Beginner lens question

I a new photographer with my first DSLR. I bought a Canon T6 with the 18-55mm kit lens and 50mm f/1.8 lens. My primary interest is outdoor wildlife photography and some landscapes. I am looking at buying a longer focal length zoom lens for birds and such but I would like to get a decent lens that I can use later if I get a different camera body. I was looking at a 70-300 focal length. My question is considering this lens will be used outdoors in good light would I be OK with a variable aperture lens? For my use is it worth paying twice as much for a fixed aperture lens? I will never be a pro and this is just a hobby for me in retirement. Thanks for any guidance.

Canon 70-300 gets great reviews. I own the previous version to the one that's currently available ... it's awesome.

Welcome!
It depends on your needs. Some people, even if taking pictures for their own enjoyment, use the best equipment.

This seems to list the advantages and disadvantages of each type of lens well:
https://photofocus.com …ed-and-variable-aperture/

Keep in mind that you can rent a lens to see if it will suit your needs:
https://www.lensrental​s.com/
https://www.borrowlens​es.com/

kmilo wrote in post #18817883
Canon 70-300 gets great reviews. I own the previous version to the one that's currently available ... it's awesome.

Thank you. Is it a variable aperture? Does this matter?

Many of us that do wildlife photography use 400mm lenses on a crop body. With 300mm you will be a bit limited and will need to crop more.

I (and many here on the forum) use the Canon 100-400mm II and it is great. An alternative would be the "456", that is the 400-f5.6. It is sharp and light-weight but lacks IS. There are also third-party alternatives.

Even 400mm can feel a bit short, and many of us use the Canon 1.4X extender with our lenses.

AlbertD wrote in post #18817887
Thank you. Is it a variable aperture? Does this matter?

In my opinion, variable aperture is not an issue.

Most of the time we are racked out to the maximum zoom, so the aperture doesn't change anyway. And if it does, so what?

To the best of my knowledge, there are no fixed aperture zoom lenses that zoom out to 300mm unless you're prepared to spend $11,000. I wouldn't worry about the variable aperture.

AlbertD wrote in post #18817887
Thank you. Is it a variable aperture? Does this matter?

To me it is all down to budget and what you can carry.

However if you want top quality images without breaking the bank, or your back, then I would look long and hard at the Canon 400 F5.6 L. Yes it is an old design, has no IS (Yipee!) and has a fixed focal length. Having said that it is pretty light, focuses fast (no IS), is pretty damn sharp and shouldn't break the bank. It's focal length is very rarely too long as, for most wildlife, the longer the better.

They are not silly money new and even more reasonably priced used.

Just my thoughts.

Archibald wrote in post #18817889
Many of us that do wildlife photography use 400mm lenses on a crop body. With 300mm you will be a bit limited and will need to crop more.

I (and many here on the forum) use the Canon 100-400mm II and it is great. An alternative would be the "456", that is the 400-f5.6. It is sharp and light-weight but lacks IS. There are also third-party alternatives.

Even 400mm can feel a bit short, and many of us use the Canon 1.4X extender with our lenses.

I just looked at some of these lenses and they look great but I'll have to save up some of my retirement pennies for one. I agree that even as a hobbyist we should get the best equipment we can.

A few thoughts that might help

1) Budget is very important here. There are a lot of options are many price levels for buying longer lenses, however the prices increase very fast. Also sometimes whilst the top end lenses are better, they are not what a beginner quite wants to jump in with. A big financial investment and also quite large and heavy they can be a burden more than a boon to some when getting started. Sometimes a cheaper, but decent quality lens is much better to get used to and see if its really for you.

2) Most if not nearly all the 70-300mm lenses are going to be variable aperture lenses. A limitation certainly, but its not the end of the world by a long shot. Indeed many often shoot even top end lenses at smaller apertures for a greater depth of field (bigger f number). Where it can let you down more is in things like auto-focusing speed and working when the light gets dimmer (though a lot of modern DSLRs have very good high ISOs now so those limits are already being pushed back from the camera end)

3) As well as 70-300mm there are quite a few newer age longer zooms such as 150-600mm by Sigmar and others. I must admit that I've not been buying a lens of that nature for a long while so I've lost track of specifically what is on the market and their prices. I suggest it as an avenue for you to look into as you might find saving a bit more and getting a native loner reaching lens might well help you out far more.

