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Lens to get with new canon 1100D

kirkster501

By kirkster501
in Discussions - Cameras

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kirkster501

kirkster501

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Hi guys, I can get a new 1100d with a stock 18-55 mm lens for £350 or so. Nice. But i hear that stock lens is a little crappy, So thinking of going body only and buying a fixed 50mm f1.8 lens. Opinions on that? Hwo useful woudl that be for widefield iggyback of whole constellations etc?

Also, would like a longer lens so I can do piggyback on my HEQ5. Problem is I dont have a lot of budget for this lens - its all gone on my scopes and mount and EP's Sure, a fixed prime 200mm would be nice but is not goign to happen just yet. What about the canon 85 - 300mm? Gets a good write up as a beginner lens for normal photography. Woudl that at least get me going for some DSO shots of stuff like North American etc piggyback?

Appreciate expert thoughts... :)

Rgds, Steve

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JamesF

JamesF

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This image was done with a 450D with the stock 18-55 lens, at 18mm and widest possible aperture:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/157267-another-cygnus-widefield/#entry1593855

There's a certain amount of distortion around the corners, but I wouldn't describe it as horrible.

Everyone seems to rave about the 50mm f/1.8 though. I intend to get one at some point. I guess the field of view won't be as large as with the 18mm. Off the top of my head I think you might struggle to get, say, the whole of Cygnus in frame, but I'm mostly guessing there.

Have a hunt through recent postings about lenses for opinions. I think someone was saying that the Tamron 85-300mm is well-regarded recently.

James

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GlassWalker

GlassWalker

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Is the lens only for astro use, or will you also be using it for general photography?

The 18-55 IS version is optically not bad, the non-IS might be worth skipping. It is worth getting something like these for general photography.

The 50mm f/1.8, I probably should do an astro biased review of some time since it pops up so often. For astro use it's still quite wide field, capable of capturing for example most of the glowy stuff around Cygnus, or the body of Orion. It also lets in a lot more light than the 18-55 so helps with exposures, although if you want round stars you might want to limit yourself to using it around f/2.8 not f/1.8. Either way, still a lot faster than the 18-55. That's more interesting if you want to get a huge amount of sky.

For longer lenses, the old saying you get what you pay for really hits home there. The 85-300 I'm not familiar with, where a quick search shows there was a FD mount one ages ago. That wont fit without an adapter that will likely prevent you getting infinity focus or have quality reducing correcting optics in it. In general photographic terms, the EF-S 55-250 IS is considered to be reasonable at a low price, but I don't know how it performs for astro use.

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kirkster501

kirkster501

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Thanks guys. I will look into it further. I might just get the kit 18-55 to start off with. After all, 99% of the time I'll be using the 1100 with the 'scope anyway. The EF-S 55-250 IS certainly looks interesting and i see some good AP photos taken with that lens.

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sologuitarist61

sologuitarist61

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If you can afford it the Canon 18-135mm EF zoom is a cracker and gives much more in the longer focal lengths, got mine second hand from EBay (as i do most of my lenses - cannot see the point in paying full price). The 18-55 IS EF is good but a little restrictive in focal length range

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nytecam

nytecam

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Thanks guys. I will look into it further. I might just get the kit 18-55 to start off with. After all, 99% of the time I'll be using the 1100 with the 'scope anyway. The EF-S 55-250 IS certainly looks interesting and i see some good AP photos taken with that lens.

My approach different. Got a shelf full of excellent s/h M42 /Pentax screw manual fixed focus lenses from 17-300mm over time and just bought a M42/EOS adapter for my Canon DSLR - perfect and no focus nonsence with infinity at the focus stop -- unless you need all those auto-gismos for astro. Only negative - all the lens casing are real metal and not lightweight plastic :Envy:
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sologuitarist61

sologuitarist61

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My approach different. Got a shelf full of excellent s/h M42 /Pentax screw manual fixed focus lenses from 17-300mm over time and just bought a M42/EOS adapter for my Canon DSLR - perfect and no focus nonsence with infinity at the focus stop -- unless you need all those auto-gismos for astro. Only negative - all the lens casing are real metal and not lightweight plastic :Envy:

Don't bounce very well when you drop them either, but then the plastic ones aren't much better !!!!

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Gina

Gina

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I have prime lenses from my Pentax SLR film days including the 55mm f1.8 standard lens, 135mm f2.8 and 35mm f3.5. These work pretty well for AP but suffer from chromatic aberration. Photographic lenses are generally only partially corrected for CA and show fringing on stars. If you focus the blue/green you'll get red fringes or if you focus red you get blue/green fringing, as I have discovered. They are not APOs as used for AP refractors. Used with NB filters they work very well though I've only got an Ha filter so far - planning to buy OIII and SII clip filters later. A filter wheel would be nice but impossible without rebuilding the camera. I may have a go at this later on - who knows :D

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Gina

Gina

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As for CA, I've decided to use my wide-field camera with NB clip filters for imaging - changing the focus slightly between Ha and the others. I have an Ha filter and will be getting an OIII shortly. Otherwise I'm using that camera as a finderscope for DSOs using long exposures and viewing on a 17" monitor.

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Gina

Gina

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I bought one of those cases some time back but have yet to get round to doing anything with it :D I was going to put my eyepieces in it but since I no longer do any visual observing I'm thinking I might recoup some cost by selling them. Still, the case would certainly be good for lenses and adapters. Oh, and filters. I'm on the lookout for something around 200mm to use on my wide-field 1100D. Currently (weather permitting) I'm using my old M42 Pentax lenses but would like something to bridge the gap between my 135mm and the 510mm of my ED80 plus FR. 200-300 would be nice but they're not cheap.

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JamesF

JamesF

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I think I might be buying another to store eyepieces in soon. Other than my BGOs which have quite a narrow field of view the rest of my eyepieces aren't really up to use with an f/4.7 scope, so I need to think about a few more.

James

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Davey-T

Davey-T

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Davey, which lens would you suggest if you want to use a clip in filter?

I use 17/85 and 70/200 zooms which are ok but not very "fast" also use 50,1.4 and 20,2.8. to try to image meteorites (not had much luck yet)

The 70/200 are good value and also have ED glass or something similar I believe.

Dave

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Gina

Gina

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I hope I didn't just snipe you, Gina. item 230845419740

IU did get sniped on one but can't remember which - got several irons in the fire :) Think I'll be collecting lenses :D Still I can always sell what I don't want :)
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