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Photography Forums => The Canon EOS Forum => Topic started by: El Geek on November 30, 2009, 09:08:23 AM



Title: Lenses for my Canon 50D
Post by: El Geek on November 30, 2009, 09:08:23 AM
Currently my equipment consist of EOS 50D, EFS18-200mm f/3.5-5.6, EF50mm f/1.8, EF 100-300 f/4.5-5.6 USM. I mostly use 18-200mm at all times but I'm not entirely satisfied with it's sharpness and low light situations. I will eventually will upgrade to full frame, and I'll keep the 50D as backup since I love the camera. But in the meantime I want expand my glass collection. I primarily shoot wide and mid range. With a budget of $2000, what lense or lenses combination would you recommend? Here are my top list:

    * Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 USM IS
    * Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 USM IS
    * Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 USM
    * Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS


Title: Re: Lenses for my Canon 50D
Post by: Bob Atkins on November 30, 2009, 03:29:56 PM
If you shoot mostly wide and mid range and you want to eventually add a full frame DLSR I think that the  EF 24-105/4L IS USM (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000AZ57M6/bobatkinsphotogr) might be the best choice. It's a great wide to mid range zoom on a full frame DSLR, though on a 50D its more of a semi-wide to short telephoto. Still a very useful lens though. If you want wide on the 50D I'd look at the EF-S 10-22/3.5-4.5 USM (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0002Y5WXE/bobatkinsphotogr). With that and the 24-105 you'd effectively cover everything from 10 to 105mm. The EF-S 10-22 won't fit on a full frame camera, but if you want to go really wide on a crop sensor body, you pretty much have to use a lens designed for crop sensors.

The EF-S 17-55/2.8IS USM (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000EW8074/bobatkinsphotogr) is a great lens and gives you good wide-to-normal coverage. It's fast and it has IS. The only downside is that if you add a full frame DSLR, you won't be able to use the EF-S 17-55 on it.

The EF 70-200/2.8L IS USM (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006I53X/bobatkinsphotogr) may be Canon's best zoom. It's very sharp and the IS is effective. It can be combined with the 1.4x and 2x TC for even longer reach. However you said that you mostly shoot wide and mid range and the 70-200 is really a telephoto zoom, espcially on a crop sensor DSLR.

The EF 24-70/2.8L USM (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00009R6WT/bobatkinsphotogr) is a nice lens with a wide aperture that can be useful for throwing backgrounds out of focus. The only real downside is that it lacks IS, so you can probably shoot handheld with the 24-105/4IS in lower light than you could with the unstabilized 24-70/2.8.


Title: Re: Lenses for my Canon 50D
Post by: El Geek on November 30, 2009, 05:24:51 PM
Thanks for the detailed answer Bob. I appreciate it. I think I'm leaning towards the 10-22mm and 24-105. Whatever I decide I'll post some pics.