Which Lens to get?

[blade_922]

Im still familiarising myself with my new camera, never mind all the lenses that are available for it.

I have a Canon EOS 550D with an EFS 18-55mm lens.

Im looking to get a lens that can take a decent sized images from quite a distance away. Not hugely far but a little bit of distance. I would be mainly shooting buildings, people and birds.

Now i know that would mean looking for a lens with a higher mm range. Say something like EFS 55-250mm right? or wrong? What else would i be looking for in terms of making sure i get the right lens?

Your help is much appreciated.

Edit & Add: Im in the UK and have a budget of around £300 or less for my first lens.
Edit: Im looking at this http://www.jacobsdigital.co.uk/p-37985-jacobs-digital-canon-ef-55-200mm-f45-56-ii-usm.aspx
or this http://www.jacobsdigital.co.uk/p-36855-jacobs-digital-canon-ef-75-300mm-f4-56-iii-usm.aspx
The price is pretty much identical although one is 55-200mm and the other is 75-300mm

Would i be better going for the latter? If you can recommend any other please do so.

 

[paulefox]

I have the Tamron 17 50 VC and it is a great upgrade

 

[tris101]

If you could stretch your budget a little further you might be able to get a 2nd hand canon 70-200 f4 which is a fantastic lens and one you will not want to replace for some time to come. Have a read of some review.

I would recommend popping to a shop and trying a few different lens.

Also have read of the canon lens guide on the canon website.

 

[StewartR]

The EF-S 55-250mm punches well above its weight, so to speak. It's an excellent choice for the money. It's sharper than the 75-300 and it has IS. You have plenty of megapixels on your camera, so you can afford to crop your images, and I think a cropped image from that lens at 250mm is likely to be better than an uncropped image from the 75-300 at 300mm.