CANON USERS - What third party lenses do you use?

Yes, I would consider that window shopping (or maybe it's screen shopping?!?!?) A couple years ago, I was shopping eBay for a nice backpack type bag for my camera and equipment and came across one that included a 40d body, a 70-200 L lens, and a Sigma 18-50 2.8 EX lens. (It was a pretty expensive backpack!!) But it really was a good deal for the whole package. I used that Sigma for quite a while for weddings and such (and for portraits a little) until we finally decided to upgrade to a Canon 28-70 2.8 L. There is no question the L series is the better lens, but I was actually pretty happy with the results the Sigma provided. We still use it, as my wife and I both shoot at weddings, and only have the one 28-70 so far. I have noticed that sometimes the Sigma will actually take "brighter" images under the same conditions and settings as the Canon does, which was very surprising. When I bought my first camera, I purchased the "el cheapo" Sigma starter lenses. I found a store online that sold the 28-80 and the 80-300 basic lenses for under $150. We used those lenses for a long time, and I thought they were great until I was able to use higher quality glass. But for beginners, they were more than adequate, and using them helped teach me the importance of larger aperture lenses. I still have them, but they don't see much action anymore. Have you ever considered renting a lens? For our first couple weddings, I rented a 70-200 2.8 L because we were unable to purchase one, but I felt I needed it to provide the best images for my clients. I am glad I did. It gave me a good trial before I decided to purchase that lens. Check out your local camera shop, they most likely provide rentals, and although it may seem expensive (I think it cost me about $100 to rent that lens) it is usually a fraction of buying one. Although lenses like that tend to hold their value well, it is much easier to rent and return than buy and sell. If you don't have a local camera shop that offers rentals, I have found places online that will rent about any lens you can think of for reasonable prices.

The club is a good idea. I didn't even think about that. That wedding sounds like it was pretty hectic! I hope they were happy! That is a great story to share with brides who are not willing to pay for a pro photographer to shoot their wedding. I will be honest, I got into photography in the digital era, so I never had the pleasure of working with film. I have a feeling that I would not have tried many of the things I have done without the benefit of digital cameras. I know there are places online where you can rent lenses. Usually you can get them for a week or more. I haven't personally ever tried them, and I would try to check them out before you pay for anything. But I would think with a little investigation you could find an honest reliable site. Good luck. Let me know if you try anything and what you think of it!

I started when digital cameras still were either not good enough or terribly expensive, so my two first SLRs were film cameras. I think the main difference between learning with film and learning with digital is that with film, you fast realize that it's important to find out exactly when to take the picture instead of taking long series and then paying a fortune to have them developed. I still tested a lot of things, you soon realize that slide film is the way to go. Not just because it's often better quality, but also because it costs less, especially if you do the cutting and putting in framse yourself. Come to think of it, I think I still have some film somewhere that I should use. I just have to take pictures that I'm quite sure I want prints off.