Basics - lenses and accessories for Canon 20D

03/15/2005 09:17:44 PM · #1

I am starting to budget for a new DSLR - pretty sure I want the Canon 20D.

I searched for other threads asking a similar question but couldn't find one (too many threads).
I would love suggestions for specific lenses - maybe two basic lenses that would be all around starter lenses. If the IS is appropriate (for the size) I am interested in that kind.
Looking for main lens (everyday lens) and macro.

I'm not specifying budget - don't want dirt cheap. I want good quality without also breaking the bank.

Also, what other accessories would you add to a new camera system - ie flash, battery grip, remote trigger, lens hood, filters?

Am I missing anything?
What would you get first and what would you add later?

03/15/2005 09:21:16 PM · #2

If you want a meaningful answer, you really should specify a budget.

This will help us decide what trade-offs need to be made, such as what might be a good "starter lens" than you could trade up from later, and what you should buy straight away.

You say you don't want to "break the bank," but while one person's breaking the bank might be $2,000, another's might be $5,000 or more.

We'd also need to know what types of shooting you like to do most. An L-glass quality macro lens is a waste for someone who likes shooting sports action, and a fast tele is a waste for someone who likes doing panos or still life.

The more information you can give us, the more meaningful answers we can give you.

-Terry

Message edited by author 2005-03-15 21:33:50.

03/15/2005 09:29:00 PM · #3

Originally posted by ClubJuggle:

If you want a meaningful answer, you really should specify a budget.

This will help us decide what trade-offs need to be made, such as what might be a good "starter lens" than you could trade up from later, and what you should buy straight away.

You say you don't want to "break the bank," but while one person's breaking the bank might be $2,000, another's might be $5,000 or more.

We'd also need to know what types of shooting you like to do most. An L-glass quality lens is a waste for someone who likes shooting sports action, and a fast tele is a waste for someone who likes doing panos or still life.

The more information you can give us, the more meaningful answers we can give you.

-Terry

Sorry - I guess I was going at it the wrong way.

We are thinking about a max of $3,000 for camera, lenses and accessories to start.

I don't do much sports - although, some quick action stuff like jousting. Mostly I like doing macro, scenery, candids, portraits and as my hubby likes to say - artsy fartsy stuff.

Does this help at all?!?

krazyivan

Canon EOS-5D Mark IV

Canon EF 50mm f1.2L

03/15/2005 09:38:24 PM · #4

With $3000 you can certainly get very good equipment.
Lenses:
Canon 50mm f/1.8 - $75 (good for portaraits and low light situations)
Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro Lens - $470 (Very Sharp, fast, good for portraits and good build. Also comes with a lens hood and a 6 year warranty)
Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Xr Di - $350 (Tack Sharp, good build and excellent walk around lens)
Canon 70-200mm f/4L - $570 (What else is there to say, Canon L glass)

Comes to $1465 +$1500 for the camera = $2965

Hope this helps!!

I have all the above equipment and love it!

Message edited by author 2005-03-15 21:38:45.

03/15/2005 09:42:29 PM · #5

Originally posted by krazyivan:

Wow - that's quite a selection. Thanks for commenting.
Can you explain what the L glass is?
Also, do you have any IS glass? I'm also looking for a few accessory must haves - like the remote trigger and battery grip, etc.

03/15/2005 09:42:58 PM · #6

Do you already own a tripod?

-Terry

Beetle

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

03/15/2005 09:49:40 PM · #7

Janice,
make sure you have a tripod.

One extra battery will be enough as the 20D is fantastic with battery life. Buy them off the internet for a fraction of the price.

If you take a lot of photos with flash, you'll want to allow money for that, too.

A shutter release cable. Again, if you need to save money (as the Canon one is terribly expensive), buy a non-canon one online - they work, too.

A HUGE bag - you'll be needing it.

