So I'm about to buy my first DSLR (definitely a Canon, probably the 700D) and my original plan was to buy the one with the included 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens.
At the same time I was thinking about picking up the 50mm f/1.8 on account of the fact that it's cheap and I love taking photos of people with a shallow depth of field.
A couple of friends who are big into photography both suggested that the kit lenses aren't that good and produce blurry, distorted and drab imagery. They also both suggested that I should use the money saved by just getting the body to offset the cost of a decent prime lens.
At this point their views differed:
One suggested that I should get the Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM. This works out at only £12 more expensive than the kit. They said it takes much better photos than the 50m f/1.8 for only a small amount more and it's very light.
Another suggested that I go directly to the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 as it's a lens that I'll never ever need to replace. This works out at £150 more expensive than the kit, although I can take (very small) comfort in the fact that I'm saving £80 by not buying the f/1.8 as a stepping stone to the f/1.4.
Both also suggested that once I'd had some lessons, learnt how to use the camera and absolutely must have a zoom lens, then I save up and look to buy something decent at that point in time, rather than use the kit lens.
Should I drop the kit lens and pick up a decent prime? Will I be missing out on some types of photography without the kit lens? Or should I start off with the kit and nifty-fifty and upgrade each component over time?
Answer
We have so many question/answers already here that address all of the questions you have. See:
If you have a very specific question not answered by the above answers, please either edit this question significantly(before it gets closed) or ask a new question.
My opinion
The kit lenses of today are generally not that bad, especially for the almost zero cost that they add to the body price in most cases. Even though they are not that bad as far as image quality, they do have limiting maximum apertures(f/3.5-f/4.0 to f/5.6 typically) though so that is the main reason picking up a inexpensive f/1.8 lens is usually recommended. Having that huge aperture opens up possibilities that you simply can't have with a f/4 lens. It is also literally eye opening when comparing it to a point and shoot camera, since f/1.8 is nearly unheard of in a point and shoot camera.
What should you do? I would buy the kit anyways due to the very small additional cost, use it for a few months, then when you know what is limiting your progress in the art, you will know what to buy! If you really have the extra cash, the 50mm f/1.8 or f/1.4 will be great to own at the same time as a kit 18-55mm zoom lens. Many, many people go this route.
No comments:
Post a Comment