So many lenses, so little time...

[peanutismint]

Hi all. I have had my Canon EOS 550D for about three years now; I'm a relative amateur. Bought it with the kit 18-55mm and then bought a 70-300mm last year which is great for wildlife shots when out exploring etc. I'm a bit sick of having to constantly swap lenses when just out sightseeing etc so thinking of swapping lenses.*

I noticed Tamron do an 18-270mm which might be the best of both worlds for me; a decent 'coverall' anyway, so was thinking about getting one of those (I know I probably wouldn't get much at all for my 18-55 but have a friend who bought her EOS with a fixed 50mm so she might buy this one off me...).

Apart from that, I was thinking about getting a second lens for portraits/indoor shooting (so ideally something pretty wide with a decent aperture - around f/1.4?). I'm just trying to figure out which factor is most important to me - for example, do I get a Sigma 10-20mm that only goes down to like f/4.0, or go for a standard Canon 50mm that goes down to f/1.4? (no way could I afford the f/1.2s!! )? OR, is there a lens that somehow achieves both requirements? I've seen Sigma do a 30mm f/1.4 which is slightly wider than Canon's 50mm I guess....

Anyone got any suggestions?? Or objections as to why my current plans are ill-informed?!

 

[ElDude]

I've read varying reports on the Sigma 30mm but the Sigma 50mm 1.4 I own is awesome. To be honest, I'd keep that 18-55 as you won't get much for it, and it could come in handy. Most people recommend the 10-20 wide angle, but it's pretty useless as a walk around lens, as you're limited to what you can do.

Long story short is that you won't get a lens that covers an entire range you want, for a cheap price that is as good as the lenses you have. Maybe around the same, but not an improvement. When it comes to DSLRs you will always be looking at using 2-3 lenses.

I use the Sigma 12-24 and 50mm1.4, the Canon 70-200F4L and 100mm 2.8L macro. That way I've got it pretty much covered. Ideally though I'd like the 24-70 as it's a great walk around lens, but the new one is £2300

 

[peanutismint]

tell me about it! It's not a cheap hobby! Ok, good advice re. the 30mm Sigma. I had heard that a decent compromise to that might be the Canon 28mm which, although it only goes down to f/1.8 rather than f/1.4, I probably wouldn't notice much difference (coming from the 18-55mm which only goes down to f/3.5....), and it's cheaper!!