EF-S 55-250mm IS Autofocus Lens or EF 75-300 mm III Telephoto Zoom lens?

You see, I'm ready to get my very first dSLR camera - the Canon Rebel t1i. That's right, moving up from my lil' Powershot SD780IS . (don't get me wrong though - I do love my point and shoot.)

Here are my two options for buying the T1i -

1. The camera kit with the EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Telephoto Zoom Lens, EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens, memory stick, tripod, tripod case, camera case, guide, cleaning kit.

or

2. The camera kit with the EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS Autofocus Lens, EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens, case, cleaning kit.

I'm not a professional photographer - it is simply one of my hobbies. I mean, last week I called dSLR's "big chunky things" and point and shoots "little" cameras. I really need advice of which kit to buy.

I don't take pictures of anything specific, though I do enjoy nature shots, portraits, and I like macro photography as well. I'd really appreciate some help choosing in between these two kits!

*********By the way, I forgot to include that these two kits are the SAME PRICE. Which one is more worthy of buying? Remember; I only have money for one of these kits, and I'm too broke to buy anything separately.

So as you see, I'm not very good at telling which lens is better?

RUN FROM THE 75-300mm! It causes doomsday!!!!!! Quick get a 55-250 IS and SAVE YOURSELF from imminent DESTRUCTION! Sorry, but that's about the reaction you'll get, maybe a bit less dramatic. Wish I had made the smart choice and started with the 55-250 IS. The 75-300mm is CA (chromatic aberration) city!
55-250 IS +18-55 IS + 50mm f/1.8 is what I consider the ultimate low-budget best bang for your buck starter combo.

juliatherebel wrote in post #10576122
You see, I'm ready to get my very first dSLR camera - the Canon Rebel t1i. That's right, moving up from my lil' Powershot SD780IS . (don't get me wrong though - I do love my point and shoot.)

Here are my two options for buying the T1i -

1. The camera kit with the EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Telephoto Zoom Lens, EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens, memory stick, tripod, tripod case, camera case, guide, cleaning kit.

or

2. The camera kit with the EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS Autofocus Lens, EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens, case, cleaning kit.

I'm not a professional photographer - it is simply one of my hobbies. I mean, last week I called dSLR's "big chunky things" and point and shoots "little" cameras. I really need advice of which kit to buy.

I don't take pictures of anything specific, though I do enjoy nature shots, portraits, and I like macro photography as well. I'd really appreciate some help choosing in between these two kits!

*********By the way, I forgot to include that these two kits are the SAME PRICE. Which one is more worthy of buying? Remember; I only have money for one of these kits, and I'm too broke to buy anything separately.

So as you see, I'm not very good at telling which lens is better?

for sure option #2 with the 55-250IS !

The 55-250 is the better lens of the two by a mile, one it has IS which is a very nice thing and two it actually isnt a shabby lens optically either..

T1i, 18-55 IS and 55-250 IS makes a good little starter combo that will take excellent pictures if you use it right

The tripod and such in the first kit probably isnt worth it just to be honest with you...probably very cheap and will likely break

Just asking, but where are you planning to buy it from?

I got my T2i as a package with the standard kit lens and the 75-300 ... and I do, sort of, regret it. I think I'd get better pictures out of the 55-250 IS with only a little loss of reach.

However, to be fair, the 75-300 *can* take a decent picture, in bright or good light, and the very usable higher ISOs of the T2i helps with respect to camera shake ... it's not going to be tack-sharp when viewed at 100% on your monitor, but any reasonably-sized prints will be fine.

However, if I had it to do over, I'd have gotten the 18-55 and the 55-250 over the 75-300....

Very helpful, thanks guys! And I'm getting this deal from Amazon, KenjiS. I knew before I even posted that the 55-250 was better than the 75-300, but I was wondering which kit was still worth more - 75-300 kit comes with pretty much everything I need. Thanks again! BTW, you can still keep posting, cause I'd love to hear more opinions....

Definitely the 55-250. Better optically, plus it has stabilization. I'd stay away from the kits that include a bunch of bundled accessories. They seem like a good idea but in reality the bundled accessories are usually just a bunch of junk.

Alright. That's what I was thinking, but I read the reviews, and they seemed to be happy with the content? (the tripod, etc)

Post a link to the kits you're considering.

I have the 75-300 and it is Maude-awful! Thankfully I got it for free (which is all it's worth).

Canon 75-300

I do have to say that you can get great pictures from the 75-300mm (if you're not a pixel peeper), but you should really avoid it in the first place. I got sucked into a bundle kit like this with the XS from Best Buy and I didn't know any better as I had not spent much time on this forum, and now I can make my purchases without any buyers remorse after the great advice here. Hope you stick around.

55-250mm is not that much more expensive but it's much, much better lens - something that is really rare in photography. You usually have to give a LOT of money of a relatively small increase in a lens quality.
Also, get 50mm 1.8 as soon as you can!

I currently have both of those lenses, and the 75-300 sits at home in the closest all the time. I think I have used it 3 or 4 times max, and that was when I first got into digital from film, as all of my film stuff was Minolta. There is no comparison between the two of them.......definately get the 55-250.

Okay, thanks everyone. I have another question to add; what's the difference between the 18-55 kit lens and the 50mm 1.8 lens?