~$1250 for lenses/equipment - input?

[kyzen]

So I recently bought my first house with my girlfriend, and we decided to each take ~$750 of that $8k tax rebate and use it for something nice/fun for ourselves before dumping the rest back into savings/home stuff.

I'll be combining the cash with some Amazon gift cards I received for xmas, or have had laying around for awhile now. We're going to Hawaii this summer, so I'd like to get some better photo gear before the trip.

My current gear:

Bodies
Canon 7D
Canon Rebel XSi

Lenses
Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
Canon 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS
Canon 50mm f/1.8 II
Tamron 2x Teleconverter
Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6
Tamron 28-70mm f/2.8

Flashes
Canon 270 EX
A couple of old, manual flashes

The Tamron 70-300mm is a piece of junk, and the 2x teleconverter is mediocre at best; they both for the most part are collecting dust, I considered selling them, then my girlfriend got into photography, so I keep them around for her use when I'm out with the 7D and the 55-250.

The 18-135mm (yes, 18, not 28) came with my 7D. I'm still undecided on whether I like it or not.

My current favorite lens that's practically glued to my 7D is the Tamron 28-70 f/2.8. I always enjoyed the nifty fifty, but find the Tamron to be just much more usable, and very enjoyable. In a perfect world, I'd never buy a slow lens again... but limited cash makes that a little tricky

I currently (try) to do a lot of macro stuff, but I haven't really had a good lens for that in the past, so I'd like to get into that. At the same time, with Hawaii coming up, a wide angle lens sounds really spectacular. And to further compound my decision, there have been plenty of events in the last year that I've shot with my 55-250mm IS and only gotten crappy pictures due to the necessary slow shutter speeds (I have 3 younger brothers, two play sports, one graduated from the USMC boot camp in June, the girlfriend got her Masters in May, etc).

So I'm trying to decide what to buy first, knowing that there's a decent chance I won't be buying any other camera equipment this year.

Things I'm considering:

Zooms
Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 - $730
Canon EF 70-20mm F/4L - $600
Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 - $800

Macro Lenses
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro - $600
Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Macro - $480

Wide Angles
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 - $700
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L - $700 (not as wide as the rest for an APS-C, but I'd like to get into full-frame next year maybe; trying to avoid buying EF-S lenses except when absolutely necessary)
Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 - $720
Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 - $480

Also considering picking up a new flash. I had a 430 briefly, before I was getting into macro work, but it never came back from a business trip.


Obviously the type of lens I get is going to come down to personal preference; you guys can't speak as to what I'll enjoy more. What I'm looking for I guess is input on the lenses mentioned above - are any real standouts? Are there some that should be avoided? Why?

And are there any lenses that would fall in with the above that I should be considering as well?

 

[jpeyton]

The problem is you have too many lenses. Instead of simply buying more, you need to sell some of the overlap you have and build a solid 3-4 lens kit.

Sigma 10-20mm (constant f/3.5 or variable aperture) or Canon 10-22mm

Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 (with or without VC)

Canon 70-200mm f/4 L IS

Canon 100mm Macro

 

[funks]

Whoagh, way too many lenses - lol.

Looks like you are happy with your Tamron although I'm not sure if it's FF compatible. The one I bought, Tamron 28-75 F2.8 is Full Frame Compatible. I rented the Canon 24-70L but I found it too heavy for walkaround use. My Tamron takes really good pics and it's *MUCH* lighter.

I'd say keep your Tamron because you are happy with it, sell the rest..

Then

1) Canon EF 70-200L IS USM Yes it's big, yes it's heavy, yes it expensive. But anything with such a focal range will be big, and heavy anyways. You might want to rent it first. If you sell some of your lenses, you should be able to afford it + wait for that 20% bing cashback to pop up again on eBay Buy-It-Now.

2) A wideangle lens, maybe even a fast prime that's light. Generally handy when taking pictures at parties and you don't want such a heavy setup.

 

[kyzen]

Yeah I definitely have more lenses than I need - I only use 3 of them - but like I said, my girlfriend has also been getting into the hobby, so she tends to take out the xsi and the lenses I don't use, so i've been less motivated to sell some than I should be.

 

[funks]

Here's another option..

1) Sell the 7D (while it's still new, hot and has good resale) - those are like 1700$ new. Can you still return it?
2) Keep your XSI for your vacation
3) Keep the Tamron 24-70 f/2.8, and the EF-S 18-55 IS kit lens (for the girlfirned).
4) Sell your other lenses, and teleconverters.
5) *RENT* a Canon 10-22 EF-S lens for your vacation

Use the money (1250$) you would have used to purchase new lenses + money you get from selling your redundant equipment (7D, and unused lenses) to purchase a Brand New 5D Mark II Body instead (or a Refurb?).

Once you go full-frame, your 24-70 will be quite wide at the wide end - then maybe think about the 70-200L (rent it first - but it's not as heavy as the Brick - lol).

