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Photo Forum / Digital Photography / DSLR Cameras / March 2005

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YALQ: Yet another lens question.

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James Fraser - 09 Mar 2005 03:27 GMT
The 350D looks like it might be my first DSLR in a month or two. (BTW,
just got an email from B&H. They have them in stock, at the moment.)

So I already have a 28-105/3.5-4.5 and a 100-300/5.6L which kept me
really happy on my Elan IIe.

Obviously, I'm going to be losing the wide end.

I was thinking about adding the 20/2.8 prime after a few months worth
of saving.

I haven't found much in the way of reviews or comments on that lens.
There was a  brief usenet discussion that one person was finding the
18-55 kit lens was giving  results similar to the prime. Some suggested
this lens wasn't any good with the digital bodies.

Any experiences with the 20/2.8? Or should I plan on getting the 18-55
kit?

Thanks...
Jamie
Bill - 09 Mar 2005 05:08 GMT
>So I already have a 28-105/3.5-4.5 and a 100-300/5.6L which kept me
>really happy on my Elan IIe.
>
>I was thinking about adding the 20/2.8 prime after a few months worth
>of saving.

If you don't mind spending the money, save for a good zoom or prime
lense as it's worth it for sharpness. But you'll probably want something
wider than the 20mm, which will only give you a 32mm wideangle view due
to the 1.6x crop factor.

Personally, I like the 24-28mm range for landscapes. You may want to
consider the 17-40mm f/4 L lense...it's about $200 more though and would
give you a 27-64mm field of view. It would easily be the best of your
current lenses too.

I suppose it depends on how much quality you need/want for wide angle
shots as to whether it's worth it to you to spend that much. For me,
wideangle and telephoto is more important than the midrange. I happen to
use the same 28-105 f/3.5-4.5 as a walk about lense for candid snaps at
many events. But I pull out the L glass for important wide and tele
shots.

>Any experiences with the 20/2.8? Or should I plan on getting the 18-55
>kit?

I don't have any personal experience with the 20mm, so I can't comment
on it directly.

But for the price, the 18-55 isn't half bad. It's not as sharp as a good
zoom or prime lense obviously, but if you're not doing a lot of close
landscape shots, or lots of groups where fine facial detail is needed,
it should do the trick. Just stop down to f8-11 to improve the sharpness
a fair bit and have at it.

Based purely on your current lenses, I'd say you'd probably be happy
with the 15-55. But if you're unsure, grab a flash card and take it in
to a store to test out the lense - the beauty of digital is the
convenience. Take the images home and examine them, then decide if the
18-55 is good enough for you.
 
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