Lens suggestions for T3i please!

[TracieD112]

Hello all! My wonderful husband bought me a T3i as a gift, and he has no idea about camera bodies and cropped sensors. Im going to keep this body and one day move up to a full body. Im not to sure which lens to get next! I have the canon 50mm 1.4( I love for portraits), and now I am looking for lens that will be great for portraits / family/ engagement photos that will work good with my cropped sensor and work great when i get my full body. Any advice would be most helpful!!

Im leaning toward these lens:
24-70mm L 2.8
28-70mm L
24-105mm
Any suggestions would be wonderful since I am really new with exploring new lenses!!
Thank you!!! -Tracie-

 

[bholliman]

24mm on a crop body camera is equilant to 38mm on a full format camera. A nice focal length, but not very wide. If you plan to stick with APS-C for awhile, I recommend the EF-S 15-85 or 17-55 2.8. Both are L quality optically and will be wide enough for landscapes and group shots.

 

[pensive tomato]

Hi Tracie, welcome to CR!

The first thing that comes to mind in your post is when do you think that you'll move to full frame and if you have any specific plans in that regard. Out of the lenses that you list, you may find them laking in the wide end in your cropped body. Also, it's not even clear to me if you even have the kit lens around, which could give you a clear sense of whether you'll miss the wider end. Depending on your situation, you may benefit from considering an EF-S lens, such as the 17-55mm f/2.8 (great IQ and very useful range, although not that long for some portraiture applications).

If that's not a concern, I think that the 24-105mm f/4 is a good option, it gives very nice IQ and reach in a cropped sensor, and there are good deals to be had. I also took it that you meant the 24-70mm f/2.8 mkI and not the latest mkII. The mkII has outstanding IQ, yet it lacks IS and carries a hefty price. I have no experience with the 28-70mm f/2.8. I understand it's an older lens, which preceded the 24-70mm L series (but you may already know that).

 

[TracieD112]

I probably will not move to a full framed body for a while. I do have my kit lens and still use it when i can not get a wide enough angle with my 50mm. I do mostly portraits and also I forgot to mention car photography so I have to stand waaay back at car shows. Ive read about the 17-55mm lens but a friend of mine kept telling me a 24-70mm ver1 is the best bet for wide angles??

 

[Jim Saunders]

I have a Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 that does awfully well for the sub-$300 (used) pricetag it had on it. It isn't USM so it makes a little bit of stepper motor noise while focusing, but on my crop body I don't mind that.

Jim

 

[TracieD112]

I will look into that thank you!

 

[pensive tomato]

Ive read about the 17-55mm lens but a friend of mine kept telling me a 24-70mm ver1 is the best bet for wide angles??

I'm not sure of what you mean here. The 17-55mm is of course wider than the other lenses you listed. My understanding also is that the 24-105 and the 24-70 mkI are comparable in sharpness at their wide end in a cropped sensor. Photozone.de suggests that the mkI has less distortion, although I don't recall having much problem dealing with distortion from the 24-105mm in post. I don't think there is much distortion to be concerned about with the 17-55mm at 24mm at all (a bit of pincushion according to PZ).

Others have suggested the 15-85mm, which is a great lens in my opinion. Very useful range if you don't need the larger aperture. I had it and only replaced it with the 17-55 mm later on (ever since I've moved to full frame). Also look at the Sigma 15-50mm f/2.8 if you want a cheaper alternative to Canon's 17-55 mm. From limited testing, I thought the Sigma was better than the Tamron VC equivalent, although I never tried the Tamron non-VC lens.

 

[jdramirez]

I have a 24-105 and it is good... borderline great. the 24-70s 2.8 are both great, but at the price, 660, the 24-105 is a ridiculous value.

