Lens Upgrade For 350d

maggie1969

Hello all! I'm looking for advise please on upgrading from the kit lens for my Canon 350d from all you experienced users out there. My main interests are landscape, nature, macro. I have been looking at the following lenses on ebay and am so confused, I don't know which one I should get!
Canon 10-22mm
Canon 17-40mm
Canon 17-85mm

Or are there any other good lenses I should be looking at? I am looking to spend around €400.00

As soon as I have decided on one, I read a review and there are so many conflicting opinions, I am as badly off as ever! I like the wide-angle look, so do you all think this type of lens would work well on the 350d? Could anyone with experience of any of the above listed lenses give me their experiences with them?

Also, I am considering buying from private sellers on ebay usa, and was wondering how likely am I to get charged duty?

Thank you so much!

rymus

Perhaps another question is... would you be likely to get any of the three lenses you've listed for under €400? Not too sure. Why not look at Sigma lenses instead of their more expensive Canon counterparts? Sigma do an 18-55 f2.8 thats supposed to be quite nice. That'll probably cost the bones of €350 which if you're willing to go a bit over budget will allow you to squeeze in the old 'plastic toy lens', a Canon 50mm f1.8 prime (a lens nobody should be without).

I personally wouldnt buy from a private seller in the US for a number of reasons. Mostly because the risk of being screwed over is higher unless the seller has a good record and the risk of getting stung for import duty is far higher. You could do alot worse than to buy from Kea Photo - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Kea-Photo or UR Galaxy on ebay. Tried and tested by many boards members.

If you decide to go ultra wide, again you could do alot worse than Sigma and their 10-20mm. Cheaper than the Canon again.

311

I'd second what rymus said ,I bought the sigma 18-50 2.8 lens a couple of weeks ago.
At 50mm ,I can focus about 3 inches away from something.
One thing I was suprised at with the lens is that it is much easier to see what you are focussing on ,through the viewfinder compared to my other lenses.

The newest model is 72mm and the last model is 67mm ,so you might even get the 67mm version for good money.I paid €393 for the 72mm.

Edit : There is only one downer about the 18-50 lens ,the autofocus is not internal.

maggie1969

Sorry, I should have clarified that the €400 I quoted was for second-hand lenses on ebay usa.
Thanks!

Fajitas!

I'd second a Canon 50mm 1.8 and Sigma 10-20.

Check out the Sigma 24-70 too, it's a good all rounder, though maybe not wide or long enough.

Other than that, check out the 70-300, Canon or Sigma, both are cheap enough and give good run's for their money, doubling up as macro lenses if you splash out a tiny bit for the better versions.

Personally, I like the reviews section of www.fredmiranda.com for lens reviews.

maggie1969

Thanks all for the advise. Please forgive my ignorance, but can the Canon 50mm 1.8 be used for landscape shots or is it just for portraits?

Roen

You can use any lens for what ever you want (sort of )
Some focal lengths are more suited to some jobs than others but there's nothing stopping you using a fish eye to take portraits, or a long tele to take landscapes.

The 50mm is used for portraits these days on crop cameras because it will give you close to the 85mm fov that is seen as the traditional FL for such a purpose.

digitalbeginner

The 17-85 Image Stabilised Lens is a great all-rounder. In 135mm terms it's a 28-136mm lens. The stabilisation give you about 3 stops, which is very handy in low light situations.

Digital Rev have it for €430 new http://www.digitalrev.com/en/product_details.php?item_id=28&category_id=106

Dave

Takeshi_Kovacs

Yes i'd second whats been said above, especially about buying from Kea photo... (will be ordering new slr and lens from them myself as soon as i get online banking working..)
I've been researching what lens i should get and have boiled down to either the Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 lens or a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 lens. Both have gotten good reviews.
I am very interested in the Tokina 16-50mm f2.8 lens as they are supposed to very well built lenses, but it has only been announced and will probably be not available for another few months.

rabbitinlights

digitalbeginner wrote:

The 17-85 Image Stabilised Lens is a great all-rounder.

Ill 2nd this lense, Ive had this since I first got my 350D and its brilliant, Im travelling around asia at the moment and its rarely off my camera and the IS is a life saver when flash/tripod isnt an option. but if your going to be buying a selection of lense's soon enough, Id go for the sigma 10-20mm, but if your looking for a great walkaround lense, then the 17-85mm is the one.