Best zoom lens

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neilthegooner

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I recently purchased my first dslr a Canon 1000D, and I am increasingly becoming hooked.
My primary purpose was astrophotography so I bought an m42 converter and some old lenses **** seem to work fine for that. However as I cant use the autofocus with these I am looking for a 70-300mm or simular lens for general use.
As I'm new to all this I have not really got a clue what to look for or what are the better lenses. I will have a budget of around £150 I know this is not a great amount to go on but as I said I only want it for general purpose.

Thanks in advance.
 
I had the Sigma 70-300 APO version. Wasn't the quickest lens in the world but I got some good shots with it. Only sold it to upgrade. I have heard not so good things about the non-APO version though so I think it's worth the extra pennies for the Apo version.

I sold mine for £110 but they can be had for less now second hand.
 
You might be able to get a used Canon 70-300mm IS USM if you can stretch a little more, I'm not sure how much they sell for but I've heard many people rave about how good this lens is for a non L zoom lens.
 
I think I'll have a scratch around for more dosh. Ill know how much of a tax rebate I'll be getting back later this week.
 
Welcome to TP :)

Tow good lenses to look at - the 70-300IS already mentioned is favourite, but goes for £300 used. Close to your budget is the 55-250 IS, excellent value.

Check them out here www.camerapricebuster.co.uk
 
55-250IS or the Sigma 70-300 APO get my vote as well for £150 or under. The Tamron 70-300mm is not a bad lens either if you can get one for well under £100.
 
The image below was taken with the Canon 75-300mm USM.



TBH if I was mainly going to be doing astrophotography I'd be looking at something a bit longer.
 
Craikeybaby said:
The image below was taken with the Canon 75-300mm USM.



TBH if I was mainly going to be doing astrophotography I'd be looking at something a bit longer.
Click to expand...

Yeah I got some larger old m42 lenses for astrophotography or I put the camera straight on the telescope.
I was after one with auto focus just for taking pics of ordinary stuff. I tried to take some of the kids playing with the old lenses I have, It was a bit of a nightmare getting them in focus everytime manually when thay keep running around. Allthough I could do with a little more practice maybe!

Thanks for all the suggestions.
 
The best lens(es) would probably be from the Canon L series. However, realistically, they are insanely expensive, and designed for full frame, meaning the wide angles aren't actually so wide on the 1000D.

I think the Sigma lenses are very well priced, and I myself am a bit of a 'gold ring' (Sigma EX) fan. They may not be quite as sharp as L lenses at the edges, but on a crop camera you will never see those edges anyway.

I have some old M42 lenses, one in particular is an absolute gem - a Pentax Lydith 30mm f/3.5. Sharp as a razor, and an absolutely gorgeous colour gamut. I have read somewhere that a lot of the older lenses give a slightly different colour cast because they were specifically designed for working on film (obviously). It might not be technically correct to have slightly 'warm' images but they look absolutely gorgeous...
 
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