Canon EF and EF-S lenses

[Ramsay]

I have a newbe question for all you Canon DSLR users out there -

I currently own a Canon 400D which I bought about 3 months ago. I know that the camera body takes EF-S lenses due to it having a smaller sensor than some of the higher end Canon DSLR's but I discovered yesterday that it will also accept EF lenses.

The camera that I bought comes standard with a 18-55mm lens which to be honest isn't very good. What I would like to do is replace it with the equivalent EF lens as I would like to upgrade to a full frame Canon DSLR in the future. What I am trying to figure out is would a 28-105mm EF lens give me the same zoom range as the 18-55mm EF-S lens?

[joconnell]

Just buy good lenses - the lens multiplier on the 400d is 1.6 so if you want the same on a full frame 5d it's going to be 18 x 1.6 to 55 x 1.6 so around a 28 - 90. There's a really fast 28-80 f2.8 lens that this guy uses http://www.flickr.com/photos/motionid/ which would be worth looking at - if you got a really quick (f2.8 or less) wide to long zoom you'd be set for a lot of things. I just bought the cheap 50mm f1.8 lens - around 40 stg on ebay and it's lovely if you like shallow focus - a lot of my stuff on http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnoconnell/ is shot with that lens and I plan to get the 28 - 80 next - fair price jump though

[Preisler]

You would have to multiply the lens numbers with 1.6. So a 28-105 mm lens on the 400D will be the same as 45-168.

Preisler

[Ramsay]

Great, thanks for clearing that up guys and nice photos btw John

[joconnell]

cheers - it's just the 50mm at f1.8 on aperture priority and let the canon do the rest - For the price of it (buy one on ebay) you get gorgeous stuff. I'm only using the camera about two weeks so you'll get the same right away.

[Ramsay]

Do you have a link to the lens on e-bay? I need a new toy

[Ramsay]

Actually, I found some for sale... pretty cheap!

[Syclone1]

I dont have any experience with the 28-80, Im assumeing that its the predecessor to the 24-70 F2.8 thats out now which is a sweet lens as well as the 17-40 F4L which is tack sharp and an all around great lens. As mentioned above the 50mm 1.8 is also an awesome lens which I too own and it can produce some amazingly sharp photos when its stopped down a notch or two. I also own the 17-40 F4L and love it too. If you are serious about the photography and want to eventually go full frame then invest in good glass...

you can look here http://www.photozone.de for reviews on lenses also which seems to have good info on the peformance on the lenses...

-dave

[Ramsay]

Yeah I'm pretty serious about it... it's turning into quite an expenseve hobby though. I'm waiting for the Canon 5D mk2 to be released before I upgrade to full frame.

Thanks for the link,Ii'll take a look.

[Syclone1]

Yea Im egerly anticipating the 5D MkII, have a line on a deal on a used 5D that Im drooling over and seriously tempted to buy but I like my 40D ATM and looking at either a 70-200 F2.8IS or the 100-400L. And yes it can become quite expensive esp for a hobby and I speak from experience with an XTi and a 40D and 5 lenses, flash, all kinds of other accessories... lol

-dave

[jujubee]

DON'T BUY ANYTHING AT SONICCAMERAS. It's the first time I've ever been taken by a scam artist.

I just wrote this article about their operations on my new blog:
http://www.mightyfunk.com/2008/05/so...nternet-fraud/

[tehamnes]

I would recommend the EF 17-40mm f/4.0 L lens if you want a great buy. One of the cheapest L lenses but also one of the sharpest. Great for architecture and nature shots! It's very suitable as a "normal-lens" for the mid-range DSLR's.

I also find the 50mm f/1.8 a useful lens i low-light situations but the AF is somewhat slow and inaccurate.
For wildlife and such I prefer the EF 70-300 f/4-5,6 IS USM - The IS works as hell and It's tack sharp even at 300mm and one of my best buys ever. It's often described as a hidden L lens at a more reasonable cost.

Two useful camera-gear links:
http://www.photozone.de/
http://www.kenrockwell.com/

[Syclone1]

I fully agree with tehamnes, I also have the 70-300IS lens and its pretty freaking sweet, I also got a tamron 2x teleconverter for it and it looses a little quality but the quality is far above what I expected...

I have a few photos in my portfolio at the following link mostly from the 17-40F4L, 70-300IS, 50mm F1.8 and the Canon 10-22...

http://www.dpchallenge.com/portfolio...ollection_id=1

-dave

[jujubee]

Here's an excellent article concerning various Canon lenses:

http://photonotes.org/articles/beginner-faq/lenses.html

[joconnell]

I fully agree with tehamnes, I also have the 70-300IS lens and its pretty freaking sweet, I also got a tamron 2x teleconverter for it and it looses a little quality but the quality is far above what I expected...

I have a few photos in my portfolio at the following link mostly from the 17-40F4L, 70-300IS, 50mm F1.8 and the Canon 10-22...

http://www.dpchallenge.com/portfolio...ollection_id=1

-dave

Some lovely stuff in there dave - i've got the kit and 50mm 1.8 and i'd love to get a wide to long 2 / 2.8 zoom - It's gonna get pricey