Which zoom lens? Please help

[Depron Daz]

Hi everyone.

I have a Canon EOS 500D DSLR, bought it new about 4 years ago, but haven't really done much with it. Today we were at Farnborough air show where the stock lens (18-55mm) didn't really cut the mustard, and I could've done with more zoom.

I'm not looking at spending anything above £250'ish but would like image stabilisation and AF for point and shoot, and MF for nature/landscape using a tripod.

I have seen the Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens for around £289 but need advice from anyone that knows a thing or two about lenses. Is there anything else out there from a different manufacturer that may be better for this sort of money??

Thanks

Daz

[Chris Barlow]

I have a couple of Sigma lenses for my 650D. Not as fast to focus as the Canon lenses but still good lenses and cheaper.

[Chris Barlow]

Have a look at Park Cameras website.

[Tony F]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B003YUBTIU?pc_redir=1405524180&robot_redir=1

Check this lens. I bought one to take to the USA. Best money I ever spent. I have a 650D. This is a big lens, solid, silent and gives excellent results. Google for reviews

Let us know what you decide.

Tony Sorry mods. Forgot to put hyperlink in , please fix

Edited By Tony F on 21/07/2014 01:06:53

[Graham Bowers]

Daz

Have you used pixelpeeper?

http://www.pixel-peeper.com/

You can access photos taken with lens and body combinations so you can get some idea of the results obtainable. There are 76 images with your body and the Canon 70-300 f4-5.6, not sure about the IS.

I tend to stick to Canon lenses, so can't comment on 3rd party offerings.

Graham

[Kevin Fairgrieve]

All taken with a Canon 600D and Canon EF 75-300mm 1:4-5.6 III

An older lens non image stabilised and does need fairly good light.

Kev

 

EDIT.

These are low quality images for the Forum. Full high resolution can be found on my Flickr page.

 

Flickr Kevin Fairgrieve

 

Edited By Kevin Fairgrieve on 21/07/2014 07:40:43

[Peter Miller]

I have the Canon 70-300 IS lens and it is a cracker. Use it for all my flying shots.

One thing that I have found that helps is if you can find a shoulder stock. I got one some years ago, I had to addapt it to take the Canon remote release.

Shoulder stocks used to be quite common many years ago but they seem to have vanished. I found mine at a compnay called Mr Cad. I actually had to phone and ask and they routed round and found one in their stock.

[Chris Bott - Moderator]

Daz the Canon 70-300 IS USM lens is used by a good percentage of the guys that contribute model photos to RCM&E, and to get in there, photos have to be excellent.

I wouldn't be without mine, and some reviews I've read suggest that it comes close to the quality of an L series. Although, I have no experience of those (I wish!) so can't comment myself.

My pics on the Greenacres Fly In thread are taken with that lens, (and that's generally against the sun).

[Ultymate]

You're on a fairly tight budget for what you're after, my favourite weapon is the EF 70-200 f/4 L USM. It's a great walk around lens being not too heavy (ok hand held) has reasonable reach for model shots providing your pilot isn't 6 mistakes high. This version does not have IS but having tried both back to back I don't think the IS version is worth twice the price. Finally it's "L" glass which is far superior. S/H these fetch around £350 see HERE,

[flytilbroke]

I really agree with Chris Bott. Go Canon Lens for your Canon camara. I doubt you will regret it. With care, you may find a decent used one on E-Bay. I did, for my Son (450D body) and he is delighted. I use 650D with EF 70-300mm 1:4-5.6 IS USM Lens. I am delighted with this combo

So, Get the best that your Camera will accept and you can afford.

[Depron Daz]

Wow thanks guys, loads there to chew over.

I would LOVE the L series, but as this is just a next step up for me as a very amateur photographer looking for better than average photos, the L series is way out of my league (read bank account!)

It seems that the 70-300mm is a well liked lens, so this is what I will probably go with. Over the next few days I will check out the links provided.

I have also looked at the Tamaron lens of equal ability, but they appear to be the same price, and I would rather go with a dedicated lens.

There are some lovely photos above, the detail is crisp across the image and the background blur in Chris' photo gives real feeling, lovely photo.

Many thanks for your input.

[Chris Bott - Moderator]

The 70-300 IS USM was also getting me pics like this of full size at Duxford. Don't judge the exposure, that's both me and the very dull day. just look at the clarity, of something that's a long way off.

If you do go this way, make sure it's the IS USM one. The IS is useful and has two modes (and can be switched off). The USM focus is nice and quiet and very fast.

[Martin Whybrow]

Sigma do a very nice 28-300mm lens for the EOS (I used a 400D with that lens yesterday), but I find the focus is slower and noisier than my own Canon IS USM 70-300 (which is effectively silent); the one advantage it had over the Canon was a larger aperture (and probably a little cheaper as well). To get a much larger aperture in a genuine Canon lens, the prices rise very steeply from the cost of the 70-300.

[Stevo]

A 300 will definitely help here as has been discussed. However I bought a Sigma 600mm from Japan a few years back - the quality was noticeable from a Canon costing many, many times more, but I got great results.

300mm is barely adequate for phtographing RC models in flight though...

This was the 600mm lens at RIATT..

Edited By Stevo on 21/07/2014 19:14:13

[Depron Daz]

Well I went with the good lady wife to buy the Canon 70-300mm IS USM lens, and upon speaking with the salesman, he said that the Tamron 70-300mm one was equally as good, with image stabilising and AF/MF, so I asked to try them out as I had taken my 500D with me. I really couldn't tell the difference, but noticed that the Tamron focus ring actually felt more precise and tighter than the Canon. The Canon felt sloppy. Also it was £100 cheaper at £289 and came with a decent hood. So, I said that I would have that one.

