# New dslr user and need help on differant lenses



## no1chunk (Nov 18, 2012)

As tittle says i have just recently purchased a nice canon d700 dslr camera and i have the standard 18mm to 55m lens but i would like a longer lens, now this is where im getting lost i dont know what lens to go for or what i am even looking at. Pics i want to take are when my baby is born i would like to take our own photos and when we go on holidays and just general landscape when we are out and about any info for a newb is appreciated.


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## cossiecol (Jun 29, 2014)

All depends on your budget mate, Take a look at Tamron lenses, I really like mine and for the price it's hard to fault.

Ideally something like 18-55 f2.8 would be good and a good flash would be a start, you could also opt for the 35m f1.2 (i think). Canon L lenses would be the weapon of choice but out of reach price wise for many.

But i'm no pro so others would be able to give you better advice.


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## bigalc (Aug 7, 2014)

Your standard kit lens is a good lens but for portraits, especially baby pics i can highly recommend Canon's 50mm f1.8 stm lens which costs about £97...with it having an aperature of 1.8 it lets more light in and helps you get pics in low light with no flash and it is pin sharp.
The lens i use for holidays etc is the Canon 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 is usm, wide enough for landscapes and suitable for zooming in for people shots.
Depending on budget look at 70-200mm amd 70-300mm lenses.
WEX do some good deals on 2nd hand lenses and grade them according to condition.


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## TheNissanMan (Aug 27, 2016)

The 50mm is superb for the price although the 85 would be better suited for portraits, a cheaper way of getting an L lense if you don't mind being fixed to a prime lenses would be the 200 2.8 although the 70-200 f4 would give you more flexibility and is a cracking lens for the price. Best advice would be buy right first time if your planning on sticking with it


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## bigalc (Aug 7, 2014)

TheNissanMan said:


> The 50mm is superb for the price although the 85 would be better suited for portraits, a cheaper way of getting an L lense if you don't mind being fixed to a prime lenses would be the 200 2.8 although the 70-200 f4 would give you more flexibility and is a cracking lens for the price. Best advice would be buy right first time if your planning on sticking with it


Quite right about the 85mm lens, I mentioned the 50mm due to superb image quality for the price and on a canon crop sensor i think it is approx 80mm.
The 85mm would be more expensive.
I also agree about the quality of prime lenses, I have the 100mm f2.8 L lens and it is superb and also use the 300mm f4 L for wildlife images.
Much prefer fixed focal length lenses for quality.
70-200 f4 does produce stunning images.
It's all down to budget. no 1 chunk


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## rob28 (Nov 7, 2008)

The 18-55mm you have now will do for landscape stuff. You don't need a big aperture for that so a kit lens is fine to start with.
For portraits, to make the baby really stand out you will be better off with a big aperture. The 50mm f/1.8 is an awesome lens (as mentioned above) and will give you some great pictures. 85mm is another common length for portraits. I'd recommend trying the 18-55mm at 50mm and see how you find that. From there you can decide if you want to go longer.
Canon 'L' glass is their top line stuff - and the prices can reflect it. For a newbie, I'd stay away from it until you know if it's something you're seriously going to get into. The new range of Canon STM (stepper motor) lenses seem to get very good reviews.

For a long lens there are lots of choices, again from cheap to very expensive. How much you want to spend and how much use you will get out of it are deciding factors here. I started out with a 70-300mm Tamron kit lens which was OK and did the job for holiday snapshots - but nothing special. Focus was slow and it was nowhere near as sharp as friends were getting. Plus it eventually failed on me...... I now have a Canon 100-400mm L lens as I shoot a lot of birds and wildlife but it took me a long time to work up to 'needing' that lens.


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## no1chunk (Nov 18, 2012)

Thanks guys for your replys the 50mm lens that a couple of you have suggested sounds good would have a link for me to have a look at please. The real reason of buyi g the camera is for baby pics the wife wanted a photographer and they were coming up expensive and it was cheaper to buy the camera and take as many as we want to, im no pro but my pictures aint to bad for a amatuer just need to do some playing around shots. Thanks again for your replies its much appreciated.


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## rob28 (Nov 7, 2008)

http://www.canon.co.uk/lenses/ef-50mm-f-1-8-stm-lens/


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## TheNissanMan (Aug 27, 2016)

If you look st the camera price buster website you'll always get the cheapest prices


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## bigalc (Aug 7, 2014)

Bought mine from here last week, cheapest in uk and free next day delivery
Wilkinson cameras ebay shop

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262634419334


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## JoeyJoeJo (Jan 3, 2014)

My 2p....

Your 18-55 is a solid all rounder, be cautious about going for a zoom that's slightly longer for extra reach that also cuts you off at the bottom end.
A 24-120 for example is nice at the long end but will frequently leave you wanting wider at the bottom end. And it's not just about landscapes, with a growing family, down at 18mm is terrific for things like parties and family gatherings, I like getting shots in the house or garden that get everyone in.

It's easy to be suckered into thinking you need that extra zoom but these days, the quality of the lenses and sensors is such that you can always use cropping as an option for zooming. Your canon is producing pics of about 5200 x 3400 but you can still get perfect A3+ prints from an image of 3000 x 2000. If you're careful with your composition and focus, cropping can be very effective at "zooming", I've got thousands of examples of pretty bland images being vastly improved by some creative cropping.

Also agree with everyone above, for your baby pics, aperture is king, get the largest max aperture you can afford (smallest f number) and I'd say 50mm is perfect and more flexible on your camera than an 85mm.

Sigma do an excellent 18-70 f2.8-4 which could be a good choice to replace your current and sell it on ebay.
You get a lovely 17mm for the wides, nice f2.8 up to about 50mm for portraits and you still get f4 at 70mm which is double bubble to be able to shoot relatively wide aperture from a bit further away, nice for candid shots of kids (that sounds very wrong but you know what I mean lol).

It can be an absolute money pit but if you do your research and decide what's important to *you*, you can spend the money once rather than chasing slightly longer, slightly wider, slightly faster for the rest of your days!


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## no1chunk (Nov 18, 2012)

Thank you for your replies seems like for what i need the 50mm will the best so il buy that one. Just want to get it right as this is our 1st baby and want as many lovely photos as we can


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## JoeyJoeJo (Jan 3, 2014)

Creating the lovely pics, the arty ones and those worthy of wall hanging is a great thing to do and very satisfying but 10, 20, 30 years later, it will be the those that are a bit squint, a bit out of focus, with too much flash, but that actually capture a moment brilliantly that will bring the smiles and the memories.

Try not to get hung up on perfect pics, the moment is always more important than the pic imho.


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## no1chunk (Nov 18, 2012)

Thanks we will keep any and all photos taken just want a few nice ones to hang on the wall maybe on a canvas or something but the rest we want in albums or on the laptop


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