I literally just bought the new Canon EOS R5 Mark II and honestly I feel like I made a huge mistake because I have no idea what I am doing. My brother told me it was the best camera out there right now so I just went for it but now I am looking at lenses and I am totally lost. I spent so much money on the camera body itself and now I realize the lens is like another whole thing to buy and it is basically a paperweight right now. It is so frustrating because every video I watch on YouTube uses these big words like f-stop and focal length and chromatic aberration and I am just sitting here like... please just tell me what to buy in plain English. I am going on a big trip to Kyoto and Tokyo in about three weeks and I really want to take good photos but I dont want to carry around a huge bag of gear or keep switching pieces out because I know I will drop something or get dust inside the camera.
My budget for this is probably around $1500 maybe $2000 if I really stretch it but I already feel like I am bleeding money here after the price of the body. I want something that can do everything. I have been looking at lists online but it just makes my head spin. I want to shoot:
- my lunch and close up food shots
- big temples and tall buildings from across the street
- my family just walking around
- maybe some pretty sunsets or trees
Someone mentioned a 24-105mm thing but then there is another one that looks exactly the same but is way more expensive and I dont get why? Like one says f4 and one says 2.8 and the price jump is like double. Is the cheaper one gonna make my photos look bad? I dont want to ruin the quality of such an expensive camera by getting a cheap lens but I also cant spend another three or four thousand dollars. I just need one lens that can stay on the camera the whole time and handle everything. People keep talking about prime lenses too but that sounds like I can only see one distance which seems really annoying for a tourist who doesn't want to walk back and forth all day.
So yeah sorry if this is a really stupid question and I probably sound like an idiot for buying this camera without knowing anything but I am just really stressed about this trip. What is the best all-around lens for the R5 Mark II that covers all those bases?...
Grab the Canon RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM.
- f/4 keeps it light
- Versatile zoom range I used it for food and temples; it's a decent, budget-friendly alternative to bulky pro glass.