New setup- New to the Forum

Hi there, I am new to forums so go easy on me.

I started photography as a hobby a few years ago and have been learning new things ever since.
My first setup was a Canon 600D with the standard lenses...i also got a canon 50mm, and just before christmas i purchased the Sigma 8-16mm, which i am very impressed with.

Last week i ordered in my new setup- Canon 5D mk iii, with the canon 24-70mm. I am still awaiting its arrival, and cant wait to start learning how to use it!

I have been doing a bit of research into which other lenses i should purchase...I mainly shoot Landscape, and getting the hang of Astrophotography.

Any help or ideas in which lenses i should purchase would be greatly appreciated.

cheers! :)
 

Menace

New Zealand
Apr 5, 2012
1,368
0
New Zealand
You already have the Sigma that covers the wide end, 50 (f?) will cover low light and 24-70 as a walk around so I'd suggest you don't really need any more lenses right now - just concentrate on shooting and improving your skill level.

(If you did portraits, one of the 70-200 would be handy).

You can always invest in a good sturdy tripod and ball head combo for your landscape and astrophotography and some kind of remote shutter for those extra long exposures.

Do share your pics with us.

Have fun :)
 
Upvote 0
For landscape, I like to use ultra wide angle lenses. I have the samyang 14mm F/2.8. Some (including me) love this lens and others have had bad copies or just didnt like it. Also, if I remember correctly, the sigma 8-16 is not designed for full frame sensors, so using it on the 5d mark iii will vignette or possibly damage the mirror.

Almost all of my lenses are primes, most of which fall into the 24-70 range, so unless you are looking into primes, I wont be of much help.

In terms of astrophotography, I am not sure what you are trying to achieve, but those pictures you see on the internet are not easy to take. Most are taken with cameras with an infrared modified sensor mounted on a star tracker to eliminate star trails. If you get really into astrophotography, I have read about people using refractor telescopes with built in star trackers to achieve good photos at 2000-3000mm focal length.

If you do use something like an astrotrac, I have heard that results vary with lenses over 400mm. Something to keep in mind when looking for lenses in the future.
 
Upvote 0
That's a huge jump from a 600D to a Mk III. If you are into shooting landcapes with a 5D I would recommend the 17-40mm f4 L. It's a fairly old model but much sharper than a lot of the other wide angles like the 16-35. Shooting wide is just about everything when it comes to landscapes, so if you want gear advice, really recommend the 17-40. Had the priviledge of trying it, you wouldn't be dissapointed.
Also, what type of astrophotography are you trying to do?
The kind where you look at individual stars/systems, star trail or star time lapse (which is of huge interest to me)?
Edit: It may be of interest to get a 16-35 anyway because of the 2.8 aperture, which will be a huge help in available light situations.
 
Upvote 0

eml58

1Dx
Aug 26, 2012
1,939
0
Singapore
byron87 said:
Hi there, I am new to forums so go easy on me.

I started photography as a hobby a few years ago and have been learning new things ever since.
My first setup was a Canon 600D with the standard lenses...i also got a canon 50mm, and just before christmas i purchased the Sigma 8-16mm, which i am very impressed with.

Last week i ordered in my new setup- Canon 5D mk iii, with the canon 24-70mm. I am still awaiting its arrival, and cant wait to start learning how to use it!

I have been doing a bit of research into which other lenses i should purchase...I mainly shoot Landscape, and getting the hang of Astrophotography.

Any help or ideas in which lenses i should purchase would be greatly appreciated.

cheers! :)

Welcome to CR.

First, asking advice here will likely put you in the Poor House, but you'll get some good advice non the less, well, sometimes less.

Landscape Lens, a serious Landscape Lens.
24 TSE Mark II
17 TSE Mark II

Stars, I've tried several Canon Lenses and found although Sharp, i.e. 24f/1.4 II, they sometimes have serious Coma, so I eventually settled on the 15f/2.8 & 25f/2 Zeiss.

None of these Lenses are "Budget" but I've found them the best for me.

On a Budget for Landscape you might want to look at the Canon 16-35f/2.8 L II, but be aware at the Wide end you will get distortion to the Corners, some, but not all, can be cleaned up in Post.

How ever you decide to go forward, enjoy your Photography.
 
Upvote 0

pj1974

80D, M5, 7D, & lots of glass and accessories!
Oct 18, 2011
692
212
Adelaide, Australia
Welcome to CR forums.

I agree that f/2.8 is very handy for night time photography.... and so the Canon 16-35mm L would be a good consideration. Not tack sharp wide open, but still reasonably sharp - but you might need the f/2.8. Do you need wider than the 24mm? And do you have the 24-70mm v1 or v2?

Other options - yes the Canon 14mm L or one of the TSE lens. Or Canon 17-40mm which is very good stopped down. I don't do much astrophotography, so my criteria are different (I do more daylight landscape photography UWA).

Your Sigma 8-16mm won't work on a FF. For what it's worth, I've seen a lot (!) of very good images with a crop sensor (APS-C) using many UWAs - eg Sigma 8-16mm, Sigma 10-20mm, Tokina 11-16 (f/2.8!), Tokina 12-24mm and Canon's 10-22mm. We're really spoiled for choice!

Then, on the other hand, perhaps you want to consider a telezoom- eg 70-200mm f/2.8 II or the 70-300mm L (which I have). I also take quite a lot of landscape shots with these (eg zooming into mountains, along coastlines, even forests, etc).
 
Upvote 0