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NYRangers11

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 28, 2011
91
0
Looking to buy a lens for my Dad who just bought himself the Canon 60D. I believe the 60D came with the 20-200mm kit lens. I was thinking to buy him the 50mm 1.8 or the 40mm 2.8 Stm.

THanks
 

Patrick-Photo

macrumors regular
Mar 22, 2012
150
35
Looking to buy a lens for my Dad who just bought himself the Canon 60D. I believe the 60D came with the 20-200mm kit lens. I was thinking to buy him the 50mm 1.8 or the 40mm 2.8 Stm.

THanks

I think you meant a 18-200. Both the lenses you noted are good to start with. I'd go with the 50 1.8 if he's more in to stills and loves taking portraits and stuff.

I'd go with the 40 2.8 if he's (more) in to video and likes it a bit wider (the 10mm difference equal a 16mm difference on FullFrame).
 

ocabj

macrumors 6502a
Jul 2, 2009
548
202
They're two different beasts. I think the 50mm might be the way to go so he has a large aperture lens to do some creative stuff with DoF.

The 40mm STM is a very interesting lens, though. I bought one when it first came out because I wanted to play around with it. I don't really use it much, but it's a nice inexpensive, good quality lens with a fairly large aperture, and is good for walk-around use since it's so small in form factor.

My own take on it from several months ago: http://www.ocabj.net/canon-ef-40mm-f2-8-stm-pancake-lens/
 

100Teraflops

macrumors 6502a
Mar 1, 2011
618
1
Elyria, Ohio
I agree with the others about the differences with the mentioned lenses, but my 40mm is sharper than my nifty fifty. Maybe it's my particular copies, not sure, if it even matters. Honestly, 10mm is slightly noticeable when comparing 40mm to 50mm. If a person wants to use either lens for portrait work, the 40mm will be a bit tighter.

I like my 40mm more than my nifty fifty. I think the nifty is not very sharp below f/2.2, but it is still usable. The 40mm's auto focus is faster and more accurate than my nifty fifties' auto focus. For what it is worth!

OP, maybe you should ask your dad what he wants to photograph and go from there. You don't have to tell him you are buying a lens, casually ask him what he plans to photograph.
 

OreoCookie

macrumors 68030
Apr 14, 2001
2,727
90
Sendai, Japan
I would suggest to either get a 30~35 mm prime (either Sigma's 30 mm f/1.4, my always-on lens, or Canon's 35 mm f/1.8). Or go for a 60 mm macro lens, in particular Tamron's 60 mm f/2: it's almost as fast as a regular prime, but it is a true macro lens. That should give the lucky person a lot more things to try than with a regular lens. Plus, I prefer 60 mm as a focal length for portraits to 50 mm which, IMO feels a bit awkwardly short for a portrait lens.
 
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