recommend me a lens for wildlife £2-300

richn

richn

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Hi all, im looking to purchase a bigger lens in the next month to have a go at doing some nature photography, mainly birds, rabbits, foxes etc however i have a budget of around £2-300.

can anybody recommend me a suitable lens preferbly 250-300mm?

i was considering Canon EF-S 55-250mm f4-5.6 IS II Lens £199.99

or maybe a Canon EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM Lens if i can find one cheap enough just looking on warehouse express they are going for £375 so i might be able to get a second hand one for around £250-300.

is there any other lens thats just as good as them or better for that sort of price range. im using a canon 550d.

thanks

Rich
 
Can't speak from experience but from previous threads the tamron 70-300 gets good backing for excellent vibration control and good IQ!!
 
In your price range, you can get the Tamron SP 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di VC USD for £265 or the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM for £261 both from panamoz, or the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II for £120 from hdewcameras.
 
The 55-250 won't be long enough unless you can get really close.
Tbh, the 70-300 won't be either, you're really looking at 400mm+ for wildlife.
Sometimes even my 150-500 isn't long enough. ;)
 
I'd suggest the Tamron 70-300VC. I have one and for the money it performs well and the VC is very effective. As far as where to buy it is concerned, it's £294 from Park Cameras and as they're an official Tamron stockist they will offer a 5yr UK warranty (I have this with the one I got from Amazon but it was via registration with Tamron and is direct with the manufacturer). It's upto you whether saving £30 or so by going grey market via panamoz would be worth it.

300mm isn't really long enough a lot of the time though, but then again you'd probably want more reach at times regardless of the lens you have.
 
What about the sigma 50-500, that shoud get you close enough. Good for the money too, think I piled mine up for £320 a year ago,
 
Robertsafc said:
What about the sigma 50-500, that shoud get you close enough. Good for the money too, think I piled mine up for £320 a year ago,
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The op has stated a budget of between £250-£300! I don't think the 50-500 fits that!
At the end of the day not even 500mm is enough, so you got to start somewhere!
 
Have a look at the Tamron 70-300 and then put a 2x extender on it. That'll give you a 140-600 F/8-11. If you are on a Canon cropped system then that will be a 224-960 F/8-11 equivalent!

the image quality may degrade slightly, but it's an option that you do have if you wanted to stay below you budget!
 
farrance said:
Have a look at the Tamron 70-300 and then put a 2x extender on it. That'll give you a 140-600 F/8-11. If you are on a Canon cropped system then that will be a 224-960 F/8-11 equivalent!

the image quality may degrade slightly, but it's an option that you do have if you wanted to stay below you budget!
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You would loose auto focus with that set up and it would only really be viable in extremely good light if you were using it handheld as you will want quite high shutter speeds to eliminate camera shake.
 
mjb123 said:
The op has stated a budget of between £250-£300! I don't think the 50-500 fits that!
At the end of the day not even 500mm is enough, so you got to start somewhere!
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Oh I'm sorry, wasn't the op looking for options/ advice?
I'm sure an extra £20 would not make him bankrupt, it was an alternative to what you advised, which certainly ain't enough!

Friendly forum? I'm beginning to wonder!!
 
Robertsafc said:
Oh I'm sorry, wasn't the op looking for options/ advice?
I'm sure an extra £20 would not make him bankrupt, it was an alternative to what you advised, which certainly ain't enough!

Friendly forum? I'm beginning to wonder!!
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Apologies if you thought my comment was unfriendly, it wasn't intended! But doesn't a sigma 50-500 cost a lot more than £320!
 
thanks for all the advice im in two minds now wether to buy the Tamron SP 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di VC USD or just hang on another month so that i will have some more money to play with as i would like a bigger lens but i can only get whats within my budget, my only problem is i hate waiting...

the sigma 50-500 is £999 new if its the right one that ive seen, thats way above my budget my wife would probably leave me if i was to cough up that kind of money lol

thanks again for the advice.

