Lenses & BBB

[csisfun]

It has been 3 days since I got a DSLR and the BBB disease has hit me. Right now, I am considering getting a lens, an would like some advice. I am looking for a <$300 lens that has a max focal length of 300mm. I have seen a few from Canon, Sigma and a few others, and I was considering getting a Sigma, since it was the cheapest of the lot.

I also considered getting a 28-300mm lens, since it is quite versatile, but I was wondering if there was any disadvantage by choosing this instead of a 70-300mm lens? By your experience, would it be possible to take a sharp shot at 300mm with a shutter speed of 1/100 without a tripod?

Also, is there any difference using a Canon lens or a Sigma lens?

My camera is a EOS300D.

 

[obewan]

Advice is to familiarise yourself of the DSLR with the kit-lens first.
3 days is just too new.
The Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO DG MACRO is recommended,
especially if you already have the kit-lens to cover the 18-55mm range.

For 300mm w/o IS, there is a guideline that says u must shoot at a shutter speed of at least
1/300. With the 1.6x crop factor that is equivalent to 480mm.

But the above is just a guideline, I believe with proper holding technique, you definitely
can shoot at a lower shutterspeed.

The last qns, I can't ans you since I'm a Nikon user. :bsmilie:
But Sigma does make some very good lens, especially for budget users.

 

[ExplorerZ]

go for sigma 70-300 although it is slightly over your budget, but the macro function is nice, and looks pretty sharp for me, i can send you some of the photos i took using it

 

[csisfun]

Hi. Thanks for the help.

My Canon EOS300D came with the 18-55 lens but I changed it to my 28-90 lens that comes from my EOS300. It works, but still not enough zoom...

Just wondering, why would you recommend a 70-300 when there are 28-300 lenses? Do they focus faster or are sharper?

ExplorerZ, I'm interested in seeing some of your shots .

 

[Razor54]

I'll get the Sigma 70-300 APO (S$330 TCW). Since you already have your walkaround range covered, this tele-range will fit your thirst for some tele shots. I don't own one but recently went shooting with my friend which has it. Was not excellent optically, but for that price, there's not much to complain. It's slightly on the soft side going above 200mm but you can always close up your aperture to increase sharpness. But take note that doing that will bring down your shutter speed ,which at 300mm, would make it subjective to camera shake. To increase shutter speed, you can bump up your ISO but at the expense of noise.

Another alternative is the Canon 75-300 USM, which focus faster than the Sigma, but is just a little bit more $$$. Although lens with big ranges like the 28-300 you mentioned, can cover all situations, optically it's always a compromise because of the big range. You can do a search on the subject to understand more.:thumbsup: If you're really into sharpness for your money, you can always give up the zoom and go for a prime.

If you don't mind 2nd-hand, I have some lens which might interest you. you can always PM me....:angel:

Good Luck!

 

[solarii]

I strongly advise you against getting a prime at this stage. Yes they're sharp and fast, but their coverage is fixed. They're for experienced users who know which focal lengths they like/need to shoot.

A zoom is ideal... I wouldn't recommend the 28-300 on a 1.6 crop body. Neither here nor there. If you want versatility/convenience (at the expense of quality) get a tamron 18-200.

Else look at the sigma 70-300. Canon's 70-300 (2 variants) are significantly more expensive. The 75-300's not very gd from what I gather.

 

[honda]

It depends on how large u want to print your pictures which will determine how sharp your pictures need to be. The sharper the lens the more expensive it will be. The bigger the zoom range the less sharp the lens will be.
http://singaporephoto.blogspot.com

 

[csisfun]

Hi,

I usually print 4R pictures, have never ventured into anything bigger due to the price of HP PAPER. I was wondering if I should get a long zoom lens with a USM, apparently it focuses faster, and that is what I need, since I take fast moving birds and sometimes scenery from afar, usually without a tripod since it takes a lot of time to set up! Not suitable for birdshooting. Is a USM lens the solution to fast focusing?

 

[honda]

If u only print 4R size u dont need a very sharp n expensive lens. Just bump up the iso to get a fast shutter speed n u can use a cheap consumer zoom lens.

 

[csisfun]

What about focus speed wise?

 

[VR2]

sigma 70-300mm wld be nice.. telephoto + macro :thumbsup:
try B&S if u tink 1st hand is stil over yr buget.
enjoy shooting..;p

 

[honda]

If you are doing sports or some fast action stuff you need fast autofocus. If you are taking portraits or scenery or architecture you dont need so fast autofocus.
http://singaporephoto.blogspot.com

 

[DeltaOmega]

Hi Csisfun,

Congratulations on your new camera! The 300D was my first SLR camera too, and I got really into the whole BBB thing... After 2 years I have the 20D, 2 L lenses, Gitzo tripod etc. etc. etc.

