T2i Setup feedback before I buy.

S

Speedstar

Member
This is my situation and what I want to buy.

I don't want to spend more than 2k AUD

I want Flexibility with my shots. Quality isn't an issue as long as it's about DVD quality. Which I dare say is EASY!!!

So I'm looking at the T2i.

Ok. I want all shot control so I want zoom. Primes are useless to be since I really don't want to move the camera to zoom in and out. Later when I have the $, I'll get primes of all the different steps but for now, I just want to zoom.

I need manual focus and I need F stop settings for at least 1 lens which will be the majority of the shots. I also want IS for my standard lens. I don't need IS for a wide lens so I'm thinking the Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens.

I also want a low light lens for those night shots but I can light those shots if need be. So this camera needs to have a low F Stop. I'm thinking the Tamron AF 17-50mm F/2.8 Di-II LD Asp IF A16 for Canon.

What are they like for Macro shots?

Or should I get the Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro AF Lens.

So Standard shots. I don't care about getting the moon the same size as a person etc.

I don't care about stylish wide angles for the weirdness factor. I just want to shoot normal shots like normal movies.

I DO want macro shots of bugs and stuff. As long as I can get nice shots of 2cm long spiders, I'm happy.

So this is what I'm planning to get.

T2i body
Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens as my main.
Tamron AF 17-50mm F/2.8 as my low light (using lighting rigs).
Timer Remote Cord for Canon EOS 5D 20D 30D 40D 7D
Silicone Skin Case for Canon EOS 550D Rebel T2i Kiss X4
2X LP-E8 Batteries Canon Rebel T2i Digital SLR Camera
3" Inch LCD View Finder Extender Hood
67mm to 72mm adaptor for filters.
ND 0.9 B+W 72mm
72mm circular polarizer


I'll work out the tripod later and the dolly etc.

As a camera set up for film, does that sound good?

Will that setup do pretty good Macro?

Is there anything else I need?

Thanks guys.

If there is anything anyone needs help with, let me know.

Cheers,
Steve
 
Nicksnow,

I have the exact same lens setup as he has (about to buy the tamron) and it works beautifully.

with the 28-135USM lens, it's about 45- 216 and the tamron is built for crop sensor bodies like the t2i or 7d so its a legit 17-50mm. With those 2 lenses, I have a range of 17-216mm with 2 lenses and then I carry around my 50mm f1.2, 35mm f1.4, etc for lowlight.


The thing with those "super zooms" as they are called sometimes (extreme range in 1 lens, i.e. 18-200) is that they are notoriously soft on the tele and wide end. Besides, for the price of that one lens, you can get the 28-135USM (if you can find it used ~$150) and the Tamron you can snag for around $390 new, or about ~$350 used.
 
nicksnow said:
Remember that the t2i has a crop sensor, so any lens other than an EF-S will give you different focal lengths. Multiply whatever focal length you want to use by 1.6 and that's what it is on a t2i.

The EF-S compensates for this though, so I'd suggest going for this 18-200: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-18-200m...3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1278601920&sr=1-3
Click to expand...

This is not true, EF-S lenses are the same focal length as the standard lenses, they just don't cover a full frame sensor without vignetting (and they will not mount on full frame cameras). 50mm on any lens is 50mm. It is the sensor that determines the field of view (which is narrower on APS-C sensor than it is on full frame 35mm still camera by a factor of approximately 1.6x). APS-C is actually almost the same size as 35mm motion picture cameras because the film runs vertically in a motion picture camera as opposed to horizontal in a still camera. A typical lens set for a motion picture camera covers 18, 25, 35, 50 and 85. You should concentrate on covering this range first.

One of the cheapest/best setups is to get the tamron 17-50 2.8 VC, the Canon 50mm f1.4 and the canon 85mm 1.8. This should cover you very well and you can add specialty lenses later such as the Tokina 11-16.
 
saneproductions said:
This is not true, EF-S lenses are the same focal length as the standard lenses, they just don't cover a full frame sensor without vignetting (and they will not mount on full frame cameras). 50mm on any lens is 50mm. It is the sensor that determines the field of view (which is narrower on APS-C sensor than it is on full frame 35mm still camera by a factor of approximately 1.6x). APS-C is actually almost the same size as 35mm motion picture cameras because the film runs vertically in a motion picture camera as opposed to horizontal in a still camera. A typical lens set for a motion picture camera covers 18, 25, 35, 50 and 85. You should concentrate on covering this range first.

One of the cheapest/best setups is to get the tamron 17-50 2.8 VC, the Canon 50mm f1.4 and the canon 85mm 1.8. This should cover you very well and you can add specialty lenses later such as the Tokina 11-16.
Click to expand...


+1


I have no idea why people think EFs lenses are different? An EF 50mm and an EFs 50mm will give the same exact view on a crop sensor. Also thanks Sane for clearing that up as MANY people post wrong information.
 
saneproductions said:
This is not true, EF-S lenses are the same focal length as the standard lenses, they just don't cover a full frame sensor without vignetting (and they will not mount on full frame cameras). 50mm on any lens is 50mm. It is the sensor that determines the field of view (which is narrower on APS-C sensor than it is on full frame 35mm still camera by a factor of approximately 1.6x). APS-C is actually almost the same size as 35mm motion picture cameras because the film runs vertically in a motion picture camera as opposed to horizontal in a still camera. A typical lens set for a motion picture camera covers 18, 25, 35, 50 and 85. You should concentrate on covering this range first.

