telephoto lens

gboy

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geoff
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hi all, bit of advice needed please. i have the canon 450d with the kit lens 18-55mm. i am a complete novice. i would like to take some wildlife shots especially birds. which canon telephoto lens, would be best. my budget £150 to £250 max. i would be using it af mostly to start. hope you can help. kind regards. gboy.
 
Hey gboy,
The Canon EF-S 55-250mm IS would fit nicely with your kit lens, and it's well within your budget! I haven't tried it myself but I've only heard good things about it from people who use it. It's a good starting point, even if it's a bit limited at 250mm for small birds (you need to get really close to get frame filling shots) but having an IS is really essential with telephotos.
 
i have this lens, got it last week, its brilliant, you really wont find a better lens for your money.

if you like i can post a few pics to show you whats its like under different circumstances
 
hi stylgeo & saxk, thanks for your replys, very helpful. saxk i would be very grateful if you could post some pics. kind regards. gboy.
 
250mm
1/20
5.6
iso 100


is off

IMG_2426.jpg

is on
IMG_2427.jpg

crop
cropbottle.jpg


few others i took with the lens

taken at 1/2 second exposure @ 250mm F/5.6

pretty impressive

2984684701_e3f105c019.jpg


2984660887_28c6b432c0.jpg

full size
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradfoster/2984660887/sizes/o/in/photostream/
 
not the most amazing bit of glass, but the newest 4stop IS is stunning, you can see it through the finder too, it jsut goes dead still, i really cant belive thay can put that kinda technology on a £200 camera lens.

i got mine from HK, which was a very pleasant experience, super accurate tracking with DHL and took 2 working days, was amazed. alos i got it for £140 delivered :D
 
Well, saxk, your photos do suffer from high ISO noise, but the IS does seem to work! Your bottleneck does seem a bit out of focus, probably the OP should look at the inside of the rim for sharpness instead of the front of the bottle!

4 stops IS??
 
jsut check the iso was 400 on tha bottle shot, as it was from a different image, as the first one was taken in small and rough settings.

so not the best shots to compare, but if there on bad settings, and came out pretty well......

4stops is yes, thats what canon claim, its more like 6 stops though.
 
hi saxk, thanks so much for the pics. realy good. would i be able to use that lens with af auto. till i get a bit more experience. kind regards. gboy.
 
If you know of a particular place such as a nest or feeding station, one trick you can do is get a wireless remote trigger. I bought one like this for my Nikon but this link is for Canon.

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/items/_W0QQ_...=m270.l1313&_odkw=remote+canon+450d&_osacat=0


The one I got works very well up to 30 ft away or even a bit further. Once birds get used to the camera on a tripod they take no notice until the shutter clicks but they soon come back.

Big advantage you don't really have to buy another lens.

Realspeed
 
yes gboy, thats all i ever use it in, unfortunately it has no USM, so not that fast to focus
 
thanks realspeed, thats a great idea. kind regards. gboy.
 
hi saxk, thanks for letting me know. is it a lot better with usm. i suppose its a lot dearer for the lens. how long have you been into photography for ?. kind regards. gboy.
 
hi saxk, does the usm do the focusing for you?. kind regards. gboy.
 
The lens is an autofocus lens, which is self explanatory really. USM is an abbreviation of Canon's UltraSonic Motor, which is a different kind of autofocusing motor, which is quieter and faster than non-USM lenses. Non-USM lenses do still autofocus (ie focus for you instead of turning the focus ring yourself) but they are a bit slower and noisier. I don't think you'll miss it if you never tried it!
 
yes as stylgeo said, USM is a super quiet fast motor for the auto focus, they dont do this particular lens in USM, but it comes autofocus as standard.

i have been into photography since i was a young boy, but only really stareted as a hobby on and off for the last 5 years, the last year it has got more serious with the addition of a DSLR camera and lenses. im 23 now.
 
thanks so much to stylgeo & saxk for all the help. much appreciated. takecare. kind regards. gboy. :thumbs:
 
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