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C1aire

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Claire
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Hello, I've been lurking on here for a while now, and have been reading lots of posts and getting loads of great tips, but I'm still a bit confused about what lens I should to buy and therefore wondered if anyone could give me some advise...

I'm a real beginner in the world of SLR cameras having only recently bought a Canon 1000d, with the standard 18-55mm lens. However, I'm interested in macro photography, whilst I would also like to have a lens with a greater zoom for wildlife photography.

As a result I'm currently thinking of getting the the Canon 55-250mm, or 75-300mm. Would either of these be a good place to start? (sadly I only have a budget of about £100-£160) Or are there other lens which anyone could recommend?

I've also been looking at the Raynox DCR 250. Would I get good results with this on my 18-55mm lens?

I've also read lots about the 50mm 1.8, but I'm rather confused as to what the benefit of this lens is?

I would really appreciate any advise...
 
The 55-250mm is a definite for your budget, sorry no idea about the macro bits though
 
Thank you. Do you think its worth paying the extra for the 55-250mm rather than the 75-300mm?
 
Having owned the 55-250mm I can't imagine a better lens in that price bracket
 
Great - I think that's one decision made. I can see this becoming an expensive hobby!
 
Glad that the decision is made, just wanted to confirm that the advice given is correct. The 75-300 is one of, if not the weakest lens Canon currently has on offer. I never suggest this lens to anyone. Even the cheap Tamron 70-300 is quite a lot better.

You are right, this was a hobby in 2005 for me, I've now put about £18,000 into it, lots of that was while it was only for fun...... enjoy ;)
 
This was taken with a 55-250mm at 250mm and yes it can get rather expensive although you will have two good lenses to get some nice photos.

If you do buy the lens its worth getting the hood to go on it, stops any flare and offers some protection too

Goose21.jpg
[/IMG]
 
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Hi Mark - thanks for your advise, I'll definitely now avoid the 75-300mm!
 
Thanks Rich. It's great to see an example of what can be achieved with the lens. I'll also start looking into hoods too...
 
55-250 :thumbs:

Raynox is brilliant for £40. It will work okay at the longer end of the 18-55, but more versatile on the 55-250.

50 1.8 is popular because it is very cheap and runs down to f/1.8, which is good for creative shallow depth of field effects (and also for low light shooting, though there are other ways of doing that).
 
Hi my first dslr was the 450d with the kit lens which I quickly figured was not very good so I bought the 50mn 1.8 for portraits as it was a fast lens so in low light was perfect and also the 55-250mm lens and I used that for just about everything. I found this kit was now perfect to start learning and getting good shots.
About 6 months later I bought a macro lens the 60mm for around £350 good luck with what u decide
 
With regards to the 50mm F1.8, I am sure I read an article about using this lens with extention tubes for macro. Ext tubes would be a cheaper option to see if you get into macro. I am sure they would probably work on the 55-250 too, which you could then see which distances you find best as to whether you fo gor a 60/100/105/150/180mm macro if you like it:shrug:
 
Jill - What a great photo! - really inspiring (and it makes me want the 55-250 lens even more!)

Regarding the post suggesting extension tubes for macro; would these be more appropriate for a beginner rather than the Raynox?
 
C1aire said:
Jill - What a great photo! - really inspiring (and it makes me want the 55-250 lens even more!)

Regarding the post suggesting extension tubes for macro; would these be more appropriate for a beginner rather than the Raynox?
Click to expand...

Tubes are good. They'd work fine for you, and they're more versatile as you can use different combinations to get different magnifications - anything from a bit closer than normal to mega close like the Raynox, and anything inbetween.

But they're more expensive, you need auto tubes like a Kenko set £120, though you can get them a bit cheaper. I bought a used set off here for £60. Set of Opteka tubes here for £80 http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=0910M54YBTNTKYE322WG I'm sure they're fine, but don't get the really cheap manual-only ones.
 
Oh no!- now i'm confused! I was all set to get the 55-250mm, but I don't know now whether I should be waiting for the updated version?!

Thanks for the info on the macro tubes - I definitely do some more research into these...
 
Will it be much better (or any better and even possibly worse) than the existing lens? bound to be dearer and good chance the current one will be available cheaper than it is now

Also if its made in Japan what are the chances of it being in plentiful supply after the recent problems out there

Would still buy now and get to use the new lens rather than play the waiting game
 
My opinion is to get the original one with a proven track record. I doubt they'll make much improvement optically if any, and it could actually be worse!
 
The original 55-250 was raved about in all of the magazines without fail, I believe.

The MkII is bound to be out of your current budget so it may mean waiting - think I'd go with my budget:thumbs:
 
The 55-250 is currently only £155 on Amazon, which is pretty competitive (I've been tracking this lens for the last few weeks.)
 
New 55-250 is optically identical to the Mk1 and only 'cosmetically refreshed' to match the new and similarly styled 18-55. £155 is a bargain.
 
HoppyUK said:
New 55-250 is optically identical to the Mk1 and only 'cosmetically refreshed' to match the new and similarly styled 18-55. £155 is a bargain.
Click to expand...

Yes, it does look like just the design has been tweaked slightly to match the recently refreshed 18-55 II (design changes aimed at bringing manufacturing costs down slightly).

Cheers
 
That's the answer I wanted to hear - I don't know if I could have lasted the month waiting for the new version to appear! (and then the even longer wait for it to come down to my budget...)
 
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I just wanted to thank everyone for their help and advise - I've just ordered the 55-250mm lens :D
 
Just to add, the 50mm f1.8 does give a shallow depth of field by virtue of being f1.8, but this wider aperture setting also allows handheld shutter speeds (around 1/50th second for 50mm) in low light (because it lets more light in)...therefore the f1.8 is ideal for naturally lit indoor scenes etc.
 
Good decision on ordering the 55-250! As for the macro, I just use a set of cheap (~£5) extension tubes from ebay with my 18-55mm kit lens, tends to get pretty usable results:
5806859060_9aa8e152e9.jpg
 
TomTomTom said:
Good decision on ordering the 55-250! As for the macro, I just use a set of cheap (~£5) extension tubes from ebay with my 18-55mm kit lens, tends to get pretty usable results:
5806859060_9aa8e152e9.jpg
Click to expand...

Thats a very nice picture for a lens of that price bracket.
 
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