Canon 30D or 350D and which lenses?

utkik

Hi all,
I've been following the debates on the forums on equipment recently as I'm trying to decide on some new kit.
At the moment I'm trying to chose between a 30D or a 350D/400D. First instinct was to go for the 30D, but tbh, seeing as none of the models have full-frame sensors, I probably won't really notice the difference between the two for everyday use.
So what I'm trying to figure out is two things:
Is it better to go for the 30D with the standard 17-85 f/4-5.6 lens, or go for the 350D and pimp out the lens to the 24-70mm f/2.8L? I know they're not exactly the same in terms of zoom range, but it's the quality that's the issue for me.

Another question - what's the best lens for landscape photography? I'm thinking the Canon 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 or the Sigma equivalent. But is it worth shelling out the spondies and going for the Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L? Again, I'm not sure I'd notice the difference on this one, especially if I go for the 350D/400D.

Anyways, any help/advice/suggestions would be much appreciated folks.
cheers, utkik

B0rG

What's your budget, and what do you wanna shoot?

24-70 is totally different to 16-35, only price is kinda same...
24-70 is zoom lens for wedding/studio photography. It's extremely bulky and heavy - looking like a bazooka.
Here's the pic
http://picasaweb.google.com/peterpan256/Tempo/photo#4986633852625551378
24mm on it isn't too good.

16-35 is your wide zoom... again bulky and heavy. I took 17-40 - almost the same and you can shoot people with it at 40, which you can't really do with 16-35

You can of course put 24-70 on a 350D, yeah, it'll fit allright... holding it is a bit of a problem - camera handle gets close to the lens, plus there isn't too much of a handle to hold on.

So my advice - get yourself 30D, 17-40 and EF 50mm 1.8 :-) And if you really wanna landscapes - get yourself some primes... As you don't really need zoom for landscapes by the nature of it you have a lot of time to focus even manually, stick it on tripod etc.

And another Q: did you mean standard 17-55, or 17-85 is usm? if the latter - i 'd recommend against it.

utkik

Thanks for the advice B0rG

What I'm basically looking for is a good everyday lens, and then one specifically for landscapes.
As for the budget, I don't have a specific amount, but it'll basically boil down to 30D with the 'regular' lens, or upgrade the lens and downgrade the body.
The lens for landscapes will come in a little while - maybe Santa :cool:

I read some reviews for the 24-70mm lens, and they all said it was a bit of a brute allright, and a few people said that it only fitted well (ergonomically) on the 5D upwards. I was thinking about the 17-40 too - as you say, you can shoot people at 40mm which would be handy.

As for the lanscape lens, yeah a prime would be the business, but the ca$h is a factor too. Any one in particular you'd recommend, given a budget of ~€500/€600? The 10-22mm is still looking tempting to me though!

did you mean standard 17-55, or 17-85 is usm?

- yeah I meant the 17-85 which is bundled with some 30Ds. I'd be interested to know why you wouldn't rate it highly. If I went for the 30D, I think I'd be stuck with it (well, until I win the Lotto this weekend anyway).

thanks again, utkik

B0rG

Hmm... why didn't I wait for a month with my 30D?

https://secure06.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=wishlisting&A=wishlistDetail&Q=&li=1CC28EA881

Look it's even less than the price of 350D + 24-70 My advice - get it now throw in some mack 3 years international warranty and grip handle, and you're ok. Even if you get hit by vat duty it'll still be a lot cheaper than in here and fit in your budget for 350 + 24-70.

17-40 is a very good piece of kit and I like it a lot. It will cover your landscape requirements for a long time, untill you'd want some additional wide's one thing I don't like about it is only 4F, but then again I'm not shooting at night. And it's L - so you get everything: build quality, glass quality and a good sleep at nite having bought the right thing

Do not buy EF-S bayonet lenses, as they won't go full frame, plus the price on them seems kinda strange: they are close to L class lenses of close range, but don't have the same build quality.

Another question - are you gonna shoot for web or for print? If print what size? if its not A4 / A5 you'd be ok with kit, 30D with 17-40 & 50 does A5 easy enuff, though photoshop still required.

