Lens Buyers Guide

[marcie2002]

HI I have the sony a100. I have done lots of action shots!!! Please recomend me a lens that I can do action shots indoor. Prob has low lighting but I will have an external flash. I want a type of lens that i can take action shots and indoor action shots. Thanks,

[PHeller]

Super helpful info. I learned all this info back in highschool (only 4 years ago) but I have forgotten most of it.

Now I remmeber it all once again, and I can tackle the challenge of "which lense for low light dancing photography".

[lafgas]

Thanks Rex for the explanations and suggestions. I'm a beginner and I found your post most informative. I'm looking to purchase the Canon XTi and I will be using it primarily (at least in the beginning) to photograph my son's hockey games. I found your post while almost giving up on the search for an all-in-one lens. I think that I need at least 200mm to get a full shot and I know that action and light will be a huge factor. You mentioned getting a prime to do this type of photography though. I'm still having trouble here because there are too many opinions on the Internet. Of course, money is a factor here too so it has to be affordable, but yet I want to get better pics than my point and shoot. Am I not going to be able to find a single lens that works for hockey and portraits? If not, what 2 lenses will cover everything from hockey, portraits, zoo, vacations, and low light?

Thank you,
lafgas

[cgl88]

It is amazing that your thread still holds true. One thing your thread doesn't cover is how many lenses does one require to have a true 'set' that covers it all?

Would it be something like this:
1) 28mm
2) 50mm
3) 28-70mm
4) 70-210mm
5) 100-300mm

[Robert Besen]

I have a 11-18 mm zoom that I would add to the list.

[r3g]

dude.. i came into this thread knowing besically nothing about lens specs and was very confused at all the different numbers and such. after finishing this review i am confident in my ability to select good lenses when the time comes. good work!

[Rex914]

I have a big favor to ask of somebody. As you notice, all of the images in this guide are broken since my site is now gone.

Thankfully, I carbon copied this guide over here a while back. So I'd like somebody to grab those images back and host them, so that this guide can continue to operate.

Once this happens, I can update this thread, which badly needs an update to account for some great new glass that has appeared since my last update.

Let me know if you are interested.

Thanks.

- Jon

[calpchen]

Rex,

I might be able to help. Check your PM.

[Rex914]

Thanks for your help. I'll be updating the post now.

- Jon

Edit: It is all updated and fixed up. Thanks again!

[cap]

A few months ago I read a post on this forum with a link to a great lens comparison website which allowed you to select the lenses you want to compare and have similar pictures taken with the lenses come up in a composite window. I have now lost the link and I cannot find it again. Does anyone know the site I'm talking about?

By the way, I currently have a canon 350d and only the kit lens but I'm thinking of upgrading the lens. Given my budget I'm considering the sigma 18-50 f2.8 or the sigma 18-200 with OS. My main use for my camera is to take pictures of the kids - mainly indoors and I'm not very happy with the sharpness of the pictures I'm getting from the kit lens. I would like the flexibility of the 18-200mm lens but I would also like to generally improve the sharpness of the images I get. Would the 18-200 give an improved sharpness compared to the kit lens?