What 30mm-ish Canon fit Prime?
What 30mm-ish Canon fit Prime?
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Kermit power

Original Poster:

29,622 posts

242 months

Thursday 30th August 2012
quotequote all
Evening all,

I have some Amazon vouchers to spend for my birthday, plus a Sigma 2x teleconverter which I don't really use and intend to put on Ebay. I reckon I should be able to create a budget of up to about £400, and would like to get myself a prime lens, so am after recommendations.

My camera is a 450D, so a 1.6x crop factor. I already have the 50mm f1.8, which I like, but often find I can't get as far away as I'd like for indoor people shots, for example. I'm therefore looking at something around the 25-35mm range.

So far, I've found the following:

Canon
- 24mm f/2.8
- 28mm f/1.8 USM
- 35mm f/2.0

Sigma
- 24mm f/1.8 EX DG ASHPHERICAL MACRO
- 28mm f/1.8 EX DG ASHPHERICAL MACRO
- 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM

Tokina
- 35mm AT-X M35 PRO DX f/2.8

All thoughts welcome! smile

binliner

262 posts

250 months

Thursday 30th August 2012
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I've been looking into this recently as well and from reading reviews and peoples experiences I've narrowed it down to either the Sigma 30mm f1.4 or possibly the Canon 28mm f1.8... The Sigma 30mm seems to be the most often recommended in that focal range

RobDickinson

31,343 posts

283 months

Thursday 30th August 2012
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Are the new 24f2.8IS and 28/2.8Is in budget as they are fantastic lenses.

RobDickinson

31,343 posts

283 months

Thursday 30th August 2012
quotequote all
Sigma 30/1.4 is a decent lens for crop, the edge sharpness is appalling though and never gets better, centre sharpness is good all the time. so it makes a great wide open portrait/subject lens and a poor landscape/star prime.

Canons 35/2 is very nice too, clunky focus but sharp and nice bokeh (even with limited straight aperture blades).

flat-planedCrank

3,697 posts

232 months

Thursday 30th August 2012
quotequote all
RobDickinson said:
Are the new 24f2.8IS and 28/2.8Is in budget as they are fantastic lenses.
Know it's all personal preference but I'd want faster lenses for the money smile

RobDickinson

31,343 posts

283 months

Thursday 30th August 2012
quotequote all
flat-planedCrank said:
RobDickinson said:
Are the new 24f2.8IS and 28/2.8Is in budget as they are fantastic lenses.
Know it's all personal preference but I'd want faster lenses for the money smile
Know what you mean, you can get a 17-55f2.8IS for the price of them both I think..?

But they are looking like superb lenses & it doesnt look like canon are going to be making any new cheaper fast primes.

Seight_Returns

1,640 posts

230 months

Friday 31st August 2012
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Been here recently - my choice was the 35/2 and I'm very happy with it. As above buzzy autofocus but seems very accurate. Complements my 15-85 very well.

Kermit power

Original Poster:

29,622 posts

242 months

Friday 31st August 2012
quotequote all
RobDickinson said:
Are the new 24f2.8IS and 28/2.8Is in budget as they are fantastic lenses.
They're around £600 each, so I'd probably have to offload something else as well to get them. I did think they seemed rather expensive.

The combination of f2.8 and IS on a prime lens rather struck me as laziness in the same way as using electronic traction control to compensate for not designing a particularly good chassis. Is that being unfair on Canon?

RobDickinson

31,343 posts

283 months

Friday 31st August 2012
quotequote all
Yes, IS is a useful tool on any lens, those are primarily meant for video work I think but are looking like very good primes if you dont need the optical speed, would make excellent FF landscape primes.

Nikolai

286 posts

175 months

Friday 31st August 2012
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I have the Sigma 1.4 and love it, the colours seem fantastic and can pretty much take pictures in the dark. Superb chunky build quality too.

tim-b

1,279 posts

239 months

Friday 31st August 2012
quotequote all
Had a play with the Sigma 30mm f1.4 and Canon 28mm f1.8 since my OH wanted a classic focal length on her 40D. The Sigma was definitely sharper in the centre of the frame wide-open, but not so good at the corners, and the vignetting was pretty strong too. In the end we went for the Canon, mainly so I could also use it (on my FF body)....if it wasn't for that, it would have been a more difficult choice, since they both seem very good...

