Should I replace my kit lens?

[Inglorion]

Soft photos are fine (I love soft photos with blur background, but sharp object) but blur photos ... like seeing double vision ... ... I suspect it's the kit lens (speed of focus to capture the special moment eg. a cheerful smile) or the lighting condition (i use flash to fill the indoor).

Will test and post the photos next weekend thanks !

I can quite safely say it's either hand shake motion blur or not enough shutter speed. You can send me some photos with exif for me to analyse the details.

 

[unseen]

lol note wor.. uber-wide angle lenses give you uber distortion.
ROFL how do you plan to answer your kid next time if he ask "how come my head/face/body so funny shape when I was young? did someone drop me before?"

but of course, I follow the saying "bad photos better than no photos"

 

[djork]

thanks for all the above advice

today - I was using the 55mm lens and find it very inconvenient to focus on a toddler running towards me Then I wondered if I should have brought my 55-200mm along and shoot from afar - but the effect will be very different. When I shoot with zoom lens, the kids are always looking somewhere else and not into the camera.

I guess if I get the 17-85mm lens, I will store away my kit lens forever. But I read that the 17-85mm lens is quite heavy - it is true?

I am still thinking ... will consider all your advice.

Likely to keep 300D, and get one of the following - 10mm-22mm or 17-85mm lens (won't consider 17-40mm since it overlaps with my kit lens) Basically made up my mind to buy, but not sure which to buy.

Another question, for such "expensive lens" - should I pay a few hundred dollars more to get a brand new one or buy a second hand (out of warranty) for a few hundred dollars cheaper ? 10-22mm without warranty cost ?

getting the 17-85 lens does not mean you'll be able to capture your toddler running towards you all the time, and does not mean he'll look at you too. the only difference from your kit lens and the 17-85 is only the 56-85 part. which is covered by your 55-200.

 

[djork]

oh yeah just to add, i'm sure your child will not just smile when he/she runs towards you, but also when he/she interacts with/runs to other family members right? so perhaps you might want to try other methods of capturing your children's smiles too..

 

[Moonstone]

Well said :thumbsup: Happened to me when I first started to photograph my kid. Equipments alone are not sufficient to make a good photograph.

For lens EF 17-40 f4L USM is value for money as it's the Canon premium series lenses.

If you like to travel a lot or need a lens that have a longer zoom then EFS 17-85 IS USM may be your cup of tea. (price seems abit expensive for this lens though)

Upgrading from 300D to 350D, IMHO is not worth the investment.

 

[silverapple]

Well said :thumbsup: Happened to me when I first started to photograph my kid. Equipments alone are not sufficient to make a good photograph.

For lens EF 17-40 f4L USM is value for money as it's the Canon premium series lenses.

If you like to travel a lot or need a lens that have a longer zoom then EFS 17-85 IS USM may be your cup of tea. (price seems abit expensive for this lens though)

Upgrading from 300D to 350D, IMHO is not worth the investment.

thanks ... i am gonna attend the canon course to improve my skill. will consider both options

 

[Moonstone]

Don't feel bad about it, I made the same mistakes when I first took up photography years ago.

We all learn through stages.

 

[silverapple]

I have decided to buy 17-85mm - think it will be good walkaround lens and I hope the IS function can reduce shake Thanks for all the kind advice !

 

[rokieto]

I have decided to buy 17-85mm - think it will be good walkaround lens and I hope the IS function can reduce shake Thanks for all the kind advice !

17-85 seem the all-rounder winner, zoom-range, IS....can be an easy decision when one got the budget.......

only drawback is the expensive piece of EF-S mount lense cannot be used for Full-frame body.......
.......that's the frustrating thing when considering the main zoom-lense for the 1.6xcrop-factor & different mount....(will I be upgrading to FF, whether in near or far future, will it be a waste, maybe sell it off,etc.....or if I get 17-40L now, will I really use the wide-angle on FF often? .....should I just get 17-70 sigma, should I wait for other new EFS lenses, canon or sigma, etc.)

good thing you already decided anyway, just go for it & enjoy it.