Do you know what the worst thing is? When I look back at my photos, the best pictures I have were taken with my 300D and the 18-55 kit lens!! No kidding! My advice would be SSS not BBB (shoot shoot shoot) !!!

Thanks,
Oyvind

 

[csisfun]

Hi Oyvind,
Thanks for the advice. I have used the 18-55 kit lens once or twice only so I do not really know how well it performs despite having it. I usually just use my 28-90 lens. It works fine and takes quite good pictures. But just for the sake of asking, what kind of pictures do you take?

I take long ranged stuff, flying birds or humans, therefore the 28-90 seems inadequate.

 

[granni]

Hi Oyvind,
Thanks for the advice. I have used the 18-55 kit lens once or twice only so I do not really know how well it performs despite having it. I usually just use my 28-90 lens. It works fine and takes quite good pictures. But just for the sake of asking, what kind of pictures do you take?

I take long ranged stuff, flying birds or humans, therefore the 28-90 seems inadequate.

Hi, Csisfun

Im sort of in the same situation as you are. But u seem to know what you be shooting already. Im shooting with the kit 18-55mm on my 350d. Then i tallied the results using and Exif extractor in the following:

ImageName, Shutter, Aperture, FocalLength

in Excel. Next I highlight the rows I selected for Photoshoping. Even did a pie chart

Final analysis for my first shoot is i shoot mostly at the 18mm, but my selected shots are from the 21~55mm. The 55mm makes up about 18%, which i figured is becos I dun have the extra zoom @ the end.

The main idea is to have conclusive evidence of what settings you shoot the most. Numbers + charts tell alot. I think its call statistics, paiseh im not mathematician :sweat:

This week im doing it again, but renting a 18-200 for more conclusive results... btw anyone has an 18-200 to rent? :bsmilie: Since im interested in the 10-20mm and the 70-300mm, figured i have to have numbers to support my heart

Just my newbie suggestion, hope it can help u.

1st outing: http://colinquek.multiply.com/photos/album/38

 

[honda]

Test your kit lens by shooting some stationary object at home using all the aperture to get ahttp://singaporephoto.blogspot.comn idea of how good your lens is. You will be surprised at how good it can be.

 

[csisfun]

Test your kit lens by shooting some stationary object at home using all the aperture to get ahttp://singaporephoto.blogspot.comn idea of how good your lens is. You will be surprised at how good it can be.

I find that sometimes, despite how good our lenses are, the biggest problem would be handshake. Sure, you can use Sunny 16 in the sun, but from my experience and perhaps due to my hands not being so stable, I find that the sharpness of Sunny 16 fails to beat f/9 pictures. The thing is, with f/16 and a lower shutter speed, hand shake is more obvious, leading to less sharpness. In comparison, f/9 with shutter speeds a few stops higher, gives a sharper picture. Of course, I did not use a tripod, perhaps with a tripod, the photographer can crank up the aperture all the way up and get a really sharp picture. However, it's unlikely for a street/moving object photographer like me to be carrying one around due to the fact that it is unwieldy and inconvenient.

 

[honda]

Correct. To avoid camera shake use the 1/focal length rule. Crank up the iso to 800 for outdoors and 1600 for indoors. Shoot at the biggest aperture or the next biggest if necessary. A blurred picture due to camera shake or subject movement or out of focus due to narrow depth of field is worse than a unsharp picture due to a lousy lens. If the light permits shoot at f8. The better lens are usually bigger, heavier n more expensive. Its always a compromise.

 

[Stoppable]

Hi, Csisfun

Im sort of in the same situation as you are. But u seem to know what you be shooting already. Im shooting with the kit 18-55mm on my 350d. Then i tallied the results using and Exif extractor in the following:

ImageName, Shutter, Aperture, FocalLength

in Excel. Next I highlight the rows I selected for Photoshoping. Even did a pie chart


1st outing: http://colinquek.multiply.com/photos/album/38

hi granni
Interesting thing you're doing.. extracting exif to Excel?
How do you do that?

 

[Stoppable]

First lens that I got right after getting the 350D kit is a Tamron 55-200mm Di II.
Reasonably good lens and price ok too. I find 300mm too shakey unless on a bright sunny day.