Kermit power

Original Poster:

29,622 posts

242 months

Saturday 8th September 2012
quotequote all
Well after waiting for some Amazon certificates to come in the post (why Natwest Yourpoints can't manage to email electronic certificates is a mystery), I've just ordered the Canon 28mm f1.8 USM.

Conveniently, Amazon chose now to offer me another free month of Prime, so they claim it will be with me on Monday! Can't wait!! biggrin

flat-planedCrank

3,697 posts

232 months

Saturday 8th September 2012
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Kermit power said:
Well after waiting for some Amazon certificates to come in the post (why Natwest Yourpoints can't manage to email electronic certificates is a mystery), I've just ordered the Canon 28mm f1.8 USM.

Conveniently, Amazon chose now to offer me another free month of Prime, so they claim it will be with me on Monday! Can't wait!! biggrin
Congrats, love the feeling of impending new gear biggrin

Kermit power

Original Poster:

29,622 posts

242 months

Saturday 8th September 2012
quotequote all
flat-planedCrank said:
Congrats, love the feeling of impending new gear biggrin
yes

I have more to come in that direction, I hope!

As our Shogun went bang on holiday, and as my wife is happy because it is being replaced by an S-Max through our company car scheme, she has accepted the notion of whatever I get for it on Ebay or scrapping it going towards getting me a 7D body. biggrin

2slo

1,998 posts

196 months

Sunday 9th September 2012
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Some good deals to be had on the 7D at present. It's an excellent camera and even better since the firmware has been updated. There are rumours (unfounded speculation really) concerning it's replacement but I think it's got a while left in production yet. If I were buying a new crop body today it would be the 7D.

2slo

1,998 posts

196 months

Sunday 9th September 2012
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M4FFU said:
2slo said:
Some good deals to be had on the 7D at present.
Care to share as I'm looking at one for an upgrade. smile
Sure:

http://camerapricebuster.co.uk/prod1170.html for the High St availability. Amazon currently cheapest at £1045
http://www.onestop-digital.com/index.php?dispatch=... £860 from Hong Kong (without VAT).
http://www.hdewcameras.co.uk/canon-7d-digital-slr-... UK based co selling parallel imports but gives 3yr warranty to offset loss of canon guarantee. Currently selling the 7D for £815. I haven't dealt with this Co but lots of people recommend them.

LongQ

13,864 posts

262 months

Sunday 9th September 2012
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M4FFU said:
2slo said:
Some good deals to be had on the 7D at present.
Care to share as I'm looking at one for an upgrade. smile
Canon Outlet on eBay is currently offering 7D + 17-85mm for £1199.99 if that is of any interest.

Refurb of course but ...

Phunk

2,097 posts

200 months

Sunday 9th September 2012
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Why not look at the 60d? It does 90% of what the 7d does (and more) plus if you are into video you can install Magic Lantern on it.

Kermit power

Original Poster:

29,622 posts

242 months

Sunday 9th September 2012
quotequote all
Phunk said:
Why not look at the 60d? It does 90% of what the 7d does (and more) plus if you are into video you can install Magic Lantern on it.
In my case, I'm not interested in video, and from the various comparisons I've read, the 7D has better autofocus, lens micro adjustment, built in electronic spirit level which you can see through the viewfinder so it's useful for handheld shooting, 100% viewfinder (as opposed to 96%), faster motor drive which can record longer bursts and somewhat better high ISO performance.

I'm sure the 60D is a very good camera, but I do like a lot of the above.

2slo

1,998 posts

196 months

Sunday 9th September 2012
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Kermit power said:
In my case, I'm not interested in video
Me neither, I'd rather pay less for a DSLR without the video capability, if that were possible.