Some advice please

[Foxmonkey]

Firstly, Hi, I’m Matthew from the UK (Midlands)

I use my camera for family, travel and a bit of work based product photos

I’ve just purchased a secondhand x-t20 with the 16-50mm kit lens. For weight reasons I want to replace my cannon eos 600d, but I’m really struggling to decide on what lens(es) I should buy. My daughter is inheriting the canon kit, which includes a nice f2.8 sigma zoom, 17-50mm which I used most of the time. Scrolling back through my photos they are either landscapes and architecture at 17mm or street and portraits at 50mm. I can’t seem to get the same level of bokeh for portraits out of my new Fuji lens, I’m guessing because at 50mm it only offers me f5.6. Most of my best photos were at f2.8 and 50mm on the old sigma 

I really enjoyed using my old canon 50mm f1.8 too, although looking back I can’t see many examples I’ve kept...

I know this has probably been asked a million times before, but I’ve got my 50th birthday road trip coming up in April (to Colorado and Utah), my wife wants buy me a new lens for the big day, and the trip....what would you ask for ? Would you get the 18-55mm f2.8/4 zoom, or hang on to the 16-50 I’ve got and get the 50mm f2 prime. The budget is £4-500 ($5-600)

In the meantime I have managed to afford the pancake 27mm f2.8 lens, which is arriving in a few weeks, it was only £120 so not a massive risk, I thought it would make a good travel lens.

Any help gratefully recieved, I’m also very tempted with idea of the 35mm f2 and just live with the constraint.....that’s what I had in mind for the whole change over really....back to basics ....arghhhhh!!

Edited February 2, 2019 by Foxmonkey
Missing word

[Sharkey4711]

If you are not afraid to actually 'move about' then stick to a small selection of primes.

The pancake is giving you 40mm FOV in full frame language and works brilliantly indoors/quits and street stuff. Its best kept on your camera covering those unexpected snatched captures.

The 16/50 is not a lens that I kept for long.

The 10/24 is my go to countryside lens (cannot afore the8/? newline) and I don't actually need anything faster as the tripod is always with me.

The next very useful lens of exceptional quality is the 60mm macro (portraits/macro&sport)

Beyond that you are getting back to the weight problem so to start that would be my starting lineup.

Only piece of advice I can give without any worries about putting you wrong is - take a LOT OF PHOTOGRAPHS - keep notes and cull viciously. This willet you into the "Fuji Mode" of seeing and away from the Cannon. The images will THEN start to look like yours.

[Foxmonkey]

Thank you so much Sharkey4711, some sound advice. I think I’ll save for a better wide angle lens such as the 10-14, and maybe ask my wife for the 50mm prime for the portrait work (falls within budget unlike the wide angles). I can use the kit zoom in the meantime for wide angle stuff. Nice to hear that the bargain 27mm pancake will be useful. 

Thank you again, I realise I should have posted this in the lens section! 

[anhsnaps]

On my last trip to Ireland I had the 23/1.4 on 90% of the time. Just had a week in Thailand and the 18/2 was the only lens I used on that trip. I take family shots, landscapes and street photos usually on my trips if that helps. 

[Foxmonkey]

That does help, thank you!