4) You mention retirement so, and I mean this with no disrespect, weight might be an important factor to consider. The better the lens and the longer the zoom the heavier the lens becomes. Your standard 70-300mm is not that heavy at all; however many of the higher end and longer reaching lenses can be heavier by a noticeable margin. You might well, once you've made some chioces, see if there's a camera shop that retails then that you can try them out in before buying locally; or see if there's a camera club in your region where you might be able to meet up and see if any there have the lenses (or similar) and then can let you have a hold.
This is another area where sometimes a lighter lens that you get out and use can help you build up the skill in handholding and endurance so that you then are keen and prepared to step up the game to a heavier lens.
Of course it also depends a lot on how you shoot; if you're going to reserves and hides and the like then you might well not worry about weight as you can setup on a tripod and be fine; you can also walk and use a monopod to take the weight too.

5) (edit) the 400mm f5.6 is a very popular lens. I know many who even own higher end lenses and they still keep and use the f5.6 because its their "light" lens for when they don't want to lug the big monster gear around. If its within budget its a very serious contender.

@kmilo - Sigmar makes the 120-300mm f2.8 OS which is constant aperture, though whilst its a lot less than your rough estimation its still well up there in the thousands of dollars.

AlbertD wrote in post #18817901
I just looked at some of these lenses and they look great but I'll have to save up some of my retirement pennies for one. I agree that even as a hobbyist we should get the best equipment we can.

It costs some cash to do good wildlife photography, there is no doubt about it. That is an unfortunate part of it. It limits who can do it.

Many of these expensive lenses can be bought and then sold again a few years later for not much less than the original purchase price. Many of us have heard stories like this. From that perspective, the cost (annualized) is actually low.

But there is a risk in owning an expensive lens. And prices might drop. Currently we are on the cusp of a mount change by Canon and Nikon because of the advent of mirrorless. That could affect prices of the old-mount lenses. Right now I don't think anyone knows for sure what will happen. The best strategy might be to wait for a while and if prices drop, nab a lower-priced used one.

The other uncertain element is that we don't know if Canon or Nikon will fully embrace mirrorless or not and keep the prism camera around. So even if they start pushing development on a new line of mirrorless cameras and lenses the current mounts for DSLRs might well stick around. I think that Canon and Nikon are reaching a point where its harder for them to release new DSLR lenses that show vast improvement in optics and see a big return on investment from the market; so shifting to a "new hotness" might be a way for them to run two systems side by side and let the mirrorless pick up the sales bulk because its all new and anyone buying into it has to buy into the new lenses.


Otherwise if the big top end lenses go out of production I'd foresee a price rise (and a sharp one) on them rather than a fall. Heck when Canon released their 70-200mm f2.8 MII I sold my MI of that lens for the same price I bought it for. The secondhand jumped up to the full retail price. The top end lenses still perform great even if there's an alternative and there are still many DSLR users around so if the lenses went on the back-burner production/manufacture​r wise I'd only foresee the quality stuff going up in price

Thank you for the detailed and very informative reply. Weight is definitely a consideration for me as I get older. I see the 400 5.6 weighs around 2 1/2 pounds. I can probably live with that. As a beginner on a budget a lower priced zoom my give me more bang for the buck until I learn how to use the camera. I live in Western Washington fairly close to a couple of National Parks where the wildlife might be a bit more approachable. I think I'll target next year for a higher end lens. By then I should have a better handle on my needs and know how to use the camera. I also picked up a couple of general photography books and one more geared toward nature photography. I just started reading them. I'm sure they will help.

AlbertD wrote in post #18817917
Thank you for the detailed and very informative reply. Weight is definitely a consideration for me as I get older. I see the 400 5.6 weighs around 2 1/2 pounds. I can probably live with that. As a beginner on a budget a lower priced zoom my give me more bang for the buck until I learn how to use the camera. I live in Western Washington fairly close to a couple of National Parks where the wildlife might be a bit more approachable. I think I'll target next year for a higher end lens. By then I should have a better handle on my needs and know how to use the camera. I also picked up a couple of general photography books and one more geared toward nature photography. I just started reading them. I'm sure they will help.

That sounds like a very sensible approach and one many have made. Who knows the lighter cheaper zoom might be all you find you want; or it might instil in you the hunger for more!

With regard to wildlife finding wildlife and good spots to observe is probably the hardest thing to learn. Camera work is easy to self-learn as there are loads of guides in book, video and website formats plus loads of people willing and eager to give you help and feedback along the way. Finding wildlife and how to get out in the wilds is a less well covered area of ground, though the USA might be easier since at least land access might be simpler aspect. Talking to the rangers would be a great step as they likely have a lot of information on the dos and don'ts of being in the wilderness.

If you live in the States, don’t overlook the refurbished lenses that Canon offers. See https://shop.usa.canon​.com …lashes/refurbis​hed-lenses for the current selection.

These lenses are essentially new in terms of condition and have the same warrnty as a new lens. You also have some return priveleges, althugh I’m not sure at the moment the term but it is probably several weeks.