Need advice/opinion about telephoto lenses

[cfcRebel]

I'm in desperate need of a telephoto lens but i have limited fund. So I have narrowed down my choices to these three lenses. The prices are not much different in B&H. I was hoping someone in this forum who has one, or all, of these lenses can share his/her experience when using these lenses, something like "what is good about lens A but not lens B, what causes the significant picture quality problem, if any, in this lens...... " so on and so forth.

A. Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III USM Autofocus lens
B. Canon Zoom Telephoto EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM Autofocus Lens
C. Sigma Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto 28-135mm f/3.8-5.6 Aspherical IF Macro Autofocus lens

I will be mainly using it for outdoor, little to no action subjects, most of the time with tripod.

Any advice, comment, help is greatly appreciated.

EDIT: Added "USM" in choice A.

[J Rabin]

Pick curtain "B." It's Canon's only cheaper consumer zoom that has a real ring-type USM focus motor and rear element focus and full-time manual focus. It's kind of an older unheralded lens in the Canon line-up. Solid. Not easy to outgrow. Sharpness is fair to decent for its price. Handling very decent. This photog says nice things about it: http://emedia.leeward.hawaii.edu/frary/toolbox3.htm
You can find them used for about $200 all the time. Much better focus than your "A" choice (woof woof). Curtain "C" doesn't have reach. Why buy a tele unless you get the reach? None of these are Canon 70-200 f/4 L quality, which is a favorite. Fast, sharp, rugged, constant aperture. But neither are they $600. With f/5.6 at the longer end, you'll need to crank up the ISO to 800 in lower light to get a >1/300 shutter for hand holding.

[Dante King]

I know its not on your list, but I'm very happy with my Tamron 28-300. Its not a pro lens or priced to be. Super light and suits my price point well while I save up a killer super fast "L" tele.

[cfcRebel]

Pick curtain "B." It's Canon's only cheaper consumer zoom ........

That comment really helps. Thanks for the link. It gives me more insights about the 100-300mm lens.


I know its not on your list, but I'm very happy with my Tamron 28-300.....
Dante, thanks for more options. It sure is a good lens, its zoom range is a combination of the Sigma and Canon above. Unfortunately Tamron28-300mm is priced a little higher than those three (about ~$100 more).

[cfcRebel]

Any more comments, anyone?

[tim]

Have you read lens reviews for each of those lenses? Read some here (http://www.photographyreview.com/Lenses/PSC_3787crx.aspx) and at http://fredmiranda.com

Also consider this lens (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=163657&is=REG). I had it, it was good and took good pictures, but I returned it because F5.6 was too for what I needed. Make sure you get the APO version if you go with it.

[cfcRebel]

Hi Tim. That lens is within my budget. I'll consider it. Thank you for the link too.

[johnboy00]

Another vote for B. The EF 100-300 USM is a great lens for the money. Are you looking on eBay, too, or only considering brand new? Used can save you some money.

[ron chappel]

Definitely B .....or the sigma that tim mentions.
Here is a comparison between the 100-300usm and 75-300
http://members.dodo.net.au/~l8r_ron/index_7.html (+ next page)
and here is a comparison between the 75-300 and sigma 70-300 Apo
http://www.pbase.com/argylemonkey/lens_comp

The canon 100-300 usm has good focus speed and build while the sigma has good close focus ability (1:2)

[condyk]

I did lots of research, forum and review reading around the cheaper zooms a couple of months back and concluded that the Canon 100-300 USM or the Sigma 70-300 APO Super II were the best options. I went with the Sigma and feel that it offers excellent value and build quality, tho' as with all these zooms there are image quality compromises which you can either accept or not. I couldn't ... tho' as I say, it's a very good lens for the price and I would place it top of the tree.

I then sold it for what I paid for it and got a lovely Canon 70-200 F4 which was a quality step up for sure. Superb piece of glass that I'd have liked to keep ideally, but I have now sold this, at a small profit, and bought a Sigma 70-200 F2.8 (needed the extra stop for my Kenko Pro extender) and the Sigma 50-500 'Bigma'. These due early next week.

All have been second hand and bought off people on this forum. Ebay can also be a good source, but as always with SH buys, be careful about checking the seller. Buying quality SH items means you have minimal loss when it comes to resale and it makes the inevitable upgrade path a little less painful. From this POV I would opt for the Sigma first and then the Canon 100-300 USM.

[hedphonz]

i bought the bigma as well, the only problem is that living in korea, we don't have a clear sky to realy use it. so i have to put in the case for a long time until i get back to the states.

[ron chappel]

Oops,forgot to mention-don't be afraid to buy secondhand as lenses aren't really something that wear out easily.They do have problems but those are things that you can spot straight away ,like fungus or obvious optical faults.
So buy from somewhere -like KEH or B&H who both have great reputations and good return policies- and you can't go wrong : )
Just be sure that if shopping for the sigma to make sure you get the latest version with 'APO' and 'super II' in the name.Other versions are either crappy or may not work on your camera
The canon 100-300 usm is pretty reliable to buy no matter what the age

[cfcRebel]

Another vote for B. The EF 100-300 USM is a great lens for the money. Are you looking on eBay, too, or only considering brand new? Used can save you some money.
Hi Johnboy. If I get choice B, I am definitely considering a used one because only used priced similar to the other two lens in the comparison. I hope I have the extra $100 to go for the new one but...... I really appreciate your vote.

Definitely B .....or the sigma that tim mentions......

Thanks for sharing the website, Ron. That's exactly what I need - comments from the users of those lenses and the results (photographs). I definitely will get it from B&H if i get the used lens. ;)


i bought the bigma as well...

Thanks hedphonz. I appreciate your comment.

[cfcRebel]

Thanks Condyk. I appreciate the information.

[cfcRebel]

Thank y'all for the great comments and advice. I just bought a used EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM from B&H for $189 this morning. Will post some results when I receive it.
Gracias!