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Technical Questions

A question for those with a bag full of glass

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chestersgallery
 
Posts: 184

A question for those with a bag full of glass

Post Thu Dec 03, 2009 8:06 pm


I don't spend a lot of money on my photography but this month I have freed up two hundred pounds to spend on a Lens. ($330 or 220Euros) I notice a lot of people have a lot of lenses in their kit and my questions is a simple one. I cover a wide range of photography from Landscapes and wildlidfe to Portraits and still life. I know my money won't stretch far on big telephotos so I'm torn between getting a wide angle Lens or a Macro lens.

For those with both, which do you use most regular?

I know this is a very individual thing but I'm trying to gauge which one will gather the most dust, because it may be a few years again before I can purchase another.

Any Help or comments greatly appreciated.

PS I shoot with a 30D :D

amoxtli
 
Posts: 3296
Location: San Diego, California

Re: A question for those with a bag full of glass

Post Fri Dec 04, 2009 3:34 am


Go wide:
Tokina 12-24mm f/4 AT-X 124 AF Pro DX
or Macro:
Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 SP AF
I use both of these and am very satisfied with both.
If I had to choose between wide and macro, I'd go wide, but that's because I shoot more architecture than macro.
Walter Otto Koenig Architectural Photography: http://www.wokoenig.net

General Photography: http://www.wokoenig.com

Pacific Photographic Society: http://www.pacificphoto.net

namratasnv
 
Posts: 9

Re: A question for those with a bag full of glass

Post Fri Dec 04, 2009 5:41 am


amoxtli wrote:Go wide:
Tokina 12-24mm f/4 AT-X 124 AF Pro DX
or Macro:
Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 SP AF
I use both of these and am very satisfied with both.
If I had to choose between wide and macro, I'd go wide, but that's because I shoot more architecture than macro.


Hi,

I am getting your point and it seems that I can easily get this and this will no doubt going to serve you very well, as the wide angle lenses are used in wide angle photography as these lenses are specially used for creative art photography.

Thanks!

prinothcat
 
Posts: 662

Re: A question for those with a bag full of glass

Post Fri Dec 04, 2009 7:03 am


Second vote on the Tokina wide.

ericvision
 

Re: A question for those with a bag full of glass

Post Fri Dec 04, 2009 2:17 pm


For the generalist, I'd choose a wide angled jobby. I have the Sigma 105mm Macro (great lens but sh*t AF) and I use it any time I want to do serious close-ups. However, I don't carry it when I'm walking, or when I'm on holiday, or when I'm motorcycle touring or when I throw the cameras into the car just in case.

Most wide-angled lenses (my widest is the 17-85IS) do a good job of the "reasonably close" shots and in my opinion if its one or the other, that's what you'll get most use of. And if you're into selling shots beuatiful landscapes sell better than macros I think, so maybe your wide could fund a macro in the future :D

paulsilkphotography
 
Posts: 70

Re: A question for those with a bag full of glass

Post Fri Dec 04, 2009 2:43 pm


Depends really the wide will be good for landscapes and architecture, the 90mm Tamron for macro but it will also make a superb portrait lens. The choice is yours. :D
Keep on snapping and catch the moment if you can.
Paul

http://www.pbase.com/paulsilkphotography

tim32225
 
Posts: 89

Re: A question for those with a bag full of glass

Post Sun Dec 13, 2009 6:21 am


chestersgallery wrote:I don't spend a lot of money on my photography but this month I have freed up two hundred pounds to spend on a Lens. ($330 or 220Euros) I notice a lot of people have a lot of lenses in their kit and my questions is a simple one. I cover a wide range of photography from Landscapes and wildlidfe to Portraits and still life. I know my money won't stretch far on big telephotos so I'm torn between getting a wide angle Lens or a Macro lens.

For those with both, which do you use most regular?


You will get far more use out of a wide angle lens rather a macro lens, but it would make more sense if you mentioned what lens or lenses you have already before asking the question.... that is assuming you have at least one lens now. My very first lens was a 28-135 IS and I still use it a lot today, even though now I have over a half dozen other lenses, mostly L's. It's a good all purpose lens, and while 28 mm is not really ultra wide, it's plenty wide for most applications. You get 135 on the long end, which gets you close enough for most every day stuff, especially if you are shooting with a cropped sensor body. And the image stabilization makes the lens really worth the money. You will be amazed what you can do in low light with image stabilization, compared to a lens without it. You can usually shoot with really slow shutter speeds as long as your subject is not moving.

Good luck!
Tim

http://www.timrucci.com

madlights
 
Posts: 914

Re: A question for those with a bag full of glass

Post Sun Dec 13, 2009 3:13 pm


You've probably already got the lens by this time, but I'd go with most of the others and say wide angle...Unless you have a real desire to do close up photography (and you may get that desire) With a wide angle you can always usually walk closer, but sometimes not farther (as in an interior, or out on a narrow street) and you can always get the 50mm 1.8 cheap for a portrait or low light lens later, and it's a pretty darned good lens for how cheap it is. Then you'll have 2 lenses. To experiment with macro you can get a meter coupled extension fairly reasonably, or just a set of used/new diopters to just experiment with at first for your 50mm, and see how you like macro. But for my main purchase I'd go wide.

jypsee
 
Posts: 1247

Re: A question for those with a bag full of glass

Post Tue Dec 15, 2009 9:22 pm


Tamron 17-50 f/2.8; on your 30D it will be a fairly wide FOV (approx 25mm) and makes a nice portrait lens. Nice big aperture for blurred DOF and focuses fairly closely. I use it on a Pentax K10D (1.5 crop sensor)
17mm


50mm

chestersgallery
 
Posts: 184

Re: A question for those with a bag full of glass

Post Mon Jan 11, 2010 5:09 am


Thanks for all the replies on this one, this is really going to help with my selection


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