this post was submitted on 18 Jan 2025
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Travel Photography

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Any recommendations for the most versatile, highest-quality lens for the R50 (for ~$600)? (lemm.ee)
submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Total beginner here, looking to buy my first camera and looking for a lens that would be able to deal with the widest range of situations (a zoom one) all in one package. I've got about 600usd to spend on it and I'm fully aware it's not much, but I want to get a good start.

I can't buy used ones where I live (even from online platforms around the world), so it'd have to be new.

At the moment my goal is to take photos of pretty much everything: nature (apart from moving animals), landscapes, streets, portraits, objects (large and small), architecture, and I also plan to film videos quite a bit. Nothing fast moving and no sports though.

I'd love to shoot in close-up macro, too, but I understand it's not possible within one lens.

What could you recommend?

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You might want to look at the 24-105 variants. That's probably going to be your best bet.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Which brand would you recommend, anything specific?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Because it's Canon's RF mount, I think all lenses in this focal range are first part (ie are from Canon). Your choices are:

  • The Canon RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 IS STM. This is a "slow lens" (or won't be great in low light) and it looks like availability is somewhat limited. It will be your cheapest option at $400 if you can find one
  • The Canon RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM, which retails for $1,300
  • The Canon RF 24-105mm f/2.8 L IS USM Z, which retails for $3,000

You could look at adopting a lens, but I suspect a lens + adapter will make this tough at under $600 new.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Does Canon RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 IS STM have better image quality overall compared to RF-S 18–150mm f/3.5–6.3 IS STM?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

I am not personally familiar with either lens. I suggest looking at reviews and paying attention to the list of image impacting bullets I put into a different reply. Generally speaking, lenses that have less of a max/min zoom ratio are easier to pull off design wise, but from a "one lens, all day" perspective something like an 18-150 is hard to beat.