new lens

[Colinr]

hello,

I was wondering what is a good lens to get for everyday use? I currently have the 18-55mm canon lens but I dont think it dose enough for me. any suggestions?

Colinr

[QuietOne]

Depends. What do you shoot/want to shoot the most photos of? Once they know that, the more experienced folks here can probably give you all sorts of suggestions.

[Colinr]

Some stuff I would like to shoot would be buildings, landscapes, close ups. a little bit of everything really. as I find cool stuff to shoot

[Matt K.]

so I gather you want a lens that 'brings objects closer' to you? Or did you mean you want to get 'closer' to the object? If it is the former, a telezoom would be the choice, if the latter, then a macro lens would do the trick. Check this website out, it gives you a tool to decide what focal length you would want.

[Mad Aussie]

Some stuff I would like to shoot would be buildings, landscapes, close ups. a little bit of everything really. as I find cool stuff to shoot

The 18-55 is a good lens for most of that. Much wider on buildings and you get a lot of distortion that makes the buildings lean in a lot.
Close ups (of small subjects) you really need to screw on close up filters or get a proper macro lens.

There are lenses that cover a huge range but they tend to be expensive in a quality lens.

Your budget might have a large bearing on what you can look for.

To save money you could look at the closeup filters and then buy a 2nd lens that covers somewhere from around 50 or 70 mmm through to 300mm.

[Richard]

That's good advice MA, I have the 18-55 IS and canon's 55-250 IS (which is the lens I use most often for portraits and tabletop stuff). I think it's a good lens for the price, but there might be similar lenses from other manufacturers that are just as good if not better at a similar price point.

The cheap close-up lens whilst a cheap way into macro, ultimately ins't going to give you high quality shots. They look OK small but when you zoom in the optics are awful.

You could try extension tubes, but because the 18-55 doesn't have an aperture control the lens would stay wide open and give you e a tiny focal plane. I have read you can use the aperture preview button on the camera body to set the aperture on the lenses and then unscrew it, but this might damage you lens, I haven't tried it my-self.

You could always find somewhere that rents lenses and have play and see what you like and find useful before buying.

[Hillbillygirl]

Hello Colinr. Sounds like, from your second post, that you are looking for a nice wide angle lens for landscape and architecture.
I am just guessing, but figure you are using one of the 1.6x bodies? If so the Canon 10-22mm is a phenomenal wide angle for this type of shooting. Also the Tokina 12-24mm gets excellent remarks from those that use it. Neither of these lenses are cheap, but sounds like you have outgrown the "kit" type lens and are ready to move up. Either one will give you an extreme jump in quality.
If using full frame body then the 16-35mm would be best bet.
This is only pertinent if you are more into zoom lenses. If you are looking at primes only, then whole new story, as none, including Canon, have a real "true" wide angle prime yet for the 1.6x bodies.
If using a full frame, either the Canon 14mm f2.8, or Sigma equivalent, are both excellent choices.
Word of warning: Once you start shooting with the higher quality glass you will be spoiled and a lot more poor real quick, , as it is very addictive once you see the difference in your pics from using good glass. Remember, you can have the most expensive body available, but it is still only as good as the "eye" it has to look through.

[Lovin]

Or try 18-135mm f3.5 -5.6 from Canon, that it's good enough and not expensive.