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Upgrading From Kit Lens
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So I've been meaning to upgrade from my kit lens (Canon EF-S 18-55mm) for a bit now, but I'm still indecisive about what lens I want. I enjoy urbex, but also like Landscape and Street photography. I have my eye on an 8mm Fisheye lens, a 10-18mm and a 50mm f/1.8. My budget is $300, but I'd be willing to pay a bit more.
- The 8mm is heavier than the 10-18 as it isn't built of plastic, however doesn't have Image Stabilizer or Auto Focus. Price $210
- The 10-18mm has both Auto Focus and Image Stabilizer however does have a plastic build. Price About $350
- The 50mm has Auto Focus and an f stop of 1.8 and a plastic build. Price $123
Any advice would be appreciated.
Oh and I have a Canon EOS 700D
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What aperture is the 10-18mm? And is having a large maximum aperture important to you?

They are three very different lenses. The 8mm will obviously have a lot of distortion so you need to work out if that's what you want. (There is software available to correct it but it's not perfect.)

The 50mm is very long on a crop body and is suitable for portraits but not so useful for exploring.

My recommendation would be to pick up a second hand Tokina 11-16mm 2.8. (It was my favourite exploring lens until it got stolen!)
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I had the same decision a while back and settled for the 10-18 Canon lens @f4.5-f5.6, it has become my most used lens. I have witnessed hardly any image distortion at the edges of the lens and gives nice sharp images. I actually bought two of them one for my 60D and one for my son's 70D.

Being a Canon lens you get no issues and have image stabilisation, although you may want to turn it off for very long exposures (can induce blur), I hate the barrell effect that fish-eye lenses give but that's my preference!

Have fun in your choice of lens !!

UH
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Thank you both for the help! I think I will go for the 10-18mm as it does look like an extremely good lens and seems quite cheap. Thanks again!
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Unclehaggz wrote:Being a Canon lens you get no issues and have image stabilisation, although you may want to turn it off for very long exposures (can induce blur), I hate the barrell effect that fish-eye lenses give but that's my preference!
As a general rule, if you are using a tripod - always best to flick off any stabalisation tech your camera or lens has.
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50mm on crop is alright for exploring as long as you have room to move. Then you got that lovely compression. <3
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Midget wrote:50mm on crop is alright for exploring as long as you have room to move. Then you got that lovely compression. <3
That's because you don't do drains Midget!

But yes what Crispex said. VR/IS should always be turned off when mounted on a tripod!
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Last edited by Vicinity on 05 Nov 2015, 6:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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CafeCSK wrote:I upgraded from my canon kit 17-85 to a $300 10-20mm sigma and i've not used the kit lens since. 10-20mm is perfect for landscape and urban shots, however due to it's shallow depth of field it isn't ideal for portraits.
Shallow depth of field? Do you mean a deep depth of field?
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d0dg3r wrote:
CafeCSK wrote:I upgraded from my canon kit 17-85 to a $300 10-20mm sigma and i've not used the kit lens since. 10-20mm is perfect for landscape and urban shots, however due to it's shallow depth of field it isn't ideal for portraits.
Shallow depth of field? Do you mean a deep depth of field?
So so deep.
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Sigma 10-20, can't go wrong.
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d0dg3r wrote:What aperture is the 10-18mm? And is having a large maximum aperture important to you?

They are three very different lenses. The 8mm will obviously have a lot of distortion so you need to work out if that's what you want. (There is software available to correct it but it's not perfect.)

The 50mm is very long on a crop body and is suitable for portraits but not so useful for exploring.

My recommendation would be to pick up a second hand Tokina 11-16mm 2.8. (It was my favourite exploring lens until it got stolen!)
The aperture is 4.5-5.6
unclehaggz wrote:I had the same decision a while back and settled for the 10-18 Canon lens @f4.5-f5.6, it has become my most used lens. I have witnessed hardly any image distortion at the edges of the lens and gives nice sharp images. I actually bought two of them one for my 60D and one for my son's 70D.

Being a Canon lens you get no issues and have image stabilisation, although you may want to turn it off for very long exposures (can induce blur), I hate the barrell effect that fish-eye lenses give but that's my preference!

Have fun in your choice of lens !!

UH
Canon 10-18 does look like an amazing lens, not to mention it's cheap price. Now deciding between the Canon 10-18mm f4.5-5.6 and the Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 but I think I'll get the 10-18mm. Thank you!
cafecsk wrote:I upgraded from my canon kit 17-85 to a $300 10-20mm sigma and i've not used the kit lens since. 10-20mm is perfect for landscape and urban shots, however due to it's shallow depth of field it isn't ideal for portraits.
I just checked it out, looks pretty good! Now it's a toss up between the 10-18 or 10-20 :lol:
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I strongly recommend you pop in to a shop and try their lens on your camera, both the Sigma and Canon if they have them for a trial in the shop, set them both to their lowest f number 100ISO and exposure level "0" and compare the results on your screen!! it will tell you very quickly the comparison if you go to a corner and zoom right in and check for clarity!! Then once you have tested, say I will think about it and buy online!

UH
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Last edited by Vicinity on 05 Nov 2015, 6:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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d0dg3r wrote:That's because you don't do drains Midget!
Shhhhh....

Nah, find a pipe long enough, problem solved. ;) Loolololol. Or just get an anamorphic adapter because cinematic.
Subscribe to my journal to see random exploration photos.
Where are the cat emoticons?
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