One of the cheapest/best setups is to get the tamron 17-50 2.8 VC, the Canon 50mm f1.4 and the canon 85mm 1.8. This should cover you very well and you can add specialty lenses later such as the Tokina 11-16.
Click to expand...

Is that tamron 17-50 2.8 VC much sharper than the kit 18-55? It's a bit faster... I guess I need to figure out if I'd want to upgrade in that range or go for the 70-200 f4L first then come back to that...
 
GRSKIER said:
Is that tamron 17-50 2.8 VC much sharper than the kit 18-55? It's a bit faster... I guess I need to figure out if I'd want to upgrade in that range or go for the 70-200 f4L first then come back to that...
Click to expand...

It depends on what you shoot. I have never needed ( until now ) any lens past 85mm as I work with artist up close and personal. So for me I am always in the 20mm range and under. Ultimately it just depends on what you shoot, for me the Tamron 17-50 would be great and the 70-200 would be useless.
 
GRSKIER said:
Is that tamron 17-50 2.8 VC much sharper than the kit 18-55? It's a bit faster... I guess I need to figure out if I'd want to upgrade in that range or go for the 70-200 f4L first then come back to that...
Click to expand...

The tamron is not just a bit faster it is almost 2 -4 times as much light depending on what end of the lens you are talking about with the kit 18-55. Also the kit lens does not have a good focus ring, it is the front lip only and not well dampened.

Unless you are shooting sports or birds, you don't need the 70-200. It is also pointless to get a 70-200 without IS and the tripod collar. By then you may as well get the 70-200 2.8 ISv1. It is not a very useful range on an aps-c body. Beleive me I have tried. It is really only useful outside.
 
saneproductions said:
This is not true, EF-S lenses are the same focal length as the standard lenses, they just don't cover a full frame sensor without vignetting (and they will not mount on full frame cameras). 50mm on any lens is 50mm. It is the sensor that determines the field of view (which is narrower on APS-C sensor than it is on full frame 35mm still camera by a factor of approximately 1.6x). APS-C is actually almost the same size as 35mm motion picture cameras because the film runs vertically in a motion picture camera as opposed to horizontal in a still camera. A typical lens set for a motion picture camera covers 18, 25, 35, 50 and 85. You should concentrate on covering this range first.

One of the cheapest/best setups is to get the tamron 17-50 2.8 VC, the Canon 50mm f1.4 and the canon 85mm 1.8. This should cover you very well and you can add specialty lenses later such as the Tokina 11-16.
Click to expand...

I stand corrected!
 
And cheaper/easier to make. They make lenses that cover a bigger range as well. Examples are the canon 17-55, 18-55, tamron 18-50 and tokina 16-50 etc. You can also construct superwide lenses like the tokina 11-16 2.8. The widest canon prime for full frame is the 14mm 2.8L and that is more than $2k. Crazy crazy wide though.
 
Wait, I'm confused as hell and stand corrected also...

I've used my t2i and a 5dii side by side and the t2i always has tighter pictures! I'm not doubting you or anything, but is there anywhere I can read up on this, it's intriguing!

So my 28-135mm USM EF lens is a legit 28-135mm?
 
It is because the t2i has a smaller sensor and thus a smaller field of view. Thus the t2i has a fov of approximatly the same as 80mm on 5dii when using a 50mm lens. Take any focal length and multiply by 1.6
 
saneproductions said:
It is because the t2i has a smaller sensor and thus a smaller field of view. Thus the t2i has a fov of approximatly the same as 80mm on 5dii when using a 50mm lens. Take any focal length and multiply by 1.6
Click to expand...

It works the same for EF-S.

A focal length is a focal length.

EF-S 17-55mm is the same as a EF 17-55mm in terms of view.

Focal length is a specific value. I mean, it is what it is, no need to really convert it. It jsut tends to confuse people. A 28mm lens is a 28mm lens, no matter what body it's on. Yes, its 1.6x tighter than on a full frame sensor, but its still a 28mm lens.

Yeah, did that make sense? I think I confused myself.
-____-
 
saneproductions said:
It is because the t2i has a smaller sensor and thus a smaller field of view. Thus the t2i has a fov of approximatly the same as 80mm on 5dii when using a 50mm lens. Take any focal length and multiply by 1.6
Click to expand...

Oh, OK. That's what I thought, but I might have used wrong terms... :lipsrseal

Thanks for the (somewhat) clearup!
 
It works the same way for medium format cameras with larger film like hasselblad 500 series. On a typical hasselblad an 80mm lens is the "normal" lens, on 35mm still photography or full frame a 50 is "normal" and on aps-c or 35mm motion picture camera a 35mm lens is "normal". Crop factors are annoying and can be confusing, but it is still important to understand them.
 
Thanks heaps for that guys.

Looks like I'm set for what I'm getting. Just a matter of buying it now and seeing how they go.

I'll use the 28-135 anyway for stills. I need bird, whale, and dolphin pics.

If I need lower light settings, I'll go for primes later.

I think I'll get that macro lens though. I crave water drop refraction stills.
 
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