Telephoto Lens Recommendation

**mep916** · 11-05-2008, 06:01 PM

My wife owns a Canon Rebel Xti 400D digital camera. For Christmas, I'd like to get her a nice telephoto lens. I don't want to spend more than $500, although I'd be willing if the price was truly worth it. I guess I'm looking for the best lens for a good value. She's basically an amateur photographer, so I don't think she'll need anything highly advanced.

Thanks.

**jimmymac** · 11-05-2008, 06:30 PM

canon EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM

Had this lens for my 400D for nearly a year now and its been fantastiv, hopefully you can find it for the right price

**mep916** · 11-05-2008, 06:32 PM

Thanks Jimmy.

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-70-300mm.../dp/B0007Y794O

^ That one? Does that seem like a fair price?

[-0MEGA-] · 11-09-2008, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmymac

canon EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM

Had this lens for my 400D for nearly a year now and its been fantastiv, hopefully you can find it for the right price

I have that same exact one, excellent lens!

**mep916** · 11-10-2008, 07:40 AM

My wife was discussing a photography contest with me - a MySpace contest - so I asked her about the lens weight issue. She seems to believe that a heavy lens wouldn't be a problem, so I'm gonna eliminate that as a negative, or deciding factor.

The "F" value of the lens determines the distance that the lens can reach. Is that correct? So, if she wanted to take an up close shot of, say, a flower, a lens with a lower "F" value would be better. For a long distance shot, a higher F value is what you would want. Is that right?

**vroom_skies** · 11-10-2008, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mep916

My wife was discussing a photography contest with me - a MySpace contest - so I asked her about the lens weight issue. She seems to believe that a heavy lens wouldn't be a problem, so I'm gonna eliminate that as a negative, or deciding factor.

The "F" value of the lens determines the distance that the lens can reach. Is that correct? So, if she wanted to take an up close shot of, say, a flower, a lens with a lower "F" value would be better. For a long distance shot, a higher F value is what you would want. Is that right?

That's great to hear.
The F# or aperture setting is one function that determines the amount of light coming into the camera, as well as controlling the depth of field (DOF).

So the lower the F#, the better the lens is for low light shooting. So the Sigma 70-200 2.8 would be the best in that regard. However it doesn't have the extended reach of the Sigma 120-400. If it was up to me, I would say she would benefit more from the 120-400 for the sheer versatility of it, but your starting at 120mm, so you are missing the lower focal length with can be annoying.

**mep916** · 11-10-2008, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vroom_skies

However it doesn't have the extended reach of the Sigma 120-400. If it was up to me, I would say she would benefit more from the 120-400 for the sheer versatility of it, but your starting at 120mm, so you are missing the lower focal length with can be annoying.

Okay, I think I see what you're saying. So, if I got the 120mm lens, she'd begin at 120mm, so, in some situations, that would make real up-close shots difficult? She'd easily be able to take long distance shots, but not as easily with shots where you really need to zoom in? Sorry, you'll have to forgive my ignorance here.

**jimmymac** · 11-05-2008, 06:35 PM

aye decent price that I think (cant say for sure as teh exchange rate is all over the place). I think someone else here has the same lens so they should confirm how good it is. One of the key things for me is the image stabiliser (IS), when your using the lens towards the extent of its zoom without a tripod its very difficult to keep your hand steady enough to get a sharp picture. The image stabiliser compensates for it and keeps it rock steady

**mep916** · 11-05-2008, 06:37 PM

Okay, I'll shop around on that one and see what others have to say. I don't know anything about this technology...

And would you recommend this as well?

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-65B-70-3...d_bxgy_p_img_b

Or something like that...maybe something better?

**mep916** · 11-07-2008, 05:03 PM

Bump for more input.

11-05-2008, 06:30 PM	#2 (permalink)
jimmymac Moderator Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Chester, UK Posts: 3,988	canon EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM Had this lens for my 400D for nearly a year now and its been fantastiv, hopefully you can find it for the right price __________________ I tried to put my signature in here but my pen ruined the monitor. https://www.photoshop.com/user/jimmymac

11-05-2008, 06:35 PM	#8 (permalink)
jimmymac Moderator Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Chester, UK Posts: 3,988	aye decent price that I think (cant say for sure as teh exchange rate is all over the place). I think someone else here has the same lens so they should confirm how good it is. One of the key things for me is the image stabiliser (IS), when your using the lens towards the extent of its zoom without a tripod its very difficult to keep your hand steady enough to get a sharp picture. The image stabiliser compensates for it and keeps it rock steady __________________ I tried to put my signature in here but my pen ruined the monitor. https://www.photoshop.com/user/jimmymac

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