I doubt that the 75-300 would be any better. The 50mm f1.8 standard canon lens is inexpensive and quite a good lens for the money.. (I assume by 55mm lens you mean the 18-55 standard kit lens) I think ponders has the 50mm so he may be able to give you more specific info. The Canon L series lenses would certainly be a better option but I've seen lots of reports of poor QC. Striker has just bought an L series 17-40, it would be worth asking him how it performs on astro photos.
Hi Grant,
wow this will open up a can of worms.
Don't forget that with the appropriate adaptor you can also use Nikon lenses, and the older ones are quite good, and also quite reasonable.
Gary
Hi Grant. I have 3 zoom lenses and one fixed focal length lens. The three zooms are 28-90, 35-80 and 80-200 and the fixed is 50mm. All the zooms are around f/4 to f/5.6 and the 50 is f/1.8 None of the zoom lenses do a particularly good job, although the 35-80 probably does the best job. They are all achromatic lenses so I get the dreaded blue "ring around the star". The 50, although still and achro, doesn't show anywhere near the chromatic aberation the zooms do, plus I'm able to get a sharper image more easily. The 50 f/1.8 is a relatively inexpensive lense, so maybe consider a 50, and if you can afford it, something in the 135 f/2.8 and a 2X teleconverter. I found the zooms a real pain in the but to get good focus on, plus I had to be very careful if I reversed direction in my focus I didn't shift my zoom.
thanks guys - I did mean prime focus above as eventual aim (not a-focal)
I am looking at a 75-300 for normal day use, so the astro work with it is a secondary application really. From the sounds of it, piggyback at 50mm is ideal for the wide fields, and for any zoom work just going prime focus is the go.
Just remember that with "most" DSLR's the focal length is subject to a 1.5x or so multiplication. So the 50mm becomes about 75mm.
Unless you are getting the very best zoom (in Canon this is the "L" series stuff) you may be better off with the primes as Paul has said. Try a few though.
Think about a 2X or 3X teleconverter too Grant. Or another lense in the 135 - 200 range. 50mm to 2000mm is a big jump in focal length and there are lots and lots of objects that you will want to get closeer to than with a 50 but 2000 (even 1260mm (2000 with 6.3 Focal Reducer)) will be too close.
I received very similar information when I first started looking RB. Yes I looked at the 85 f/1.8 but at around $700 I couldn't justify it over the $150 for the 50mm when first starting out. I even looked at the 50mm f/1.4 lense, but again at around $700 too much.And the 200 at $1300 was way over the top I guess it just depends on how much money you've got to spend. Then of course theres the 85mm f/1.2 L at around $3000 All great lenses apparently.
I received very similar information when I first started looking RB. Yes I looked at the 85 f/1.8 but at around $700 I couldn't justify it over the $150 for the 50mm when first starting out. I even looked at the 50mm f/1.4 lense, but again at around $700 too much.And the 200 at $1300 was way over the top I guess it just depends on how much money you've got to spend. Then of course theres the 85mm f/1.2 L at around $3000 All great lenses apparently.
Shhhhh Paul,
I was hoping Grant would buy them so I can borrow them.
looking around for a prime lens (say 135 or 200mm), but the only ones I can find are the L series at about 3x the price I was originally considering.
Can anyone point me to one ?
Are any other lense makes useable on the Canon ?
Hope this comes out clearly enough. If it doesn't let me know if you want me to email you the full chart (400KB) These are just the prime lenses in the EF series off the chart.
Hope this comes out clearly enough. If it doesn't let me know if you want me to email you the full chart (400KB) These are just the prime lenses in the EF series off the chart.
Just a dumb question from me Paul, but I assume they are called Prime lenses because they are not a zoom lens. Is this correct? Or are they refered to as fixed lenses? If not then why are they called Prime?
Well that's a few questions.....
PS thanks for the chart. Did you take this shot on your kitchen table? you've got quite a collection
looking around for a prime lens (say 135 or 200mm), but the only ones I can find are the L series at about 3x the price I was originally considering.
Can anyone point me to one ?
Are any other lense makes useable on the Canon ?