Oooooohhhh shopping is such fun *s*

krazyivan

Canon EOS-5D Mark IV

Canon EF 50mm f1.2L

03/15/2005 10:02:40 PM · #8

Originally posted by autumncat:

Originally posted by krazyivan:
With $3000 you can certainly get very good equipment.
Lenses:
Canon 50mm f/1.8 - $75 (good for portaraits and low light situations)
Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro Lens - $470 (Very Sharp, fast, good for portraits and good build. Also comes with a lens hood and a 6 year warranty)
Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Xr Di - $350 (Tack Sharp, good build and excellent walk around lens)
Canon 70-200mm f/4L - $570 (What else is there to say, Canon L glass)

Comes to $1465 +$1500 for the camera = $2965

Hope this helps!!

I have all the above equipment and love it!

Wow - that's quite a selection. Thanks for commenting.
Can you explain what the L glass is?
Also, do you have any IS glass? I'm also looking for a few accessory must haves - like the remote trigger and battery grip, etc.

The "L" stands for Luxury. It is Canon's top of the line lenses. The construction and glass elements are second to none.

I did have the Canon 28-135mm IS USM lens, but I found that it was not good for low light situations even with the IS. I found that the Tamron 28-75mm lens is much better for my purposes, which is for portraiture and low light situations.

As far as accessories, I would definitely recommend a tripod, remote trigger, a big bag to carry it all, a spare battery. The battery life on the 20D is amazing, you can probably get 700-800 shots on one battery charge. I would also suggest UV filters for all your lenses, just for protection. Also, maybe a Circular Polarizer filter. Great for outdoor use, especially when it's bright out.

Canon EF 600mm f/4.0L IS USM

03/15/2005 10:02:50 PM · #9

Originally posted by ClubJuggle:

Do you already own a tripod?

-Terry

Well, sort of - but not really. It is old and very cheap - so yeah, have to add one of those to the list.

Sailingduck

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

03/15/2005 10:30:34 PM · #10

Autumn,

I'm certainly not an expert, but I have a very detailed oriented personality. I research, read, question, listen and think about what I want in gear. That being said, I am a few months ahead of you in gearing up while on a budget.

I've selected the following gear, because it is what met MY needs:
Bogen Manfrotto 322RC2 head on a Bogen Manfrotto 3021BPro tripod
RS-80N3 remote switch ........wonderful combination with tripod
BG-E2 battery pack ...........never been out of juice
Canon 28-135mm IS .......arguably the best "walk around lens" to have
Canon 50mm f/1.8 .............great for low light shots & portraits
Canon 18-55mm EF-S ...........kit lens
Canon 420EX flash .....big improvement over the body flash; not too $$$

IS is fantastic for the 28-135 lens. I've got no desire to have it on the longer lenses (300+mm) since those lenses will almost always be on a tripod.

IMO, Canon's best macro lens is their 100mm f/2.8 lens. Here's Canon's web page for it: //consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=ModelDetailAct&fcategoryid=155&modelid=7400

Next on my list is the Coken P system of filters.
//www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=WishList.jsp&A=details&Q=&sku=14265&is=REG
Seems that it is the most appropriate budget (but quality) thing to do for multiple lens diameters.

viajero

Canon EOS-20D

Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS for Canon

03/15/2005 10:40:20 PM · #11

This is sure to bring up an argument but I recommend getting the bigger of the two kit lenses, the 17-85 EF-S. The image stabilization works well and this zoom range covers the majority of situations I run into. The more often you change lenses the more dust you get on your sensor. After you've had it for a while then you'll know what other lenses you might want.

An SLR with zoom lens can be a beast to carry around. I got the Tamrac Velocity 7 camera bag which is like a backpack but it sits in front of you. Makes it easy to take the camera in and out. It has room for an extra big lens and a bunch of filters, cables, batteries, etc. It can be flipped around like a normal backpack but that way the single shoulder strap tends to choke me, so I just leave it in front.

dwterry

Canon EOS-1D Mark III

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

03/15/2005 10:47:15 PM · #12

Originally posted by viajero:

This is sure to bring up an argument but I recommend getting the bigger of the two kit lenses, the 17-85 EF-S.

That's the one I just picked up. I just got it yesterday (as a 'kit' with the 20D) so I haven't had too much experience with it yet. But from what I've seen so far, I really like it.

deapee

Kodak V803

03/15/2005 10:47:20 PM · #13

seriously...here's my advice...get something like the efs 18-55 ... and get a fairly long lens -- like the ef 75-300 f4-5.6. People will down-talk the 75-300 all day long, but it does the job just fine and is plenty sharp even at 300mm.

