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Anonymous
Dear /p/ros,

I recently picked up the hobby of photography and got a semi-decent beginner DSLR.

What lense should I get? I have the 18-55mm but I've heard that this lens is looked down upon. What is a good lens to invest in?

Pic related.
>> Anonymous
>>267505

Use it until you know what you are doing and know what the next lens you need is.
>> Anonymous
>>267506

I know the basics to photography and how the lens work but I don't necessarily see why the 18-55 lens is looked down upon so much.

I guess what I'm trying to find out as to why people find the 18-55 lens so shitty. I find it gives great flexibility in the shots you do if you want wide vs. narrow shots.
>> Anonymous
the people that look down on the 18-55 are the ones that know nothing about off camera lighting

your priorities should be in this order
subject matter
lighting
lenses
bodies
>> ac !!VPzQAxYPAMA
>>267511
>why people find the 18-55 lens so shitty
1. Relatively narrow maximum aperture of f/3.5 at the wide end and f/5.6 at the tele end. Makes it suck for low-light work.
2. People say it's not very sharp until you're stopped down to f/8.

But yeah, I'd say use it until you actually *know* what's wrong with it instead of relying on other people saying it sucks.

If you really want to throw down some money, though, a 50mm f/1.8 is a good choice, being relatively fast and Canon's cheapest non-kit lens.
>> RioRico
Wide-normal 'kit' zooms like the 18-55 are dissed because they're usually 1) cheaply built, 2) slow, 3) soft. Depending on what you want to do photograhically, and on your budget, you have various options:

* You can get an adapter for M42 (Pentax-Praktica) screwmount lenses, and try various cheap manual prime lenses available pretty cheap on eBay. You can thus determine which focal lengths etc suit your style and needs.

* Pioneering photojournalist Alfred Eisenstaedt famously depended on a Leica 35mm rangefinder and three lenses: 35+50+90. With your APS-C sensor dSLR, these translate to 24+37+60; or, in my kit, 21+35+57. I also add a 12, 90/macro, and 180 or 200.

* Merging the previous two points, you can look on eBay for Russian glass (Helios, Jupiter, Industar, Zenitar, etc), Asahi Pentax Takumar lenses, and whatever Sears, Ricoh, Zeiss, Toyo, Kiron, Tokina, etc lenses you wish to try.

* If manual lenses ain't yer thang, you may have a camera shop in your vicinity that will rent lenses by day or week. Try before you buy, eh?