Plz help me choose a good tele lens among the following...

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plainman007

Well-known member
Hi Guys,

Id like to have a few suggestions on which tele lens i should buy for my EOS 500d. I have it with the 18-55mm IS kit lens. I would like something with which i can focus on farer subjects. Something that takes over from the 55mm and gives good image quality. Or can i make do with a tele convertor ? But i heard it degrades the image ? Im mainly looking at doing some industrial photography and need to be able to zoom into maybe a crane or stuff that i cant get close to. Your suggestions would be very helpful.

Lenses im considering :
Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 DG MACRO Lens
Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Macro Autofocus Lens
TAMRON LENS 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro 1:2Lens
CANON EFS 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS lens

Plz help me pick one that would give me good results.

Regards
 
It doesn't seem like $1000 is within your budget, but if it is, I highly suggest a used Canon 70-200mm f/4 IS. It provides image quality that can really stir you. I don't have experience with any of the lenses you've listed; however, if you're displeased with the kit lens, you should step up to L quality.

You can get the non-IS 70-200 for about $600. I used one for about a year and was quite pleased with it. The only thing is that a tripod, or at least a monopod, is the only way to boost your keeper rate with this lens. It should also be noted that quite a number of people consider Canon's 70-200mm f/4 IS to be the sharpest of all four offerings in this zoom range.

So, depending on your budget, I recommend the Canon 70-200mm f/4 non-IS or IS.
 
Hi Jordan, Thanks for chiming in. You are absolutely right in that $1000 is out of my scope of budget for a lens right now. Im not displeased in any way with the kit lens. But ive been practicing a lot with it. And i found situations where i couldnt get good shots due to my zoom limitation. The only other shortcoming is a tad bit of sharpness lacking. So id like to have a better zoom and for sharpness i was planning to get a 50mm prime.

So im leaning towards getting the Canon 55-200mm IS. As it starts where my 18-55mm finishes. And im thinking of getting a 50mm prime for photographing some machines in interior ambiences with low light etc. Because the 50mm excels in that area ive heard.

Please give me your feedback on this.

Thanks
 
You might want to consider the canon 100mm f2.8 macro. It's the sharpest lens I have ever used and on a 500D it will have pretty good reach. Don't worry about filling you zoom gap. Use your legs, you will wind up with better composition.

The canon is nice because of the IS, which is very useful on telephoto lenses, however, I'm not a big fan of buying ef-s lenses because they will be useless if you ever upgrade to a full frame sensor and they don't retain their value as much for this same reason.
 
Thank you both.

Then i think ill go for the 50mm and the 55-250mm IS. Any idea how the 55-250 performs in low light. I dont know if its a fast or slow lens. Or if its atleast equal to the 18-55mm IS.

A fast lens means it lets more light in right ?

Also i just found from the dealer that the lens is a "Made In Malaysia Unit". Are any of you who are mentioning the good quality of this lens reffering to the Malaysian make or Japanese make. So that i dont buy the wrong make and then suffer poor quality compared to what you all recommended.

Regards
 
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Hi Jordan & egproductions,

I just bought my canon EFS-55-250mm IS lens :).

My first few test shot from within the car went awry. Shaky & Blurred. I think you have to keep holding the shutter button half pressed for the IS to stay active or something ? A few shots turned out clear. :). Im glad you both helped in my decision.

I hope to take some test shots in a day or 2. Maybe i will post them here to get members feedback. But i really dont know how to put in images here. I have to have a photobucket account or something right ?

Thanks
 
Canon made it to be about the same.

Canon made it to be about the same.

plainman007 said:
Then i think ill go for the 50mm and the 55-250mm IS. Any idea how the 55-250 performs in low light. I dont know if its a fast or slow lens. Or if its atleast equal to the 18-55mm IS.
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f/4-5.6 is on the slow side, but the IS will help out in low light situations with sationary subjects.

plainman007 said:
A fast lens means it lets more light in right ?
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Yes. Look at the f/ numbers. Generally considered, f/5.6 as the widest aperture is slow, f/2.8 and wider (f/1.8, f/1.2, etc...) are fast.
 
Thanks ill keep that in mind. But this is more of an outdoors bright situation lens if im right ? I think i can mainly use it for some wildlife photography and some hard to reach subjects ?

Im also going to get the 50mm f1.8 in a week or so. So that would make a good low light lens for me.

I wanted to ask you something. How do you store these lenses at home. I mean zip lock bags for each individual lens ? And one lens always stays on the camera ? Also lenses in storage should be stored with the bayonet end downwards or the face cap end downwards. Im just guessing if there are any differences.

Regards

Thanks
 
plainman007 said:
Thanks ill keep that in mind. But this is more of an outdoors bright situation lens if im right ? I think i can mainly use it for some wildlife photography and some hard to reach subjects ?
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Yep. Outdoors, in sunlight, the 55-250 should perform decently.

plainman007 said:
Im also going to get the 50mm f1.8 in a week or so. So that would make a good low light lens for me.
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Absolutely. Put the camera in aperture priority mode, open it up to f/1.8, throw the ISO to something ridiculous like 1600 and be amazed.

And that's probably the lens set (18-55 kit, 55-250, and 50 f/1.8) I'd recommend to someone starting up who wasn't scrapping by but also didn't have an unlimited budget. Good range and low light capabilities.

plainman007 said:
I wanted to ask you something. How do you store these lenses at home. I mean zip lock bags for each individual lens ? And one lens always stays on the camera ? Also lenses in storage should be stored with the bayonet end downwards or the face cap end downwards. Im just guessing if there are any differences.
Click to expand...
Being a lens snob on a budget means I only have three lenses (18-55 non-IS kit, 50 f/1.8, and a Lensbaby Composer) which I keep in my bag all the time. If I did have more, I'd probably keep them in a spare bag. There are bags available specifically for lenses. As long as you've got a reasonably cool, dry storage place, I wouldn't bother with ziplock bags.

In terms of orientation, I'd store them on the barrel edge (as if they were mounted on the camera,) and if that wasn't an option, then mount side down (assuming you've got the cap.) Depending on the lens construction, lens side down might put pressure on the focusing and zooming mechanisms.

plainman007 said:
Also will this lens fit the EOS-550d ?
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Since the 550d and 500d have the same EF-S mount, yes, it will fit either of those as well as the higher end EF-S mount cameras, like the 50D and 7D. What it won't fit, however, is the full frame, EF only mount cameras (i.e. 5D and 1D.)

The 50mm f/1.8 will fit on both EF and EF-S mounts.
 
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