A new lens for Sue

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I think the time has come to replace the 90-300mm lens that I got Sue as part of her bundle with the 350d.

I'm trying to think about what kind of a lens she would get the most use of and its either going to be a telephoto or something to replace the kit lens.

I still haven't gotten anything to replace my kit lens yet, that comes later ;)

I don't really want to get her a 100-400L - we can't really afford to spend another £850 and she struggled with the weight a little bit when she tried mine out.

I was wondering if anyone had any of the sigma telephoto lenses?

Sigma 135-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG APO Lens (£340)

Sigma 170-500mm f/5-6.3 DG APO Lens (£400)

Sigma 50-500mm f/4.0-6.3 EX DG APO HSM Lens (£580)

I think she would just appreciate a little more reach than her current lens gives her.

Alternatively I might get her the 28-135, depends what she would prefer I guess.
 
The 28-135 IS isn't that great so I would avoid it.
The Bigma 50-500 weighs 1.8kg compared to the Canon 100-400 of 1.3kg, so it's 500g heavier - Probably not a good idea if she struggled with 100-400 :p

I know it's not longer but it'll be sharper than her current lens : Canon 70-300mm IS
 
The 28-135 IS isn't that great so I would avoid it.
The Bigma 50-500 weighs 1.8kg compared to the Canon 100-400 of 1.3kg, so it's 500g heavier - Probably not a good idea if she struggled with 100-400 :p

I could always get her a set of weights and then buy her that for her birthday ;)

Oh well, its useful to know, ta sdk ;)
 
Matt, have a look on Dyxum.com for a comprehensive list of reviewed lenses. Mostly tested on minoltas but Sigmas will mostly be the same on any camera and there are a lot of 3rd party lens test there.
 
Don't be such a tight ar*e!

Get her the 500 f/4 and carry it around for her (y)


:canon:

AND a 2X cannon TeleConv

AND a 1DII to use it on

AND a weeks training course with Andy Rouse (or similar)

Who would do less for thier loved one?
 
nah fixed focal length is no good, she needs something she can move.

Ok ... and a Tesco shopping trolly to trundle it round in
 
Or a canon 300f4L IS. Nice weight and super sharp and IS to boot. Add a 1.4x and you have a 420mm f5.6. Or as Joe suggests get the Sigma 100-300 f4. Nice lens I hear.
 
Give her the money and let her decide.

You win. She wins. Everybody happy.(y)
 
She's already got access to all of the money, and the credit cards.......:thinking:

Well in that case...I think this thread was just designed to show what a wonderful ,generous, fantastic, husband you are!! ;)
 
Ha yeah I because I need my ego boosting (and my bank balance emptying :p)

Okay, the sigma 100-300 is intesting. Will she still be able to use AF if I get a 1.4x teleconverter to go with it?
 
does she want to be taking photos of people in ireland? find out what she wants to shoot first tbh
 
The 70-300 canon is also interesting because it has IS. I'm going to try and see how it compares with the sigma.
 
ok cool at least you've got something to work from now. basics when shotting animals:

fast shutter speed
fast shutter speed
and... fast shutter speed

So you want something with a largeeee aperture, f2.8 is probally the largest you'll get for what you're after. When using TC's the aperture will decrease, so if you went f4 you would only have something like f5.6? not sure cba to do the maths, but as we're coming to summer the light should be suficeint anyway! So.. the you need to work out about reach (for the stars <3 s-club) how far are the animals going to be away? When we went zoo, I was using a 70-200 with a 1.4tc and most things we just about spot on! anyway, that was me just blabaring, and probally spouting what everyone else has already said.

Dan

(macattack!)
 
I had the 90-300 and it didn't give me enough reach - now I have the 100-400 I have spot on reach, the apeture on that isn't the fastest in the world but I don't have another 850 quid to spend on one of them :/

hmmmmzy

you're right about a 4 turning into a 5.6 with a 1.4 btw
 
I tried the 135-400 when I was looking at the 100-400. To be honest it really wasn't that bad for image quality. AF was a bit slow and noisy though.
 
Canon 600mm L. One up on CT. :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:
 
Unfortunately getting the Sigma 100-300 f/4 would leave Sue in a worse situation than when she tried the 100-400 since the 100-300 f/4 is slightly heavier and doesn't have IS to help either. Are you sure she has enough need for an xx-300 lens? If not then something like the 70-200 f/4 L (Discounting the IS version as it's roughly the same price as the 100-400) would be a much lighter and therefore more manageable lens. If she does need xx-300 then I think the best compromise is the 70-300 IS.

An alternative to all this talk of telephotos is the fantastic Sigma 18-50 f/2.8 EX Macro. My wife uses one on her 350D and loves it. Faster focusing and quieter than my Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 EX Macro and just as sharp.

I still think the easiest and best solution is to ask Sue what focal length she would like (apologies if you've already done this :) ) and if she's not sure she can look at her pics and see what the most common focal length used was to help.

Just my 0.02p :D
 
Thanks for the input guys, I asked her again what she wanted out of a new lens and if it was more reach that she wanted and she said it was - I might well get the canon 70-300 IS and get the 1.4x TC and then I can nick that to go on my 100-400 at times too :D
 
After chatting to Ian last night it would appear that the only option is to get another 100-400L.

I'll let her have a decent go with mine on Wednesday so she can properly try it out and we'll see where we go from there.

Need to start saving the pennies I think!
 
Its not a duplicate lens though - if we both go out to say Chester Zoo - the 100-400L does not leave my camera, its not a case of us being able to share the lenses.
 
It's a bugger buying two of the same lens but I can't argue with the logic. The 100-400L never comes off my camera on zoo trips, being ideal for close-up and distance shots. :shrug:
 
Cannot understand the reasoning in getting a duplicate lens.

There must be someting suitable.

Thats what i said last night, but after a long conversation we narrowed it down to the 100-400 !

I did suggest a 70-200 and converter so they didnt have 2 lenses the same and could swap and change.

The 170-500 is lighter than the 100-400 by a little,

170-500 - Weight 1,345g/47.4 oz.
100-400 - Weight 1,380g

So that may be an option, but has no IS ?
 
Hmmm well thanks for all the thoughts and comments guys, will leave the final decision up to matt as he knows more about the lenses than I do, most of the time I seem to have lens at full length and would like that bit more, the only time I have tried the 100-400 was at chester zoo stood for five minutes, and after walking round with my lens all day I did find the 100-400 heavy but then when I first started with the 350 I found that heavy, and I am now used to that.
As for the best lens I arent sure it would be nice to have a new lens and be able to have a bit more length and am happy with the kit lens so no need for something like that. As for 100-400 or 170-500 I dont really know the difference for me, so will leave it up to matt with the help of friends on here to decide as most of you know the type of shots I have taken in the past, and from what I post the sort of thing I enjoy.
Once again thanks for the thoughts everyone.
 
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