I used to contend that the 50mm f1.8 for 100, the 55-250 for 150ish and then eventually the 40mm for 150 were the best value, bang for your buck, lenses available for Canon. but the decline of resale value for new kit lenses is astonishing.

having said that, maybe in a year the resale price is around 550.


yes, f4 isn't ideal for indoors and also not on a crop, but you can use the money you save and get a very good speedlite, 430 exii, for around 250. learn how to bounce light off sidewalls, ceilings or use off camera flash, and you will likely have significantly better results than using an f2.8 lens, a higher iso, a slower shutter speed, and ambient light.

 

[jdramirez]

24mm on a crop body camera is equilant to 38mm on a full format camera. A nice focal length, but not very wide. If you plan to stick with APS-C for awhile, I recommend the EF-S 15-85 or 17-55 2.8. Both are L quality optically and will be wide enough for landscapes and group shots.

I knew I might be looking to go full frame at some point and so the only ef-s lens I ever bought was a 55-250. I'm not a big landscape guy, but I fought it out in the crop world for almost five years before making the transition... and the only thing I needed to sell was my old 60d body.

some people transition and they have a body, a macro lens, 60mm, a normal zoom like the 17-55 and a telephoto zoom like the 55-260 that all don't work on their new body.

if you think a switch is possible... I say prepare for the future.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Hello all! My wonderful husband bought me a T3i as a gift, and he has no idea about camera bodies and cropped sensors. Im going to keep this body and one day move up to a full body. Im not to sure which lens to get next! I have the canon 50mm 1.4( I love for portraits), and now I am looking for lens that will be great for portraits / family/ engagement photos that will work good with my cropped sensor and work great when i get my full body. Any advice would be most helpful!!

Im leaning toward these lens:
24-70mm L 2.8
28-70mm L
24-105mm
Any suggestions would be wonderful since I am really new with exploring new lenses!!
Thank you!!! -Tracie-

I think that you are wasting money buying FF lenses that are not the right focal lengths for a crop camera. You need something at least 18mm, preferably wider, which means a 17-40L or a 16-35mmL plus a 24-70 plus your 50mm plus a 70-200mmL. No matter how you cut it, the FF lenses do not match up well with a crop sensor and you spend a lot of $$.

I'd suggest a EF-S 10-22mm and a 24-70 plus a 70-200mml or 70-300mmL Then you can eventually sell the 10-22 and you will be set for FF. If you get a refurbished 10-22 lens when they go on sale, you can probably sell it at no loss when you go to FF. You likely will not need anything wider than 24mm on FF, so wait and see what focal lengths you need before buying a expensive super wide FF lens..

As soon as you get several people in a room and want a group photo, you will want that 10-22 very badly.24mm is not wide on a crop.

You should consider getting multiple flashes for lighting. Proper lighting is often overlooked, and you can spend a ton of money on lenses, but with poor lighting, your images will suffer. Don't use that tiny flash on the camera and expect high quality portraits.

Last, learn to use RAW. Get Lightroom or DXO or one of the other excellent raw processors. Then, you can reprocess your images over the years and take advantage of better image processing technologies. Your jpeg images are burned in and there is little you can do to improve them.

 

[TracieD112]

Thank you everyone very much for your suggestions! I still have a bunch to learn. I do shoot in RAW and do most of all my portraits outside during the "golden hour". If I do shoot inside Im usually next to an open door or big window

 

[barracuda]

Since you're looking for a lens that would be great for portraits/family/engagement photos, you want a lens wide enough to capture group/family photos, but you also want a lens long enough to capture portraits (head and head and shoulder shots) without that wide-angle distortion. Rule of thumb for portraits is 85-135mm, but of course your mileage may vary depending upon the level of creativity you like to introduce into your photography.

Another consideration is background blur, or bokeh. A blurred background will separate your subject from a distracting background and make your subject stand out. So in this regard, you'd want a lens capable of wider apertures and longer focal lengths. Both of these attributes make background blurring easier.

