Canon Go-To Lens

[kred]

Hey guys,
Bought a Canon T2i back in October and have had much time expanding my photography skills with this great camera. Coming with the stock kit 18-55mm lens I feel like my skills are exceeding what this lens is capable of and need something more. I like the idea of a zoom but lust for a great prime. I know of the cheap but useful 50mm 1.8 but am wanting something of more quality. An L lens seems to be out of the money range right now.
So for my question..can any of you guys recommend a great go-to prime lens? or should I invest in a good overall (non-L for price) lens to expand my skills?

Thanks

[FStop7]

50 1.4 and 85 1.8

[RuthlessE90]

Originally Posted by FStop7

50 1.4 and 85 1.8

[SS e93]

I hear nothing but great things about the 15-85mm, but for prime check out the sigma 30 or 50.

[M_Six]

Go wide. The 10-22mm is awesome. You won't want to take it off your camera.

The 35mm f2 is also sweet if you can deal with its noisy autofocus. Mine mostly focuses in a half second, so I don't even notice the noise much.

The 85mm f1.8 gets rave reviews, but make sure you'll like that focal range. It's quite a bit narrower than your kit lens at full zoom.

Keep an eye on the refurb section of the Canon site. And check Craigslist daily. I've picked up two nice lenses (the 50mm f1.4 and my 10-22mm) off Craigslist for well under the Amazon price.

[Litos]

Originally Posted by kred

Hey guys,
Bought a Canon T2i back in October and have had much time expanding my photography skills with this great camera. Coming with the stock kit 18-55mm lens I feel like my skills are exceeding what this lens is capable of and need something more. I like the idea of a zoom but lust for a great prime. I know of the cheap but useful 50mm 1.8 but am wanting something of more quality. An L lens seems to be out of the money range right now.
So for my question..can any of you guys recommend a great go-to prime lens? or should I invest in a good overall (non-L for price) lens to expand my skills?

Thanks

i think every person that's ever thought about owning a camera has a 50MM 1.8

get an 85MM L

[kred]

Originally Posted by Litos

i think every person that's ever thought about owning a camera has a 50MM 1.8

get an 85MM L

HAHA okay let me take out a loan real quick!

[vachss]

"Go to" for what? Primes by their very nature tend to excel in specific applications while zooms are more general purpose.

Want shallow depth of field portraits then go with a 50 or 85mm lens . Want to shoot scenic vistas or urban spaces, try a 20/2.8 or 35/2.

But if you just want higher quality and don't want to make up your mind, cough up the bucks for a 17-55/2.8IS. Everyone with a crop body Canon seems to love the damn thing.

[Chewy734]

Kred, out of curiosity, what are you missing with your current lens that you wish you had?

[kred]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

Kred, out of curiosity, what are you missing with your current lens that you wish you had?

it's a kit lens..

[khaye1]

^^^ haha...the more appropriate question would be, what are you into as far as photography? Do you like cars, portraits, architecture, nature etc? I'd say just get the 50 f1.8 for now...it's $80. Then when you get your L you can sell the nifty for $80

[leemik]

what do you shoot? 85mm is pretty long for a T2i

I think the Sigma 30mm f1.4 would be good for your FOV (48mm).. not too wide and not too long.. and very fast so it's flexible.. The Sigma won't break the bank either and gets good reviews.

[The1]

anything you spend money on will be better then that kit lens. I have it out for that lens, i don't know why canon still produces it and puts it in kits.

it's abilities are good when combined with a 10 or less megapixel camera, but anything above that and you start getting muted unsharp photos. So the sooner that lens is out of your camera bag the better.

go to a store, use it as trade in value for either a 50 1.8 or 1.4. The problem with the 50 1.8 is that anything over about 50' away is going to get out of focus quickly, but anything closer then 50' is going to be incredible looking and have great color and sharpness. I can't speak for the 50 1.4, but it supposedly has nicer build quality.

My first non kit lens, and still one of my favorite non L lenses that i've played with (my friend now has it and uses it all the time when he isn't using his wide angle) is the 17-85mm The only real drawback in my opinion is that it's a slower lens, so you don't get as much background blur with it, and if you want stop action, it has to be a bright sunny day.

however, that's where the 17-55/2.8 IS vachss recommended. Yes, you already have that range of zoom on your kit lens, but it's a lot better quality, and has an f2.8, which is a common aperture opening on many of the L series lenses providing great background blur. this lens is more suitable for indoor and outdoor use combined as a result. The difference you'll see when shooting indoors with something like in the range of F1.4 - F2.8 will be incredible in it's ease of use.

any way you go, i think a great starting point is using that kit lens as trade for something as a replacement for it. If you replaced with a prime lens, you're gong to be stuck without a zoom capability, so it would only be a matter of time before you're back in here asking.

So I'd probably go find a used 17-85 4-5.6 or 17-55 2.8 (which the 2.8 will probably be the most logical choice as you're used to that focal range already, but add more abilities to the lens)

good luck, let us know how the decisions go.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by kred

it's a kit lens..

I think that you should keep your money in your pocket until you come up with a better answer.

You're asking us to shoot in the dark here. Look around at Flickr, Photo.net and other sites to see what kind of shots that you want to make that you can't, then ask the question again, more specifically.

Dave

[The1]

Originally Posted by dcstep

I think that you should keep your money in your pocket until you come up with a better answer.

You're asking us to shoot in the dark here. Look around at Flickr, Photo.net and other sites to see what kind of shots that you want to make that you can't, then ask the question again, more specifically.

Dave

this^^^

and if you are unsure, provide a link to a picture or two, and a lot of us here will know how to pull information out of the pictures to tell you what equipment people are using.

[dcstep]

I looked at you pix of the GT3 RS.

