Position:Home>Visual Arts> You have a Canon 400d, and you can only have one lens....?

The standard 18 - 55mm lens is a pretty good choice, or the Sigma 17 - 70mm f2!.8 - f4 is a good lens for the money, it's a 4:1 zoom and I wouldn't want to have any more zoom range than that as the compromises in lens design really begin to show with the really wide zoom ranges!. Just look on eBay for the Tokina 28 - 200mm, they are awful, people buy them as a great 'walk around' lens and put them strait back onto eBay, and round and round they go!. It's not that Tokina make bad lenses it's just that an 8:1 zoom range is just too much!.

I would much rather have a really good 35 or 50mm prime with wide aperture than have a lens which just doesn't perform, they have zoom too, it's you moving closer or further away!.

Some really good landscape photographers carry just two primes a wide angle say a 35mm and a 200mm to compress scale (35mm format), needless to say they use quality glass, but they only have the two lenses to buy, and good primes will always beat zooms for tonal contrast, colour contrast, resolution etc!. etc!.!. every time!.

For portraits I use an old 50mm f1!.4 which is now about 40 years old!. On my APS sensor sized camera it behaves like a 75mm lens which is perfect for portraiture, and the results are stunning every time!. The same picture taken with a quality zoom set to 50mm just doesn't have the same oomph somehow!. I've done the tests and proved it to myself!. It's not that the zooms were bad images, if you saw them in isolation they would be fine, but when you compare the prints side by side the prime lens wins every time, and every one else can seem to see it too!.

ChrisWww@QuestionHome@Com

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Well if your not going to use the 18-55mm lens that came with your camera my personal favorite walking around lens is the EF 28-135 F3!.5-5!.6 IS USM!. For most situations walking around it is great!. I don't use it for everything but it is the lens on my camera most of the time when out and about!. I find that for most situations I can either get the exact shot that I want or get enough of it to know that I should go back with a different lens!.

This answer really depends on what you shoot most!. If you shot sports most of the time this lens would not cut it!. You would need a larger faster lens!.

If you shot wildlife you would need a much longer lens!. 400-800mm!.

If you shoot landscapes you would need a much wider lens like a 10-22mm

For general use though I feel this lens offers a very good zoom range and is a quality lens that compares very well to the L series lenses!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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I keep the 28-135mm f/3!.5-5!.6 IS USM on my 400d most of the time!.

See it here:
http://www!.amazon!.com/Canon-28-135mm-3-5!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Is this as well as the standard 18-55mm lens that comes with it or are you buying a body only!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Stock answer alert!.!.!.

These are not my opinions, as I am not a Canon user, but perhaps they will help you!.

Canon Lenses and Reviews

http://www!.the-digital-picture!.com/Canon!.!.!.
(See "Recommendations" on this page)
http://www!.photo!.net/canon/#lense
http://www!.wlcastleman!.com/equip/reviews!.!.!.
http://www!.photozone!.de/active/news/inde!.!.!.
http://www!.bobatkins!.com/photography/ind!.!.!.
http://www!.fredmiranda!.com
http://forums!.dpreview!.com/forums/forum!.!.!.!.

The Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5!.6 IS USM (28-135 equiv!.) (October 2007-$515) is a good "walk around" lens at a good price!.
http://www!.usa!.canon!.com/consumer/contro!.!.!.
http://www!.the-digital-picture!.com/Revie!.!.!.

Not quite as much of a wide angle, the Canon Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Autofocus Lens (2007-$1,060) is a pretty good all-around lens!. This review says, "If I had only one lens, this would be the one," but I think he is using it on a 35 mm camera!.
http://www!.the-digital-picture!.com/Revie!.!.!.

Excellent general purpose lens: Canon Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto EF 24-70mm f/2!.8L USM Autofocus Lens (April 2007-$1,140)
http://www!.the-digital-picture!.com/Revie!.!.!.

I really like my Nikon 17-55 and Canon makes a comparable lens, the Canon Zoom Super Wide Angle EF-S 17-55mm f/2!.8 IS USM Autofocus Lens!. It's not an "L" lens, but it seems popular!. I just read in PopPhoto (November 2007) that the only reason this is not designated an "L" lens is because it will not work with the full format sensors!.
http://www!.bobatkins!.com/photography/rev!.!.!.
http://www!.popphoto!.com/inpopularphotogr!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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