(just my 2 cents of rubbish too, hehe)

 

[Inglorion]

I have decided to buy 17-85mm - think it will be good walkaround lens and I hope the IS function can reduce shake Thanks for all the kind advice !

I have to agree the EF-S 17mm-85mm is a good walkaround lens. It has good zoom range as well as the IS which can counter hand shake blur. But it does not create background blur as easy as the EF 50mm either stopped down or not. At the widest setting of 17mm, chromatic aberrations, linear distortion and vignetting can be a real problem on the EF-S 17mm-85mm. At more extreme cases, comparing both lens at 50mm on vignetting, the EF-S 17mm-85mm mayu have to be stopped down to F/8 to get the same results as the EF 50mm stopped down at F/2.8. If you have no issues using lens wide open then this could be a small problem to you. All the problems listed could be corrected using imaging tools like Adobe Photoshop.

 

[jsbn]

The lens is just as good as the owner.

Advise u to make good use of whatever u have right now to learn. Once u'd grasped the basics and concepts, den move on. The 17-85mm wun be disappearing anytime soon. Neither would Canon suddenly abandon the EF-S mount just like that.

Since u've got ur kit lens and a tele already, why not make the best use of it first for a couple of months first and see where ur 'regular shooting range' lies before making ur next move?

 

[Inglorion]

The lens is just as good as the owner.

Advise u to make good use of whatever u have right now to learn. Once u'd grasped the basics and concepts, den move on. The 17-85mm wun be disappearing anytime soon. Neither would Canon suddenly abandon the EF-S mount just like that.

Since u've got ur kit lens and a tele already, why not make the best use of it first for a couple of months first and see where ur 'regular shooting range' lies before making ur next move?

I second this. Give the current lens a chance with more practise?

 

[silverapple]

The lens is just as good as the owner.

Advise u to make good use of whatever u have right now to learn. Once u'd grasped the basics and concepts, den move on. The 17-85mm wun be disappearing anytime soon. Neither would Canon suddenly abandon the EF-S mount just like that.

Since u've got ur kit lens and a tele already, why not make the best use of it first for a couple of months first and see where ur 'regular shooting range' lies before making ur next move?

I may change my mind - after reading so many interesting forum articles - maybe save up for a better L lens or 17-55mm

I tested my "skills" - the kit lens photo compared with the 55mm f/1.8 was world apart At the same place same situation. So ... I think I should not waste time with the kit lens. I will need to quickly buy a piece of good lens to replace it.

L-lens - $2xxx
Precious moments - priceless

So now ... I should ask - if I need to take kids (toddler age 1.5 to 3) what kind of lens should i buy ? Budget upped to 1.5-2K. (thanks to progress Would prefer to go beyond just portraits - more candid shots - and outdoor and indoor moments.

 

[Inglorion]

I may change my mind - after reading so many interesting forum articles - maybe save up for a better L lens or 17-55mm

I tested my "skills" - the kit lens photo compared with the 55mm f/1.8 was world apart At the same place same situation. So ... I think I should not waste time with the kit lens. I will need to quickly buy a piece of good lens to replace it.

L-lens - $2xxx
Precious moments - priceless

So now ... I should ask - if I need to take kids (toddler age 1.5 to 3) what kind of lens should i buy ? Budget upped to 1.5-2K. (thanks to progress Would prefer to go beyond just portraits - more candid shots - and outdoor and indoor moments.

Getting a "L" lens may be good. But getting the right "L" lens to fit your usage is more important. Therefore I have a few important questions here.

General
Is lens changing a time factor that might make you miss some shots?

Primes
Is the fixed focal length factor giving you a hard time positioning and therefore you might miss some shots?

Zooms
What are the range of focal lengths you take most with? Check your EXIFs to find out.
Do you need a small F value like F/2.8 or is F/4 enough?
Is the IS function more important than the F/2.8?

