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@elianafranzenburg Yep! That was my first and only lens for years, and I only recently acquired some experience with other lenses. If you only have one lens, it’s the one to have. It’ll cover all your focal lengths. Unfortunately, being a jack of all trades means it’s kind of a master of none. Image quality isn’t superb and the minimum aperture isn’t that great either.
The lens is great for…
Outdoor events (can’t stress this enough!)
Travel
A little bit of Macro workIt really stinks in…
Low Light (though image stabilization does help)Only okay image quality combined with the aperture being a bit narrow means it’s not impossible to get a spectacular photo with this lens, but it’s a bit difficult (I was surprised at how many photos immediately looked so epic when I started using my 50mm prime lens!). But if you are shooting events or kids or anything else where things change quickly and you want/need to switch from wide to telephoto in less than a second, this is your lens.
I think I’ll eventually be looking to phase this lens out of my camera bag with a couple of higher quality zoom lenses, but I think I’ll still be glad to have it in my arsenal.
For more information, I would check out https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-S-18-200mm-f-3.5-5.6-IS-Lens-Review.aspx.
- This reply was modified 54 years, 11 months ago by .
@loganlamar Thanks for answering! That is quite helpful. My main need in a new lens is the zoom capabilities for family portraits so I’m not too worried about the aperture. This is the best lens (that I can find) that I can afford right now. Would you happen to know of a good lens for under $500?
On a side note I recently got a 50mm prime lens as well and as you said the resulting photos are epic.Do you care if it’s refurbished or not? B & H photo has a refurbished 18-200mm lens for $399 plus free shipping (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/749018-REF/Canon_2752B007BA_EF_S_18_200mm_f_3_5_5_6_IS.html).
Most of my equipment is from this company and I always get refurbished. It works great for me! 🙂
I have the Tamron 16-300, not a canon, and they do have amazing range! But as @loganlamar said, they are not really very good at everything, mainly because of slow aperture, and lack of sharpness. That said, I own a 24-105 f/4 L series that has much superior image quality to even some of my prime lenses. It has IS too, which is a must for low light interiors without a flash. F/4 is not a very fast lens, but it is constant, and spares you some of the trouble of adjusting settings when zooming. Best of all, for a L series, it is quite inexpensive! I recently used this lens for family portraits at a wedding where I could not back up enough to get a whole group with a 85mm. It was quite bright out, and my shutter speed was running 1/600-1/800 sec at 100 iso, and f/4. I was very happy with the overall sharpness and depth of field. It is not my go-to portrait lens because I prefer shallow depth of field, but for families, it is great!
https://www.amazon.com/Canon-24-105mm-USM-Lens-Cameras/dp/B000AZ57M6/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1530879435&sr=8-6&keywords=24-105+canon&dpID=41FER7HPR7L&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch@josiahw I thought about the 24-105mm but everything in my price range is used. Do you think it would be okay as long as the seller says it works? I would probably like the 24-105 better I’m just worried about it being used.
I got mine used through the link that I shared- I have bought most of my gear used, and have never had any issues. Come to think of it though, this lens had a focus cable break internally on me- cost 300 to fix if I remember right. From what I read, it is a risk you run with that lens. Too bad I’m not still trying to sell mine- I guess one it gets fixed, it gets done right, and you *never* have it happen again. Maybe you could purchase a protection plan just in case- mine broke within a year. As long as the plan does not include accidental damage from drops, spills, etc- only manufacturing defects, you might get it fairly inexpensively. Or, you might be one of the many who never have problems with the lens!
Hey @elianafranzenburg, if I were purchasing, I would try to purchase used from a dedicated camera store like B&H Photo or Adorama. I believe they test everything thoroughly and they will rate the equipment based off the problems it has. I also think purchasing off of Amazon.com or eBay is a bit more risky—but you might be able to get a better deal.
Being somewhat of a risk taker, I have often purchased things from ebay, and I have found many good deals so far without any trouble. We sell on amazon, and I can testify that amazon sides with their customers. I would not worry about buying through them, but still, B&H has a stellar repute for customer service. I could not find this lens for less than 500 on B&H, but they have a 17-40 L series for that price. That might be a more practical route for you, seeing that focal lengths over 40 will be taken up by a 50mm prime or other favorite. In my experience, I never need over 35mm for family portraits.
@loganlamar @josiahw Thank you so much for all your help! I ended up getting the Canon EF 24-105mm 3.5-5.6 lens off of eBay. I’m really happy with it. As far as I can tell so far it is almost as good as my 50mm prime.
@freedomphotography I had seen that listing but they were all out of stock:(Thanks again.
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