Lens for Canon 20D

TheGreatest

I am about to order a lens for my Canon 20D from pixmania and I need some advise. Which one of these lenses below should I choose? I already have the canon kit lens (18-55) to use for wider range for time been and want to buy another lens for longer range and macro. If you could recommend some other lens except than this ones would be apreciated.Price range is 200 euros.

SIGMA Lens AF 70-300mm F4-5.6 Macro Super II


CANON EF 75-300 III F4-5.6 telephoto lens

thanks

rymus

I got the Canon not so long ago to use until I get a decent telephoto. It aint great but then again, I suppose its worth the money. Tends to suffer from a wildly hunting focus sometimes. Overall not bad though, I shot a few hundred pics at a zoo recently with a polariser on and got a good deal of keepers. I'd be more inclined to go with the sigma given my past good experiences with them (and indeed, when I get rid of the Canon 75-300 I have, it'll probably be for a Sigma 50-500)

Now that I think of it, theres an IS version of the Canon 75-300 which may be worthy of consideration if it doesnt completely strangle your budget

Alun

I've always liked Sigma lenses personally. BTW the one you have there is available from technikdirekt.de for €150, that's €39 less than pixmania. They also have the APO version for €218.

Be aware though that the min focussing distance in macro mode is about 38", so it depends on exactly what kind of macro photography you're hoping to do with it, whether that's suitable or not.

kasintahan

www.dpreview.com

Forums > Canon Lenses

All they discuss there all day are Canon Lenses.

DotOrg

for €200 you'll only get the bottom of the range consumer zooms

what do you shoot and how seriously do you take image quality?

if it was me, i'd buy the canon 50mm f1.8 and use the leftover to buy a few spare batteries

TheGreatest

DotOrg wrote:

for €200 you'll only get the bottom of the range consumer zooms

what do you shoot and how seriously do you take image quality?

if it was me, i'd buy the canon 50mm f1.8 and use the leftover to buy a few spare batteries

I will definitely buy the canon 50mm f1.8 anyway but now I need a zoom lens

gs39t

Sorry for the thread hijack, but im looking for somewhere in Dublin to get a 200mm or 300mm (maybe the 75-300mm USM/IS version) for my 300D - does anyone know what would be the best shop to look in? The only one im familar with is Jessops in Grafton st. but im not sure what lens selection they have or how they compare price-wise to other places

JMcL

If you can at all afford the extra few euros, go for the APO version of the Sigma, the optics are much better. General consensus is that the non APO version is at best a very average lens. I have the APO version and am very happy with it, it's a very good lens for the price. Up to 200mm or so, it's very sharp, it can be a bit soft at 300mm, but this is helped by stopping down a bit. In general you need to stop down to get the best from it, and autofocus can be a bit slow, but these are pretty much par for the course for consumer lenses anyway. Opinion on DPReview from people who've tried both it and the Canon tends to favour the Sigma, which also has a fairly useful macro mode (only 1:2 but does a good job at that).

If you're in Dublin, check out Camera Exchange on Trinity St. I'm not 100% sure as I was looking for something else at the time, but I think they had the APO Super II for €199 a couple of weeks ago, which is a steal for street price, and less than the other one on Pixmania when you add shipping!

Lastly, Sigma's range of 70-300mm lenses is a bit confusing, both APO and non-APO lenses have been replaced in some countries by DG versions. They're apparently exactly the same lens with a new coating on the back element which allegedly reduces flare, but if you want to be cynical about it, it's just a means of extracting a few more euro from the punter.

John

TheGreatest wrote:

I am about to order a lens for my Canon 20D from pixmania and I need some advise. Which one of these lenses below should I choose? I already have the canon kit lens (18-55) to use for wider range for time been and want to buy another lens for longer range and macro. If you could recommend some other lens except than this ones would be apreciated.Price range is 200 euros.

SIGMA Lens AF 70-300mm F4-5.6 Macro Super II


CANON EF 75-300 III F4-5.6 telephoto lens

thanks

FX Meister

gs39t wrote:

Sorry for the thread hijack, but im looking for somewhere in Dublin to get a 200mm or 300mm (maybe the 75-300mm USM/IS version) for my 300D - does anyone know what would be the best shop to look in? The only one im familar with is Jessops in Grafton st. but im not sure what lens selection they have or how they compare price-wise to other places

I wouldn't go near Jessops, I found then to have terrible staff and a small selection of lenses. I'd go to Cons Camera's opposite Tower on Wicklow street. They usually have good lenses there and let you check them out. I brought my 300D in to try out the Sigma 12-24 and the Canon 10-22 lenses. Then I bought the Canon online from Germany.

JMcL

Conns are good, but expensive. If you really must go to a bricks and mortar shop, try Gunns on Wexford St. Tiny uninspiring looking shop, but great enthusiastic staff (it's family run), and if they don't have something in stock, they'll get it within a few days.

But if you can, as FX Meister said, buy online. http://www.technikdirekt.de/ are good. I've bought from http://www.digitalfirst.co.uk/ as well, and found them good. I would avoid http://www.7dayshop.com/. Their prices are great but their customer service is rotten, and with something like a lens, you don't want that.

John

FX Meister wrote:

I wouldn't go near Jessops, I found then to have terrible staff and a small selection of lenses. I'd go to Cons Camera's opposite Tower on Wicklow street. They usually have good lenses there and let you check them out. I brought my 300D in to try out the Sigma 12-24 and the Canon 10-22 lenses. Then I bought the Canon online from Germany.

rymus

if were talking online shopping, try ebay. Kea-photo http://stores.ebay.com/Kea-photo I think do a good range of stuff and are very reliable. I just made my second purchase yesterday from them after the first went so well. Other than that I'd be wary of buying on ebay. I've had bad experiences buying the likes of filters from one gangster.

Alun

Just been into town looking for the Sigma 70-300 APO DG for my Nikon D70s.

I went to Camera Exchange and they had it (for €199.95) but only in Canon mount, but had the non-DG version for the Nikon for the same price.

So off I went to Conn's, expecting to pay way over the odds, and guess what ... same lens for the same price (€199.95), but same story with the mounts, i.e. Canon DG or Nikon non-DG for the same price. But, got talking to the boss at Conn's, and he told me that the Sigma boss in Ireland had told him that all 70-300 APO lenses from the last 3-6 months had effectively been DG lenses anyway, i.e. they all had the extra coating but weren't sold as such, weren't marked DG and came in a different box etc. However, he did say that he would be getting a batch of DG lenses in soon, and that if I wanted I could take my non-DG lens in and swap it free of charge for an "official" DG version.

gs39t

I went to Jessops to have a look -they had ONE lens that was even close to what i wanted, but didnt have it in stock in a Canon mount. Said it might be 4-6 weeks to get one! :eek:

Ordered from Pixmania, hope i dont regret that :rolleyes: