The die is cast.....Canon Lense anyone

[fuse04]

Having decided to go for a Canon and wondered if anyone had any experience of the 70-300 IS? Looking for a mid price good zoom for AKL and animals in the UK (live very a Zooilogical park and have a DD 9!)

Sorry Groucho and Catfanuk but there just isn't a good selction of lenses over here in the uk.

For you Nikon fans I have a Nikon PnS so thought it only fair to give everyone a lsice of the action

 

[jann1033]

couldn't decide between that one and the 70-200 f4, ended up with the 70-200 mainly cause the f4..the 70-300 is supposed to be very good, close to l glass quality and the copy i tested in the store seemed very good...a couple on here have it and the photos from it look great...
however i also got nervous due to previous problems with the 28-135 is ( the 70-300 IS is newer IS though) and i have read a few quiet little rumors about the IS having some problems in general even with the newer IS( which i would have dismissed out of hand had i not had the problems with my own lens) so grain of salt or truth, anyone's guess.
the build quality of the 70-200 is better. think the 70-300 may be a little less expensive. unless the IS rumors are true i think either would be a nice lens

 

[pisco]

I have been using the 70-300 for over a year now with no problems at all. The IS works like a dream and the image quality is very good. I would not put it on par with an L series lens, but for the size and weight trade offs it is good enough.

Here is an example of an action shot taken with this lens.




Click on the picture to see the full resolution version. This is a 3mp crop from a 6.3mp picture.

 

[Groucho]

Sorry Groucho and Catfanuk but there just isn't a good selction of lenses over here in the uk.

There's only some 27 million or so Pentax lenses in circulation, surely a few are over there.

Good luck with your choice, I'm sure you'll be happy with it (it's hard not to be happy with a DSLR, no matter which you choose.)

 

[DueyDooDah]

Having decided to go for a Canon and wondered if anyone had any experience of the 70-300 IS?

Have one. Love it. But, sometimes wish I had a bit more reach, esp. for animals. You should be OK for AK, though.

 

[Clotho]

Hubby has that exact lens (70-300 IS), and I have lens envy on a regular basis. We use it for photography at our local zoo, in particular, and his photos were just fabulous. He says for the money, it is an excellent lens.

 

[MassJester]

I too made the decision today...finally. (It should be here Monday-ish ) Canon XTi. I bought the inexpensive 50mm f/1.8 lens and will monkey around with that for a bit before deciding which others to bring on board. I think I'll learn the camera, and then decide on some lenses. I'll likely want to add a wide angle pretty quickly, but time will tell.

Any suggestions for a first picture?

 

[ndelaware]

I have the 70-300IS and love it. I have had it for a year and a half and it has worked flawlessly! The IS is truly impressive at 300mm.

 

[Clotho]

MassJester, my first "big" lens purchase was my 50mm and I use it most of all. It has so many uses, and I adore the results. Have fun!

 

[Boss Hogg]

Having decided to go for a Canon and wondered if anyone had any experience of the 70-300 IS?

Good choice Rob, which one are you opting for? Sorry to say I've no experience on that lens, but I am sure you will be very happy with the camera.

MassJester - with that lens I would practice inside, which should be easy with the lens' low light abilities.

 

[carolina_yankee]

I have the 70-300 IS and love it - it disappeared for awhile after I bought it, so I think Canon tinkered with it a bit - but I see it's available again.

Anyway - I wrestled wtih that or the 70-200 f/4 as well, and decided I wanted the longer reach. I'm still happy with that decision.

Dirk

 

[fuse04]

Good choice Rob, which one are you opting for? Sorry to say I've no experience on that lens, but I am sure you will be very happy with the camera.

After much sole seraching, visiting the three photo shops on a regular basis at lunch (had to start thinking about a disguise at one point!) and considering all the options, I have plumped for the Canon 400d (xti).

Have also ordered a 18-50 sigma (had better reviews than the kit lense) and Canon 70-300 usm IS. Will also order a canon 50mm 1.8 prime.

A big thanks to all the advice and to this forum. For those interested my rationale for the canon was

a) Good pedigree and the 400d gets great reviews
b) Seemed a good budget start to DSLR world whilst I learnt 'the trade'
c) reasonable light for carting around with the rest of the family stuff on days out
d) lense dust was more of a concern than having IS in body (but only just!)
e) I did compromise here because the D80 and K10d felt better in hand however the Canon did not feel bad and perhaps comparing to these two models is a bit unfair.
f) General advice was to save a bit of money on the body and spend more cash on lense (hence decent zoom)
g) a good freind also has Canon (35mm film)
h) good selection of lenses

As I say in being fair I have a Panasonic Camcorder (3 ccd), Nikon PnS, Pentax 35mm compact and when it arrives a Canon

thanks again folks and may I say this is such a friendly forum

Rob

 

[MassJester]

400 XTi's for everyone!

 

[handicap18]

400 XTi's for everyone!

Excellent,,,, I'll sell it on ebay and with the money i get from that I'll buy more lenses for my Nikon.

 

[MassJester]

Well now, that's hardly in the spirit

 

[Groucho]

d) lense dust was more of a concern than having IS in body (but only just!)
e) I did compromise here because the D80 and K10d felt better in hand however the Canon did not feel bad and perhaps comparing to these two models is a bit unfair.

Regarding D and E, just for the record, the K10D does have dust protection on the sensor, including the antistatic coating and the vibration to knock off loose dust.

 

[fuse04]

Regarding D and E, just for the record, the K10D does have dust protection on the sensor, including the antistatic coating and the vibration to knock off loose dust.

Spot on Groucho (sorry about the pun!) but the somewhat narrow minded and selfish shop would not sell me a K10 for the price of a EOS 400d (xti)

Now I have the lense candy to overcome....I wonder if that is actually possible!

Rob

 

[Groucho]

OK, just wanted to make sure that was known, it almost sounded like that was a reason you avoided both the D80 and K10D.

I doubt that anyone will be able to get a K10D for close to the price of an XTi - at Beach Camera, a body-only K10D is $849 and the XTi is $654... still, the body-only K10D is $50 cheaper than last I checked and the with-lens is $100 cheaper. C'mon baby, keep dropping, Daddy needs a new Pentax!

But yeah, the XTi is really more of a competitor to the K100D and D40/D50, the only thing that really stands out versus those is the higher mp count.

Enjoy your camera!

 

[fuse04]

The D80 and K10d were very temping but where do you stop

 

[jann1033]

The D80 and K10d were very temping but where do you stop

I'd stop when it comes down to when the wallet says either "groceries" or "camera stuff"?????