New lens on a small budget

tipsinartok

My husband and I are discussing Christmas, but we have a very small budget this year. I'd love to get a new lens but we probably can't afford much more than $200 or so for one right now. (and to be honest, even that is stretching it a bit.) Is there anything under that price range that would add to what I currently already have? I'm thinking likely not, but it never hurts to ask, right? I'm a little wary about buying a used lens so would prefer new.

It doesn't have to be a super sharp, beautiful bokeh-type of lens. I would love a decent telephoto for things like trips to the zoo. Right now I just take my p&s camera for things like that. Mostly I take indoor and outdoor pictures of my daughter (and we're expecting a new baby in a few months) and friends' kids, but I enjoy taking the camera out for walks and just snapping photos of nature and animals too. Next year I may be taking Santa pictures with pets for a local rescue organization, but that wouldn't be for almost another year so I don't need a lens just for that right now. (Plus I think the 50mm f1.8 would probably work okay for that anyway, they're done in an area with lots of room to move around in and get far back.)

If not a lens, is there anything else in that price range I might find handy for what I use the camera for?

borrowlenses.com

You already have the 50 1.8, which is what I would recommend for bang for the buck performance. Good glass is expensive so it's usually best to hold off until you can get something good since you will keep it for a very long time instead of just plunking down for something cheap and affordable. You could always rent a lens too.

Cuong

What you have seems sufficient for what you want to do now. Save your money for the EF 70-200mm f/4.

Cuong

Richard

borrowlenses.com wrote:

You already have the 50 1.8, which is what I would recommend for bang for the buck performance. Good glass is expensive so it's usually best to hold off until you can get something good since you will keep it for a very long time instead of just plunking down for something cheap and affordable. You could always rent a lens too.

If you don't trust used lenses, then your budget is just too tight for anything worth acquiring. Save up for one of the Tamron f/2.8s.

Ekaj

Skip the glass idea, many photographers use the same focal length their entire careers.

Here would be my suggestions.

A DVD set- the strobist set, zack arias one light, the new Dean collins DVDs, etc would all improve your photography much more than new glass

A class- My community college offers semester long classes for about $100.00 Not only do you get great teaching but you can use printers and borrow gear.

Books- too many good books to list

There is a lot you can do!


Jake

angevin1

A fun cheap tele-zoom for the zoo. There are several that may work and fit in that price range. I have a quantaray 70-300mm ( sits on shelf since being upgraded) that is perfect for that. I bought it new from my local Ritz Camera and it is still a great kick around lens for the $150.00 I paid for it~

I see Adorama has several choices in that range for your camera, in their used dept.

Happy Holidays~

Congrat's on the Baby~

divamum

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned the "nifty-two-fifty yet" - this is the 55-250is which new is $250 (hence the nickname) and refurbished (or used) is usually ~$199. I had a refurb of this lens from Adorama and would happily still be using it today if my shooting didn't fast aperture glass - it's a GREAT lens for the price, sharp, the IS works very well, and it's nice and light as a walkabout. You may eventually wind up wanting to upgrade it, or alternatively may keep it just because it's so nice to use!

If you're skittish about buying used, what about refurbished? It will come with a warranty. Similarly, buying used from Adorama, BH or KEH (the latter particularly good in my mind) means it will come with a guarantee - usually not 1 year, but long enough to test it and be sure it works.

HTH!

jrmyrnsm

divamum wrote:

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned the "nifty-two-fifty yet" - this is the 55-250is which new is $250 (hence the nickname) and refurbished (or used) is usually ~$199. I had a refurb of this lens from Adorama and would happily still be using it today if my shooting didn't fast aperture glass - it's a GREAT lens for the price, sharp, the IS works very well, and it's nice and light as a walkabout. You may eventually wind up wanting to upgrade it, or alternatively may keep it just because it's so nice to use!

If you're skittish about buying used, what about refurbished? It will come with a warranty. Similarly, buying used from Adorama, BH or KEH (the latter particularly good in my mind) means it will come with a guarantee - usually not 1 year, but long enough to test it and be sure it works.

HTH!

+1 Go for the 50-250! Thats a lot of lens for the money!

tipsinartok

Thank you all for the replies and sorry I didn't answer before. We installed Windows 7 on my computer right after I'd posted that and it's taken me a while to get all caught up on everything, though I did manage to see all the replies before Christmas. I've chosen not to get a lens for now, but have the 55-250is on my wish list as something to save up for. Sounds like it would be just what I need right now. I'd love to take a class but if I was going to, I should have done it in September. We only have one place that does courses that interest me, and they go by semesters. So if I started in January I'd be having a baby right smack in the middle of the course, and I doubt I'll be able to get out for a course any time after that. Oh well. I did get a gift certificate to a book store though, so I'm going to get myself some good books and go from there. I started another thread for books though.

Thanks again! Sorry to bump up an old thread, I hope that's okay, but I wanted to let those who replied know that I do really appreciate the replies.

chrisjohnson

thanks for bumping.

I was looking a while back and could have got a used 55-250 Canon for little money. I tried it out and it works fine - especially out of doors in good light. Unless you want to enlarge something at the far tele range it is sharp enough for normal family photos. A fun lens. I ended up with something else (70-300) which is also fun: perhaps should have bought the 70-200 f4, but that is another story.