I just started photography seriously about 6 months ago and have had some success shooting my newborn with a 50/1.8 I now want to take shots of landscape when going hiking around the Pacific Northwest. I currently have a Canon Rebel 2000 and I need some help with the best lens to purchase. Some people have told me that a wide-angle lens is the best, but I'm concerned about the distance of the objects I want to shoot(i.e. a waterfall 150 feet away). Should I go with a third party such as Tamron or stick with Canon. Your input is valued and appreciated.

-- Jon Boler (jboler@wa-emp.com), April 22, 2002

Answers

You already own the best lens. The 50mm lens for each format is usually the sharpest, best corrected, lens available.

I have 4 lenses that I use, depending on the scene: 24 2.8, 50 1.7, 100 3.5, 300 4.5. (Minolta Rokkor or MD lenses) Each is razor sharp, and each fits a particular niche.

Use that lens until you run into a scene that you just absolutely cannot shoot with it, no matter what you do. Then you buy the next one. Etc etc etc.

-- Don Tuleja (don@calimages.com), April 23, 2002.

Cool, someone else who uses primes. Yeah, the 50mm is great for your landscapes. If not, I'd get a 24mm f/2.8 lens. Another alternative is to use your 50mm and take several photos end to end. Then use software to stitch the pictures together... potentially you could get a 360 degree view of the scene.

Cheerio

-- floren (flcpge@yahoo.com), April 25, 2002.