Thread: Lens advice wanted

If you buy L series glass you will never go back to anything else. I ended up buying a couple of L series lenses, on one occassion my wife needed to use one of them so I went back to the packaged lense than came with the second camera body, it was not a pinch on the L.

Originally Posted by dm_td5

You should be buying a Nikon

OK got that off my chest...

As someone who owns a Nikon FM, Nikon F100 (both now worthless), and a Nikon D80, why do you say that? I thought the Nikon/Canon stuff was like the Mazda/Honda debate?

Canon have some nice cameras at the moment with much higher resolution than the Nikons.

This question is not intended as a stir - just asking

Originally Posted by Captain_Rightfoot

As someone who owns a Nikon FM, Nikon F100 (both now worthless), and a Nikon D80, why do you say that? I thought the Nikon/Canon stuff was like the Mazda/Honda debate?

Canon have some nice cameras at the moment with much higher resolution than the Nikons.

This question is not intended as a stir - just asking

Firstly resolution isn't everything. More pixels is not the entire solution with present sensor technology. Secondly - and this is personal - I hate Canon ergonomics on their DSLR's. The Nikon's just feel right in my hands, the Canon's do not.

Also Canon are like Toyota in marketing and market presence so everyone thinks they are great and they created the DSLR revolution. When in fact it was Nikon released the first commercial DSLR - D1. Canon's EOS300D was the first low end consumer unit.

Another point is it's always fun to stir up Canon owners, their usually as sensitive about their cameras as Land Cruiser owners about their 4WD

Finally though I must admit Canon makes some good gear. The EOS 450D/500D is on par with the Nikon D60. Both makes have very ordinary kit lenses, although from what I've seen I think the Nikon may be slightly better quality. Pro-series lenses though are excellent and each manufacturer has a few models that the other doesn't unfortunately.

At the end of the day it comes down to what's affordable and what you are comfortable using. Once you start buying expensive glass you are usually staying with that brand.

nikon is like a landcruiser, everyone thinks they are the best but we know better

L glass is nice but for a low spec body is unconomical and not many can justify the expense.

Originally Posted by dm_td5

Finally though I must admit Canon makes some good gear. The EOS 450D/500D is on par with the Nikon D60. Both makes have very ordinary kit lenses, although from what I've seen I think the Nikon may be slightly better quality. Pro-series lenses though are excellent and each manufacturer has a few models that the other doesn't unfortunately.

Just to add to this, I've been on both sides. Mainly lower end Nikon in the days of film but the 300D made me cross over, and immediately got two of the cheap lenses.
But the moment the D70 came out, I sold all my Canon stuff and switched back.
The Nikon body and kit lens (18-70) felt like real cameras/lenses, unlike the dinky Canon.
Since then, I have moved up the Nikon food chain to a D700, and I agree that both sides have excellent mid to high end bodies and pro lenses, but I still believe that Canon kit stuff are kid stuff.
I still use and prefer Canon P&S.

Here's an example of what I mean: To my untrained eye these three are basically equivalent but the prices vary greatly.

Canon EF-S 18-200mm f3:5-5:6 IS = $639
Canon EF-S 18-200mm f3.5-5.6 IS Lens Lenses

Sigma 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 DC OS = $485
Sigma 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 DC OS Lenses

Tamron AF 18-250mm f3.5-6.3 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) = $395
Tamron AF 18-250mm f3.5-6.3 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) Lenses

As an aside, I found that on this site buying a 450D and the lens separately is $150 cheaper than the identical kit!

I think the biggest difference they hack user will find is by changing to a quality lens, not to a more expensive body.

My opinion is to go to L glass (with the red ring) and go cheaper on the body. The other non L glass that is excellent is the EF-S 10-22 but this cant be used on full frame.

This is what I did:

EOS-350D
EF-S 10-22 f3.5-4.5 (recommended by one of the journos from Overlander)
24-70 f2.8L
70-200 f2.8L

Very happy.