So given the list of lenses you're considering, my vote would be for the 24-70 f/2.8 as that gets you:

1. Wide-angle (though perhaps not wide enough on a crop body).
2. Longer focal length (112mm on a crop body).
3. Wide aperture. While the background blur is not the same on a crop body vs. full-frame, it's the widest-aperture zoom available (except for the new Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM). Wider apertures also give you better low-light capabilities, especially for moving subjects when flash isn't available.

The 17-55mm f/2.8 is also a good choice for your crop body. Canon dropped the price of this lens by around 15% in the last month or so. When you move to full-frame you can simply sell it for 60-80% of what you paid for it, if not more. The aforementioned Sigma is also an option, though you may find yourself needing a longer focal length.

When you do move to full-frame you may want to supplement your stable of lenses with an 85mm or 135mm lens as well...

Good luck and have fun!

 

[TracieD112]

Thank you very much!

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

. Rule of thumb for portraits is 85-135mm, but of course your mileage may vary depending upon the level of creativity you like to introduce into your photography.

That rule of thumb is for FF bodies, divide by 1.6 for her crop, so ed 50-85mm equivalent on a crop. That 85mm is a number that works for both, so its a good choice for both crop and FF as is the 50mm lens. you can, of course use much longer focal lengths for portraits, but I'd hold off on anything over about 100mm at first.

 

[paul13walnut5]

The 85mm f1.8 or 100mm f2.0 are great bright fast focusing lenses that will give you more reach and also work very well on 135mm/ leica / minature format. Modestly priced too.

If you have a wider leaning then something like the old 35mm f2.0 is a cheap addition and will work well as a standard lens on your T3i or a fast medium wide on a future larger sensor body.

If you want the flexibility of a zoom then get the EF-s 17-55 f2.8. Pick up a used version thats clean and you'll get most of that money back when you upgrade your body.

Buy lenses for the camera you are using now, not the one you'll be using in a few years, expecially the general zooms. This is a range you need, the 24-70 f2.8 is a costly way of selling yourself short.

 

[TracieD112]

Im really glad I asked these questions before I spent over a $1000 bucks! I think the 17-55 f 2.8 lens might win! Thank you again everyone!!

 

[pensive tomato]

Im really glad I asked these questions before I spent over a $1000 bucks! I think the 17-55 f 2.8 lens might win! Thank you again everyone!!

Best of luck with your purchase! Remember that there's always renting for trying before you buy. Also you can supplement your general use zoom with a couple of primes down the line, those will work just fine when you move to full frame.

 

[mkabi]

Let me add my 2 cents.

Just to let you know, the 17-55 won't work on a full body. Should be pretty obvious given the EF-S designation.

As someone that has a crop body myself, I would choose a 17-40 f/4 L or 16-35 f/2.8 L.
I mean you're 50mm is like an 80mm, right.... so you are already experiencing that close-up look.

When I had the kit lens... I barely moved from 18mm, because it had everthing I needed to cover landscape pictures.

 

[barracuda]

Im really glad I asked these questions before I spent over a $1000 bucks! I think the 17-55 f 2.8 lens might win! Thank you again everyone!!

If you do decide on the 17-55 f/2.8, you should know that this lens is notorious for dust getting into the front element. While consensus is that it won't affect your photos, I couldn't stand seeing it. I had mine cleaned twice by Canon (free if you're a CPS Gold/Platinum member) until I put filter on it. Since then, no dust. Get a high-quality, multi-coated, clear filter (UV isn't necessary for digital cameras). I only use B+W filters.

This B+W filter has a low enough profile such that you should not see any vignetting and has front threads for your lens cap:

http://www.adorama.com/BW77XSP7N.html

Enjoy!

 

[TracieD112]

Very true, I really hate having to stand really far back with the 50mm but i love it for newborns and toddler portraits. I know i wouldnt be able to use the 17-55mm on a full body, but I wont be upgrading to a FF anytime soon. I do need to find a place to rent a lens and get a feel for what I like. Any suggestions on lens rental places??