Kit lens upgrade for my 7D

M

mattdreyer

Member
Im selling my kit lens (18-55) with a bunch of other stuff, but I wanted to take the opportunity to look at upgrading. I do a lot of available/low light photography and video, so a fast lens would be essential (the kit lens is really quite slow).

Budget: £450

My current lenses:

35mm Carl Zeiss 2.4
50mm Canon 1.8
85-205mm f3.8 Kalimar

Current contenders are:

Tokina 11-16mm f2.8
Sigma 20mm f1.8
Canon 20mm f2.8

Or another option is a big re shuffle, and sell my carl zeiss and pay the difference for a sigma 30mm f1.4. Then spend the rest on accessories and maybe not sell my kit lens.. a sort of round about option.

Swaying towards the tokina 'cos I heard its pretty badass.

Any coments are greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
 
the 35mm is my most important lens, I spent twice as much on that one that on any other one; so I think you shouldn't sell that one if you're happy with it (if you do sell it, I'd consider the samyang 35mm f/1.4 as a better option than the sigma)

as for the others:

the sigma is faster but really, really soft even stopped down, compared with the tokina:
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/...CameraComp=9&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=2

as for the canon 20mm f/2.8, it's not stellar either:
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/...meraComp=453&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=0

the canon 24mm f/2.8 is much better:
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/...meraComp=453&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=0

if you want it wider, the tokina is difficult to beat; maybe the samyang 14mm would be a contender (it has much more distortion, but less CA)

two more things:
* I don't think you'll get much for that kit lens, you might as well keep it (I also have it, and hardly ever use it, but I like the fact that it is my only zoom, my only lens with autofocus, my only lens with IS, and my lightlest lens and so the one I use with my flycam nano)
* I love vintage primes, but I haven't found any that I like under 35mm
 
Im going to be honest with you, sell your 7D and buy a 60d. The ONLY reason to keep the 7d is if you are a sports photographer or photographer that basically needs to capture several photos at once, if not sell the 7D ASAP! Now with your new found money go and buy a 60d and the Canon 17-55mm lens.

This lens is simply the best mid range zoom lens for our crop sensor cameras.
 
Cheers for the feedback!

The charts are really helpful. The samyang 35 looks really nice but from reviews of the 85mm version its apparently a little fiddly.. also I'd really like an auto focussing lens.

NormanBates said:
I don't think you'll get much for that kit lens, you might as well keep it (I also have it, and hardly ever use it, but I like the fact that it is my only zoom, my only lens with autofocus, my only lens with IS, and my lightlest lens and so the one I use with my flycam nano)
Click to expand...

Yeah, its tricky cos im selling it bundled with my t2i to my friend for the £450(do you think I'm selling myself short..?). And your right, I hadn't thought through my steadicam options, as I've got a glidecam 1000hd and the tokina/7d combo will probably max it out...

Vision, I had that thought when i originally got it. I thought about selling the 7d and keeping my 550d. Admitidly there aren't any benifits in terms of video, but for me photography wise there are alot of benifits. The AF system is amazing, I do use the 8fps function alot, the range of ISO increments, the veiwfinder is gorgeous and bright. I dunno, I felt after owning it I couldnt take a step back. Also, maybe this is very naive but with my 18-55 I almost never zoom in, I pretty much use it as a prime. I'd be scared since I have a faster prime (50mm) that I'd do the same..

I'm still really swaying towards the tokina. I've had my eye on it for a while and only now that its within grasp I'm having doubts. I think the only thing holding me back is a boy-racer urge for a faster lens.. but I forget that its pretty fast already.
 
I'd also sell the 7D instead of the t2i, but my DSLR has taken less than 1000 stills in a year, and 90% of those were lens test shots...


you don't want a zoom in order to zoom while recording: you want it to cover a wide range of focal lenghts; i.e. if I go fullframe I'll have to get something wider, and I'll choose between "tokina 16-28 f/2.8" and "canon 24 f/2.8 plus samyang 14mm f/2.8"; as you see, what the tokina gives me is a single lens that can do the work of two primes (with other zooms with a longer range, it's usually three)
usually there's an image quality penalty (sharpness, bokeh, distorsion, CA) to be paid in exchange for the convenience of not having to change lenses from shot to shot, but on ultra wide lenses it's not always an issue (read: the tokina 11-16 is an amazing lens, better than many primes around that focal lenght)
 
mattdreyer said:
Yeah, its tricky cos im selling it bundled with my t2i to my friend for the £450

I pretty much use it as a prime.

I'm still really swaying towards the tokina.
Click to expand...

Sell the T2 before it's worth less. I sold my 550D with the kit lens in Dec. and the price of a new one now is almost the same as I got for mine.

The Tokina as a 16mm prime would be a good option. With it's relatively short wide zoom range it's often been referred to as a variable prime.
 
Yeah after a lot of thinking I'm gonna use the sale of my 550d to get the tokina.

The one thing I'm still dubious about is the tokina on my glidecam 1000hd. I'm looking into buying a couple of extra weights as my 7d and tokina combo maxes it out apparently.. but i still want to use my quick release. I did see a while ago where a guy doing documentary filming abroad got some more weights custom made for his glidecam 1000hd to fit a heavier load and it worked great apparently!

My nifty fifty gave me a scare the other day when the front lens dislocated from the barrel... but i managed to slot it back in. I might also invest in a new 50mm.. maybe go for those SMC takumar 1.4's people always rave about.
 
ROCKMORE said:
Also check out an Olympus Zuiko 50mm f1.4. I have one and it's sharp.
Click to expand...

Yeah I saw one going for £65 which is very tempting as the super taks tend to go for alot more.. I know there are 3 different versions of the super takumar 50mm's, is there a great deal of difference between them? because all I can find are just the super takumars and not the SMC ones...

I guess they're all gonna be a lot better than my canon 1.8mm right? (sans autofocus of course)
 
steventimothy said:
+1 - think about a 35mm instead of a 50mm. I like my 50mm but I wish it was wider most of the time. It's a portrait lens on my 7D.
Click to expand...

Got myself a 35mm carl zeiss 2.4 already which has done me alright so far so I couldn't justify this. Plus autofocus would be a key feature I'd want.

So I went and bought the tokina because of my lack of a wide angle, and I have to say the rave reviews are right, the lens is awesome!

Another plus I was extremely happy about was my 7d + tokina combo working on my glidecam 1000hd! Its bloody heavy compared to my kitlens + 550d.
 
mattdreyer said:
Yeah I saw one going for £65 which is very tempting as the super taks tend to go for alot more.. I know there are 3 different versions of the super takumar 50mm's, is there a great deal of difference between them? because all I can find are just the super takumars and not the SMC ones...

I guess they're all gonna be a lot better than my canon 1.8mm right? (sans autofocus of course)
Click to expand...

I have a Pentax 6x7 with Takumar 45mm, 105mm and 200mm. They are all sharp lenses so I would expect the rest of the Takumar line is as well.
I also have the canon 50mm f1.8 which is very sharp. I shot with it along with a Zeiss 85mm planar and they were about equal in terms of sharpness.
These are all great lenses, but I think the Olympus OM lenses are overlooked. I would give them a shot while they are still low priced.

This Japanese Photographer Yoshikazu Shirakawa shot the Himalayas in the late 60s using a Pentax 6x7 which is what inspired me to start shooting with a pentax 6x7.
http://www.google.co.id/search?q=Yo...m=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=pi&biw=1440&bih=678
 

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