My heads spinning...
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jac-in-a-box

Original Poster:

259 posts

268 months

Friday 16th February 2007
quotequote all
...yes it is!

So, give me a little direction please.

Just bought a Cannon 30D body and need to find a suitable lens. Pretty much decided what I'm prepared to spend, around £600.00.
It's my first venture into the DSLR world after a short lived dabble with a "prosumer" Nikon and with more free time on my hands, a little creative photography would be a good way to spend that time.

I'm considering a Canon EFS 17-55 f2.8 IS USM or a EF 24-105 f4 IS L USM

A little astonished when my local Jessops tried to sell me a couple of Sigma lenses starting at £100.00 rising to £150.00. Odd that they didn't want my money!...they didn't have either of my choice of lens available.
I'm not against anything from Sigma. I'd rather make a couple of one off high value purchases (if I can choose the right one to start!) rather than buy "cheap" and work my up to the higher quality glass.

For landscape, low light but no far-off zoom type pictures am I too far off the mark? Sugestions warmly welcomed.

megy

2,429 posts

244 months

Friday 16th February 2007
quotequote all
24-105 anyday, the other one is an EFS and so if/when you upgrade to a full frame sensor you wont be able to use it on the new camera.

graham@edinburgh

26,553 posts

255 months

Friday 16th February 2007
quotequote all
The 24-105 IS L is a wonderfully versatile lens and is my main walkabout one. It's *just* wide enough for landscape stuff, but my next purchase is likely to be a 10-20/22 as I want wider.

It's a *little* soft wideopen (f4) and at the narrow end too, but it's not a huge problem.

Tripoded, f13, 30 second exposure (click to see full size and remove the "PH Squish" :




Edited by graham@edinburgh on Friday 16th February 22:48

Gemm

1,833 posts

245 months

Friday 16th February 2007
quotequote all


Problem of 17-55 is that it's EF-S (well... for me anyway). If you are not planning to upgrade to 1 Series, then it may be ok, but I'm telling you that you will be tempted one day. I use 24-105 and it's perfect for my needs. I think the choice depends on whether you'll be doing lots of wide shots or you think you'd be happy to have a bit more reach. Yes, it would be nice to have f2.8 but if that's something you can live without, then I'd definitely recommend 24-105.