Re: Good Lens for Canon 550D

Ben,

Most of the lenses for what are essentially still cameras are designed with a short throw on the zoom and focus for the sake of speed. In addition, the lenses do not allow for the "closeup focus and then pull out to what you need" as they do on video cameras, so you will have to make some adjustments there.

That said, the most critical feature on zoom lenses for video is a constant aperture– otherwise you will see the image jump from one f-stop to the other; it is not smooth.

In general, the EF-S lenses will be less expensive, but they also lock you into a camera with a crop sensor, like the t2i/550D, 7D and 1D. I would strongly suggest you take a look at Phillip Bloom's recent article on lenses for some excellent suggestions. (http://philipbloom.net/2010/08/20/which-lenses-to-buy/)

Bill