do you have to buy canon lenses?

[craigmason71]

I am new to dslr photography do you have to buy canon lenses
or can you use other makes of lenses

[malgpz900]

Re: do you have to buy canon lenses?

There are a number of 3rd party lens manufacturers that make lenses to fit Canon bodies. Just do a search on e-bay for Canon fit lenses.
Malcolm.

[malgpz900]

Re: do you have to buy canon lenses?

Just done a quick search on e-bay for EF and EF-S fit lenses.

http://photography.shop.ebay.co.uk/Lenses-/3323/i.html?_catref=1&_dmpt=UK_Lenses_Filters_Lenses&_fln=1&_ssov=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m282&Camera%252FCamcorder%2520Fitting=Canon%2520EF|Canon%2520EF%252DS

Various non canon lenses.
Malcolm.

[Muscat]

Re: do you have to buy canon lenses?

Do however be careful that if you have a full frame camera then the EF-S lenses will not fit they are designed for what is known as the crop frame cameras. The EF lenses will fit all canon EOS bodies. If you want to buy new kit other than what is offered on e-bay have a look at this site as it will give you price comparisons and a review for each of the companies that they reference http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/prod1603.html

[malgpz900]

Re: do you have to buy canon lenses?

Do however be careful that if you have a full frame camera then the EF-S lenses will not fit they are designed for what is known as the crop frame cameras. The EF lenses will fit all canon EOS bodies. If you want to buy new kit other than what is offered on e-bay have a look at this site as it will give you price comparisons and a review for each of the companies that they reference http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/prod1603.html

In his first post he said he had just bought a 550D.
Malcolm.

[superdel]

Re: do you have to buy canon lenses?

One point to remember about second hand third party lenses. Some of the older ones will not work on digital. All Canon lenses made for the EOS since it first came out in 1987 will fit any EOS available at the moment. Third party lenses were chiped to fit the EOS film cameras, but will have to be rechiped to fit digital. So ask the question if you are going for a second hand third party lens. I hope that all makes sense.

[DrJon]

Re: do you have to buy canon lenses?

If you go here: http://www.warehouseexpress.com then Click on "camera lenses" on the left, then the "Canon fit" button it will show 141 lenses by 6 manufacturers, all of which will work on a 550D camera. Although not all will have auto-focus, some will be manual focus only. All the other comments above seem useful and so I won't bother saying anything more.
John
(Edit - actually there are some more lenses that can be used by adapters, but that's getting needlessly complicated and there are plenty of Canon fit ones to choose between.)

[malgpz900]

Re: do you have to buy canon lenses?

Or here, seem cheaper as well. 50mm f1.8 11 £12 cheaper, with free p&p.

Malcolm.

[Jules]

Re: do you have to buy canon lenses?

One point to remember about second hand third party lenses. Some of the older ones will not work on digital. All Canon lenses made for the EOS since it first came out in 1987 will fit any EOS available at the moment. Third party lenses were chiped to fit the EOS film cameras, but will have to be rechiped to fit digital. So ask the question if you are going for a second hand third party lens. I hope that all makes sense.

Good advice, now in my 10-22mm lens debacle, (After several other Debacles recently) A friend has offered me an old Siggy 24mm F2.8 prime just for somethimg under 100mm to bung on Camera, I tried it yesterday Err 01/ Camera lock up/ Panic! Switched her off and put on my 100-400 and everything back to normal (Whatever that is!) Lots of older Lenses need a chip upgrade to work with new Cameras so if you must get an oldie, filter that into your buying strategy...

[George Bear]

Re: do you have to buy canon lenses?

Also check if the manufacturer is still doing chip upgrades for older lenses. If not then and you get ERR01 then it's no use at all.

(I guess if someone wants to sell an old third party lens to you ... then ask for the serial number and check that with the manufacturer before you make a bid).

[Jules]

Re: do you have to buy canon lenses?

Also check if the manufacturer is still doing chip upgrades for older lenses. If not then and you get ERR01 then it's no use at all.

(I guess if someone wants to sell an old third party lens to you ... then ask for the serial number and check that with the manufacturer before you make a bid).

[Hereford_EOS2]

Re: do you have to buy canon lenses?

I am new to dslr photography do you have to buy canon lenses
or can you use other makes of lenses

You can use other makes like, Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, they are referred to as "third-party" manufacturers.
Some lenses are only compatable to crop sensor cameras.
Sigma use DG or DC on their lens labelling, the DG means compatable to full-frame & crop cameras whilst DC is only compatable to crop cameras such as the 550D.
Tamron & Tokina are basically for crop sensor cameras although there are exceptions..
You must however buy third-party lenses specifically for the camera manufacturer as they are chipped accordingley.

If you go here: http://www.warehouseexpress.com then Click on "camera lenses" on the left, then the "Canon fit" button it will show 141 lenses by 6 manufacturers, all of which will work on a 550D camera..

A useful tip from Dr Jon
Companies like Warehouse Express list current lens models and obviously all new at new prices.
If money is tight then see if a lens listed on Warehouse Express site is available second hand from eBay you might get a bargain.
Third-party lenses are generally a lot cheaper than Canon lenses.

Hope it helps

[DrJon]

Re: do you have to buy canon lenses?

Here is a bonus page that might help when looking at older lenses:

http://canon-eos.webuda.com/geraet/index.htm

(Note there are pop-up ads, although not for anything offensive, which I didn't originally spot as I was using a browser with some Ad blocking.)
For example click on Sigma in the "Dedicated Lenses" section on the left hand side...
Looks dead useful to me... E&OE of course...
John