 and use the 17-40 SO much more [I think my Sig does have some quality control issues] To my eye the L lens seems much sharper, and also has the advantage of being weather resistant [I don't think its completely water proof, but I could be wrong] which would no doubt be useful in the UK .

The 70-300 IS isn't a bad idea either, but the non-IS 70-200 f4 isn't much more [I got my for a steal last christmas - £412 from a high street store ]

 

[martinturner]

I'm not so sure you need quite as wide an angle for landscapes; I rarely use a 10-20, when I did I would opt to generally go with 20mm but then have to swap a lens to something less wide. Having said that it can be great fun for having fun bending angles with architecture. Although personally, I would go for a Tamron 17-50 (which is what I use all the time); for me its amply wide but gives some versatility as you can go to 50mm. I have used it for architectural type shots when I visited London a few months ago and it handled really well in low light. (don't buy the new one though as it gets poo reviews, I have the slightly older one - its the one without Tamron's IS equivalent).

Aircraft Photography; I would be inclined to go with the ones recommended, cannot really offer any advice.

 

[Atomic]

Another idea for lens 1/2 is the Canon 17-40 f4 L [~£500-550 online]- I've got one along with the Sigma 10-20 and use the 17-40 SO much more [I think my Sig does have some quality control issues] To my eye the L lens seems much sharper, and also has the advantage of being weather resistant [I don't think its completely water proof, but I could be wrong] which would no doubt be useful in the UK .

The 70-300 IS isn't a bad idea either, but the non-IS 70-200 f4 isn't much more [I got my for a steal last christmas - £412 from a high street store ]

Since I will only use the telephoto sort of lens on a tripod then I suppose not having IS is not that big of a a deal, as the lens & camera will always be on tripod.

I think I'm going to go with Canon 10-20 for the landscape and city photography. Then watch the prices with the telephoto lens and when a good deal comes up I will further excel my interest in that area.

 

[TangoUK]

Sigma 17-70 for the first two and Canon 70-200 F4L for the aircraft,thats what i use the most now

canon 70-200 F4L

Sigma 17-70