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I have recently bought a Canon7d. now I need a lens.. before that i had a nikon but I switched to canon now. so I have no lens. i have selected these 3 ... which one should i buy and which will serve my purpose. I can only get one lens and primarily want to be able to do landscapes and portraits. I also need a zoom lens, so primes are out.

  1. Canon EF-S 55-250mm F4-5.6 IS II
  2. Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 III
  3. Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-56 III

to me, looks like no. 2 is better.. since it has nice f-stop. thank u in advance.

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    \$\begingroup\$ We know nothing about your needs so we can't possible guide you here. If one lens where superior the other wouldn't exist. Also the lnses are entirely different in focal length so a comparison is not meaningful anyway. \$\endgroup\$
    – Hugo
    Commented Sep 29, 2014 at 4:47
  • \$\begingroup\$ We might be able to help you if you tell us what your purposes actually are, but you neglected to put that in your question, thus I am voting to close as unclear what you are asking. If you can update the question with sufficient details to make an actual determination, then we can reopen it (if it has closed before you update it) \$\endgroup\$
    – AJ Henderson ♦
    Commented Sep 29, 2014 at 5:01
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Hugo, im buying my first canon lens... and also i can buy only one for now. thats why i choose these 3. \$\endgroup\$
    – jquery404
    Commented Sep 29, 2014 at 5:01
  • \$\begingroup\$ What do you photograph? Do you need telephoto, of those three lenses, two are quite long for normal day to day usage on an APS-C camera unless you are taking photos from a distance or trying to do close ups. It also matters if you ever have any ambition to try moving in to full frame or not in the future. \$\endgroup\$
    – AJ Henderson ♦
    Commented Sep 29, 2014 at 5:02
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    \$\begingroup\$ Is it too late to return that 7D and get a cheaper body leaving more budget for lenses? What lenses did you use with your Nikon? \$\endgroup\$
    – mattdm
    Commented Sep 29, 2014 at 8:00

1 Answer 1

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For landscapes, you probably don't want a telephoto. The 18-55 isn't necessarily the best lens out there for what you want to do, but of the three you have listed, it is the only one that is not a lens going from telephoto all the way in to super telephoto territory and thus probably the only one of the 3 that would really be ideal for landscape. It is the APS-c equivalent of the 24-70 on a full frame camera, which makes it a fairly standard walk around focal length range (unless I'm shooting from across a room or doing head shots, my 24-70 rarely comes off my camera).

Relatively tight portraits could make use of the longer focal lengths, but it would be tricky to get far enough away to take head to toe portraits with either of the longer two lenses.

While you said you need a zoom, why do you need a zoom? You might be better served with something like a nifty 50 which is both cheap and outstanding quality (far better than what you would get with any of the 3) in addition to being workable for both portraits and landscapes.

I'd suggest you try re-evaluating your lens options based on what focal lengths you determine you need for the subjects and types of shots you want to be able to produce.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ thank u so much... which 50mm would u buy ? really new in canon :) my first lens. haha \$\endgroup\$
    – jquery404
    Commented Sep 29, 2014 at 5:15
  • \$\begingroup\$ Starting out, I'd try the 1.8, it's nearly dirt cheap, so you could probably still get a cheap zoom if you wanted as well (assuming it didn't come with a kit lens). \$\endgroup\$
    – AJ Henderson ♦
    Commented Sep 29, 2014 at 5:18
  • \$\begingroup\$ In Canon nomenclature Super Telephoto refers to prime lenses that are 300mm or greater in focal length. None of the lenses he listed is remotely close to being a Super Telephoto lens. \$\endgroup\$
    – Michael C
    Commented Sep 30, 2014 at 1:33
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Michael Clark - In general nomenclature, super telephoto is between 1 and 8 degree field of view. Since the OP is talking about an APS-c body, anything about 159mm would be super-telephoto, which includes both of the lenses I described as super-telephoto. \$\endgroup\$
    – AJ Henderson ♦
    Commented Sep 30, 2014 at 6:21
  • \$\begingroup\$ Considering that Canon refers to a specific group of lenses as their Super Telephoto lenses, you're just muddying the waters and causing confusion when you refer to other, consumer grade, Canon lenses by that moniker. shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/lenses-flashes/… \$\endgroup\$
    – Michael C
    Commented Sep 30, 2014 at 7:58

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