The good lady wife then says, "Do you want a new camera so I can have the 500D?" She then spies a Canon 60D with 18-135mm zoom lens for £589. The salesman says that it is a decent step up from the 500D, and that the lens would be a good upgrade from the standard kit lens that the 500D has. So I get the Tamron lens and the 60D body. The missus gets my old 500D with the new 135mm lens, everyone is happy.

Happier still when he scans it in and says, "Actually, the 60D with the 135mm lens has just been reduced to £499. so we saved £200 in the end.

I have ordered some filters, UV, CPL, FLD, and ND ones. I have a tripod already, but is there anything else definitely required? I also picked up an 8GB class 10 SDHC

[Glenn Stratton]

Hi Daz, if you're using long shutter speeds on a tripod for landscapes etc, then a shutter release cable is handy, otherwise use the self timer to avoid camera shake. A spare battery is also a good idea, IS likes the battery juice if you use it a lot!

[Colin Leighfield]

I've struggled with photos that don't have the resolution which seems to be mandatory these days, so this is of interest to me.

When I met Daz at Cosford a few weeks back I helped him take pictures in the Cold War Museum of his brilliant Vulcan and Valiant. We used his Canon for those close range shots, nice camera. I also took some opportunity snaps with my Iphone 5 and was surprised at how good they were!

Chris Golds emailed round a few weeks ago for pictures to show in his "Light Fantastic" feature in QEFI, so I sent him some of the Pushy Cat "Super Venom" as he regularly talks about the DH Venoms he flew in the RAF prior to Hunters. I also sent him some flying shots that I took with my Fujifilm camera (not DSLR). They seemed pretty good to me and it really looked the part in the air, but the resolution wasn't good enough for publishing, in spite of my best efforts with settings. I think he's using the static shots though.

I decided to bite the bullet and buy a DSLR, so on latest advice have bought a Nikon D3300. This came with a 55/300 zoom as standard and although early days, the picture quality and resolution looks great, even cropping and expanding the image doesn't seem to lose it. To cut a long story shorter, I've gone a step further and bought the Nikon DX VR lens 55/300, which looks superb to my (non-expert) eye, I'm looking forward to giving it some thorough use. Sadly I completely messed up at Greenacres and wrote off the PC, so Chris won't be getting any more flying shots.

Does anyone else have experience with the D3300 and associated lenses? I used to be a let better informed photographer than I am now and I've still got stashed away my Practika BX SLR with the full range of lenses and that took brilliant high speed, high resolution pictures. The trouble of course is that is's a film camera and just not convenient these days. If anyone is interested in talking about the D3300 and lenses I will kick off a new thread, I would love to pick others' brains, although I don't want to become too scientific about it! Any experience with the Nikon out there?

Edited By Colin Leighfield on 22/07/2014 07:34:34

[Ultymate]

I wouldn't say 300mm is barely adequate for model shots these were all shot on my 70-200, I have a 150-500 which I shoot a lot of wildlife with but it's very heavy to use without a tripod or monopod and I find it hard work shooting models not so bad on full size.

[Colin Leighfield]

They're good Ultymate. Are those actual frame- size, or cropped and fitted? To my clueless eyes the picture resolution looks excellent.

[Ultymate]

Colin 12&4 are slight crops whereas # 3 is a slightly more heavy crop

[Depron Daz]

Hi Glenn.

I have ordered the remote control but that uses IR. This is mainly for when I go fishing alone and want to get a photo of me holding the fish. I see that there is also a wired version, so I will look into that now, along with a larger capacity battery, albeit I will have to wait until the end of the month I think.

I will also need a good photoshop type programme for the W8 laptop, any recommendations? Free would be good, but otherwise not mega expensive please, lol.

I don't intend to aim at high end photography, I cannot afford it, I just want to get better than average shots.

Hi Colin. I was impressed with your iPhone 5 capabilities, you had some nice photos. I too still have all my old kit, an Olympus OM20 SLR with an array of lens, tele-converters etc. I had some great shots with that camera, but as you say, the convenience of digital photos wins over for me too. There is a place for film photography and I guess there are many that still prefer it. I think for average Joe's like us, digital is the best option

[Colin Leighfield]

Hi Ultymate, you've got a really good camera and lens then, as well as a good hand, just what I'm looking for.

Hi again Daz, I'm astonished at the picture quality from the Iphone, all I did was aim it. It seems to handle the light as well and I'd say the resolution is better tham my Fuji, (just given it away, think it was a D2000)? My wife is using her Ipad Mini as her only camera now, it's quite handy and once again the picture quality is surprisingly good. The size is convenient as well, whereas the normal size Ipad is very clumsy as a camera.

I'm committed to the Nikon now, so I'll see how I get on with it. I'm with you on digital, although I might get the old film camera out one day because it was always so good. I've got loads of out-of-date colour film, but it doesn't seem to matter how old it is, it still works!

[Graham Bowers]

Posted by Budgie Daz on 22/07/2014 10:59:08:

I will also need a good photoshop type programme for the W8 laptop, any recommendations? Free would be good, but otherwise not mega expensive please, lol.

GIMP, open source and free.

http://www.gimp.org/downloads/

The link for Windoze is half way down the page.

Tutorials are available, google for them.

Cheers

Graham

[Depron Daz]

Cheers Graham.

Just been out in the garden, and playing with the settings in Manual mode, managed to get this

Not as sharp as I'd like, but with practice it should get better. That was with my 70-300mm telephoto at about 6 feet without a tripod, so perhaps the blurry edges on the bumble bee are due to that fact. Quickly edited in Photobucket.

 

D'oh, didn't work........stand by!

Edited By Budgie Daz on 22/07/2014 15:42:11

Edited By Budgie Daz on 22/07/2014 15:45:58

[Depron Daz]

Hopefully this will work????