Thoughts on bundled lens?

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dominichicks

Active member
Hi - I've been going back and forth on this for weeks now (as some of you might have noticed!) but I think I'm settled on the 7D over the GH1.

My next question relates to the lenses- I'm going to pick up a Canon 50mm 1.8 II lens for my extremely shallow DoF stuff, but will need something else for zooming that's a fair bit wider, and generally better for more general usage..

Is the 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens which comes included in the £1500 bundle a good choice, or am I better off going for a body only version and saving the £300 to put towards a different lens?

The camera will be used mainly for narrative based short film projects.

Dom
(And I have to add that without the DVX forum I would probably still be at square one when it came to picking out my equipment, so sincerely - to everyone who has taken the time to help me (and tested their patience when I've asked a stupid question!), thank you)
 
I would recommend that if you main goal is video NOT photography that you get the tamaron 17-55 f2.8 instead of the kit lens because it is a nice lens for video. But if you are a stills guy I think that the canon lens will work better for you.
 
Hmm, will the tamaron suffice for still photography, as I would like to use the camera for a few still shots since that's what it's made for!

What about it makes it better for video?

Would I not miss the extra zoom range?

Will I lose my image stabilization and strong auto focus which the stock lens has?

Looks like around the same price as the Canon, so might be worth considering?
 
In general, and I cannot speak directly to this Tamaron lens because I don't have it, I have found that Tamaron and other 3rd party lenses have slower and louder autofocus. Also I have found their build quality to be inferior to the canon lenses.

In general I prefer canon glass but the situation created when shooting video makes some of these issues less pressing or important. For example the AF issues don't matter as much with video because you can always pull focus manually. But that is just my 2c.
 
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david335 said:
In general, and I cannot speak directly to this Tamaron lens because I don't have it, I have found that Tamaron and other 3rd party lenses have slower and louder autofocus. Also I have found their build quality to be inferior to the canon lenses.

In general I prefer canon glass but the situation created when shooting video makes some of these issues less pressing or important. For example the AF issues don't matter as much with video because you can always pull focus manually. But that is just my 2c.
Click to expand...

I have to disagree here. Blanketly saying that non-canon lenses all have louder and slower auto-focus is very misleading. The speed and noise of the autofocus depends a lot on the actual system utilized by the lens. The tamron 17-50 in particular is not any slower than Canon in my experience. I do have both the kit lens and this particular Tamron, by the way. It is louder, sure, but not slower. I also have Sigma and Tokina lenses in addition to this, and they all focus just as silently and quickly as Canon's USM system. Not all of Canon's lenses even HAVE USM (the system that makes it silent and fast) even one of the new ones don't have it! (the 18-200)

Anyway, what does it matter for video? You're going to be shooting any videos on this thing manual anyway! Autofocus is for stills or for setting up a shot.

Speaking of Sigma and Tokina, both them have BETTER build quality than any of Canon's non-L lens I've handled in my opinion. I've never owned an L lens so I can't comment, but the general consensus is that they are the high water mark. By the way, practically all the lenses you will handle will have better build quality than Canon's 50mm f1.8 II.. that lens doesn't even have a metal mount! (though it is priced to reflect its "entry level" nature)


dominichicks,

You will need a lens that is wider than 28mm on the kit lens. When you convert 28mm to APS-C size, it becomes basically 45mm.. not even close to wide. The zoom length on it is also not that useful because the aperture is very small at the long end. I personally find the kit lens to be usable only in very well lit settings. (or at the very least not low-light)
 
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