Best All-rounder

[natty94]

I'm Looking for a good all round lens to replace my dead 17-85mm, I'm looking for something of a similar focal length or longer.
I have a Canon 1100D and mostly take photo's of cars and flowers and have started experimenting with night-time photography, I have a budget of around £200

Thanks in advance
natty94

[MysteryLemon]

Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 ...Faster lens than the canon but keeping a similar focal length.

Also, if you don't mind sacrificing some length at the tele end, the sigma 17-50mm f-2.8 is a nice lens. A goodun for some nice bokeh. A little over budget though (£250ish)

Edited by MysteryLemon on Friday 30th August 21:13

[natty94]

MysteryLemon said:

Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 ...Faster lens than the canon but keeping a similar focal length.

Also, if you don't mind sacrificing some length at the tele end, the sigma 17-50mm f-2.8 is a nice lens. A goodun for some nice bokeh. A little over budget though (£250ish)

The 17-70 is out of price range at £350 on Amazon, have been looking at the 17-50, F2.8 would be nice but I would like something at a similar focal length to the 17-85 I used to have

[MysteryLemon]

Can get the 17-70 for under £200 secondhand. Plenty in eBay.

Buying new for £200 won't get you anything special.

[natty94]

MysteryLemon said:

Can get the 17-70 for under £200 secondhand. Plenty in eBay.

Buying new for £200 won't get you anything special.

Not a fan of ebay, I'm not after any fancy glass so Sigma or Tamron are the main things I'm looking at, had a look at a Tamron superzoom 18-200mm for £140 but that would put my 55-200 in to retirement

[PJ S]

Bugger all wrong with eBay, so long as you use your noggin and ask questions to satisfy any doubts.

Tamron 17-50 f2.8 – cracking lens.
55-200 takes over from there, and if you use 85mm much, then there's the 85mm prime.

Both Tamron and Canon 85 f1.8 should be doable off ebay for £250, give or take.

Edited by PJ S on Saturday 31st August 02:44

[MysteryLemon]

An 17-200 would be a good "never take off" lens but you will sacrifice image quality and sharpness for the longer zoom. You may get a longer tele length but you wont see any improvement over the Canon 17-85. You may find it less sharp all round.

For the type of photography you say you are into (cars and flowers), a faster lens would benefit you more than more zoom length. Obviously, if you are shooting track days then the extra zoom is handy, but if you already have a 55-200mm then why the need for an 18-200? The 55-200 will likely outperform the 17-200 in every way. For static shots (car & flowers), a faster, wide lens will benefit you far more. You will be able produce better bokeh (blur) to isolate your subject within the picture. Gives a much more "professional" look.



To take a picture like that, you need a fast lens capable of a wide aperture. Same for something like the bellow...



Ebay is your friend.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sigma-18-50mm-F2-8-EX-DC...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tamron-17-50mm-f2-8-XR-D...

Edited by MysteryLemon on Saturday 31st August 09:14

[natty94]

Thanks for the advice guys, will keep an eye out for either lens around christmas when I will have the money

[flat-planedCrank]

MysteryLemon said:

Intrigued by that ^

Guessing the oof background has been done in post?
(Car is 100% sharp, slight 'edge' to it, etc.)

[natty94]

flat-planedCrank said:

MysteryLemon said:

Intrigued by that ^

Guessing the oof background has been done in post?
(Car is 100% sharp, slight 'edge' to it, etc.)

Having not tried the technique I'd say the blurred background is caused by the lens only focusing on the car and not the background.

---

As a side not to my previous comment I maybe able to stretch my budget to afford a Sigma 17-70mm F2.8 os hsm at around £270-£290

[Speed addicted]

I just sold my sigma 17-70 for £160 (with the 7D), it's a very decent lens. Try MPB photographic for used stuff, they give a warranty and are usually reasonably priced.

[natty94]

Speed addicted said:

I just sold my sigma 17-70 for £160 (with the 7D), it's a very decent lens. Try MPB photographic for used stuff, they give a warranty and are usually reasonably priced.

