All-rounder lens for canon 550d?

L

liezl

Hey guys,

So i've finally made the jump and am buying a 550d later this week.

I just need some advice on which lens to get with it!

At the moment, i don't have much money left after buying the camera body, so what i want is to buy a decent all-rounder starter lens that will allow me to use the camera while i save to buy some really good glass.

Really hope you guys can help me out...
 
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The kit lens is a good all-rounder. Are you getting just the body 550d or the full kit? If the full kit, you're good from the off.

If just the body; the 50mm 1.8 Prime should be your first port of call.
 
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I guess I saved a few bux on lenses and got some used Contax / Yaschica lenses and an adapter from Adorama. Nikon lenses will fit too. I tried Canon FD lenses and they sucked << avoid for Canon EOS
 
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I guess I have about $300 for lenses after buying the body...

But i think i'll just buy it in the package with the kit 18-55 plus a couple filters, cleaning kit and 8gb sandisk extreme sd
 
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Sigma 17-70: very nice lens. I've got the mark I for stills, but now there is a version with image stabilisation (don't know how much that is worth for video). I especially like the bokeh, which is quite soft for its price and - to my taste - better then many more expensive lenses.
 
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X4 is the Japanese model, so the same but with a Japanese manual.

I'd say start out with the kit lens and see where you feel the limitations are. Most of the stuff you'll want to do at the start will be perfectly achievable with the kit lens.
 
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NickClapper said:
X4 is the Japanese model, so the same but with a Japanese manual.

I'd say start out with the kit lens and see where you feel the limitations are. Most of the stuff you'll want to do at the start will be perfectly achievable with the kit lens.
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Nick, have u ever tried DigitalRev? they sell on eBay as well.. they sell dSlrs and lenses in cheap price..for instance they are selling kiss X4/550D at £450 where other stores are selling at £560.. on eBay, they say "No VAT/In UK"..
I'm just wondering whether I should go for some lenses (or even a body ) from DigitalRev or not? any suggestion?
 
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mahdy said:
Nick, have u ever tried DigitalRev? they sell on eBay as well.. they sell dSlrs and lenses in cheap price..for instance they are selling kiss X4/550D at £450 where other stores are selling at £560.. on eBay, they say "No VAT/In UK"..
I'm just wondering whether I should go for some lenses (or even a body ) from DigitalRev or not? any suggestion?
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Possibly I'm not sure. They seem fairly decent.

I bought my 550D and additional lense from Jessops (on the high street) which wasn't the most economical decision, but I like having a geographical place that I can take it if something goes wrong. Plus I like to talk things through with the vender first. But in reality it will be much cheaper to buy online and that seems like a sensible site. But I see that the Japanese version is 50 quid cheaper (it's coming up at 530 for me), so that may be an intelligent way to save money.
 
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NickClapper said:
Possibly I'm not sure. They seem fairly decent.

I bought my 550D and additional lense from Jessops (on the high street) which wasn't the most economical decision, but I like having a geographical place that I can take it if something goes wrong. Plus I like to talk things through with the vender first. But in reality it will be much cheaper to buy online and that seems like a sensible site. But I see that the Japanese version is 50 quid cheaper (it's coming up at 530 for me), so that may be an intelligent way to save money.
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jessops isn't the right place when it comes to economical but reliablity.. i think I'll buy a lens from DigitalRev.. they somehow don't pay VAT, and that makes their products cheaper..
(what's the point of paying more when everything except u & me is made by China :lol: )
 
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Meh....Personally I'd go with the Canon 50 mm 1.8. You'll be much happier with the quality of video. I feel like the kit lens was kind of a waste... I own it and never use it. I got a Tokina 28-70mm 2.8 and love it for all around shooting. Its a little more expensive, but i found mine used for 300.
 
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bez said:
Meh....Personally I'd go with the Canon 50 mm 1.8. You'll be much happier with the quality of video. I feel like the kit lens was kind of a waste... I own it and never use it. I got a Tokina 28-70mm 2.8 and love it for all around shooting. Its a little more expensive, but i found mine used for 300.
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tell me if I'm wrong but the 50mm 1.8 is cheaper than the one comes with the kit (18-55mm) ..:huh:
 
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So I've had the camera for a week now!

I ended up getting the Kiss x4, and as people told me, it is the exact same camera, though it did take a while to find the menu option to change the language to English. The place I bought it from also printed me an English language manual, so that was good. Either way - it was AUD$150 cheaper than the 550d, so I've got nothing to complain about! :D

On deciding on a starting lens:

I thought the 25-135 might be too much for me as a starting lens. Not in terms of price but range. That's effectively a 40-216mm with the 550d's 1.6 crop factor. Too much telephoto and not enough wide, I thought.

So, I got the camera with the 18-55mm kit lens. After a week of using it, I can already feel the limitations. It's max aperture of f/3.5 (at 18mm) is just too slow. It's pretty much useless in low-light; unless you don't mind your video being grainy as hell because you have to shoot in the ISO 1600-6400 range. Even in situations where, to the eye, it might not look so dark (such as a room lit by regular household lighting) - the lens is just not fast enough. In bright light, when you can shoot in the ISO 100-1600 range, it's perfectly fine. But I know that the main attraction for most DSLR users (myself included) is the camera's ability in low-light, which just isn't done justice with the kit lens.

All this said, I am now currently saving for the 50mm 1.4 and once that's in the bag, I wanna get the 28mm 1.8.

I'm opting for the 50mm 1.4 over the 50mm 1.8 simply because I've heard bad things about the 1.8 and many good things about the 1.4!
 
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I have the T2i and I also got the Phoenix 24mm f/2.8 Wide Angle Manual Focus Lens for Yashica and an adapter thru Amazon or Adorama. Im satisfied.... heck $74 plus the adapter not bad.

31Ci-GWe6VL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
 
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bez said:
Meh....Personally I'd go with the Canon 50 mm 1.8. You'll be much happier with the quality of video. I feel like the kit lens was kind of a waste... I own it and never use it. I got a Tokina 28-70mm 2.8 and love it for all around shooting. Its a little more expensive, but i found mine used for 300.
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I hear a lot of people say that, and that's cool. Me? I can't do without a wide lens, so the 18mm on the kit comes in quite handy.
 
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