Which 70/300 for Canon

Good to know there is a good shop near me. :)

Thanks everyone for your help.
 
Last edited:
Just thought I'd share my thoughts on the 55-250 and Tamron 70 - 300 vc usd.
I had the 55-250 and I sold it after a few months, optically it's ok but the AF is painfully slow and it's not as sharp as the Tamron and the IS is not as good as the tamron ether. I bought the Tamron 70-300 VC USD second hand 3 month old for £180 and for the quality of this bit of kit I would have happily payed double.
 
lucky_13 said:
Just thought I'd share my thoughts on the 55-250 and Tamron 70 - 300 vc usd.
I had the 55-250 and I sold it after a few months, optically it's ok but the AF is painfully slow and it's not as sharp as the Tamron and the IS is not as good as the tamron ether. I bought the Tamron 70-300 VC USD second hand 3 month old for £180 and for the quality of this bit of kit I would have happily payed double.
Click to expand...

Thanks for thoughts, so you think the tamron is the way to go. The reviews I read on the tamron say it lacks sharpness at 300mm, have you noticed this?
 
Ok, I currently have a canon 15-85 and a canon 100 macro lens. Both these offer USM with manual AF override and are pretty sharp. Seeing as I have these, will I be disappointed with the IQ of the 55-250 and general features of it ?
 
Another that might be worth a look is the Tamron 55-200mm. OK it's only 200mm :D but it's very cheap (Googling got me to a new one for £90) and as I remember it got rave reviews when it first came out, and it's compact and light.

The 200mm end not being 300mm :D may be a killer but I just thought I'd mention it, I was impressed by the reviews and did think about buying one as for £90 for such a well reviewed lens you can't really go wrong.
 
I went for a Tamron 70-300 VC. Its fine at 300mm.
 
Last edited:
lucky_13 said:
Just thought I'd share my thoughts on the 55-250 and Tamron 70 - 300 vc usd.
I had the 55-250 and I sold it after a few months, optically it's ok but the AF is painfully slow and it's not as sharp as the Tamron and the IS is not as good as the tamron ether. I bought the Tamron 70-300 VC USD second hand 3 month old for £180 and for the quality of this bit of kit I would have happily payed double.
Click to expand...

Lucky b****r where did you manage to get 1 that cheap!!
 
Steve W said:
Ok, I currently have a canon 15-85 and a canon 100 macro lens. Both these offer USM with manual AF override and are pretty sharp. Seeing as I have these,

will I be disappointed with the IQ of the 55-250 and general features of it ?
Click to expand...

Yes you will be disappointed. I speak from experience and the lack of sharpness on the tamron was only on the first few batches of the lens at the time when some of the reviews were made, try and find a recent review. I only have had the lens a few days and I tested the sharpness of this lens the same way I test all my lenses by using the same subject, a 7.62mm bullet. I than view the image at 100% crop and all the scuffs and grazes on the bullet show with immense detail. If the scuffs and grazes are slightly blury than I know it's not a sharp lens or miss focused and belive you me at 300mm it's pretty fu#@$&g sharp, I can't tell apart **** one was taken with my 15-85 and which with the 70-300 vc. All the tests I do are hand held too and at 300mm 1/30 shutter is pretty impressive but from 1/60 @ F/5.6 it's razor sharp. Check out this http://betterfamilyphotos.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/the-overachiever-tamron-70-300-vc.html?m=1 and youtube thatnikonguy and have a look at his review too don't just take my word for it.
 
I see you have a Canon 15-85 as well, so you are happy the Tamron is of the same IQ etc.

I'll look into the Tamron then.

CHeers
 
Steve W said:
Ok, I currently have a canon 15-85 and a canon 100 macro lens. Both these offer USM with manual AF override and are pretty sharp. Seeing as I have these, will I be disappointed with the IQ of the 55-250 and general features of it ?
Click to expand...

Probably yes. The EF-S 15-85 is as good as an L lens for image quality the 55-250 isnt going to be as sharp as that, but as ive stated its very good and shoots above its level.

Your best answer is to take your camera body with a card in it to your local camera shop, try a few lenses go home and view them at your liesure this way you will be able to see the differences and compare quality/price.
 
Steve W said:
I see you have a Canon 15-85 as well, so you are happy the Tamron is of the same IQ etc.

I'll look into the Tamron then.

CHeers
Click to expand...

Yes very happy. Do what Mark2002 said. I did that including the sigma 120-400 but iq wise the tammy came top trumps for me.
 
mark2002 said:
Your best answer is to take your camera body with a card in it to your local camera shop, try a few lenses go home and view them at your liesure this way you will be able to see the differences and compare quality/price.
Click to expand...

Good idea, I will do that, thanks for your advice Mark.

I'm now thinking about blowing the budget and going for the Canon 70-300 L as I know I will not be disappointed with it. :thinking:
 
Steve W said:
Good idea, I will do that, thanks for your advice Mark.

I'm now thinking about blowing the budget and going for the Canon 70-300 L as I know I will not be disappointed with it. :thinking:
Click to expand...

Might as well get a new body to go with it as you probably not gonna see the full potential of the 70-300L on the sensor of a 450d
 
Well I have been thinking that will be the next upgrade as the noise on high iso settings on the 450d is not good at all (well my one at least).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top