Lens for Canon 400d

[MrBuk]

""as a walk around lens i think the canon 24 -105mm f4 L IS is ideal for most situations"

I have been thinking about this lens but is it really suitable for a 1.6 crop camera?

[flake]

Only if you can do without the wide angle, this lens withh give you the equivalent FOV of 40 - 170mm. A nice lens especially if you want to move to FF later, but the lack of wide angle seriously compromises it on a crop.

[rbarry]

I too have a canon 400D and was recently asked by a professional orchestral musician friend, to take some shots of him at home playing a couple of different instruments for his publicist to use. I had just sold my Sigma 17-70 EX f2.8-4.5 which would have been ideal for its focal range given the confines of an average sized house and a grand piano! I had literally only just sold the Sigma that week and had not had time to replace it with something similar but of better all round performance.

However, my trusty Canon prime 50mm f1.8 gives great results, better than the Sigma in my opinion, and this is what I used. However, as I alluded to before, the fixed focal length meant that I couldn't get all the shots I wanted due to the inability of getting far enough away from my subject matter with what amounts to a 80mm lens when adjusted for the 1.6 crop factor of a Canon 400D.

I have decided from all the reviews and opinions I have collated over the last couple of weeks, that I need a Tamron SP AF 17-50mm F2.8XR Macro (not the VC version). This lens has a fast f2.8 aperture available throughout the full zoom range and is reported to be very sharp for much of that range at most apertures. I may upgrade the body for the new Canon 550D soon, so hopefully a lens like the Tamron would be ideal mounted on a camera with a high pixel count cmos sensor like the 550D.

[TedFoster]

I agree that the 60 mm Macro lens is great , can I suggest that a useful addition without going too far over budget would be the Canon EFS 55 - 250 mm. lens , I bought one with the 450D as a "bundle" , and can confirm the reports in the magazine that this is a cracking lens , results every bit as good as the 60 . and I have seen it priced at under £200 . It's got IS (image stabilisation ) too , so you can hand hold lit at ridiculous shutter speeds .