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The Primes

No this is sooo.... whoops I just drooled on my Keyboard.

Good Luck with them, I hope you get some great stuff out of them and a long life.

Now I just wish I could get a set. What do you have as a camera?

I am hoping to get a Canon 60D in the Spring. I don't want a to take over your thread, but what Lens do you suggest for a beginner I was thinking about getting the 18-135mm IS Kit Lens. I want to do both Video and Photos with it though, the aperture is fair, and I heard it has Vignetting around the edges.
 
I thought you had the 85mm 1.2L II. Also, you don't want wider? No 24mm or 14mm?
Grats on what you do have though. I haven't even started a prime collection yet. I really want 'em, but can't afford them yet.
 
The lens collection... it's never finished :p

Grats on the glass. New toys always bring a big smile to my face.
 
I also have a few zooms like the 24-105, 24-70, 70-200, 17-40 and so on...

@UnknownSouljer - I did, and it has been a on/off relationship with that.. but at the end I did not use it enough to justify keeping it... now if I ever quit my day job or retire (in a long, long time) and did photography as my occupation and not my hobby, I might pick up another one.

@ComputerGeek - 5d Mark II and 5d mark I (I will be picking up the Mark III when it comes out), I went Full Frame 3 years ago and never looked back... I do not think I can go back to a crop sensor body (well with the exception of my Fuji X100).

@northrop - That is the truth.... funny thing is I am eying the 8-15L fisheye... but besides that I am good for now....
 
Those are some nice tools darktiger!

I have a few primes. 35mm f/1.8, and 50mm f/1.8D Normally grab my 16-85mm first though for my shooting needs. Love the 35mm when I pick it up.
 
What Lens's did you have before you got L lens's, or rather what lens's would you suggest for a beginner without a ton of Money? :p
 
Well when I started 5 years ago I tried to go the cheap route because I thought it would not make a big difference, but I was wrong.

I started out with the 18-55 kit lens, then moved to the Sigma 18-200 (IQ sucks, range was good), then I got the Tamron 17-35 (IQ was great, but the range sucked)... so I said f**kit and got the Canon 24-105L and still have it to this day. I still love that lens no matter what.

So depending on your body (Canon/Nikon) I would recommend the 24-105. You can get this lens fairly cheap used.... This is the lens I would be with if I was dropped in the middle of nowhere, zombie apocalypse, water world scenario, etc..... Def if there was only one lens I could ever own it would be this lens hands down......
 
I agree on the 24-105L. I disagree what others have said - the lens isn't wide enough on crop. Most often the 10-20 class lens are used on the wide end. Not much of a problem on non-constant aperture lens.

Canon and Nikon crop users need a UWA prime.
 
Well I guess there is that 17-55 IS :)

I bought my 24-105 when I still had my Rebel XT, then I used it on my 30D when I upgraded... yes it did shine when I first got my 5D..... never the less it still worked out great when I was on my old crop bodies....
 
Hey Thanks for the response, Would you suggest any other lens that has a wider aperture like f2.8 as I will be doing video work and need the extra light. I know it is hard to get a good lens for both photo and video work that is not a lot of money. I think for video you have to mostly worry about the aperture and sharpness, but in photography alot of other factors affect lens quality.

BTW I am going to get the Canon 60D. So I'll be going for Canon Lens though I have a nikon 50 1.8 that I think I'll keep since it's supposed to be pretty good for video.

Thanks that for the tips for a relative newbie in the slr world.
 
If you are doing lots of video work, you can't beat the prime lenses. Look at the 85 1.8 and 50 1.4 for affordable ones that are both nice portrait lenses and good for video.
 
I agree.. for video I would pick the 50 f/1.4 over the 85 f/1.8..... especially on a crop body... another suggestion is getting a nikon to canon adapter and using a nikon lens on your canon body.. some great and cheap nikon lenses have manual aperture rings :) great for video...

Or the Zeiss 1.4 or 2 are great lens for video.. since zeiss lenses are manual it works great for video.. focusing with zeiss lens is awesome... I wish canon's lens were as smooth as them. It was a hard decision for me between the zeiss 50mm MP f/2.0 and the Canon 50L f/1.2...... but when amazon offered a new one for $1308 for the gold coin/cybermonday deal, that was way to hard to pass up.....
 
Or a 28 1.8 for a little wider. The uber cheap prime lenses have crap manual focus rings that are useless for video work.

Zooms are nice, but you don't get that cinema depth of field and it is VERY hard to zoom and maintain any sort of focus on a dslr without lots of extra equipment and/or practice.
 
Only the two Canon 24mm primes can come close to the Zeiss 21.

On another note, it would be nice to know why Sigma has problems with the 50 and 30mm primes, as the 85 is quite nice.
 
If you are doing lots of video work, you can't beat the prime lenses. Look at the 85 1.8 and 50 1.4 for affordable ones that are both nice portrait lenses and good for video.

Yeah I was thinking about those, those are in my price range? Unlike Most, if not all of the L lens.

I agree.. for video I would pick the 50 f/1.4 over the 85 f/1.8..... especially on a crop body... another suggestion is getting a nikon to canon adapter and using a nikon lens on your canon body.. some great and cheap nikon lenses have manual aperture rings :) great for video...

Or the Zeiss 1.4 or 2 are great lens for video.. since zeiss lenses are manual it works great for video.. focusing with zeiss lens is awesome... I wish canon's lens were as smooth as them. It was a hard decision for me between the zeiss 50mm MP f/2.0 and the Canon 50L f/1.2...... but when amazon offered a new one for $1308 for the gold coin/cybermonday deal, that was way to hard to pass up.....

