One of the hardest things to decide when you first get into photography is what lenses you should have in your camera bag? In most cases the lens you have that comes with your Camera is very basic. Mine came with a 18-55mm f4-5.6 I very quickly acquired a 50mm 1.8 Fixed lens (prime)most likely the best lens for the money. I then got a 70-300mm Sigma, A 55-200mm Canon and then a 17-85mm EFS Canon. I was buying up lenses like they were going out of fashion. eBay loved me and it was interesting smuggling them past an all knowing and curious wife but that is a story for another blog. I also read the reviews on DPReview but seriously they won't say don't buy you don't need it.
Now I have been doing photography for a while and attended a few courses I realise I have gone totally down the wrong track.
Firstly the 50mm f1.8 is an excellent lens in your bag...anyone like myself wanting to do Portrait work the Bokeh is exceptional and capability in low light great. Now the next two lenses worth considering are the 70-200mm f2.8 IS or 70-200mm f4 IS. For me the opportunity to hire these lenses and try them out allowed me to use them and decide what one best suited me. I can throughly recommend http://www.rentalens.com.au/ Bjarne is very knowledgeable and hires both Canon and Nikon lenses at very reasonable prices. I rented the various 70-200mm lenses until finally deciding on the 70-200mm f2.8L IS. Now I wanted image stablisation if this was not an issue for you I must admit trying out the 70-200mm f2.8 Tamron lens at a Creative Photo Workshops I am convinced that for the money it represents great value against the Canon Lenses.
Once again having the opportunity to try out the lenses allows you evaluate them and see if they suit your style and type of photography. It was through using Tamron's at CPW that my next lens a 28-75mm f2.8 was purchased. I realised I needed the fast lens but at about a third of the Canon equivilent price having not long ago shelled out $1600 for a secondhand L lens, I could not see the Manager of War and Finance letting me spend $1200 on another lens. My next lens will be a 90mm Tamron 2.8 Macro lens once again the Canon 100mm Macro 2.8 L IS is an awesome lens but is a big spend for a hobbyist. When starting out I think you need to be realistic and whilst I would like to own all Canon lenses until I can get more paying jobs I will use my third party lenses...by the way I will be offloading a few lenses on Ebay in the meantime just dont let the potential buyers read my blog. Seriously though if you are considering investing in a lens do yourself a favour hire it first. I think it is well worth the money and may prevent you spending money on what, could turn out to be, a waste of money. The other thing is Rentalens has tilt shift lenses and other speciality lenses that sometimes it may be better to hire rather than buy if you only have the occasional use. I certainly know that you don't impress anyone with a bag full of lenses..quality over quanity is my lesson here. Till next time
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