Someone Recommend me a good (cheap) canon zoom

gothgirl

gothgirl

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Someone Recommend me a good (cheap, ideally around £50 pre owned) canon zoom lens.

It will be for animal shots, (zoos etc) on a fast speed, approx 1/200, and handheld, so IS would be better...

I'm considering a Canon EF 75-300mm 4-5.6 Mark 2 but had mixed reviews

I'm not after something award winning, and I'm aware I'm not going to get anything L glass quality for my price range

But I just want something comparable to my 18-55 (non is) in quality, and a good zoom, up to 200 would be good, but 300 would be better.

Any Ideas / suggestions? Or reviews on the above lens would be appreciated
 
Stretch your budget, get a canon 55-250mm IS

You won't get IS for your budget, you might get one of the poor quality canon or sigma 7x-300mm lenses but I cannot find it anywhere in my heart to recommend you do get one.
 
RichardtheSane said:
Stretch your budget, get a canon 55-250mm IS

You won't get IS for your budget, you might get one of the poor quality canon or sigma 7x-300mm lenses but I cannot find it anywhere in my heart to recommend you do get one.
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How much on average would that lens go for second hand?
 
Good, cheap, image stabilisation.. you'll get at most two of these options, but not three. Which are you prepared to compromise on?

If you can drop the IS and live with cheap and good-ish then there are options around £50. But 1/200 at 300mm will require a very steady hand without IS.
 
Alastair said:
Good, cheap, image stabilisation.. you'll get at most two of these options, but not three. Which are you prepared to compromise on?

If you can drop the IS and live with cheap and good-ish then there are options around £50. But 1/200 at 300mm will require a very steady hand without IS.
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I probably wouldn't open it up to 300, I could settle for a 200.

I Believe IS is a necessity as I am always shooting handheld... well 9/10 times
 
In that case you have to drop cheap and stretch the budget beyond £50.

Life always seems to throw these two-from-three compromise situations.
 
Alastair said:
In that case you have to drop cheap and stretch the budget beyond £50.

Life always seems to throw these two-from-three compromise situations.
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I could maybe go £60 - £80... I've got a birthday coming up, so might get some birthday spends :)
 
I have non-IS 70-300 and 200mm lenses, I know that for best results I'm restricted to good light only. Is that a non-IS compromise you can live with? - although you probably need a usable ISO400 from your camera to get it to work under a wide enough range of situations.

Sunny-16 gives you 1/1600 at ISO400 and f/8. You've still got 1 stop from the aperture in-hand with almost all lenses you're looking at and 2 stops of shutter speed before you hit 1/400. So you've a range down to 3 EV below a sunny day, 4 with a faster lens (f4).
 
The efs 55-250 IS is the one I'd suggest you get
would be the top end of your budget
 
Alastair said:
I have non-IS 70-300 and 200mm lenses, I know that for best results I'm restricted to good light only. Is that a non-IS compromise you can live with? - although you probably need a usable ISO400 from your camera to get it to work under a wide enough range of situations.

Sunny-16 gives you 1/1600 at ISO400 and f/8. You've still got 1 stop from the aperture in-hand with almost all lenses you're looking at and 2 stops of shutter speed before you hit 1/400. So you've a range down to 3 EV below a sunny day, 4 with a faster lens (f4).
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Well on my 350d ISO400 was usable... but now I have upgraded to a 40d, ISO400 would definetly be do-able.

But on an overcast day at the zoo, I guess I do need the IS, even though my 40d could probably handle ISO800 without much quality affect.... I try to use ISO100 as much as I can, as you can never be certain on the display how much noise you are getting, and I have more than once thought my photos were alright until they come up on the big screen.. and oh dear, what lovely glittery colours :bang:
 
I use a 40D as well.. save ISO800 for a last resort! But 400 is fine and cleans nicely in LR.

Save and get what you want, it sounds like you'll be disappointed with the compromises needed to make the budget.
 
Alastair said:
I use a 40D as well.. save ISO800 for a last resort! But 400 is fine and cleans nicely in LR.

Save and get what you want, it sounds like you'll be disappointed with the compromises needed to make the budget.
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The efs 55-250 IS is a good lens to go to then?
 
the efs 55-250 is a belter of a lens when you consider it's cost
pound for pound it is the probably one of the best lenses available for a canon crop
 
Rebel t3i said:
the efs 55-250 is a belter of a lens when you consider it's cost
pound for pound it is the probably one of the best lenses available for a canon crop
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Definetly comparable / surpassing the 18-55 non IS that I have?
 
gothgirl said:
Definetly comparable / surpassing the 18-55 non IS that I have?
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Surpassing by a good way, especially for the price.

You would do better to save up and get that one, than buy cheap and end up buying twice.

MPB are a good retailer too.
 
Bought one myself a while back as a stop gap and was surprised just how good it was

My daughter had it after me and it still gets used occasionally when a lightweight zoom is required

Nothing special photo, but this was handheld at 250mm

Goose21.jpg
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Well my mind is made up, I'm saving up for the efs !

I appreciate it everyone ! :)
 
Just seen one on a mountain biking site for 100 quid s/hand includes a filter too so they are about for not too much cash
 
Never owned one but I have taken a few shots with my brothers 600D & the 55-250 IS & I must say even going by the review on the rear screen it looked a hell of a lens for the money so I'd recommend it for a limited budget.
 
Can confirm the 55-250 is lovely for the price , got mine off ebay for around £80-90 cant remember
 
cosmicma said:
i always liked the canon ef 70 - 210 f4 macro as a sub 100 quid lens you'll find a few on ebay it's just a case of keeping an eye out for a good one at around 70 quid there quite old but for the price you can't go wrong http://www.phototestcenter.com/html/canon_70-210_f4.html
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I've had a 70-210mm f4 for a few years now and can't fault it I like it so much that my planned 70-200mm f4L has never been purchased.

There is also the 70-210mm f3.5-4.5 USM to consider it looses the constant aperture but adds quick quiet af and a conventional rotate to zoom.
 
I had the 70-210 f4 as well and thought it was a great performer. I sold it on this forum last year for £60.
 
The 55-250 is on my shopping list. Its on Digital Rev for £95.
 
HDEW were doing the 55-250mm for £105 a couple of weeks ago so more than likely still the same now.
 
Managed to drop on a mint 55-250 for a good price, its on its way to me now
 
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