 

[jsbn]

Well frankly, the kit lens isn't a really bad lens to use.

Of cos, jumping from a PnS to a DSLR straightaway I encountered many problems using the kit lens initially and being new to photography, convinced myself thoroughly that, "The Kit Lens sucks, its slow, optical quality is bad, etc, etc."

I took a course shortly after getting my cam, and at the first opportunity, I bought my first 17-40L and of cos got some stunning shots out of it (which further convinced me that the kit lens was crap).

When I sold my 300D, the 17-40L was the first to go, followed by my 28-105. Which meant that I only have the kit lens and flash to cover my office D&D event alongside another hired chap.

Subsequently after I checked my shots, exposures spot on, quality was good (stopping down to f/5.6) and most importantly I did not miss a fun moment.

The final lesson that I'd learnt thru the sale of my 300D is absolutely priceless - skill over equipment.

That's my 2 cents experience worth. But if u're still thinking of dumping ur kit lens permanently into dry box and getting a new one, I'd advise on these 2 lenses:

The Canon F4s
- EF 17-40 f/4L (apprx $1.4K)
- EF 24-105 f/4L (apprx $1.4K?)
- EF 70-200 f/4L (apprx $1.4K?)

Canon EF-S
- EF-S 17-85
- EF-S 10-22

Sigma
- 18-55 f/2.8 (apprx ???)

 

[xl1]

get 24-70 f/2.8

 

[Zplus]

get 24-70 f/2.8

Dont think getting a lens will inherrently solve the problem...
Gotta find the cause of the blurry toddler shots first...

 

[jsbn]

I suspect its more of a user problem over the lens problem.

Unless the kit lens had been dropped, heated, froze, stomped or mishandled. I dun think out-of-the-box brand new would cause the photos to be blurred. No example shots, its also hard for us to really judge whether its user fault or equipment fault. Its like I'm telling u, "Computer spoil. Fix it for me."

If our friend is bent on getting a new lens, well, whatever makes him happy.

 

[silverapple]

a few answers to the postings.

1. I think f/2.8 seems more impt than IS
2. I hate to change lens - cos' it's very inconvenient. I would like to carry as little as possible (as light as possible)
3. I agree - skills important

I got a used 28-85mm to test out - will post some pictures ( I tried to - but dunno how ... guess i need to upload to Flickr)

Will probably try to find out what's my problem

 

[silverapple]

Thanks for sharing your experience - can you tell me which course you went ? I am seriously looking for some courses. Signed up Canon ...

Well frankly, the kit lens isn't a really bad lens to use.

Of cos, jumping from a PnS to a DSLR straightaway I encountered many problems using the kit lens initially and being new to photography, convinced myself thoroughly that, "The Kit Lens sucks, its slow, optical quality is bad, etc, etc."

I took a course shortly after getting my cam, and at the first opportunity, I bought my first 17-40L and of cos got some stunning shots out of it (which further convinced me that the kit lens was crap).

When I sold my 300D, the 17-40L was the first to go, followed by my 28-105. Which meant that I only have the kit lens and flash to cover my office D&D event alongside another hired chap.

Subsequently after I checked my shots, exposures spot on, quality was good (stopping down to f/5.6) and most importantly I did not miss a fun moment.

The final lesson that I'd learnt thru the sale of my 300D is absolutely priceless - skill over equipment.

That's my 2 cents experience worth. But if u're still thinking of dumping ur kit lens permanently into dry box and getting a new one, I'd advise on these 2 lenses:

The Canon F4s
- EF 17-40 f/4L (apprx $1.4K)
- EF 24-105 f/4L (apprx $1.4K?)
- EF 70-200 f/4L (apprx $1.4K?)

Canon EF-S
- EF-S 17-85
- EF-S 10-22

Sigma
- 18-55 f/2.8 (apprx ???)