My first zoom lens

Sorry first off for not knowing what im realy talking about as I am just getting into photography. My question thou is we r going to Yellowstone this coming june and well I plan on bringin my rebel T3 of course and the kit lenses it came with the 18-55mm and the 300mm zoom lens.
I know that I will want a longer (reach) lens and well I don't really wanna put up 1,000 bucks to get something. I did run across some manual tele lenses for around 100.00 bucks on amazon and was curious about what your alls opinions would be about those. Secondly maybe someone could help decide on what I can do as in whats my options some people I have spoke to in person recommend getting spacers for the 300m lens I already have?

Again I am very much so a amature with all this so I was hoping someone could come along and read this and kinda gimmme some choices advice etc .


Thanks for taking the time to reads this and hope to hear from someone

Welcome to POTN. So, you are looking for a telephot lens with a longer focal length thatn your current 300mm telephoto? Which 300 do you currently own?

By the way, I suspect you will not be happy with $100.00 telephoto lens.

I have the EF 75-300mm kit lens. The 300 is fine for getting birdshots in the the trees in my backyard I don't really know what I need to get FL wise I just know the 300 wont cut it at Yellowstone when I see a wolf baldeagle or something 200 yrds away?

tulsatom wrote in post #16696406
I have spoke to in person recommend getting spacers for the 300m lens I already have?

Spacers? You mean extension tubes? they're used mainly for decreasing your focus distance (for getting closer to your subject... for bugs and such). So, forget those for now.

I'd recommend a 1.4X teleconverter (Kenko, maybe), about $180-200 new, $120 used. It would give your 300mm the reach of a 420mm.

LV Moose wrote in post #16696440
Spacers? You mean extension tubes? they're used mainly for decreasing your focus distance (for getting closer to your subject... for bugs and such)

I'd recommend a 1.4X teleconverter (Kenko, maybe), about $180-200 new, $120 used. It would give your 300mm the reach of a 420mm.

teleconverter this is something i haven't been told r they any good?

The teleconverter will get you more focal length. However, your 75-300 does not exactly provide stellar image quality which will suffer even more from the teleconverter, and is a relatively slow (small maximum aperture) lens. The addition of the teleconverter will slow or, perhaps, prevent autofocus as well.

How much are you willing to spend for more focal length?

Can you be a bit more specific about what it is you want to do? 300mm is plenty long for most things. You can add teleconverters to extend that further but you also degrade the image quality some and for most cases I find that on a crop camera, a teleconverter is no better than a nice sharp image that is cropped tighter in post.

If you want a zoom instead of a prime (fixed focal length), you should look at the Canon 55-250. It's the best bargain zoom on the market. The Sigma 70-300 is also very good for the money.

I would stay away from those off-brand telephoto lenses like Opteka. They are cheap because they use cheap glass in them and they lack stabilization and autofocus. So you'll be in the position of trying to manually focus a really long lens with no stabilization and a slow aperture which means slow shutter speeds. Getting something in focus itself is going to be a chore since the focusing screens on these DSLRs are just not made for manual focusing and at those lengths even the slightest movement of the camera will just be a blur in the viewfinder and a longer, heavier lens is more difficult to hold steady. But then you'll need to try to capture the image without camera motion blur. The only real way to do that will be with a tripod and a cable release due to the slower glass. And then, supposing you got a good shot, the image itself will lack contrast and will be soft simply because of the cheap glass used in the lens.

Keep in mind that you can't use a teleconverter on the Canon 55-250 lens. In fact, most of the lower cost decent telephoto lenses won't work with a TC because of the way the lenses are designed. Before buying a teleconverter, check one of the several charts available to tell you which lenses work with it.

tulsatom wrote in post #16696452
teleconverter this is something i haven't been told r they any good?

As runninmann indicated, since you already have a lens that needs a pretty good amount of light ("slow"/small aperture), a teleconverter might be a problem if you try shooting in dim light. In bright daylight, I think you'll be okay with a 1.4X, but I'd stay away from a 2X teleconverter with that lens.

Under $1000, over 300 mm and not total rubbish: there's just one lens I can find at BH Photo. It's the Tamron 200-500: http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …_500mm_f_5_6_3_​Di_LD.html

It doesn't seem to have IS/VC, so you may want to consider at least a monopod. I've not checked up on any reviews, so can't comment about quality.

Realistically, go with what you have and be happy with what you get.

Down the track, replace the 75-300 with the 55-250 IS (STM), and probably the 18-55 as I suspect what you have is the Mk III lens. It's optically OK, but lacks IS.
If you really need to go longer with decent quality and performance, you'll need a bigger budget.

tulsatom wrote in post #16696406
Sorry first off for not knowing what im realy talking about as I am just getting into photography. My question thou is we r going to Yellowstone this coming june and well I plan on bringin my rebel T3 of course and the kit lenses it came with the 18-55mm and the 300mm zoom lens.
I know that I will want a longer (reach) lens and well I don't really wanna put up 1,000 bucks to get something. I did run across some manual tele lenses for around 100.00 bucks on amazon and was curious about what your alls opinions would be about those. Secondly maybe someone could help decide on what I can do as in whats my options some people I have spoke to in person recommend getting spacers for the 300m lens I already have?

Again I am very much so a amature with all this so I was hoping someone could come along and read this and kinda gimmme some choices advice etc .


Thanks for taking the time to reads this and hope to hear from someone

Potential inexpensive options would include the Canon 55-250mm, Tamron 70-300mm VC and Tamron 18-200mm.

What's your budget? Sigma 150-500 OS, $900 new, around 700 used.

well guys thanks for the replies I guess im going to be stuck with the 300mm I don't have the money for a telephoto lens it looks like seems most r above 500.00 and I cant see myself spending that much right now . I was hoping there was maybe a reasonably good tele that I could get that of course I wouldn't exspect to get magazine quality images but would allow me to frame my subject when its way off in the distance. Ive been told you r not allowed to get within 100 yrds of any animal within the park and I don't think this 300 will allow me to get a fuul frame of anything tha far away will it ?

tulsatom wrote in post #16696591
Ive been told you r not allowed to get within 100 yrds of any animal within the park and I don't think this 300 will allow me to get a fuul frame of anything tha far away will it ?

This is from an official Yellowstone Park site:

You must stay at least 100 yards (91 m) away from bears and wolves and at least 25 yards (23 m) away from all other large animals - bison, elk, bighorn sheep, deer, moose, and coyotes.

http://www.nps.gov …nyourvisit/your​safety.htm

We had Bison walking right next to our cabin, Elk and coyote not far from the road... sometimes ON the road. A lot of people see bears fairly close (we didn't). I think you'll be okay with 300mm.

A teleconverter will hardly work on your 75-300 at 300mm. The lens has F/5.6 at the long end, with the 1.4x converter it will be F/8, and it will not autofocus. You can tape some pins on the converter, and in bright light it might AF, but it is still questionable.

Yes, everything longer than 300mm will cost you some money, even used. Used Sigma 120-400, 150-500, etc., cost about $650-$750 used. It is over your budget, so just keep using your 75-300, try to make the best out of it, and when/if you have funds available some time in the future, see if you can upgrade then.