Canon has some ef24 - 35 primes at around 300 USD which should be fine, but trust me 17-40 covers most of that.

10-22 is way too wide for my taste - huge barrel distortion and I'm not shooting landscapes that much.

utkik

thanks for the info and the links! I was looking at aigars.co.uk which is even cheaper again. I sent them a mail RE warranties, and they said all their equipment is covered with the full manufacturer's international warranty.

So anyways, the 17-40mm and the 50mm primes are a definite. Now to decide which camera to attach 'em onto

B0rG

you're not seriously considering buying from them, do you?

utkik

you're not seriously considering buying from them, do you?

why? Or, why not?

B0rG

to me this looks a lot like scam...
5D for 1300 euros is just too nice to be true.
I googled them also - nothing about them apart from links to scam thread on russian and spanish forums. If the shop exists - there should be a trail on google and on google groups.

google:
http://www.google.ie/search?hl=en&q=www.aigars.co.uk&btnG=Google+Search&meta=
russian site (I happen to speak russian for certain reasons
http://forum.ixbt.com/topic.cgi?id=20:16553-171

people are saying it looks similar to the following scam:
http://dvdadvdr.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58724
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3489085
http://www.cxmusic.co.uk/

By any means I'm not trying to stop you buying from the site, just tell us at what happened in the end

utkik

I've just noticed the why shop with us? bit on aigars is exactly the same as the one on the cxmusic link you posted.

>eats humble pie, thanks B0rG profusely, and scuttles back to ac-foto, tail between legs, but credit card intact<

thanks dude

now, time for that Friday spendy-spendy feeling!

B0rG

go with B&H - a lot cheaper even after VAT.
trust me - they are reputable shop.

leinsterman

Just got my 100-400L from BH ... along with 1.4x TeleC ... just to be super silly ... on the 20d it means I can now photograph the man on the moon ... with an effective 900mm ... anyway my point is twofold ...

First ... Gee it is great owning L's :D:D:D:D... and the 17-40 F4 is perfect on a 1.6FOVCF 400d or 30d (effectively it is a 27-64 on these bodies) ... so I go for that over the kit lens on the 30d ... but also if you are on a budget then spend your cash on good lenses ... they last 4ever if treated with love and care ... bodies are out of date within 1-3 years ...

Second ... if you can ... why not buy form BH ship to a non NY US address (a friend or friends' friend) and have it pciked up of pick it up yourself ... failing that you run greater risk of paying duty ...

Fionn

thqts gre\t.
bur Ωô

rabbitinlights

B0rG wrote:

did you mean standard 17-55, or 17-85 is usm? if the latter - i 'd recommend against it.

Any particular reason why? I love mine, Its the best walk around lense Ive tried, I did really like the 17-40L but it just wasnt long enough as an everyday lense.

S.

B0rG

rabbitinlights wrote:

Any particular reason why? I love mine, Its the best walk around lense Ive tried, I did really like the 17-40L but it just wasnt long enough as an everyday lense.

ac-foto:
ef-s 17-85 - E549
ef 17-40 L - E656 (-100 cashback) = E556

what would you rather buy now? :-)

I mean it's good lens - focus range is great - I miss long end on my 17-40 ( I'm using it as everyday lense), but the price is ... so the bottom line:
bad sides:
1. price - in the L class ballpark, but not L
2. ef-s - wont work on full frame
3. not L

good sides:
1. focus range - very good
2. IS - plus two stops...

rabbitinlights

Ok, thats cool, The reason I made the choice to swap the L and EF-S (I wont be going full frame for a long while) for the focal length and IS, Is that I bought my 350D + 17-85mm for going travelling around the world with, So most of my shots are going to be without tripod (IS) and I just dont have the space for more than 2 lense (I have a Sigma 70-300).

To the OP, Id go for the 30D with the 17-85mm, Its a hell of a set-up to start with and will give you an Idea of which next lense you wanna go with, Ultra wide or Tele-zoom, and if you ever sell your 30D to go full frame, It would be easier to sell it to someone starting off with a lense attached.