Alternatives to 18-135mm kit lens

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dominichicks

Active member
Hi all
I'm headed into town tomorrow with a fistful of cash to finally purchase a 7D. I'm still deliberating with myself as to whether I should go for the body-only at £1250 or the body with 18-135mm kit for £1500....

I tried the GH1 recently and hated the kit lens - it was impossible to shoot in dark conditions. I think I really want FAST lenses, which is why I'm considering forgoing the kit lens for some alternatives...

There are two lenses I've fallen in love with (thanks for various vimeo videos I've seen) - the cheap and cheerful Canon 50mm 1.8 II (http://vimeo.com/8408186), and the less cheap but even more cheerful Canon 17-55mm 2.8 IS (http://vimeo.com/7764570). I'm also curious about the Sigma 30mm 1.4 (would this be better than the Canon 50mm?).

Do you guys think I should save the £250 by buying the body only version and put that cash into the lenses above? And if so, which ones?

Or can anyone show me some footage that will make me excited about the kit lens?

Thanks, Dom
 
The kit lens is pretty decent for video work, but if you hated the GH1's lens, you'll hate the Canon's, as they're about the same range and the same f-stop.
 
Hate is a strong word I suppose - the range was great, but I think the combination of the f-stop and the GH1's handling of low light situations really frustrated me (even with relatively low ISO settings in creative movie mode I found horrible, yellow vertical streaking through some parts of the image). Maybe I can get away with using slower lenses on the 7D, since I heard it handles higher ISO levels better?

I need at least one zoom lens with a decent wide angle, medium to fast aperture and image stabilisation, and then another lens that with the sort of speed that will let me create a strong seperation between subject and background and shoot in very low light (for more demanding/overtly stylistic shots)... so I'm thinking Canon 17-55mm 2.8IS and Canon 50mm 1.8, unless anybody has any other ideas?

I'm pretty sure I'll take the plunge with the 50mm 1.8... so essentially my question is, will I find enough advantage in the image quality and light capabilities of the 17-55 2.8IS lens to justify buying it instead of the 18-135mm 3.5-5.6 kit lens?
 
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my problem with the 17-55 2.8 is that it's $1000 most everywhere. is the 18-135 the best option for a zoom under 400?
 
... And is low light performance acceptable with the 7D?

Would the best option maybe be the Tamron 17-50 with VC?
 
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Hmm, not a bad idea but I need the zoom lens mainly for the IS and the ability to improvise quickly on the go (without swapping lenses). Basically I need one general usage lens, with a wide angle and a bit of zoom (along with decent low light abilities and image stabilization), and a more specialty lens with a much shallower depth of field.

I'm thinking more and more that the ultimate combo for me is the

Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 with VC (essentially the Canon 17-55 for half the price)
Wide angle, zoom, good low light, vibration control

... and the Sigma 30mm 1.4.
Very fast (without being telephoto), great low light, very shalllow DoF.

Total cost about £600...

Any criticisms/suggestions or should I go for it?
 
One thing is stopping me from placing an order online - do you think I could get away with the Canon 50mm 1.8 instead of the Sigma to save some cash? I know they're quite different (the Canon will be more like a portrait lens, and is marginally slower), but the Sigma is 3 times the price...
 
Well I want to shoot indoors a fair bit, so I am concerned that my focal length will be too limited with the 50mm....
But 2.8 aperture isn't exactly a slouch on the Tamron, so if I had to shoot inside a car for example, I could probably pull that out to 17mm and get acceptable footage in low light... and use the 1.8 for close up, extreme DoF shots and low light in wider environments?
 
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Dude... order now. Get the 50mm 1.8 and start shooting. You can work your way up to other lenses. For now... shoot shoot shoot... and then shoot some more! ;-)
 
dominichicks said:
Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 with VC (essentially the Canon 17-55 for half the price)
Click to expand...

Makes sure you get a good copy, though. Mine was severely front focussed and displayed larger than average amounts of CA. You should also consider that the focus throw of the Tammy is quite short, which I found a bit frustrating at times, though it does have hard stops.
 
Got the 7d with 50mm in my hands!!! Tis a thing of beauty. Got the Tamron on order. For some reason I feel immeasurably more happy with the 7D than the GH1 without even shooting on it yet - the body feels far more sturdy, the images somehow look 'thicker' and better defined... and the cheap 50mm prime lens is leaps and bounds above the GH1 kit lens.
 
Look forward to it (just don't make me jealous!)

No, the 50mm lens is outstanding value... I'm amazed at the quality of image I can get with this little guy. Can't wait to get shooting.
 
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