Concentrate on getting good images, like with the car coming at you, the sun behind you and then crop down to frame the car properly. You've got plenty of pixels in that camera to crop. (I've got the same sensor in my 7D and crop the living crap out of some of my bird images).

Don't use over-staturation to make an image pop. Concentrate on sharp focus and correct exposure instead. Later, if you still want to mess with saturation, you can, but don't use it as a crutch to make your image interesting.

Shoot in RAW and control the camera either manually or in aperture or shutter priority.

Once you start getting images that are sharp, detailed and pleasing to look at, then you may need a new lens. If you're going to shoot cars, then I think that a 70-200mm f/4 is a stupendous lens. You can stick a 1.4x TC on it an comver a tremendous range. If you could find a used L-series, it'd blow you away with the IQ.

Dave

[kred]

Originally Posted by dcstep

I think that you should keep your money in your pocket until you come up with a better answer.

You're asking us to shoot in the dark here. Look around at Flickr, Photo.net and other sites to see what kind of shots that you want to make that you can't, then ask the question again, more specifically.

Dave

first of all let me say thanks for everyones input so far. i've found some great sub-500 lenses that i am looking at now. the sigma 30 1.4 looks like a great addition with my crop sensor in the t2i which comes out to about 48mm afterwards.

but yes i've searched around quite a bit actually on flickr and bhphoto user reviews. what you seem to forget is when you first started shooting..did you start with a kit lens as well? you can only do so much with a kit lens (not just because of quality) and need different types of glass in your bag to broaden your horizon and shooting abilities. there are certain shots i would love to take but can't because of the limitations of the kit lens. i feel that even tho prime lenses may be limited, they are better in quality and more often than not take better pictures than the zoom lenses. if needed, i am willing to shell out another $500 for something 85mm or higher to open up photography that much more than just a 35mm i am looking at purchasing.

so dcstep, the question wasn't about a certain type of photography but something that YOU and everyone else on here goes to more often than other glass from their own bags. i realize the answers can be very broad but this is all a learning process. i get to see what lenses people suggest then go on flickr and see what types of shots people make from them. if i find that these are the types of shots i would like doing then maybe i will pull the trigger and make my purchase for my first post-kit lens glass.

[Litos]

you looking for a walk-around lens !?!?

something you keep on your camera 90% of the time !?!?

i'm not big or knowledgable on the T2i, but get something similar to what Nikon has - the 18-200VR

18-200VR is not a professional lens by any means and it's not very fast, but somehow it manages to make great shots. pretty expensive at $750, but you probably won't ever need another lens.

my poor 18-200VR stays locked up in the cupboard now that i have my other high end lenses, but CHRIST it took some great pictures with my D40, D200 and D300.....

[kred]

Originally Posted by dcstep

I looked at you pix of the GT3 RS.

Concentrate on getting good images, like with the car coming at you, the sun behind you and then crop down to frame the car properly. You've got plenty of pixels in that camera to crop. (I've got the same sensor in my 7D and crop the living crap out of some of my bird images).

Don't use over-staturation to make an image pop. Concentrate on sharp focus and correct exposure instead. Later, if you still want to mess with saturation, you can, but don't use it as a crutch to make your image interesting.

Shoot in RAW and control the camera either manually or in aperture or shutter priority.

Once you start getting images that are sharp, detailed and pleasing to look at, then you may need a new lens. If you're going to shoot cars, then I think that a 70-200mm f/4 is a stupendous lens. You can stick a 1.4x TC on it an comver a tremendous range. If you could find a used L-series, it'd blow you away with the IQ.

Dave

once again, that photo i edited was just something for fun. it was the first time i ever edited a photo like that.

[dcstep]

My go-to lens for street, travel and general photography is a 24-105mm f/4, for cars, portraits and mammals, it's the 70-200mm f/4, for birds it's the 500mm f/4. The 24-105mm is on a full-frame sensor and the 70-200mm usually is, but can wind up on the crop-sensor.

I only jones for something wider at the wide end and some lighter at the super-tele end.

Your problem isn't your "kit" lens, however. You're not using it to its full capacity yet, at least from the small sample I've seen.

Dave

[The1]

Originally Posted by dcstep

My go-to lens for street, travel and general photography is a 24-105mm f/4, for cars, portraits and mammals, it's the 70-200mm f/4, for birds it's the 500mm f/4. The 24-105mm is on a full-frame sensor and the 70-200mm usually is, but can wind up on the crop-sensor.

I only jones for something wider at the wide end and some lighter at the super-tele end.

Your problem isn't your "kit" lens, however. You're not using it to its full capacity yet, at least from the small sample I've seen.

Dave

as for it's full capacity, it's maxed out on anything over 10-12 megapixels, however, if by capacity, you mean the shooters abilities, that's a different story.

I've had experience with that same kit lens and it almost put me off photography altogether.

Once i replaced it with something similar, everything changed, I went from throwing out about 60% of my pictures to throwing out maybe 20% after getting rid of it. it's a nightmare.

this is why i buy body only, i will never touch another kit lens again.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by kred

once again, that photo i edited was just something for fun. it was the first time i ever edited a photo like that.

You're not listening.

There are a few pros here, but most of us do photography for fun. If your objective is to make good images, then you need to be self-critical and set goals for yourself. Seek honest criticism from more experienced photographers and strive for continuous improvement.

You're on a path, but you're only at the beginning. You said it about your editing, but it applies to everything that you do. Next time, grab the Crop tool, not the Saturation slider.

Why don't you reprocess the best of your GT3 images, but by cropping, getting contrast and color right and give us something stronger? Right now, you could buy a 50/1.8 and take just as bad an image as you do with your "kit" lens.

If you must buy a new lens, then cover some new territory, like a 70-200mm.

Dave