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Which lens

theNude

theNude

theNude

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Joined
10 May 2006
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2,334
Howdy,

I have a 450D which i have had for about 6 months or so and i have the 18-55 IS kit lens and a Tamron 70-300 zoom lens.

I paid about £100 for the tamron and the canon lens came with the body for about £500.

I just dont think i am getting the quality i expect the camera to perform with, i have spent a lot of time with the settings and its never as good as many pictures posted on here. I want to sell both lenses and get a good inbetweener such as CANON EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM there is one for sale for £289 brand new.

How much can i sell my other lenses for? and also is this a good lens? i mostly take pictures of buildings, people and static objects. maybe one day some motor sports pics but i know i will need a good zoom lens for those.

thanks

Dude.
 
What is wrong with the quality of the photos your getting currently? Can you post some?

If your wanting a better quality lens the 17-85 won't be much different to the kit lens you already have. For better quality look for a f/2.8 lens with the range you want. Good quality lenses are more expensive as you'd expect.

If your taking photos of buildings, people and objects then the 17-85 is prop the range you looking for. These are good quality lenses within that range:

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

They cost a lot more than the one you were looking at though. If your wanting quality it comes at a cost I'm afraid.
 
I got the 17-85 as a kit with my 40D, had I tried it before buying I would have saved my money. Its only marginly better than the 18-55. If you dont want to spend too much, your best bet is to have a look at the Tamron 17-50 and the Sigma 18-70
 
The 17-85mm is indeed pretty soft. You might want to consider the very sharp Canon 50mm f1.8 just to check it's your glass and not the camera giving soft photos.

Remember that if you shoot RAW, no in-camera sharpening is done unlike JPEGs...
 
Howdy,

Thanks for the information, i will save my money and get a better lens. what are the nifty fifties like as a general use camera?

I am shooting in RAW a lot as i use the Manual function, i guess i can change the output mode as at the moment i cant find my key for lightroom so i am just looking at unedited raw's which look pretty crap. i will have a go with the settings, anyone got a picture taken with there 450d kit lens for comparasion? un touched up would be awesome.

will upload some pics soon.

dude.
 
theDude said:
Howdy,

Thanks for the information, i will save my money and get a better lens. what are the nifty fifties like as a general use camera?

I am shooting in RAW a lot as i use the Manual function, i guess i can change the output mode as at the moment i cant find my key for lightroom so i am just looking at unedited raw's which look pretty crap. i will have a go with the settings, anyone got a picture taken with there 450d kit lens for comparasion? un touched up would be awesome.

will upload some pics soon.

dude.
Click to expand...

Using a manuel function might be the reason why your getting your 'soft' shots. You need to have the lens on fully auto and then use one of the more advace modes like TV or Av.

If you use manual it must because your familar with the settings but if you don't know what to expect from the nifty fifty then i think you should look over your settings.

Post some samples and we can tell you if its your equipment or you:)
 
theDude said:
Howdy,

Thanks for the information, i will save my money and get a better lens. what are the nifty fifties like as a general use camera?

I am shooting in RAW a lot as i use the Manual function, i guess i can change the output mode as at the moment i cant find my key for lightroom so i am just looking at unedited raw's which look pretty crap. i will have a go with the settings, anyone got a picture taken with there 450d kit lens for comparasion? un touched up would be awesome.

will upload some pics soon.

dude.
Click to expand...

Maybe look at this post for the nifty fifty ability as a lens

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17933014&highlight=nifty
 
Rather than manual function, Shutter or aperture priority is a lot easier to take better shots with. Manual requires a lot more effort for general use and if your in varying lighting conditions (ie. not in a studio/taking loads of pictures of the same thing) it means you won't get good exposures on your photos. Maybe that's why your struggling?
 
Schizophonic said:
Using a manuel function might be the reason why your getting your 'soft' shots. You need to have the lens on fully auto and then use one of the more advace modes like TV or Av.

If you use manual it must because your familar with the settings but if you don't know what to expect from the nifty fifty then i think you should look over your settings.

Post some samples and we can tell you if its your equipment or you:)
Click to expand...

lol i was a minute too slow!
 
I have a 400d and have recently bought the nifty and a tamron 17-50 2.8

Both have dramatically improved my results over the kit lens. The 50 is worth grabbing as it's amazing value and you should immediately see benefits.
 
theDude said:
so i am just looking at unedited raw's which look pretty crap.
Click to expand...
That's your main problem.

Either get yourself sorted out with something to properly manipulate the RAWs or go back to shooting JPGs. Straight out of the camera RAW files will look pretty naff regardless of what kit you're using.
 
Another tamron 17-50 f2.8 user here, MUCH better than the kitlens with the bonus of 2.8 for the indoor stuff. I've only ever used jpegs from my camera, still not got anything to process RAW.
 
I would also recommend getting cannons fixed 50mm 1.8 in addition to your other lens, its dirt cheap, small and light enough to always have on you and gives great results. I use mine mainly for portraits (works out around 80mm).
 
If you want to have a go at editing raw you can always use the Canon DPP software. I found it was quite good to start off. Also have a look at this free opensource raw editor:
http://www.rawtherapee.com/
For lenses if you want a nice zoom try the Sigma 24-70 F2.8. Not quite in the same league as the Canon equivelant but also a lot cheaper! Be aware though that Sigma quality can vary a bit from lens to lens.
I bought this, along with a Canon 17-40 F4 to replace the kit lens once I felt I could not get better out of it -not that it a bad lens. certainly not as bad as some articles suggest.

Andrew
 
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