I've looked at the site loads of times and never bought from them as I mainly use WEX and Amazon but will keep an eye on it. not sure whether to buy a used one as all bar my kit lens have been used so it would be nice to buy new but we shall see

[PJ S]

natty94 said:

Thanks for the advice guys, will keep an eye out for either lens around christmas when I will have the money

Christmas? You're asking about something 3-4 months out, now?
Seriously?

[MysteryLemon]

flat-planedCrank said:

Intrigued by that ^

Guessing the oof background has been done in post?
(Car is 100% sharp, slight 'edge' to it, etc.)

There may be some post processing to that particular picture but its still an effect perfectly doable with a fast lens.

Buy a fast prime lens F/1.8 or faster and you will see.

[RobbieKB]

flat-planedCrank said:

MysteryLemon said:

Intrigued by that ^

Guessing the oof background has been done in post?
(Car is 100% sharp, slight 'edge' to it, etc.)

As am I. On first glance I couldn't decide if it was tilt-shift on a real Aston or macro stacking on a toy.

[natty94]

PJ S said:

natty94 said:

Thanks for the advice guys, will keep an eye out for either lens around christmas when I will have the money

Christmas? You're asking about something 3-4 months out, now?
Seriously?

The reason for asking now is to help make my mind up as to which lens to buy and the reason for not buying till christmas is because I'm have a low paying part-time job and am struggling to find a full time job so it will take me till christmas to save the £270-£290 that the lenses cost

[PJ S]

You're missing the point – your original post said "I have" (present tense), not "I will have" (future tense).
But even so, it doesn't make sense to ask 3-4 months before you're in any real position to do anything with the information provided.
Most sensible people ask when it's near the time to spend the money they have or should have shortly – that way they can act upon the info/suggestions offered.
Come that time of year, there will be more people looking to treat themselves/loved ones, so prices will probably be higher and/or there'll be less sellers offering theirs, so you'll have to pay more than you wanted/can afford, or make do with something lesser.

All that aside, what focal length(s) were most of your photos shot with when using the 17-85?
What type of photography are you most interested in doing?
Family portraits, kids indoors, landscape, etc?

[natty94]

PJ S said:

You're missing the point – your original post said "I have" (present tense), not "I will have" (future tense).
But even so, it doesn't make sense to ask 3-4 months before you're in any real position to do anything with the information provided.
Most sensible people ask when it's near the time to spend the money they have or should have shortly – that way they can act upon the info/suggestions offered.
Come that time of year, there will be more people looking to treat themselves/loved ones, so prices will probably be higher and/or there'll be less sellers offering theirs, so you'll have to pay more than you wanted/can afford, or make do with something lesser.

All that aside, what focal length(s) were most of your photos shot with when using the 17-85?
What type of photography are you most interested in doing?
Family portraits, kids indoors, landscape, etc?

My mistake, well if I get a job I will buy it sooner.

most shots were taken at 18mm, 50mm or fully zoomed at 85mm
18mm were wide-angle shots of cars with some background, 50mm are mostly shots of flowers and 85mm are close-ups of car badges

I mostly take photos of cars and flowers, I also dabble in night time, landscape and wildlife

[flat-planedCrank]

natty94 said:

Having not tried the technique I'd say the blurred background is caused by the lens only focusing on the car and not the background.

Yeah, I know the technique but something looks a bit out-of-the-ordinary to me

MysteryLemon said:

flat-planedCrank said:

Intrigued by that ^

Guessing the oof background has been done in post?
(Car is 100% sharp, slight 'edge' to it, etc.)

There may be some post processing to that particular picture but its still an effect perfectly doable with a fast lens.

Buy a fast prime lens F/1.8 or faster and you will see.

I've used fast lenses for a while now but there's something about that shot that catches the eye.

RobbieKB said:

flat-planedCrank said:

MysteryLemon said:

Intrigued by that ^

Guessing the oof background has been done in post?
(Car is 100% sharp, slight 'edge' to it, etc.)

As am I. On first glance I couldn't decide if it was tilt-shift on a real Aston or macro stacking on a toy.

Think this could be on the right lines ^

I'd actually wonder if it's a cg shot. The reflections on the car seem not to match the surrounding environment (particularly the luminance)