Need some advice.

[Soysin]

I'm fairly new to photography and I just bought a Canon 550D with a 18-55mm kit lens.
I am going to New York this winter and am wondering if I should buy a wider lens so that I can get nice pictures of the buildings and wide pictures of the roads/parks. I also want to do a bit of street photography too.
I was looking into getting a 50mm prime lens for it but I don't know if that's a good idea or not.
Any help would be appreciated and thanks for reading this post.
Robert.

 

[Aaron77]

If you are after a wider lens then the 10-22mm is great, is is quite sharp and has good colours and contrast. Also it has the fast USM focusing. However, if this is to expensive then the new 10-18mm STM would be a good idea.

The 50mm 1.8 is a great lens for the money. I have had one in the past and loved it. I would get the 1.8mm version unless you need fast and quite focuses, better bokeh and colours then go for the canon 50mm 1.4. I don't think the 1.4 version is much sharper however it is still an amazing lens. The other option is the sigma 1.4 ART. I would personally stick with canons 50mm lenses but it is an option.

 

[lintoni]

I'm fairly new to photography and I just bought a Canon 550D with a 18-55mm kit lens.
I am going to New York this winter and am wondering if I should buy a wider lens so that I can get nice pictures of the buildings and wide pictures of the roads/parks. I also want to do a bit of street photography too.
I was looking into getting a 50mm prime lens for it but I don't know if that's a good idea or not.
Any help would be appreciated and thanks for reading this post.
Robert.

Congratulations on your new camera!

Advice? Go out and take photos. Get used to, and get to know yout camera and what you can and can't do with it and the lens you have. Then later on, when you find yourself running into limitations, you'll know what you need to add to your kit ...

 

[Zv]

I'm fairly new to photography and I just bought a Canon 550D with a 18-55mm kit lens.
I am going to New York this winter and am wondering if I should buy a wider lens so that I can get nice pictures of the buildings and wide pictures of the roads/parks. I also want to do a bit of street photography too.
I was looking into getting a 50mm prime lens for it but I don't know if that's a good idea or not.
Any help would be appreciated and thanks for reading this post.
Robert.

Congratulations on your new camera!

Advice? Go out and take photos. Get used to, and get to know yout camera and what you can and can't do with it and the lens you have. Then later on, when you find yourself running into ,imitations, you'll know what you need to add to your kit ...

Good advice. The 18-55mm kit lens is actually pretty good for most suject matter. It was my only lens for a while and I took it and a 550D to Cambodia. When I got back I realized I needed something wider as almost all my shots were @ 18mm. It's much better to buy a lens based on a particular need than to buy a lens first and then try and figure out what to do with it.

With regards to the 50 - what I noticed when I bought the 50mm 1.8 (four years ago), my second lens btw, was that I kept getting blurry shots. I thought at that stage I needed a tripod for that lens but I now know what was causing the blurryiness - a lack of knowledge! You see, with the kit lens you have Image Stabilization so even if the shutter speed gets slow chances are it might still turn out OK. However, with the 50 1.8 on a 550D crop sensor you really need shutter speeds of around 1/100s at least. I wasn't familiar with ISO at that time and had read somehwere that ISO 100 was the best so I ended up keeping it there! Duh! Anyway long story short, once you master shutter speed, aperture AND ISO you'll be able to use any lens.

For street any lens can work because it's what you make of it. All depends if you like to get up close or keep a distance. Again the 18-55 will allow you to experiment and see which end you prefer most. When you get back home analyze your shots to see what you prefer. Then think about an additional lens if you feel the 18-55 didn't cover it.

 

[tiger82]

I just used my 10-18 EF-S lens and it is an inexpensive light option for you.

 

[wickidwombat]

I'm fairly new to photography and I just bought a Canon 550D with a 18-55mm kit lens.
I am going to New York this winter and am wondering if I should buy a wider lens so that I can get nice pictures of the buildings and wide pictures of the roads/parks. I also want to do a bit of street photography too.
I was looking into getting a 50mm prime lens for it but I don't know if that's a good idea or not.
Any help would be appreciated and thanks for reading this post.
Robert.

the 10-18 IS looks like a great buy I think this should be your next step without a doubt

is your 18-55 the latest STM IS version if not and its the older one it going to be very ordinary
possibly look at the sigma 18-35 f1.8 before a 50mm prime IMO as 50mm is more like an 85 on full frame and not such a good general purpose lens on crop.

another screaming good value buy is the 40mm f2.8 pancake I would make this the second purchase after the 10-18 in your situation while you look at what other lenses to go with the 40mm is a little more versitile on a crop than 50mm is
and the 10-18 plus 40mm will give you a nice range to work with while you work out what you need
the other advantage is both are really cheap.

the 40mm is a fantastic lens for street photography too.

i would skip the 50 f1.8 in favour of the 40mm f2.8, I have both lenses but the 40mm is substantially nicer than the 50

 

[tiger82]

Get the 10-18 then wait until you see what focal lengths most of your favorite shots are then decide on primes: 40 f/2.8, 28 f/1.8, 50 f/1.4, or 35 f/2. You may want to get the next step zoom or an 18-200 IS to give you more reach

 

[Soysin]

Thanks for the comments guys helped me substantially. Going to grab the 50mm 1.8 or the 40mm after i have some fun with this kit lens.

 

[Mr_Canuck]

I suggest the 40 as well. Small, fast enough, light, great image quality.

A warning about the 10-18/22mm range. Shooting this wide (10-14mm on apsc sensor) is challenging stuff. It's less about "getting it all in" than it is about maximizing those wide characteristics to accentuate foreground content. You can create a lot of far-away feeling, uninspired images with an ultrawide. That's why I've chosen a simple 20mm for full-frame as opposed to, say, a 16-35. This doesn't mean don't get one, but it means it's not necessarily a solution to getting great interior or architecture or expansive landscapes. You can take amazing shots with an 18-55 too.

Keep using your 18-55. It can do a LOT. And consider that cheap, small 40 or 50 prime as a next step. Fix-focal length shooting is also good discipline and can really force you to see and take better photos.

Enjoy!

 

[Snodge]

I would suggest perhaps with your kit lens, dial it in to 50mm focal length, and see if you can keep it there on a test shoot somewhere - it might give you some idea of how well you'll get on with a 50mm prime lens (maybe try also at 35mm).