help wanted with telephoto lens

[Seamoor]

I wonder if anyone can recommend a not too expensive, or medium range telephoto lens for a canon eos 350D 500mm fixed or zoom. Camera is reasonably new to me so don't yet want to spend too much on lenses until I get used to it :stuck:

[ermine]

All depends on what you mean by 'not too expensive'

For a 500mm lens you're gonna be spending a lot more than on the camera, even secondhand unless you go for a mirror lens. Which gives you revolting doughnut rings on out of focus highlights and poor light gathering which you could better by digiscoping. The popular Canon IS 100-400 is about a grand new and still short of your spec :(

[IanF]

I'd be interested in the replies too as I'm still hovering over going this route myself. Don't forget that the 350D had a 1.6x factor with most lenses.

How about the 400mm f5,6 fixed lens? No image stabiliser but it seems to produce very sharp photos. New they're around £750 which is inexpensive compared to the fixed Canon 500mm lens of around £5,000! I'm not sure whether it can be used with a 1.4x teleconverter which would give the length you're after? You may lose auto metering or shutter speeds too slow.

After that I'm still considering the Canon 100-400mm IS - but that would be the absolute top range of my budget.

The Tamron 200-500mm seems pretty good too at around £669.

Other than that the Sigma 50-500 mm whilst bulky seems to work well for some people.

[postcardcv]

I guess there are a number of choices for a 400 or 500mm lens on this camera:

Zooms
1. Sigma 170-500mm £439 - a good alround lens which will give ok results, but photos will not be super sharp.
2. Tamaron 200-500mm £699 - smaller range than the 170-500, but is supposed to delivery better images (I have not tried one myself).
3. Sigma 50-500mm £759 - better quality than the 170-500, giving sharper results and having a wider range.
4. Canon 100-400IS £1099 - excellent quality, image stabilisation, very versatile - but not as good image quality as you'd get from a prime lens.

Prime
1. Canon 400mm f5.6 £877 - excellent quality, but won't AF with a convertor and is slower than other prime options.
2. Sigma 500mm f4.5 £1949 (old version), £2699 (new) - great quality fast lens, very sharp images.
3. Canon 500mm f4 IS £4399 - silly money, but a truely amazing lens, very fast and very sharp.

It really comes down to budget - if you want a zoom and can afford the Sigma 50-500 I'd highly recommend it, you get a lot for your money, that said I used to use the 170-500 and got some good results. If you don't have a preference for zoom or prime I'd suggest looking at the Canon 400 f5.6, it's fairly small and light and really does produe excellent images.

If money is no object I'd say go for the Sigma 500 f4.5, this is the lens I use and I am very happy with it (most of the recent images in my gallerly are using this lens on a 350D). I'm not sure that the Canon 500 f4 is enough better to justify the extra £2000+, though I'm probably wrong on that (I couldn't even consider that one when choosing a lens).

[postcardcv]

After that I'm still considering the Canon 100-400mm IS - but that would be the absolute top range of my budget.

Personally I wouldn't recommend stretching yourself for this lens unless having a zoom is really important. Having seen tests shots with the 100-400IS and the 400 f5.6, the prime clearly delivers much sharper shots. I'd choose the prime everyday of the week, excellent quality and about £250 cheaper than the zoom.

[robski]

Ian 7dayshop no longer do camera gear so the days of a £750 400mm f5.6 are gone :(

My guess is that the UK camera cartel made Canon pull the plug on them.

I agree don't cut corners on your lens your only regret it latter. Go for the best you can afford. Ideally over £600 new prices - I've managed to pick up some good pro lens second hand in the £450 bracket ( £900 ish new).

Robert

[IanF]

Ian 7dayshop no longer do camera gear so the days of a £750 400mm f5.6 are gone :(

Robert
I found one for £766 this morning but looking again £875 seems the cheapest I can find now.

I'd just about decided on this lens if I buy a Canon body. The quality of image seems superior over the zooms and isn't too bad for size/weight. A shame about it not taking a converter.

[Keith Reeder]

Robski, when you say "7dayshop no longer do camera gear " do you only mean Canon gear?

They still seem to have a thriving business in Nikon kit, for example...

[Roy C]

Yes, it is only Canon gear that they have stopped selling. I managed to get a Canon x1.4 Tc a week before they pulled the plug (£194 minus £35 rebate from Canon = a great price).