best lens for Cannon Rebel t2i

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stallion8302

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I am planning on getting the Cannon Rebel T2i but have no clue about lenses. I live in Hawaii and love to take nature, surf, landscape photos. I was wondering if i could get some help on a good lens to get for this camera?
 
stallion8302 said:
I am planning on getting the Cannon Rebel T2i but have no clue about lenses. I live in Hawaii and love to take nature, surf, landscape photos. I was wondering if i could get some help on a good lens to get for this camera?
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Well, here's the thing. Landscape is generally done with about the widest lenses you can buy. Nature and surf are generally done with some of the longest lenses you can buy. Both extremes tend to be quite costly, and you most certainly cannot cover this range with a single lens. I'd say you'll be needing at least 3 to cover what you've mentioned. And I'd say expect to pay about $300 each.
 
If you just want a general purpose lens, the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS kit lens that comes with the T2i for a hundred bucks honestly isn't bad. Pick that up and a multi-coated UV filter, and see how you like it. If you decide you don't like it later or feel it's lacking in some capacity, you can sell it on Craigslist and not be out much money at all.
 
Landscape doesn't always need wide lenses. Using a longer lens to isolate interesting aspects in a landscape is a normal photographic technique.
Dave
 
Right, you won't get a wide zoom for that price. I own the 70-300mm F4-5.6 DG and it's okay, but you can't shoot stuff closer than aprox 2 meters, so it's not an all-around lens. But a great choice for the money! My test video: http://vimeo.com/12380735

I guess an option would be to get the Canon kit 18-55, so you got your range covered with two lenses. (Although if I lived in Hawaii I would save up to some monster 1000m zoom, after all you live in one of the most awesome locations in the world LOL). But really, you'd want that neat all-round lens. Both Canon and Sigma are nice modern lenses with great stabilization (personally, if I buy modern lenses, it's Sigma... the glittery coating looks so nice :grin: )
 
I have the kit lens, nifty fifty, and 17-55 2.8 IS... The 17-55 practically lives on my T2i. I would not hesitate to recommend this lens to anyone that doesn't have a full frame camera.
 
stallion8302 said:
I am planning on getting the Cannon Rebel T2i but have no clue about lenses. I live in Hawaii and love to take nature, surf, landscape photos. I was wondering if i could get some help on a good lens to get for this camera?
Click to expand...

If you are on a budget start with the 18-55mm. It's sharp at 5.6 and up on the wide end and OK at f11 on up at the long end, so if you are shooting daylight work at 1/50th it will provide good results. It's very light weight to carry everywhere and has IS.

If you want more you have to spend way more. Probably as much as the T2 and kit lens combined. Get it, use it, then upgrade when you out grow it.

I've shot projects with the 550D and that lens as a B cam to an EX3, and if I didn't tell you, you wouldn't notice the difference.

The 50mm 1.8 is another good value. Very sharp and relatively fast, dirt cheap. I shot this test this morning with the 50mm 1.8. on a tripod at f16 1/15th sec. with limited daylight. The 50 1.8 doesn't focus very close so I did a crop and it holds up pretty well.
 

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Just get the Canon 18-55 IS for $150.00 and the Canon 55-250 for $300.00. That will totally cover you, giving IS for handheld surfing at 250mm (which gives the equivalent of nearly 400mm for a 35mm film camera) and 18mm on the wide end for landscape.

If you do any shooting indoors, get the ubiquitous Canon 50mm 1.8.

You don't need fancier lenses than that for what you want to do. You MUST have IS for shooting at 250mm with the T2i for surfing, even on a tripod, if you're shooting surfing video in hawaii. (Hint: unless you have another $1000 for a good tripod, your camera WILL get blown around in the wind over there.)

Good, sharp lenses don't have to cost a lot.
 
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50mm 1.8 mkII is $99 on amazon, but a few people have mentioned the 50mm 1.4. Is it worth the $250 more, alongside the kit lense?

Personally I'm going to be doing more high DOF / Bokeh shots in the near future, but using the kit lense further out what ND/UV filters are worth investing in for the kit lense & the 50mm lenses? I would assume a variable ND is easier..?
 
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