badboy

can someone recommend a good telephoto lense to use with a canon dslr which is not as expensive as the L lenses?

The two lenses I am focusing on currently are:

canon 100-300mm
canon 70-300mm IS USM (sub 600, still not cheap)

If anyone has one of the two above, please comment of the image quality.

Thanks

Dan Martin

The 70-300mm is in a different league compared to the 100-300. If you can afford it, it's much better than the 100-300. The 70-200 f/4L would be my first choice in this range though.

MeNiS

^ agreed. the 20-700 f4 is a great bang for your buck lens. with the double rebate canon is offering now, you can get it for around $524 or $489 (2 item purchase)

guia x

I know I already asked about these lenses on the other thread, but I did not get your input on it. Why would you recommend the 70-200 f/4L over the 70-300 IS? I know the glass is better on the 200, but wouldn't having IS be a better choice or does it not make much difference? I've never had a lens with IS so I don't know how good it is. I would think having IS is important especially at these ranges.

badboy

Can I get both?

I would love to get the f/4L because of its sharpness, and I would want to get the other for its IS, which would allow me to shoot at lower ss.

I don't plan on getting a tripod very soon, so I want a lense that I'll be able to make use of in not so sunny days.

Decisions decision...

badboy

I am looking to take advantage of the double rebate offer, but I can't find another lense which I like and fits my budget.

MeNiS

^ find another person that is looking to just buy 1 lens.

i'm planning on getting the 30D. I don't need any more lens for now, but i'm just going to pick up another 70-200 to get the double rebate and sell it when i get it. here is my plan of attack:

30D: get $200 back
70-200: get $70 back so len cost is $489. I'm pretty sure i will be able to ebay this new lens (only thing missing is the upc) for over $500 =). I'll end up making some more extra $$ on the sale.

Dan Martin

Benefits of the 70-200:
magnesium body and higher overall build quality
faster autofocus
internal zoom
non-rotating front element
slightly better optics at larger apertures

The 70-300 is still an excellent lens, and the IS does come in handy, but if you shot the two side by side, you'd probably choose the 70-200.

The 70-200 f4L is underpriced by about $200-$300, IMO. It's a fantastic value.

guia x

So the optics out weigh the IS. I guess if I were shooting outdoors with ample lighting the IS does not really matter much. I shoot mostly indoors and the IS should come in handy. Then again, my 18-55 handles it nicely right now with my 430EX flash. I still need more range for candids though. So many factors to consider. Atleast I know I have time before committing to anything. For my next lens, I want to get the best possible for my needs. I do not want to get something and have to get another one down the road because it cannot handle what I want to do. Maybe I'll just save up for the 70-200 f2.8 IS and and not worry about it any more as it should take care of all my needs. lol.

BTW, by internal zoom, do you mean that the lens does not extend any further out when you zoom it? Meaning the lens stays the same size? One of the things I don't like about the 70-300 is when you zoom out, the thing expands and sticks out like another 4 inches or so. That alone may be the reason for me to chose the 200.

Dan Martin

Although the 70-300 has IS, it's still an f5.6 lens at 200mm, so it's one stop slower than the f/4L at the long end. The IS does help with stationary subjects and it will help eliminate camera shake in a panning shot, but it doesn't give you a higher shutter speed to freeze a moving subject.

Yes, the internal zoom means the front element doesn't extend. It stays the same length at any focal length.

badboy

By the way, from looking at a picture of the xt with the 70-200 f/4L, the setup might just be too large for my case...I would rathar have a lens which extends so it is better for storage purposes.

guia x

Very good points. Gives me more things to consider. I really like that the front element does not extend. It isn't so obvious that you are zooming in. People normally notice and it's hard to get candids when the front element keeps moving back and forth. The 300's front element really extends pretty far.

guia x

Could you post a link to it? I'd like to see how it looks. I've never seen it in person or on a camera.

badboy

guia x

Thanks for the pic. Wow that's pretty long! Man I guess I have another thing to consider.

Dan Martin

The 70-200 is 29mm longer than the 70-300 (at 70mm). It only looks big because the rebel is so small.

guia x

It's probably the picture as well. The 300 wasn't that big when I looked at it at the camera store. If it's only 29mm longer, then the 200 shouldn't be that big either. I'll just have to see it on my camera to make a judgement. I'm not allowed to buy anything for a while so I've got all the time in the world to do some more research for my next lens. lol. Having something longer than 55mm would really be great but for now my 18-55mm has been able to handle most of what I shoot.

ChodTheWacko

Given that choice, I would pick the F/4. The rational being that the sharpness will benefit every picture you shoot.
The IS will only help in situations where your shutter speed is marginal.
Add on the fact that you can always bump up ISO and the IS isn't as much of a 'must have'.

Of course, you could always get the F4 IS, but that's some $$$$. Not as much $$$$$ as
the F2.8 IS, but hey.


Maybe get an external flash then?

When the triple rebate was around (which rocked!) three of us piled on to get one lens each. Worked great for all of us.



I'm not sure that's an advantage. If it doesn't extend, it looks like it's zoomed full all
the time! I'm not 100% sure of this, but another slight advantage of the better zooms is they don't suffer 'zoom creep'. Where if your camera is pointed down/up, the lens may self zoom in/out just due to the lens weight. (or something like that). There's a reason that they have
zoom locks, to lock the zoom in place. Although I've never really experienced that with my 28-135.

guia x

I would love to help badboy out and get a lens with him to get the rebate but as I said previously I'm grounded and can't spend any more money for a while.