As for the girlfriend - keep the XSI along with the 18-55 IS Kit Lens for her (The lens is pretty sharp / decent and you wont' get much money back from selling the combo).

IMHO, check out the photography-on-the.net forums and check out the lens sample archive, the lenses you listed above should have samples in said forum. Nevertheless, I believe you should spend the money on that full frame cam instead of buying a wideangle lens, or any other lenses.

 

[kyzen]

Not a bad idea, though I'm not entirely sure I'm ready for that yet... I was considering picking up a full frame when the 5D mk II's replacement comes out, either snatching up a used 5d mk II, or whatever replaces it. I think I'd rather work towards getting a full set of nicer glass, then get a full frame when I'm ready.

As for the lenses, part of the reason I have so many is because I almost need to maintain 2 kits, one for me, and one for her. Until she's buying her own stuff she's stuck with my leftovers, but so far she's been OK with that. The only lens she's really been wanting is a macro one. The lenses I currently, actively use:

-Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 (made a typo in the OP, should've said 75 not 70)
-Canon 55-250mm

The girlfriend uses whatever she can get her hands on, but most often:
-18-55mm OR 18-135mm if I don't have it with me.
-70-300mm OR 55-250mm if I don't have it with me.

I don't want to ditch the nifty fifty, just because it's cheap and fun, and I'd like to try reverse mounting it for macro work some day.

Either way, if I pick up a 70-200, the 70-300 piece of crap is going for sure. The teleconverter doesn't see a lot of use, but it's nice to have around. We've gone up to the mountains a few times to take shots of the full moon, without any ambient light, and it's been fun, if not practical, for that.

What I'm most likely to sell in the near future is the 18-135mm lens. It's an extremely convenient lens (in terms of range), however I personally have not been too impressed with it. I almost feel that the 18-55mm XSi kit lens is sharper. I haven't done any sort of scientific tests to prove this, but I just haven't managed to take any superb pictures with it. It's also not a lens I see any long term value to; it's EF-S, it's slow, and the range isn't that great. I figure I'd sell either the 18-55 + 55-250, or the 18-135, and the 18-135 retails for more than the other 2 combined, so why keep it?

 

[funks]

Chicken (Lens) or the Egg Problem (Body) - everyone seems to say go for the lens first..

I've thought about that too but I believe Canon won't be making a replacement for the 5D Mark II anytime soon because right now - it's quite feature packed, has fairly small target market (semi-pro's, to pro's), it already has video onboard (1080p), the economy is bad, and there is no no threat from Nikon :]

The sensor that it has right now *really* requires good lenses hence whatever lens you buy now might not do whatever full frame camera you purchase in the future justice. If they bump up the megapixels even more on a 5D MKIII, I think we'll see new revisions to Canon's lenses, even the L's to make the most out of the new camera.

I still think you should consider it Because right now, I think you'll end up coming ahead.

Your GF seems to use a wide range of focal lengths, how about adding the Canon EF-S 55-250MM f/4-5.6 IS to her EF-S 18-55 for the XSI? Said lens is fairly cheap considering it's usually bundled in. That will give her a range of 17-250 with the two lenses. Let her have the 270EX, and the Nifty-Fifty too (in case she wants to take portrait type pics).

 

[kyzen]

Yeah, I'm mostly set on the new glass right now because of my new Tamron toy; I've used the slower lenses for the better part of a year, so the constant f/2.8 Tamron has been a lot of fun. I'm not in any rush to go full frame; I figure by the time the next 5D comes out I'll be more content with my glass.

I have the 55-250mm IS, that's *my* zoom until I replace it, then she gets it

Just listed the Canon 18-135 and the Tamron 70-300 on Craigslist, so we'll see how quickly those sell, and for how much.

 

[twistedlogic]

Yeah, I'm mostly set on the new glass right now because of my new Tamron toy; I've used the slower lenses for the better part of a year, so the constant f/2.8 Tamron has been a lot of fun. I'm not in any rush to go full frame; I figure by the time the next 5D comes out I'll be more content with my glass.

If your happy with the Tamron 28-75mm, then I'd suggest you give the Tamron 70-200 a try. As with the 28-75, the 70-200 is pretty light compared to Nikon's or Canon's offerings and has a much better MFD than either. The problem with the Tamron is the AF motor is a bit slower than USM or AF-S, but the optics are superb. Its on my wish list.

As for macro, you might want to check out the Tamron 90mm. I've heard some great things about it even from Tamron haters.

Have you thought about getting a Canon-to-Nikon adapter. That way you could find some cheap MF Macro (nikon calls Micro) glass, like the 55 3.5 for $~60. For macro work, AF isn't that important.

 

[Tip3r]

Canon EF 70-200mm F/4L
Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro

If I were you I would probably leave the macro for after the trip.
Yeah, and I agree that you have too many lenses. I'm sure it would feel good to get rid of some of them

EDIT: In my opinion the 18-135 alone would be enough for someone who is just starting out.