The First 3: Standard, Macro & Telephoto

[elise]

I've carefully reviewed different cameras and decided that I'm going to get the Canon Rebel XT. I plan on buying the body only, as many people have suggested, but I want to make sure I have the lenses I need to go along with it.

I will be using the camera for different functions... landscape, wildlife (from close up to 400mm?), portraits, macro (bugs, flowers, etc.), etc. so I want to make sure that I can cover all of those with three lenses. (For now at least... It'll probably take me a while to save up for more. )

I was just wondering... especially for anyone that already has a Rebel, what lenses do you suggest? (I'd especially love to hear about ones with decent prices and pretty good flexibility.) If you had to limit your lenses to 3... standard, marco and telephoto, which ones would you choose?

[Tannin]

An interesting question, why hasn't anyone had a go at answering it yet? No matter, I'll have a go myself. Let's start with the easiest decision: macro.

The macro rule is easy: buy just about any macro lens you like, and you won't go too far wrong. Everyone I've talked to and everything I've read says that there are a good half-dozen popular macro lenses, and every one of them is worthwhile. Canon, Tamron, Sigma, Tokina, all have their supporters, and most unusually, you don't seem to get people saying "I bought the XXX and it was terrible but my new YYY is much better".

But what length? This is the tricky decision. My feeling is that you should delay your macro lens for a little while until you have gained enough experience to make this judgement for yourself. The traditional standard starting point is around 100mm. I think that all the manufacturers have an entry in that class: 90mm, 100mm, or 105mm. But, of course, 100mm on a film camera translates into 160mm equivalent on your 350D, so maybe that's a little long. It was on that basis that I eventually went for the Canon EF-S 60mm macro. I think it was a good choice: macro work is hard - much harder than you'd expect from any experience you may have with a point & shoot camera - and dealing with the 60mm unit is quite difficult enough to begin with. Longer lenses give you more working distance, but even less depth of field, and the lighting gets more critical too. So, for mine, start with a 60mm or at most 90mm macro, and any brand you like.

By standard I guess you mean "standard zoom". Canon's range for the 350D and 20D line is rather limited. No matter which you select, you will have to compromise on at least one of the key factors. The 24-105L gets great reviews but is really too long for general-purpose use on a 350D, and it's quite expensive. The EF-S 17-85 has a useful range and is image stabilised too, but costs rather more than you would expect for a lens that distorts so badly at the wide end. The EF-S 18-55 is super-cheap and better than the tiny amount of money you pay for it suggests - inferior to those just mentioned, of course, but perfectly usable and they practically give it away, so it's well worth considering. (You can buy this one bundled with your 350D. Even cheaper that way.) I'd also think about the third-party lenses in this category: the new Sigma 17-70 looks especially interesting, but it's a bit too early in its model life to be rushing out to buy one.

Telephoto covers an enormous range of possibilities, too many to ponder here without some further detail on what you plan to use your camera for, I think.

Finally, you should at least consider something wide. Wide-angle lenses are quite expensive, but they are also incredibly useful. There are several well-recommended ones from third-party manufacturers, but only one from Canon that suits the 350D, the EF-S 10-22mm which costs quite a bit but is an absolutely fantastic thing to use. Owners of its third-party competitors say great things about them too.

[postcardcv]

It's an interesting question... I use a 350D and have lenses that cover these ranges.

Macro - as Tannin has said there are a lot of good macro lenses out there so it's important to decide what focal length you want. I tried two Sigma lenses - the 50mm f2.5 and the 105mm f2.8 and ended up with the 105mm. I found that the 105mm was easier for shot of insects as I didn't need to get quite so close, I also far prefered the feel of it in the hand. Thous a 50mm macro lens would also double up well as a portrait lens.

Standard - I went for a cheap mid-range zoom as I really only use it for shots of the family so don't need top quality glass. I use the Sigma 28-135mm f3.8-5.6 and have been very happy with it. It's not the sharpest, but is nice to use has a convenient zoom range and out performed a couple of moire expensive lenses that I tested. I paid about £70 for mine and it's probably the best value lens I've bought.

Telephoto - I use the Sigma 500mm f4.5 and love it, it's very sharp and fast focusing, but is big heavy and expensive. I'd probably recommend starting with either the Sigma 170-500mm or the Tamron 200-500mm - I used to use the Sigma and was very happy with it. It has a nice zoom range and delivers good images (espeically when used around f8), reviews suggest that the Tamron is equally good.

Best advice with any lens is to try before you buy, it's important to be happy with the handling of a lens as well as the image quality. Be warned that lens buying can get adictive - as well as the lenses mentioned above I also have a Tamron 19-35mm for landscapes and a Sigma 100-300mm f4 as a mid-length zoom... and am now considering a portrait lens too.