What lenses for EOS 350D

Hi - I am a new user with the standard kit 18/55 lens. Already I am not impressed with this lens for general shots. The zoom is not good enough. Can I please have some advice on what lenses to go for 1) a lens for general portrait and other shots and 2) I want to get into wildlife shots particularly as I am off to South Africa soon. Should I go for the 70-200 F4 L USM (sorta in my budget) or should I really stick my neck and wallet out and go for the 2.8? OR a.n.other. All advice very much appreciated.

Here is some basic information to help you get started: http://www.dcresource.​com …d.php?t=8089&pa​ge=1&pp=10

Try to check whether Sigma 70-300 APO will suit your needs. 200mm for wildlife is IMVHO too small. I find that sometimes 300mm too small either. But it was in my budget.

Welcome to the forum Alan. That didn't take you long!

I'm a quick learner !!!!!

By the way 70-200mm means what in distance terms?

For general use, perhaps a fast prime like the 50 F1.8 or similar?

For wildlife you'll need a minimum 300mm and preferably 400mm. Consider either a nice sharp Prime like my 300 F4 L IS or 400 F5.6 L or a long zoom like the 100-400 L

For S. Africa wildlife I would take the 100-400L or a 400 prime. You might get a teleconverter as well.
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What's your budget?

I've travelled through that region a lot and had a base in Cape Town for around 18 months of that time. I've visited a number of the National Parks in SA and across the border into Botswana and Namibia.

Overall, I feel the 100-400 IS L is the best all round lens. You can hand hold and shoot which helps if you're in a group and it's hard to get a firm support anywhere and the driver keeps the engine running!! A Sigma 50-500 will also do a great job and would perhaps be first choice if I was self driving, which I usually do. Then it is useful to have a bean bag to rest the lens on the car door frame.

You will get good shots with 300mm but you will also lose plenty. Animals are at varied distances so I would advise against a prime ... personal choice. A zoom is more flexible when you're tied to a vehicle. The 300mm IS L and 400mm L are both excellent lenses tho' if you want a prime.

The 100-300mm f4 Sigma with TCon is flexible as it does well in lower light game drive conditions, but you can add the TCon when the sun gets higher. Excellent quality.

The 70-200mm will do decent portraits if you have the room to frame, but would be a waste of time, on the whole, for safari conditions. Some will have got some decent shots with it but generally the keeper ratio will go down significantly compared to the 400mm and over options.

Portrait 50mm 1.8/1.4 or 85mm 1.8 are classic choices. Depends what you mean by protrait tho'. I'd get a Tamron 28-75, or a Sigma 24-70 is even better as has more on the wide end. Both are more flexible and you'll get better use when in ZA ... plenty to see there Both are fast with high IQ.

Excellent advice from Condyk, I've not been to South Africa but I do alot of wildlife shooting and would have to agree with all hes said.

A 200 at 500 ft. will give you a FoV of about 55 ft. Even an elephant's not going to look very big from there. Figure you'd need to be within 200 ft. to fill the frame with one. Double the range with a 400 for the same size subject (actually, it's a tad better than double, but that's close enough) or halve the subject size - lion or antelope say.