Rich
 
An often forgotten lens that can be suitable for wildlife is the Tokina 80-400mm f4.5-5.6 AT-X D. One of the smallest SLR lenses that zooms to 400mm with a f5.6 aperture. Could be picked up second-hand within your budget.
 
That's ok! ;-)

I was just giving an option, and not sure on price at this moment in time,I just know I paid £320 off flea bay and is spot on, so there must be others for that sort of money, that's all
 
richn said:
thanks for all the advice im in two minds now wether to buy the Tamron SP 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di VC USD or just hang on another month so that i will have some more money to play with as i would like a bigger lens but i can only get whats within my budget, my only problem is i hate waiting...

the sigma 50-500 is £999 new if its the right one that ive seen, thats way above my budget my wife would probably leave me if i was to cough up that kind of money lol

thanks again for the advice.

Rich
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Thats for the newer OS version.You wont go far wrong with the tamron VC I had one and its a great lens for the price.I actually tried it along side the nikon equivalent and walked away with the tamron:thumbs:
 
If you do hold off for the 50-500 then bear in mind that it's a lot bigger and heavier than something like a Tamron or canon 70-300.
 
stu.artd said:
If you do hold off for the 50-500 then bear in mind that it's a lot bigger and heavier than something like a Tamron or canon 70-300.
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,,and also it has no image stabilisation unless you go for the far more expensive version.:thumbs:
 
sigma 100-300 f4 comes to my mind...with a 1.4 tele converter in case the 300 doesn't reach.

but is your budget £2 to £300? or £200-£300 or £2000-£3000. hehe that's the real reason for my post :p

you should try to get a second hand lens as that will give you better quality (given the second hand lens hasn't been abused).
 
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ricky1980 said:
sigma 100-300 f4 comes to my mind...with a 1.4 tele converter in case the 300 doesn't reach.

but is your budget £2 to £300? or £200-£300 or £2000-£3000. hehe that's the real reason for my post :p

you should try to get a second hand lens as that will give you better quality (given the second hand lens hasn't been abused).
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Is the sigma 100-400 f4 an old lens? I've heard a few people mention this lens but it seems to be as rare as hens teeth! Or was only ever made for Nikon!!
 
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Its 100-300mm not 100-400mm f4.Its an older lens but superb build and image quality.I had one many years ago and it was very good even wide open.I regret selling it tbh.They do come up used occasionally but make sure you get a good copy:D
 
Sigma 100-300mm f4 is quite old now and no longer made but it is an excellent lens even wide open plus you can put a 1.4x on it with very little impact on image quality. I have a really rough copy (body is peeling everywhere but glass and AF is perfect) and tbh I prefer it to my Canon 70-300mm L (it even gives the 100-400mm a run for it's money with the TC).

You would have a hard time finding one for £300 though.
 
mjb123 said:
Is the sigma 100-400 f4 an old lens? I've heard a few people mention this lens but it seems to be as rare as hens teeth! Or was only ever made for Nikon!!
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it has been around for years. I think they have stopped it. but i think it's out of your budget. get the 70-300 VR. its good for what you need.

personally i would look for a f2.8 tele to get that extremely shallow depth of field so you can make the subject stand out from the back ground.

do a bit of research see if the lens that you can afford have good Bokeh or blur...very important

i also had a 100-300 years ago, and also regretted selling it.
 
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I shoot birds alot and to be honest you are going to really struggle with 300mm unless you are only a few feet away from the subject and rabbits and foxes will not let you that close.

I have the 100-400mm and struggle at times with birds. with the lens's mentioned you will be cropping quite heavily which brings down the picture quality.

I do not know how much you can save at anyone time thats personal BUT if you can keep saving my advice would be wait a while and save for the sigma 50-500, keep an eye in classifieds and buy second hand.
Nothing wrong with buying second hand if you are careful where you buy from. Wildlife really does need reach to get what you will be after. sticking tele converters on just causes all sorts of problems with the cheaper end market lens.
 
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