Telephoto lens advice

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Hi all,

I'm fairly new on here and at the moment just have an EOS550D and the kit 18-55mm lens. I want to get a telephoto lens as my next purchase but need some advice.

The lenses I have shortlisted are:

1. Canon 55-250mm

2. Canon 70-300mm

I've heard good things about the 55-250 but don't know whether the 70-300 is comparable.

I'm mainly interested in motorsport and wildlife (birds mainly) but I'm worried that they just have enough reach to get a decent enough sized image. I also like the look of the Canon 70-200 f4 L but has even less reach than the two above and is obviously more expensive.

Am I wasting my time even contemplating these lenses and should be saving for a Sigma 500mm monster for instance?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers :)
 
Hi

The Canon 55-250IS is a belter of a lens for the price and is def worth a look at, not that expensive brand new.

If the other lens you're looking at is the Canon 70-300IS lens, it is a great lens - I've used one previously for motorsport for a while, it is more expensive than the 55-250 or older 75-300 (non IS) lens...
 
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If those two lenses are based on your budget then go for the 70-300. I could show you dozens of bird pics taken with the 70-200F4L but tbh there is not much point, quality wise its a great lens but being as close to your subjects as possible is where it counts. You could go buy a 500mm prime but you have to ask yourself can you justify the expense of one :shrug: It will all depend on your subjects and how far off they are really, or how long is a piece of string ;) Get yourself as long and decent lens that you can afford for now and go out and use it for a few months, you can then decide at a later date which way you need to go to improve or to capture the shots that your present kit cannot manage to get due to lack of focal length.
 
Don't confuse the excellent Canon 70-300 IS with the cheaper, very poor Canon *75*-300.
 
andyred said:
Hi

The Canon 55-250IS is a belter of a lens for the price and is def worth a look at, not that expensive brand new.

If the other lens you're looking at is the Canon 70-300IS lens, it is a great lens - I've used one previously for motorsport for a while, it is more expensive than the 55-250 or older 70-300 (non IS) lens...
Click to expand...

There's no such thing as a non IS 70-300?
 
Thanks for the replies everyone.

u8myufo said:
Get yourself as long and decent lens that you can afford for now and go out and use it for a few months, you can then decide at a later date which way you need to go to improve or to capture the shots that your present kit cannot manage to get due to lack of focal length
Click to expand...
That's a good point and something like what my sensible head was trying to tell me :)
 
The Canon 55-250mm is a very good lens if your on a budget otherwise consider,

Tamron SP 70-300mm VC DI around £325ish which is an award winning lens,

or Canon 70-200 f4 L around £490ish, Superb Optics for the price.
 
the tamron sp 70-300 VC is for nikon or am I misstaken
 
Problem is that you will never have a long enough lens no matter how much you spend, you will always want longer :bonk:.

Consider a camo/scrim net in addition to a lens, it helps a lot and is pretty cheap.
 
the ghost said:
the tamron sp 70-300 VC is for nikon or am I misstaken
Click to expand...

yup your mistaken thats how the Tamron is listed on Amazon for Canon and probably the same for Nikon, you just gotta be carefull which one you order.
 
Sorry for butting into this thread, I have a 7d and have been offered a canon 70-300 for b****r all cash. Are the optics on this lens good enough for the 7d, I had been thinking of getting the 70-200 F4.
 
Cionn said:
Sorry for butting into this thread, I have a 7d and have been offered a canon 70-300 for b****r all cash. Are the optics on this lens good enough for the 7d, I had been thinking of getting the 70-200 F4.
Click to expand...

If you're getting it at a very low price, I'd certainly give it a go. You could always sell on for what you paid if you found you didn't like it
 
The Canon 55-250 IS is a cracking lens and highly recommended by lots of folks on here and other forums. For the price you pay the IQ is excellent.
As for something longer, I bought a Sigma 150-500 OS in january and have since got very used to it. Although it weighs quite a bit, you can get some excellent images from it. I'm so impressed with it I decided to keep it and sell my Canon 100-400 L, the main reasons are great IQ and better OS/IS system compared with the Canon (IMO). And for under £600 new it's nowhere near as expensive as the Canon either.
 
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