I have a cunning plan.....
Discussion
Being a bit frustrated with a bridge camera and having had a Canon 450d which I sold to prevent myself being sucked into buying expensive lenses ive come up with a plan (just call me Baldrick)
Im gonna buy the lens i want FIRST, before buying a body (the chicken and egg syndrome) as i cant decide between Nikon or Canon (about a 60d or 600d).....I think ill end up buying about £200 worth of lens, so what should i look for, Nikon VR or Canon EF or EF-S? USM?
Im gonna buy the lens i want FIRST, before buying a body (the chicken and egg syndrome) as i cant decide between Nikon or Canon (about a 60d or 600d).....I think ill end up buying about £200 worth of lens, so what should i look for, Nikon VR or Canon EF or EF-S? USM?
On the Nikon side of things, VR is vibration reduction/image stabilisation and will be found on zoom lenses. Depending on how much you want to spend on a body, you would probably also want AF-S lenses as these have the motor in the lens and will work on the cheaper bodies that don't have a focus motor in the body.
I think you would probably be better with a decent compact but if you are definitely wanting a DSLR then why not a nifty fifty?
Cheap as well http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005K47...
Cheap as well http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005K47...
Simpo Two said:
How will you know what make of lens to buy if you don't know what make of body it has to fit?
That's so simple, though. Nikkor makes the best glass (unless you're going Zeiss or Voigtländer, admittedly) for dSLR format. So you just go and buy a 200-400mm f/2.8 AFS VRII lens and go from there....... 
Simpo Two said:
How will you know what make of lens to buy if you don't know what make of body it has to fit?
I'm with Simpo on this, unless there is a really unusual lens that you need which no other manufacturer offers (eg a 0.95 Noctilux) why would you start about it back to front like this?Upatdawn said:
cos ill buy the body to suit the lens and hopefully get a good deal on a lens i want first, if i buy the body first ive only half the choices in lens...
And...if you buy the lens first, you only have half the choice in bodies.You have some strange logic, do you work with my wife?
Reminds me of the old days when some third party lens manufacturers would sell a lens and a separate fitting kit. Of course it was mainly just a mount with no AF or anything else to consider.
These days one can buy adapters for cross body use but I assume they have limitations.
I bought a Nikon lens to EOS body adapter when I was setting out to obtain my Samyang 14mm lens. The basis of the decision was that the Nikon fit would allow me to sell on, should I decide not to keep it, to either Nikon or Canon owners. However when I studied things a little more it looked like tha lens operation (full manual) might be more awkward using the Nikon version + adapter so I bought the Canon fit anyway. Like the lens anyway so I kept it. Still have the adapter as well - unused so far but you never know whan an opportunity might arise.
The idea of buying a lens first and body second may have some traction if you were looking at some likt the Micro 4/3 systems or Sony NEX or something with interchanmgable lenses and readily available adapters for them. However whether the reason for buying the lens would still be valid once deployed on such a body is another matter.
These days one can buy adapters for cross body use but I assume they have limitations.
I bought a Nikon lens to EOS body adapter when I was setting out to obtain my Samyang 14mm lens. The basis of the decision was that the Nikon fit would allow me to sell on, should I decide not to keep it, to either Nikon or Canon owners. However when I studied things a little more it looked like tha lens operation (full manual) might be more awkward using the Nikon version + adapter so I bought the Canon fit anyway. Like the lens anyway so I kept it. Still have the adapter as well - unused so far but you never know whan an opportunity might arise.
The idea of buying a lens first and body second may have some traction if you were looking at some likt the Micro 4/3 systems or Sony NEX or something with interchanmgable lenses and readily available adapters for them. However whether the reason for buying the lens would still be valid once deployed on such a body is another matter.
14-7 said:
I can only liken this to buying a set of alloys then deciding on what car to but and fit them to at a later date.
At the DSLR end of photography, possibly. Medium format, however, would offer all sorts of options for lenses, bodies and backs and a lens choice there might then offer any combination on the market or restrict one to a specific body choice and so, perhaps, digital back choice too.
However in terms of the budget mentioned in the original post unless there are a couple of 0s missing this consideration will not be troubling us here.
LongQ said:
14-7 said:
I can only liken this to buying a set of alloys then deciding on what car to but and fit them to at a later date.
At the DSLR end of photography, possibly. Medium format, however, would offer all sorts of options for lenses, bodies and backs and a lens choice there might then offer any combination on the market or restrict one to a specific body choice and so, perhaps, digital back choice too.
However in terms of the budget mentioned in the original post unless there are a couple of 0s missing this consideration will not be troubling us here.
If you are going to buy some kit, especially with a specific task in mind, it is easy to see why you would start with the lenses. Obviously it is the lens that makes most impact on the final outcome, followed closely by what the sensor does.
However LQ is right, with a £10k budget - and worrying about TS lenses and special stuff - there are a number of factors and quality of glass has to be high up.
But even at a low budget, some Ebaying and bargain hunting in sight, its still no comparison to which wheels you put on a car!!!
K12beano said:
But even at a low budget, some Ebaying and bargain hunting in sight, its still no comparison to which wheels you put on a car!!!
Hmm. More like deciding on the tyres (they may have performance characteristics that one finds desirable) and then choosing a vehicle known to have the right sized wheel options together with being able to make use of the tyre's performance.If looking at specifics like T&S lenses (as already mentioned) or leaf shutters things are different. But then so is the price point.
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