Good Starter Lens for Canon 60D

DarkLegacy

[H]ard|Gawd
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With a lot of help from a friend that works at Canon ( low position), I was able to acquire a Canon D60. Although he was pushing me more towards the 50D, I felt the 60D was more for me to start out with.

It is just the body since I was to put down a decent amount on a better lense than what it comes with. He has already threw out a few options for me to look at but I always enjoy having multiple options from multiple sources. I have a fairly good budget to work with a discount applied through my friend. If he can get one anyways lol. If not, I can put up to $1000. I do welcome all opinions & options. Like getting multiple lenses for $1000. Thanks for all of the assistance.
 
You have multiple options here. It all really depends on what you are trying to do. The best all around lens is the cannon 18-200. It will serve you well for walking around taking pictures of family, scenery etc. If I were to own 1 lens, it would be that. However, as all of us photogs know, 1 lens is never enough. If I were to go 2 lenses, it would be the Tamron 28-75 and the Sigma 50-500 OS. This will allow you to get creative w/ depth of field with the tamron being 2.8, and will allow you to get some nice wildlife shots with the sigma. Again, its all what you want to do. Perhaps you could care less about wildlife and you are a macro type person. Then you cant beat the 100mm canon macro. The options are endless and most of us dont have an endless pocket =(.
 
It all depends on what you want to shoot. Superzooms like the one suggested above typically aren't very good but are very useful. For your budget, you can get some very nice lenses. I'd suggest at least one standard zoom and one fast prime.
 
I've read that many people have the 50mm prime lens as part of their kit. Many people spring for the 50mm F1.8 which is fine, you can pick one up for around $130. If you can afford it, get the F1.4 as I heard it to be better lens.
 
Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 + Canon 35 f/2 would be a good starter kit that comes in under $1k. If you want to spend more for build quality you could look at switching the Tamron for the Canon 17-55 and the Canon 35 for a Sigma 30 f/1.4
 
I think the Sigma 30mm f1.4 is the best budget prime under $450. If you aren't sure if you are going to like primes, get the Canon 50mm f1.8 to start out.

While the Tamron 17-50 f2.8 is a sharp lens, I couldn't stand the slow/loud focus. I have the Sigma 17-50 f2.8 OS with HSM focus and I really like it. Not quite compareable to the Canon 17-55 f2.8 or 24-70 f2.8, but it is far superior to any of the Canon kit lenses.

For budget zooms, it doesn't get much better then the Canon 55-250 f4-5.6 for the price. If you can spend a tad more, the Canon 70-200mm f4(non-IS) is a tach sharp lens!

For your standard lens, since you are on a crop body, I would recommend the 17-18mm -50mm+ range. I did not like the 28-70mm+ zoom range on my 50d.
 
Prime lenses will usually produce better photos and have more creativity than any zoom. Primes require more work and are less convenient though..but you don't sacrifice anything at the cost of gaining convenience.

The tamron 17-50 is the standard for convenience and will cover a wide range. The 30mm and 50mm are nice. At f1.4 and f1.8 you can do lots of indoor low-light or high-speed captures.
 
Thanks for all of the recommendations! I will be looking at every single one over time. My friend started me off with a 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 that will be on the house. Will have to wait for that to come in. So I ended up spending most of my $1000 on an EF17-40mm f/4L USM. I plan to buy some more lens after my Vacation in May. Pics to come in a few hrs =).
 
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Best of luck to you - now you are hooked.

(p.s. If you have the option, I would seriously consider returning the 17-40. I have it and love it for my full-frame camera, but it has no useful purpose on a crop camera. There are cheaper and better options for the EF-s mount. Not a slam on the new L, It's a nice lens and well-built, but you would probably be better off with one of the crop 2.8 lenses for a standard zoom.)
 
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I will most likely hold on to the lens & just expand my collection over time. I can get about 2 new lens a month & will get another L at the end of the year. When the job bonus comes. Thanks for the advice botw! Appreciate it.
 
Best of luck to you - now you are hooked.

(p.s. If you have the option, I would seriously consider returning the 17-40. I have it and love it for my full-frame camera, but it has no useful purpose on a crop camera. There are cheaper and better options for the EF-s mount. Not a slam on the new L, It's a nice lens and well-built, but you would probably be better off with one of the crop 2.8 lenses for a standard zoom.)

It is a useful range, and USM is nice, but F/4 - isn't that slow for indoor?
 
It is a useful range, and USM is nice, but F/4 - isn't that slow for indoor?

I believe it is but I will be training with all kinds of lens over time. I am currently looking into what would be a good lens to use indoors for an event such as an Auto Show. I am attending the New York one this year, as I do every year. Just this time, I'll have my DSLR with me instead my my usual point & shoot.
 
I'm using a Canon 17-55 f2.8, and it's wonderful indoors. At a car show, the faster the lens the better IMHO so you're not bouncing flash off of the cars. I'll second botw's comment on 17-40s and crop cameras, unless you're sure you will move up to a full frame later.

Sometimes I take only a prime lens out to challenge me to compose differently.
 
Best of luck to you - now you are hooked.

(p.s. If you have the option, I would seriously consider returning the 17-40. I have it and love it for my full-frame camera, but it has no useful purpose on a crop camera. There are cheaper and better options for the EF-s mount. Not a slam on the new L, It's a nice lens and well-built, but you would probably be better off with one of the crop 2.8 lenses for a standard zoom.)

Yeah, the 17-40L on a crop is always a dilemma, if the move to full frame occurs. The lens and the 7D might be the better combo with the weather sealing feature, and build quality.

I wonder about the EF-S 10-22mm, Sigma 30mm, and Canon 50mm as a group, vs the 17-40L or vs the EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS.

The Canon EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS might have been better over the 17-40L on a crop.
 
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