Canon kit lens: 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS

[suvarghyadutta]

Hello,

I purchased a Canon EOS 450D with the kit lens (18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS). Along with it I also purchased a Tamron lens: AF 18-200 mm F3.5 - F6.3 Di-II.

I was speaking to another photographer friend of mine who pointed out in a very polite way that probably I didn't quite make the right decision to buy two lens which overlaps each other. He said that both the lenses covered 18-55 mm and therefore the kit lens practically serves no purpose.

His suggestion was that I should try to sell my kit lens on EBAY and use that money (plus some more) to get myself a different lens that may be of more practical use to me.

I thought of seeking your advices on whether I should sincerely try to sell my kit lens and get myself a different lens. If you do suggest a different one, could you also please suggest how the new lens should be different from the Tamron AF 18-200 mm F3.5 - F6.3 Di-II? I would like to photograph landscapes and indoors. I am not much into wildlife or sports photography.

Regards.

[bearly]

if you like landscapes i'd get an ultrawide like canon's 10-22 f3.5-4.5 or the sigma 10-20 f4-5.6... ultrawides make it so you can get some really awesome landscape shots.

otherwise, if you don't feel like spending that much, you could get a 50 f1.8... because its a prime it'll produce sharper images overall and its really fast so you could shoot in low light handheld and still get nice crisp shots. also shooting with a prime is a very different experience than shooting with a zoom since you have to actually change your position to change how its framed and you "zoom" by getting closer or farther away from your subject

[RichardTaylor]

Given your interests, I would sell the Tamron.
(1) Doesnt have IS
(2) May have problems focussing at the long end in poor light.
(3) Image quality is not great (I own on)_
(5) The kit lens is a good start for landscapes etc.

and as bearly said either put the money towards the Canon 50 F1.8 - Good for portraits & low light and/or an ultrwide (10-22 or 12-24 etc)

[Raoul Isidro]

Try this experiment: Take static photos of, say, your backyard using both lenses set at 18, 24, 35 and 55 using the same settings of say F5.6 on all focal lengths. Take the photos using a tripod if you have one. Then compare your photos side by side. Zoom on a particular object to 100% and compare. This simple experiment may sway you to junk one lens and love the other!
Cheers and all the best!

[inkista]

If there's no rush, I'd say keep both lenses, shoot with them both for a while, and when you notice one of them has dust on it 'cause it's been sitting on a shelf for a while, then you know there's an overlap and which lens you'll want to sell.

I'm actually in agreement with your friend--the chances are the image quality on both lenses will be roughly the same, and the superzoom will be more convenient and more useful as a travel lens than a simple 18-55 kit, so the kit is likely to be the one you want to dump, but everybody's different. The thing is, dumping the 18-55 is likely to get you a lot less money to play with than dumping the 18-200.

[Jillybean_tx]

I am by no means an expert on this but I purchased the Canon XSi/450D in October with the kit lens. I used it and love it for it's IS ability. But I felt I wanted a little more zoom so I purchased the Canon 55-250 IS lens for Christmas. This way, I have capabilities of 18-250 with IS.

Just a thought.

[photog1107]

Agree in theory with your friends, but as Inkista mentioned, you won't get much for the kit lens. They are reallly cheap on eBay (I know, I thought about it several years ago, too) and so you might as well just keep it and use it as a backup, or if you ever sell your camera, and upgrade, you'll have the lens to go with it, Either way, it probably won't make much financial sense to try to sell the kit. At this point, you probably just need to shoot for a while and decide which direction you need another lens for.. either the 1.8 prime for portraits, or the wide angle for landscapes. Sometimes, these things just take time before you know the direction you want to take, so shoot a lot and see where it takes you.