Canon EOS Lenses - Any Recommendations?

Hey all,

I'm going to be getting a Canon EOS 20D sometime before Christmas rolls around, and I was hoping you all could provide some insight on some decent lenses. I want to be able to do some landscape / city skyline work, reptile / flower close-ups, longer distance zoom types (for when we're up north and see a deer accross the lake and such), and I'd like to be able to use it for family gatherings. I'm looking for a value-priced (not necessarily cheap, but more than $500/lens is out of my range), but I still want to get some decent pics for those 4 basic scenarios. I'm definitely open to getting more than one lens (I'm well aware there is no lens for every situation!)

Any recommendations / ideas?

Brian, I'm shooting a Tamron 28-200 on my rebel. It is a great all purpose lens.

Is that the XR series glass Jeremy or the regular one?

I got a Tamron 28-200 (regular) lens, also. I would rate the quality at medium, but like you say, it's really versatile.

That would still leave you with at least a couple hundred bucks left over. With that money, I would get a high quality wide angle, or close up lens, depending on which you consider more important. Personally, I have found the Tamron performs quite well at longer focal lengths, but not so hot at 28mm.

You can get decent close ups at 200mm, but the depth of field is quite shallow, due to the relatively small objective lens, so you gotta compose those babies carefully.

Between the 2 extremes, it performs quite well, but if you want really good wide angle shots, or really good close ups, you will need another lens.

HAHA I just spell checked this before posting, and the spell checker suggests I use "tampon" instead of "tamron".

Originally Posted by Milwaukee Reptiles

Is that the XR series glass Jeremy or the regular one?

Brian, it is the XR. Not great for everything but good. A very practical first lense.

I'm getting the 18-55mm Canon lens that comes with the camera (unfortunately not the IS USM version, just the regular), so I'll probably end up using that for most of my wider shots. I guess that will also work pretty well around the house for holidays and such. I guess the only other one's I need are a telephoto (any ideas?) and possibly a macro (again, any ideas?)

Thanks for the help so far.

PS. Jeremy - Those pics from when you were at the Milwaukee Zoo... were those shot with that Tamron lens? Think you could send me a few at high res if they were? Thanks.

HA! I finally pulled the trigger. After months and months of talking about it, I finally went ahead and ordered it tonight. $1,389.94 through amazon, plus $100 mail in rebate. I would have ordered through B&H but they're closed for the holiday and I want to get it before I go up north next weekend. Should be fun to play with and get familiar with while I'm up there.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...onics&n=507846

I use a tamron 28-80mm lens for most of my regular photographs, just an all around great affordable lens. I use it in conjunction with a 4x teleconverter.

As coincidence would have it, there is an ebay auction ending in one day for the very same lens and it happens to be a seller I have done business with here in buffalo before! Could not complain.... Was quite happy. The auction says $99 but the bidding is at .99 for some reason, perhaps a typo? Either way I would suggest taking a peek, its for a canon setup too!

http://cgi.ebay.com/99-CANON-28-80-m...QQcmdZViewItem

Here are some photos I have recently taken with the very same lens along with my Nikon D70 and 4x teleconverter:

As for a macro, save up a bit of change and get the Tamron 90mm 1:2.8 Lens w/ 1:1 Macro! Yes, thats what I said, 1:1!!!

And of course use that in conjunction with a 1.4 Teleconverter as I previously suggested

Macro Examples:











(and also a rare glimpse of our black eyed project leo since we're looking at macros....)

Hey all, I just got back from my weekend up in Escanaba, MI (U.P). Here are just three that I took during my first weekend with the camera, most with very little (cropping) or no post-processing (no time yet). Let me know what you think (especially from a technical standpoint). I'm always looking to improve!

All were taken with the Kit 18-55 lens, since that's all I've had the cash for so far.

Overlooking Lake Michigan


My Grandparents looking out over Michgan


Macro-type shot of some plant (I was never good at knowing what they are called), walking along a path by the hotel


And a quick attempt at a panorama shot (put together with PhotoStich, the default canon stuff. Needs work since you can obviously see the seams (especially the middle one), but I think if I had more time it would look pretty decent. It doesn't look half bad when it's 7000 pixels wide