I think I've asked this before, but what's your everyday lens?

[moroccangirl]

I was going through some old stuff and I had some good notes written down about the 70-200. Is that too huge to be an everyday lens?

[Roxy Poodle]

Caveat: I'm mostly responding because I'd love to get more traffic in this forum! Take my very-new-to-photography and not-much-idea-what-I'm-talking-about comments for what they're worth!

I'm not sure which lens you're talking about specifically, but I popped 70-200mm into B&H's site, and everything that came back was absolutely massive. I'm definitely not the best person to ask -- I shoot m4/3 specifically because I hated everything about lugging around the Canon Rebel body and kit lens that I borrowed from my photography school when I took my intro class -- but if you're talking about a lens like the ones that search returned, I do think it would be too big for an everyday lens by most standards.

70mm strikes me as too much zoom for an everyday lens, too. (And I imagine that's actually more like 110mm on your camera?) Of course, what constitutes "too much zoom" will totally depend on what you're shooting on an everyday basis, but I suspect most people want expect their everyday lens to reach down to at least 50mm and probably more like 35mm or even 24mm.

To the question: I generally have a 40mm and 90mm primes (both 35mm equiv) with me at all times. Again, those are m4/3 lenses, so both of them together are smaller and lighter than a single ASP-C lens of just about any type. I'm doing a lot of thought about this lens right now. It's a 24-80 35mm equivalent. It would certainly be more convenient than what I do right now, and would be enormously helpful in some situations, but I've gotten so accustomed to my primes that I worry that a zoom lens might make me lazy!

[badger]

I keep my 50mm prime on my camera 80% of the time.

[Mrtambourineman]

I use my 18-55 as my everyday lense - I find it the most practical for people and landscape shots.  I've read about the 18-200 focal length lenses (called travel lenses by some) and have been intrigued.  They are builky, but they give you an amazing range of focal lengths from wide angle to zoom.  Plunking down for a high quality f.2.8 version might be a good strategy for the DSLR owner who only wants one lens.  I can't afford that so I'm sticking with my 18-55, 50mm prime & 70-300mm lenses.  I may get a 28mm f1.4 as a close up portrait lens or close action lense because my 50mm is only good for distance shots.

[MoCo]

I have the canon 70-300 and even at the shorter end, it's way too long for many things on a crop body.

My two most used lenses are the kit (18-135) and my new 10-22.   

[omega lambda]

It depends on what your subjects are most of the time and how you want the finished photo to look.  I use my 70-200 the most.  Most of my photos are of people or wildlife, so the 200 magnification is fabulous for isolating my subject in a messy/cluttered background (subject is sharp, background is pleasantly out of focus).  Landscapes and photos where the environment is the subject are best suited to a mid-range lens or wide angle.  I know you take a lot of photos of your kidlets; so a 50mm or less means you have to get in closer to them to take the photo.  If they're fine with the camera and mostly ignore you (for the candid shots) or tolerate looking at the camera, you can get away with a mid-range lens; however, to render the background soft for a good portrait, you  will have to use a bigger aperture.

But as others have said, the 70-200 is a big and heavy lens.  I'm used to it and quite used to carrying two cameras at a time, so it doesn't seem heavy/bulky to me any more.  I have found that the 70-200 is most useful for most of my stuff because I rarely can't use it at 70mm, and I almost always want to use it at the high end.  My camera's crop factor is 1.3.

[moroccangirl]

You're right OL, I take pics of my kids 90% of the time. But being over here and doing more traveling (and also wanting to get a good shot discreetly, I think this lens would provide that (based on the reviews I've read). Do you think that would be true?
I sent dh a link to the lens thinking he'd laugh at me because of the price. He told me to get it if I want. But I know it's either the lens or the gold (jewelry) I wanted. I don't really wear gold, but I can't be in Saudi Arabia and not buy any. But i'd rather have a new lens.

[omega lambda]

I think you would be very happy with the 70-200; it would be perfect for photos of your kidlets and it is also a good traveling lens (except for the weight) when you're visiting monuments and wide open spaces and such.  It isn't a good lens for cities with narrow streets because you will be too close to things most of the time, but the lens (lenses?) you have already are good for that.  I'm personally not a big fan of wide angle lenses unless I'm out in real wide open spaces with fabulous scenery, like mountain scapes or Death Valley or something with interest in the foreground and background.  A mid-range lens is almost always good enough for a lot of that anyway.  So my go-to lenses are always my 70-200 and 24-70, 99.9% of my photos are taken with those two lenses with the majority being taken with 70-200.  That was a long way of saying, yes, I think that would be true! 

[moroccangirl]

lol. Thanks. When I first got my camera I thought it weighed 400 pounds, but I got used to it. Hopefully i'll just get used to the other. I think i'm going to wait until I go home in the summer to get it because I want to rent one first and get a feel for it.

[moroccangirl]

Well, I just ordered the 70-200. Hopefully I will like it. I know DH is hoping I'll hate it and return it so he doesn't have to pay for it!

[Hotspur]

canon EF 17 - 40 f4L

[The Turtle Whisperer]

It hasn't arrived yet, but I'm hoping the 18-250 I bought will be my new everyday lens.  I really like my 55-300, but it's a bit big for an all the time lens...

[omega lambda]

Well, I just ordered the 70-200. Hopefully I will like it. I know DH is hoping I'll hate it and return it so he doesn't have to pay for it!

Be prepared to LOVE that lens. Did you get the f2.8 or f4.0 or whatever it is?