Taken at 300mm...

It might struggle in terrible light (I have yet to have a problem), but even in cloud-cover I'm MORE THAN ABLE to get an acceptable shutter speed at around 400 ISO -- and on the 20d, 400 ISO will be virtually noise-free.

Both of those lenses will be more than enough to last you months if not longer and yield quality photos. You could always throw in the 50mm 1.8 because it's only around $75 or so.

03/15/2005 11:08:59 PM · #14

The 20D is a good choice of camera. Jousting is pretty fast-action, so you can expect to benefit from the faster frame rate of the 20D (relative to the Rebel XT).

You'll want to have an extra battery, but it doesn't need to be a Canon battery. I find Digipower makes excellent quality batteries at a great price.

If you like to shoot portraits, the 50mm f/1.8 is a no-brainer. In my opinion it's the single most underpriced lens available for the Canon camera line.

The Canon 70-200L f/4 lens is a nice long lens for sports and other outdoor action. Though not as fast as the f/2.8 version, this lens is also significantly lighter and a few hundred dollars less expensive.

The Canon 100mm macro lens is pretty much self-explanatory. For the small price uplift relative to the 90mm Tamron, I'd stick with the Canon name.

Canon 20D - 1369.95
Digipower BP511 replacement battery - 21.84
Canon 50mm f/1.8 II - 74.95
Canon 70-200mm f/4L - 578.94
Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro - 477.71
Canon 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II - 229.95
Manfrotto 728B Tripod - 112.95

Total of the above is $2,866.29 before shipping.

If you can stretch the budget a little bit, I would also add:
Vivitar 19-35mm f/3.5-4.5 lens - 179.95. This will add some wide-angle capability and bring your total before shipping to $3,046.24.

Overall I think this is a great package that will offer you a lot of versaility for the money spent. Happy shooting!
-Terry

psychephylax

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

03/15/2005 11:14:04 PM · #15

Just want to throw in that if you buy it through Terry's links, start using Amazon's A9 Search engine and a few days later your Amazon Discount will kick in...It's not much (1.57%) but it can save you a dollar here and a dollar there.

Also, Adorama is one of the stores that will be in there and if you do not live in NY then there will be no tax on your purchase as opposed to Circuit City or Amazon itself.

doctornick

Apple iPhone 13 Pro

Mattel Barbie Photo Designer Digital Camera

03/15/2005 11:15:46 PM · #16

Originally posted by ClubJuggle:

What he said, except I'd replace the 28-105 with the Canon 17-40mm f/4L as a general walk around lens. This will bring you above your $3000 limit by about $300

nsbca7

03/15/2005 11:19:16 PM · #17

I have my oppinion and I may get blasted for it, but so what.

You don't need 10 cheap lenses. Get a good tripod, a spare battery and CF card and get a few very good lenses. Screw the Vivitar junk. You are spending $1400 on a camera. Don't devalue the image quality this camera is capable of by sticking a cheap lens on it. If you have a good camera, a good lens and tripod are a must.

Two good zooms or three good primes are plenty to start with and well within your budget.

03/15/2005 11:20:42 PM · #18

Originally posted by doctornick:

What he said, except I'd replace the 28-105 with the Canon 17-40mm f/4L as a general walk around lens. This will bring you above your $3000 limit by about $300

I did think about that, since it is a beautiful lens, but I couldn't figure out how to work it into the package and close the 40-70mm hole. In the end, I decided to leave that lens out (it's always a good option for a future upgrade).

While the Vivitar does not offer the quality of the Canon 17-40, it is (in my opinion anyway) an excellent value for its price.

-Terry

03/15/2005 11:22:28 PM · #19

Thanks to everyone who has made suggestions. It's a lot of info to take in - and I think I will probably save all the info and research the variety of items suggested - because it seems everyone has a slightly different preference on brand/length etc.

I very much appreciate the time you all took to list what you like.

One other thing not mentioned - a memory card. Minimum size suggested? Does brand matter? What speed would you suggest?