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Lens choice


8 years 9 months ago #445207 by Ladyfreedom
I have an Eos SLI with a kit lens and a Tamron 16-300.
My question is pertaining to a short trip we will be taking on our motorcycles in October to a bike rally in Vegas. I don't want to take the Tamron lens as its too much to walk around with and deal with in and out of saddlebag at multiple poker run stops. I am not a huge fan of my kit lens, but I've been doing a little bit of reading about the 50mm. Hubby is thinking I would be better off with an 85mm (in general).

I would like suggestions on a lens for taking shots of people, action, motorcycles... but will serve me for other things, as we only gt to do this 1x a year now.
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8 years 9 months ago #445230 by Jacko
Well both of these lenses have a time and place. Your 50mm will get old quick IMO, and the 85mm will be great for the portraits but limit you in other areas. Have you thought about getting the Canon 18-135mm? You get much more mileage out of a lens like that.

Hope this helps.
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The following user(s) said Thank You: Ladyfreedom
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8 years 9 months ago #445232 by KCook
So what is wrong with the kit lens?

Kelly
Canon 50D, Olympus PL2
kellycook.zenfolio.com/
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8 years 9 months ago #445237 by Ladyfreedom
Probably nothing, other than I haven't really used it!

Thinking about what I want to do, it should be fine; really, I think I just got spoiled with the Tamron; I really like it; but I am also very new.
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8 years 9 months ago #445245 by garyrhook

Ladyfreedom wrote: Probably nothing, other than I haven't really used it!


Then how do you know?

Every lens has trade-offs; you have to decide what you need/want in a given situation, and what compromises you will accept. You have a very versatile lens in the Tamron, and while it weighs just over one pound, it's hard to see how it's "too much". Anything smaller/lighter is going to be shorter, I think; how does that fit in your shooting style?

For me, 50 mm -> meh. If you can spend the money, consider the less-expensive Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 to get some zoom + constant aperture (and wider than what you have). You'll get reasonably wide-angle plus something long enough for portraits. What you won't get is a single lens that covers everything that your Tamron does.

Otherwise, +1 on the 18-135 lens mentioned above.
Photo Comments
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8 years 9 months ago #445248 by Soccer Mom
This will be the 3rd mention of this lens, but I love it and have used it many times for a 'have one lens with you' sort of days. The 18-135mm is a really good lens, new it's like mid $500 and if you look on Craigslist or eBay you can find some deals on used ones for $250-$300. Now that I'm thinking about it, check out the used departments at Hunts, Adorama or even KEH.
Canon 7D, 18-55mm, 55-250mm, 70-200mm L f/2.8, 100mm and 17-55mm f/2.8
Photo Comments
The following user(s) said Thank You: Ladyfreedom
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8 years 9 months ago #445518 by Ladyfreedom
I was looking into something like that one over the weekend.
Being a novice makes it hard for me to know what I want or need!
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8 years 9 months ago #445540 by tganiats
So hard! I agree, if possible go with the broader zoom... However, if you want fix focal length, I think 28 or 35 would be better than 50 or 85....you can always crop to 'zoom' in, but sometimes you can't back up. However, it depends on what your subjects will be.
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8 years 9 months ago #445613 by Don Fischer
I don't shoot Canon's, never have but the lens I'd probably get is the 18-135. Your 50mm and 85mm are both in there. Will they take as good a shot as primes? Maybe not but then maybe so! I don't own a prime lens and have three lenses that cover everything for me, an 18-105, 55-300 and a 170-500. I would rather the 18-105 was the 18-140. You say your new to this, well cover what you want now with just two or three lenses and down the road figure out what you really want. The big advantage to zoom's is you don't have to keep walking around the better fill the view finder. Your 16-300 would fill most everything but you say it's to heavy. Make's it not really the lens for you. My 170-500 is heavy and big, not a walk around lens; sounds like you need a walk around lens.
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