Camera lens?

Question

Taking into account build quality, sharpness, picture quality and price. What would be the best brand of lens to buy for a Canon DSLR? Specifically the Canon 30D. I did some research and it seems that Canon makes the best lenses, but what about big third party developers like Sigma and Tamron?

Answer 1

I'm going to say something that is both unpopular and also will burst your bubble... stay away from generics! They are nothing more than cheaper products made of cheaper materials (like the glass formula) in order to compete with the superior brand names.

I made that mistake once but ONLY ONCE and I learned my lesson. That was a number of years ago when my best friend's son graduated from high school and he played his last baseball game with his team... I took a few portraits and some action shots and to my horror, ALL of the images taken with the generic lens (70-300mm f/4-5.6D) looked nice at 4 1/2" x 6" enlargement but were so "soft" and fuzzy around the edges at 6" x 8" and beyond... but not the portraits taken with the Nikkor lenses. I got rid of the lens at a loss (used that one time only) and went out and got the Nikkor lens, which I still own and use, and have never had any issues with the images or the focusing... period.

Lenses normally outlast camera bodies. So, if you can't afford a particular new lens, consider getting it used from a reliable camera shop (like www.keh.com) and save yourself grief, worry and money!

In the long run, you will find that you get what you pay for. Would you put some cheap "on sale" tires on a Bently or Rolls-Royce or BMW...? The same applies to a good camera! Your images will only be as good as the lens you use; after all, they are what lets the image travel onto the sensor!

In my personal opinion, generic lenses are OK for those once in a while photographers or for vacationers but not for avid amateurs, semi-pros or for pro photographers; that's just MY personal opinion, by the way.

Good luck and best wishes.

Answer 2

I have a Sigma 135 - 400 mm tele lens and it is very good, fast but a little noisy. This lens cost me £300 which is a good price for a lens of this size and quality BUT i recently met a guy who had a 50 - 500 HSM Sigma lens, WOW, this lens was superb, it is fast and just as quiet as the Canon USM range, OK it costs more but i regret not looking at other lenses before i bought the 135 - 400 mm. It all depends what you can afford, you can pick up a second hand Canon 100 - 400 IS L USM lens for the same price as a brand new Sigma 50 - 500 HSM and to be honest, the Canon IS lens is the only one i have my eye on now. Superior in every way but make sure you have a good supply of batteries.

PS: I use a Canon eos 50e and an eos 400d with my Sigma 135 - 400, Canon 17 - 85 and 28 - 105 lenses. Don't take any notice of people that say you should only use Canon lenses on Canon Cameras, I love Canon products, but this does not mean they are superior with every product they build.

Answer 3

I would say go with the canon brand lenses they should work better for longer. I have a canon dig rebel XT and got the 70-300mm quantaray lens and it lasted less than a year before the apature blades gave out otherwise it was a nice lens although I do take thousands of wildlife photos I would have thought a lens even a third party developer lens should have lasted longer. Fortunately ritz camera was very easy to deal with and just replaced it. The canon lenses should come with better features such as ultrasonic motor focusing where you can autofocus then without hitting any switches manually focus great for animals hiding in trees. A good canon lens I would recomend although it is pricey is the 28-300 so you can have a huge range of zoom from close up to far away.
I would only get a third party lens if you don't think you will be using it much.

Answer 4

hi, you dont have to stay with canon lens just because you have a canon camera, depending on what you are shooting their are better lens made by third parties. I have a canon lens and my other lenes are sigma and a tamron lens. From all the lens I have I use my tamron the most. But again it depends on the lens itself and what you are shooting. For far distances I use a sigma 70-300 lens which is a great lens for the price and one of my wide angle lens is Tamron 19-35 which is a great lens and also one of my canon lens which I love is a canon 50mm 1.8 thats another great lens for the price. I have quite a few lens now and I would say the majority of them or third party lens.

So you really have to look around and read reviews or even join photography website forums and read about lens... like what people say about them or what pictures they have taken with them.

Well hope that helps let me know if you have any other questions

Answer 5

Like anything else in life, lens choice is full of compromise. Price, performance, build quality and weight enter into your decision. Sigma and Tamron are not still in business because they make bad products, well maybe some (Sigma especially in its past).
Tamron has made some extraordinary lens, as has Sigma. The Tamron 300mm 2.8 is still highly sought after along with its MF 90mm macro lens. The Tamron DI series is also garnering praise from many users. The Sigma 24mm MF macro lens is top notch also.
Tokina was also a big player in the third party lens game, but seems to be withdrawing. Its ATX line is excellent.
Photodo.com has been revamped and is a great resource for evaluating lenses. It has MTF scores and user reviews.
So long as you stay in their quality line of lenses third party manufactures compete well with OEM manufacturers in both quality and price. Just research the lens you wish to purchase carefully.
If I can save money on a lens that I don't plan to resell, I'll go third party in a minute if the picture quality meets my needs. That seems to be one drawback with a third party lens, resale value.

Answer 6

My opinion is generally to stick with the same brand as your camera, but not everyone thinks that way. I like the idea that they will all feel similar and work pretty much the same way. (all focus clockwise, for instance...) But, the other manufacturers do have some respected lenses out there. You can find reviews of lenses at http://www.popphoto.com and I suggest that you look up each specific lens that you are interested in. You can't just say Sigma and Tamron are good and assume that all lenses they make are equally good. Even Canon, who is one of the premier lens makers (in my opinion and others) have a few lenses that aren't worth too much.

Answer 7

As a few others have noted, there really is no 'best brand' of lens. Sigma and Tamron each make lenses anywhere from outstanding to kinda crappy. Likewise Canon. On the average, Canon's lineup is probably stronger overall than the others. But, you're not buying the 'overall average', you're buying one lens - so, you really need to research individual models you're interested in.

Answer 8

Stick with Canon lenses for Canon DSLR.
For everyday photo take the Canon EF 17-85mm IS USM - is a so called standard zoom lens (5xoptical) very versatile lens. IS - means that lens has image stabilizer system.

Answer 9

i've used an assortment of Sigma lenses on my Elan 7 - they performed very well and gave good images. As well with the Canon lenses. Tamron I can't say. I've yet to stop using 35mm film, so a D30 is definately in my future.

Answer 10

You should look through some of the Camera Mags for lens tests, they go into great detail re Picture/Build quality Astigmatism, Sharpness etc, you can even get back orders if they have tested the lens you are interested in.
tameron always seemed to do well as an Independent.