I got a adapter for the Nikon already I tried it on my friends 7d and it worked great. Except you don't get AF in fact the camera does not recognize the lens on the camera, and you have to bypass the warning the camera gives you. Which is fine for Video, But for photos it doesn't work as well.

I love the Zeiss lens, especially the Zeiss Compact Cinema Primes but those Cost quite a lot.

Or a 28 1.8 for a little wider. The uber cheap prime lenses have crap manual focus rings that are useless for video work.

Zooms are nice, but you don't get that cinema depth of field and it is VERY hard to zoom and maintain any sort of focus on a dslr without lots of extra equipment and/or practice.

Yeah most of the cheap primes are garbage, I know why they call Canons 50mm the "The Plastic 50."

Only the two Canon 24mm primes can come close to the Zeiss 21.

On another note, it would be nice to know why Sigma has problems with the 50 and 30mm primes, as the 85 is quite nice.

Could Someone explain to me briefly the different series of Zeiss lens, and how they correlate to the canon line, like which ones are equivalent of L glass. And what does MP stand for?

Two more questions,

What do you guys think of the 100mm f2.8L Macro Lens, I know the focus isn't that great for Video. But how is this Lens in the Pro photo World?

So then do you guy's think I should pass on the 18-135 kit lens, and just get the body?
 
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Personally, if I were you, I'd get the kit 18-135. Its a decent walk-around lens and great for 95% of users who purchase a Canon crop sensor camera and the price in the kits is good (especially if you buy from the refurb store as you know). Yes, there are much better lenses, but sometimes you have to make do until you have the budger you want. You will want some primes for any sophisticated video work in addition to that though.

The 100L is a fantastic lens - one of my favorites. It manually focuses fine for video. I don't use autofocus in videos becuase it still sucks on all dslrs.
 
Two more questions,

What do you guys think of the 100mm f2.8L Macro Lens, I know the focus isn't that great for Video. But how is this Lens in the Pro photo World?

So then do you guy's think I should pass on the 18-135 kit lens, and just get the body?

I had that lens, and it never got used (100 f/2.8). I only used it for macro. It was too zoomed in unless I was doing headshots...

I would also pass on that 18-135 kit lens... and maybe look at the 15-85... I have heard great things about that lens....

But I would say save up and buy a used 24-105L........
 
Personally, if I were you, I'd get the kit 18-135. Its a decent walk-around lens and great for 95% of users who purchase a Canon crop sensor camera and the price in the kits is good (especially if you buy from the refurb store as you know). Yes, there are much better lenses, but sometimes you have to make do until you have the budger you want. You will want some primes for any sophisticated video work in addition to that though.

The 100L is a fantastic lens - one of my favorites. It manually focuses fine for video. I don't use autofocus in videos becuase it still sucks on all dslrs.

Hey, Thanks for the Advice guys, I used the 100L Macro on the Video shoot that I did I thought it was a great Lens. However, I found that it only was a really short turn of the focus ring to go from Close Up to Infinity, where as the Zeiss Compact Primes you have to turn it a lot more to go from Close Up to Infinity, which in turn make in easier to pull focus especially on a dolly shot.

How is the focus on a 18-135, is it anything like a 18-55 because I thought the focus was awful on that, I am not even sure I could use it for Video.

I had that lens, and it never got used (100 f/2.8). I only used it for macro. It was too zoomed in unless I was doing headshots...

I would also pass on that 18-135 kit lens... and maybe look at the 15-85... I have heard great things about that lens....

But I would say save up and buy a used 24-105L........

Do you do mostly Portrait work? If so I could see how this lens might not be so great for your work. I think I sort of need to figure out better what my needs will be.

I like the 24-105L and I like the photos that come out of it the only problem is the f4 aperture I really don't think Its Fast enough for Video.

Thanks Again guys for all the help!
 
Hey, Thanks for the Advice guys, I used the 100L Macro on the Video shoot that I did I thought it was a great Lens. However, I found that it only was a really short turn of the focus ring to go from Close Up to Infinity, where as the Zeiss Compact Primes you have to turn it a lot more to go from Close Up to Infinity, which in turn make in easier to pull focus especially on a dolly shot.

How is the focus on a 18-135, is it anything like a 18-55 because I thought the focus was awful on that, I am not even sure I could use it for Video.



Do you do mostly Portrait work? If so I could see how this lens might not be so great for your work. I think I sort of need to figure out better what my needs will be.

I like the 24-105L and I like the photos that come out of it the only problem is the f4 aperture I really don't think Its Fast enough for Video.

Thanks Again guys for all the help!

Yeah but that IS helps. But yes f4 is not fast for video in darkness... but in general light, daytime, morning, etc.... f/4 is fine for me. But yes it does help to have a f/1.2-2 lens in anyone's bag...
 
Just trade a 70-200 f4IS for a 50 1.2, so now have 28 1.8, 50 1.2, 100L, and 135L. I've almost caught up to darktiger...
 
I've got an 8mm fisheye, the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 and the Canon 85mm f/1.8 and I have to say I am definitely seeing the benefits of shooting primes... I really couldn't get used to the 50mm focal length on a crop body though, I had both the canon 50mm f/1.8 II and the 50mm f/1.4 wasn't a huge fan of either one.

Maybe I'll pick up the Sigma 50 when I go full frame. Just have to sell my 17-55 and Sigma 30 first... then find a reasonably priced wide fast prime for FF
 
Just trade a 70-200 f4IS for a 50 1.2, so now have 28 1.8, 50 1.2, 100L, and 135L. I've almost caught up to darktiger...

Only on the primes... I do have a lot of zooms :)

jk

There are a few other ones I am still thinking about.. like that beautiful Zeiss 21mm :)

Plus that is awesome trading a 70-200 f/4 for a 50L.... damn....
 
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