Hi there I wonder if someone can give me some advice on telephoto lenses please,
I have been lucky enough to be loaned four lenses for a week to trial,
I am new to photography and have a Canon EOS600D that I have been using for about five weeks with my 18-55mm fitted,
Is it essential to have a long range lenses with “IS” on it for aviation?
The lenses I have been loaned are:-
Tamron AF70-300mm 4-5.6 Tele macro DG (Used)
Tamron AF55-200mm 4-5.6 Tele macro (Used)
Sigma APO DG 70-300mm Macro 4-5.6 (New)
And a Canon EFS 55-250mm IS (New)
Any comments and advice would be great! Please go careful on me as I am new to the hobby!!! :-}
Many thanks
Si.
🙂
By: Rich735 - 26th June 2011 at 00:04
Hi,
I would if possible to try and stick with a canon lens if the budget allows for it, you may be able to get a good second hand 100-400mm IS USM lens or 70-200mm IS USM and if required then purchase at later date a lens converter either the X 1.4 or X 2.0 to give a little more length if needed .
By: Zebedee - 23rd June 2011 at 21:23
Of the lens you’ve listed id avoid the Tamrons… their lower priced offerings are not optically the best… of the other 2, I used the Canon 55-250 fo a couple of years till i upgraded to the new Tamron 70-300 VC. Its a loverly little lens but its not the fastest at focusing and I really did miss the extra 50mm at the long end. The sigma was one of the first lenses I owned (in its non apo pentax version) and i got some great shots but I have found that sigmas quality control can be variable…
Zeb
By: pagen01 - 23rd June 2011 at 20:51
It seems like you’re in the enviable position Si in being able to test the equipment out before buying something.
The only lens I have of those (and thus can comment on) is the Sigma APO DG 70-300mm Macro 1:4-5.6 which I use on a Nikon D60, this requires the AF motor to be in the lens, but it is available with or without.
I’m on a budget and for the money I find it a great lens, very smooth action, nice size and weight, and get results that I’m very happy with.
I guess ultimately like any lens it comes down to what you want to pay really, but the Sigma strikes me as a very good balance of price and performance.
I don’t use IS, we never had it years ago and I’m not bothered by it now.
Here’s two pics I took today, straight out of the camera, not cropped , both taken at the full 300mm, at 1/320sec, and 100 ASA.
I wasn’t trying hard to get a good shot and they were taken in very windy conditions!
By: johnr - 21st June 2011 at 17:33
Wish I had kit like that when I started out!
I would certainly go for the inertially stabilised (IS) lenses. These will not guarantee success. They have helped me but I still can’t achieve the crispness some people get. I have not tried the Canon 55-250 but I think the 75-300 IS, which I have used, might be better suited to aviation photography.
Welcome to a very frustrating hobby.
John
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June 19, 2011 at 9:32 pm