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?
It’s hard to get a perfect lens that goes from 18-200 with a macro function for your budget that I would recommend.
Instead I would buy the best lens you can for that price. This lens has been tearing it up with optical quality: https://www.sigmaphoto.com/18-50mm-f2-8-dc-dn-c
It hits the wider end of your request for architecture and street photos plus goes up to 50mm for portraits. If I had $600 to spend on one lens right now it would be this one.
/thread, although I would also throw a prime into the mix. I have no idea how good Canon’s $200-$250 primes are, but they’re compact and seem like a good toe in the water.