Telephoto recommendations

lokkers

lokkers

lokkers

Associate
Joined
1 Mar 2004
Posts
1,929
Location
Farnborough, Hants
In a bit of a quandary over my next purchase for my Canon 500D. I've currently got a nifty fifty and a Tamron 17-50, but I find it a little short sometimes, and so I'm looking for a decent but relatively inexpensive telephoto.

However, I often find myself shooting in low light (parties and friends weddings - but not officially), and so I've also been considering a 430EX Speedlite or equivalent.

I've got a budget of about £300, so I've come up with three choices:

1) The Canon 70-300 IS USM is on my short list, as it seems like a decent telephoto. The effective range on that is 480mm, which would come in handy this year at Farnborough airshow :) However, I wouldn't be able to stretch to the Speedlite at this time.

2) So in that case I was looking at a Canon 50-250 to satisfy my need for a telephoto, along with the 430EX. The downside of course is that it's 50mm less than the 70-300, which might be a hindrance when shooting over longer distances where I can't get closer.

3) Get something completely different based on advice from here :)

Any advice appreciated!
 
I've found that with the 70 - 300, great lens as it is, tend to find it gets a bit soft (nothing drastic) when you go over the 200 mm mark. I believe the 50 - 250 has similar issues (never used one) at the top end of the zoom but for the price difference between the two is probably the better lens.

Perhaps take a look at pixel peeper http://www.pixel-peeper.com/ and see if you can match up your camera and those two lenses to compare the two at a closer range on image sharpness / subject shooting etc.
 
don't get me wrong the 300mm is slightly better ( if you pixel peep), its not worth the double price though, and having sold my 55-250mm and replacing it with a 300mm i was disappointed and swapped back.

Also lens vary from one to the next, a sharp version of the 250mm would be better than a poor version of the 300mm.
 
The Field Of View is equivalent to 480mm, the range is still 300mm.

I prefer (and use) primes myself so anything I'd recommend would be over budget.

lokkers said:
1) The Canon 70-300 IS USM is on my short list, as it seems like a decent telephoto. The effective range on that is 480mm, which would come in handy this year at Farnborough airshow :) However, I wouldn't be able to stretch to the Speedlite at this time.
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Thanks for your feedback guys. I am siding towards the 55-250 (purely on price - I'm not going to use it an awful lot I suspect), however knowing me I will regret not having the extra 50mm of a 70-300, especially at the Farnborough airshow later this year.
 
I went for option 3 when in the same position.

Find an extra £60 and you can go for a second-hand 70-200mm f4L. They are lush.
 
julianhj said:
I went for option 3 when in the same position.

Find an extra £60 and you can go for a second-hand 70-200mm f4L. They are lush.
Click to expand...

This is by far the better option, I love my tamron but after playing with my friends lens (same as stated in the quotes) it is one of the better lenses, if you can handle the limited reach and no is, purely due to optical quality and thus results are sublime!
 
Thanks for your suggestions, and I'll certainly add it to my wish list :p. Unfortunately it doesn't really meet my requirements - I think 200mm would be too short for what I want to shoot!
 
I have just ordered a brand new Canon 55-250mm for £110 on eBay from a reputable seller. I thought this was the best placed value option. Just hoping it gets dispatched today so I receive it for Sunday :)
 
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