Lense Choice

[benhoskin]

Am off to UK, Europe for 3 weeks and am looking for lens ideas.
on a 30 D

[Kris]

I took a 24-70 f2.8 last time

This time I'm going to take a 16-35 , nifty 50 and a 135 with tele

[ozimax]

What a question! It's like buying a car or a tie or a house. where do you start?

You need to consider budget, focal length required, prime or zoom, L class or less expensive et al.

I have not owned a Canon but I am told by friends (Canon pros) that the following are good quality lens:

Ultra Wide 10-22mm 3.5-4.5
Wide 17-40mm F4 L
Mid prime 85mm F1.8
Long prime 135mm F2 L
Long zoom 70-200mm F2.8 L or F4 L (both come in IS and non IS)

Keep in mind that your 30D has a crop factor of 1.6, so in effect these lenses will be longer than if used on a full frame body such as the 5D.

Most probably some of the experienced Canon users on this forum can throw in some relevant opinions on which lens to use as travel lens.

Cheers,

Ozi

[bwhinnen]

You need something wide, something medium and something long.

I would look at the 10-20 EFS, the 17-55 f2.8 EFS (or 17-40 f4L) and perhaps the 135. The 70-200 in the f4 would be lighter than the 70-200 2.8.

Also remember that weight is an issue, and all the L class and wide aperture lenses weigh more!

If they had something akin to the 18-200VR then I would say that, as it is the perfect travel lens.

For me at the moment with my kit I would take the 18-70 and the 70-200 (damn the weight ). If I had the 17-35 and 28-70 I'd take those instead of the 18-70.

I've not really helped though, sorry...

Cheers
Brett

[benhoskin]

I have the 17-40F4L but was considering getting the 70-200 F4L IS, as it is 1/2 the weight of the 2.8...

[moz]

I have the 17-40F4L but was considering getting the 70-200 F4L IS, as it is 1/2 the weight of the 2.8...

And quite a bit smaller too. Which helps when you're travelling. Sounds like a good plan. The alternative might be one of the 70-300-ish lenses if you're thinking of the 70-200/2.8 later, or get the non-IS f/4 second hand and sell it when you get back. I don't think you'll get the IS/4 second hand though. The Sigma 70-300's that Poon has are not bad and are very cheap.

I'd be tempted to add a gorillapod rather than taking a proper tripod, just for the size and weight thing. Plus they're fun to play with

[benhoskin]

Well took the 17-40 F4L, and a 70-200 F4L IS...
But still need wider!

Is the sigma close to the canon in the 10-22 (10-20) range?