Canon 60D or a Canon 60D

[Kurt Barlow]

Hey all,

I’ve trawled through this section albeit briefly,so hopefully i'm not duplicating any already answered queries here.

I'm about to buy a canon 60D. I have two options on this:-

i) a 60D with a EF-S 18-135mm IS lens
ii) a 60D with a 18-55mm and a 55-250mm IS II lens which comes in at £20 cheaper.

I'm not sure which way to go on this? I'm going to start filming in earnest experimenting with a couple of my own short scripts, but am still a noob concerning cameras and lenses. Im not going to be doing anything ambitious just yet so was just wondering if anyone has any advice on the best all round option out off the two for someone just starting out behind the camera

Any help truly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[mad_hatter]

I actually have your second option, and I've found it to be a nice set up. I can't comment on the 18-135mm, having never used it, but I'm sure it'd be a decent lens. Whether it's actually any better than the other kit lenses? I doubt it. With your second option, for £20 less, you get more telephoto range. That may well be useful for you, it may not. The extra £20 could be put towards a 50mm prime (which I also have (very nice for a £70 lens)) or a sound set up (not that £20 buys much there).

If I were you, I'd go with option 2, but either way I'm sure you'll be pleased with your purchase.

 

[Kurt Barlow]

I actually have your second option, and I've found it to be a nice set up. I can't comment on the 18-135mm, having never used it, but I'm sure it'd be a decent lens. Whether it's actually any better than the other kit lenses? I doubt it. With your second option, for £20 less, you get more telephoto range. That may well be useful for you, it may not. The extra £20 could be put towards a 50mm prime (which I also have (very nice for a £70 lens)) or a sound set up (not that £20 buys much there).

If I were you, I'd go with option 2, but either way I'm sure you'll be pleased with your purchase.

Cheers MadH

was leaning towards this myself though admittedly having no real reason for doing so apart from cost. sound will be my next buy.

Hope the project is going well. Drop us a line if you need assistance. I make great teas if anything

 

[rayw]

What are the f-stops on those three lenses?

 

[CraigL]

i) a 60D with a EF-S 18-135mm IS lens
ii) a 60D with a 18-55mm and a 55-250mm IS II lens which comes in at £20 cheaper.

All though lenses are slow, f/3.5 at the 18mm and f/4.0 (I think) at the 55mm on the 55-250. This means daylight or well lit interiors; night scenes will be disappointing, you _really_ need to light it well. All the night scenes I've done have been a struggle.

I have used the 18-135 for a year or so, it's a great lens, and a great range. I sold my 55-250 as I just never needed to even get to 135mm for any movie things.

I think the 18-135mm is the easier choice, less switching, and a pretty decent piece of glass. For me, to have to switch to go wider than 55mm it wouldn't be worth the money, plus the 55-250 is an inferior piece of glass (as far as I could research on it).

You will want faster lenses though. The 50mm that mad_hatter is referring to I'm guessing is the f/1.8, some 7-9 times more light that the either of those at 50mm. Stepping up to an f/1.4 you'd get 16 times the light in. This is important as you can drop the ISO or gain down by 2-4 steps providing a cleaner image at the same light levels.

If you don't mind switching, save the money. But I think the 18-135 is the better lens and until I started buying primes, I never needed anything else. And having 1 lens (or at least all with the same filter size) helps save a bit of money for ND filters, as you don't need any step-up rings.

CraigL

 

[mad_hatter]

Just to clarify, Craig is indeed correct on those f-stops. They are slow lenses, the exact reason I bought the prime, its much quicker (and it's super cheap!). Have a quick look though, I think the 55-135 is 3.5 at its quickest also, the same as the 18-55.

As far as switching out lenses, I hardly ever use my 55-250mm. I use the 50mm the most, then the 18mm of the 18-55mm. The only time I've used the 250mm zoom was for actually zooming for an old school effect. I've used it a fair bit for photography though. Perhaps that's a consideration. Also, of the lenses we're talking about, the only one that has a different size thread (for filters) is the 50mm prime.

Does buying the camera with two lenses work out significantly cheaper than buying it with just the 18-55, and buting the 55-250 separately? If not, consider buying with just the 18-55, see how that goes, then add on the 50mm and the 55-250 afterwards. Who knows, you might even decide that you want even better lenses and you want to splash out on L series glass.

 

[Kurt Barlow]

Cheers guys for your advice. Have decided to go for the camera + 18-55 kit + a 50mm prime which altogether comes in cheaper than my previous options, ill look for a longer range lens a bit later.

Thanks once again, cant wait to get it