Help, what should I buy?

[davido]

Hi,

Although I have a Canon Rebel film SLR, but I've used it only once.

Now I have decided to upgrade from my old Kodak digital camera to a Canon 6.3MP Digital Rebel DSLR. It comes with sigma 18-55mm lens kit. I intend to buy telephoto lens as well.

So far I'm considering the Sigma 55-200mm F/4-5.6 DC Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=worldwar2aces-20&path=ASIN/B0001VQ12Y/qid=1111640912/sr=2-2/ref=sr_2_2
Is this lens any good?
Priced only at over $100, its also compatible with the Digital Rebel. However I'm looking for a more powerful 300mm lens. There are several lenses available, but how do I know if they are compatible with the Canon Digital Rebel? Some mentions of IS, USM motor and such (all consumer feedback on Amazon), I'm totally confused which 300mm lens should I get.

Please help me by recommending a 300mm lens for the Digital Rebel below $300. It should be able to shoot in all lighting conditions, with point and click useability.

Also, can I reuse my old Canon 35-80mm lens with the new Canon DSLR?
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=worldwar2aces-20&path=tg/detail/-/B00005OCWN/qid=1111643240/sr=1-16/ref=sr_1_16?v=glance&s=photo

Also there this Sigma 28-300mm F3.5-6.3 Macro for Canon-AF Cameras
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=worldwar2aces-20&path=ASIN/B0000CBILE/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_f
Since it is a 28-300mm lens, then does this mean that I should buy the Camera body only and fit in this lens?

Totally confused. Please advise.

[tim]

Are you sure it comes with a sigma 18-55? The standard kit lens is a canon. All EF/EOS lenses are compatible with the digital rebel.

What lens you should buy depends on what you want to do with it. Consumer 300mm lens aren't great quality but are good enough for some people some of the time. Lenses with a huge range, like 28-200 or 28-300, generally offer poor quality. You're better off with a few good lenses to cover the same range.

I would suggest you get the kit lens, and maybe the $70 Canon 50mm F1.8, and see how you go from there. Once you understand more you can make a more educated choice of lens. If you're dying to get a zoom lens now the 70-200 F4L is a great lens, but it's 200mm not 300mm.

What kind of photography do you want to do?

[down_shift13]

i agree with tim that consumer zooms provide decent quality, i have the canon 100-300 usm f4.5-5.6, and to be able to get sharp pictures i usually stop it down, its a slow lens because of the aperture, but it works for me right now while im still learning. http://www.pbase.com/down_shift13/birds_in_flight here's a link to some photo's using this lens at 300mm. http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif

[davido]

Are you sure it comes with a sigma 18-55? The standard kit lens is a canon.
Yes, you're right. On Amazon, the bundled lens is a Canon, not a Sigma. On Ebay, they seem to bundle it with a Sigma lens. Is there any difference?

Thanks for the input. This rules out the 28-300mm lens. There are two types of photography I intend to use it for. One is close up photographs of miniature kits, and the second is for sports photography, namely the F1 race. Of course the normal photography of family photos too.

Initially I was thinking of a 200mm, but since I'm going to buy a telephoto, then I thought perhaps a 300mm would give more value. I'm still looking for a 300mm though.

down_shift13,
I couldn't find your 100-300mm usm lens on Amazon. Sorry, I'm really a newbie with this. How much did you get it for?

But I managed to find this Sigma - Two Lens Zoom Kit with 28-80 & 70-300 plus Gadget Bag for Canon AF
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=worldwar2aces-20&path=tg/detail/-/B00012BWA4/qid=1111648235/sr=1-50/ref=sr_1_50?v=glance&s=photo
Is this any good? If I purchase this, then I will buy just the Camera body, plus this kit combo.

[tim]

You'd be better off looking at http://www.bhphotovideo.com - they're reputable and reliable, and have a great range.

For minitures you'll need a macro lens - the Canon 100mm macro is very good, but Tamron and Sigma make similar ones which are cheaper and 95% as good. For F1 the 70-200 F4 L will do well. Both are around the $500 mark. If you need more length you can get a 1.4X teleconvertor, but that loses you 1 stop of speed.

FYI USM = ultrasonic motor, which means fast focusing. L lenses are Luxary, and are basically the best lenses you can buy for Canon cameras, and the price matches. IS = image stabilisation, which means you'll get better results hand holding the lens.

For lens reviews look here (http://photographyreview.com) and also on http://fredmiranda.com .

Instead of that 28-80 what i'd recommend is a lens I have, the Tamron 28-75 F2.8. Read the reviews, it has a great reputation, I really like it.

If you don't understand the terms (F stop, aperture, etc) then a photography class in your area would be a great idea, but then again you might know all that stuff already. It's not hard but it's much easier to learn with a real teacher IMHO.

[darkdrakon]

don't forget the digital rebel is a 1.6 x to all lens so your 70-200 becomes 320mm at the long end.

[tim]

I think people who don't have masses of experience with traditional cameras should ignore the whole crop/multipication thing. Who cares if it's the equilivent of 1.6X on a 35mm camera, if you have no experience with 35mm cameras the point is irrelevant.

[davido]

Thank you, thank you... Thanks for the recommendations. I have signed up for a digital photography primer this coming April. Thanks for explaining the terms. At least now I understand better what are the funny looking numbers and alphabets :)

Looks like I'll be doing some shopping. :)

[tim]

The other thing you need to know is what F number are. There's a progression of numbers, each successing number lets in half the light as the previous one. It's more or less *1.4 - so it's F1, F1.4, F2, F2.8, F4, F5.6, etc. The F 5.6 lens lets in 1/4 the light of a F2.8 lens, and a F4 lens lets in 1/8 the light of an F1.4 lens. More light = faster shutter speeds, which means you can freeze the motion of a fast moving object more easily, which means your pictures are less blurry. That's why lenses with a lower F number are called fast.

Raising the ISO lets you decrease the shutter speed, at the expense of noisy pictures, and a bit less detail. Still it's better than a blurry picture, and you can use noise reduction software.

Personally i'm going to try to avoid buying lenses that are slower than F4 at their longest zoom, and preferable F2.8 or faster. I had a 70-300 F4 - F5.6 (ie F4 at 70mm and F5.6 at 300mm) and found shutter speeds too slow at 300mm in anything except very bright light. I returned it, but I wish I hadn't now, since my longest lens is 100mm.

Hope that helps.

[ron chappel]

I have tried quite a few of the consumer telezooms.
The usual lens on a budget is the canon 75-300 but as you can go up to $300 i'd heartily recommend the " sigma 70-300 Apo macro super II ".
This sigma and the " canon 100-300 USM " are easily the best of the consumer telezooms but the canon may be abit above your budget (us$360 i think,the sigma is $310)

*Just make sure you get the right model sigma! It's the current model with "Apo" and "II" in the name.
There are older models without the "II" (may not work on your camera) and there is a current non Apo model (horrid)

[tim]

i'd heartily recommend the " sigma 70-300 Apo macro super II ".

That's the one I had, like I said it's a great lens when there's plenty of light around, it's only letdown is the slow F5.6 at 300mm.