Telephoto lens for ~ $300?

[heksa]

I'm thinking about getting a telephoto lens but I' m on a budget. Which of the telephoto lenses in a $300 price range would you recommend? What should I pay attention to when deciding? I would use it outdoors. I would like to shoot wildlife. I'm also interested in macro.

[tim]

Have you had a look at this (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=56752)? Your main options are the Sigma 70-300 APO or the Canon 100-300. There are plenty of discussions about these around here :)

[khiromu]

With that price range, I would suggest looking for Canon EF100-300/5.6L. It's already discontinued lens, so you have to find it used, but you can probably find it in your price range. It's slow at f/5.6, and also very slow to focus, so it's not very good for moving subject. But the image quality is VERY good. I liked it very much, but sold it as I needed more fast focussing lens.

[cfcRebel]

I currently use a EF100-300mm f4.5-5.6 USM for my bird, butterfly, dragonfly shots. It is a pretty good tele lens for the price.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=12059&is=USA

Or, the Sigma counterpart also receives alot of good reviews for its category.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=163657&is=REG

They are both below $300 including shipping. ;)

[heksa]

I currently use a EF100-300mm f4.5-5.6 USM for my bird, butterfly, dragonfly shots. It is a pretty good tele lens for the price.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=12059&is=USA

Or, the Sigma counterpart also receives alot of good reviews for its category.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=163657&is=REG

They are both below $300 including shipping. ;)

Thanks, these are the ones I'm contemplating. Could you show me the samples of photos you took with it? Is it fast?

[ron chappel]

If you mean fast in terms of the amount of light it allows through (yes photo slang can be anoying at times) -then these are about as fast as you'll get in a consumer telezoom lens.
You would have to buy an f4 or f2.8 pro lens to get faster

If you mean fast in terms of focus speed then they are quite good.The Canon very likely has the fastest focus speed of all these consumer type lenses

[cfcRebel]

Thanks, these are the ones I'm contemplating. Could you show me the samples of photos you took with it? Is it fast?
Sure. These were taken with my EF100-300 USM.
#1 was taken at 100mm, 1/15s, f4.5 wide open iso100.
#2 was taken at 300mm, 1/640s, f8 iso400

No post processing except resizing to fit the upload limits.

The USM is pretty quiet and fast to focus. However, this lens is not fast enough for low light environment (dawn or dusk), or indoor.

[heksa]

Sure. These were taken with my EF100-300 USM.
#1 was taken at 100mm, 1/15s, f4.5 wide open iso100.
#2 was taken at 300mm, 1/640s, f8 iso400

No post processing except resizing to fit the upload limits.

The USM is pretty quiet and fast to focus. However, this lens is not fast enough for low light environment (dawn or dusk), or indoor.
]

Thanks, the second one is quite a nice shot. At the end I went with Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO Macro Super Lens .... can't wait to give it a try.