Telephoto Lens

sachin

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Hi all,

I have a Canon 40D and the only lens that I have with it is the Tamron 17-50. It's quite a good lens but one thing I find is since it doesn't have a great zoom range it is not great for zooming in on far away subjects such as a person in a crowd or a building in the distance. Can someone suggest a zoom lens that I could get for this purpose?

Thanks,

Sachin
 
I didn't really have a budget in mind. I was hoping to get something good like an 'L' lens but am not sure if that would be wasted on a 40D. I guess £500 or a £1000 is what I'm looking at. I can try and convince the misses to let me spend more. :)
 
Canon 70-200 F4 L, 70-200 F2.8 L or 100-400 L. All great, difference will be speed, reach and price.
 
With the two lenses that go from 70 to 200 what's the difference, in technical terms? I see that one is f/4 the other f/2.8. What does this difference mean technically?
 
With the two lenses that go from 70 to 200 what's the difference, in technical terms? I see that one is f/4 the other f/2.8. What does this difference mean technically?

F2.8 lens allows twice as much light through as an F4 lens so gives you a whole extra "stop" of exposure in lower lighting conditions (so can use faster shutter speed if necessary) and also allows you to chose to shoot with a narrower depth of field... F2.8 lens is also likely to be a fair bit heavier and more expensive...

Jim
 
You should really know what aperture is before spending 1k on a lens.
 
You should really know what aperture is before spending 1k on a lens.

...unless it's a present for me of course ;) :devil:

Jim
 
I knew what aperture was but I didn't know it was something that was set on a lens as well. I know you can adjust it on a camera.
 
A mod dissing a Sony user, you saw it here first folks! All we get is abuse.
 
Oh behave, that's why there was a :D and a :devil: at the end to imply humour....
 
Oh behave, that's why there was a :D and a :devil: at the end to imply humour....

Easy to say once youve already done the damage and hurt our feelings. :rotfl:
 
Easy to say once youve already done the damage and hurt our feelings. :rotfl:

Yeah - and me being so thin skinned I could be scarred for life :)

Jim
 
Hi all,

I have a Canon 40D and the only lens that I have with it is the Tamron 17-50. It's quite a good lens but one thing I find is since it doesn't have a great zoom range it is not great for zooming in on far away subjects such as a person in a crowd or a building in the distance. Can someone suggest a zoom lens that I could get for this purpose?

Thanks,

Sachin

I'll stick my oar in with the Sigma 120-400mm f4.5-5.6. Relatively cheap and I like mine. It doesn't sound to me like you need a constant aperture lens.
 
I'll stick my oar in with the Sigma 120-400mm f4.5-5.6. Relatively cheap and I like mine. It doesn't sound to me like you need a constant aperture lens.

What are implications of having a single aperture lens to a variable aperture one? It sounds like it would be harder to use a variable aperture one.
 
What are implications of having a single aperture lens to a variable aperture one? It sounds like it would be harder to use a variable aperture one.

Cost. Have a look at the cost of a constant aperture upto 400mm zoom for example. :)

It is not harder to use and for a crowd shot or distant building you don't "need" a constant aperture lens.

*Size and weight too.
 
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Yes, I just found out how much a Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM costs and nearly fell out of my seat. That's not the kind I need at all. I need something simpler.
 
Canon 70-200mm f/4 IS, if you are comfortable going second hand a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS. Good thing about second hand buying is even if you don't get on with it after a month or so you can sell it for what you paid almost although obviously you need to get a good one and buying from forums is probably what I'd do and avoid ebay.

If you don't want to break the bank the Canon 70-200mm f/4 (non-IS) is good value for money.
 
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Canon 70-200mm f/4 IS, if you are comfortable going second hand a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS. Good thing about second hand buying is even if you don't get on with it after a month or so you can sell it for what you paid almost although obviously you need to get a good one and buying from forums is probably what I'd do and avoid ebay.

If you don't want to break the bank the Canon 70-200mm f/4 (non-IS) is good value for money.

From the OP I would suggest that 200mm is too short.
 
If it was wildlife or planes the OP mentioned I would say a Canon 100-400mm, but people and buildings a 70-200mm should be a good focal length if you are used to a 17-50mm.
 
What about the new Tamron 70-300mm Di SP VC USD? Getting rave reviews. Tamron 70-300mm F4-5.6 SP Di VC USD | Buy Tamron 70-300 Lens Online

Free Tamron UV filter and a 5 year Tamron warranty and the price is pretty good too. By all accounts it's a darned nice lens throughout the range with good colours, bokeh and sharpness and it's optically stabilised.

Do the research.
 
What are implications of having a single aperture lens to a variable aperture one? It sounds like it would be harder to use a variable aperture one.

The aperture specification in a lens refers to the maximum aperture available (widest opening, smallest F-number) not the amount of apertures available. So for a 70-200mm F4 (constant aperture) lens you can shoot with the lens at 70mm and F4 then you can zoom to 200mm and stay at F4.

With a variable aperture lens such as a 70-200mm F4 - F5.6, you can set the lens to 70mm and F4 but when you zoom to 200mm the maximum aperture you can set is F5.6, a stop slower. With either lens you can choose slower apertures (F4+) it's just the constant aperture lens allows the same aperture throughout the zoom range.

The advantage of a constant aperture lens is that you don't have to use a slower aperture when zoomed in but the tradeoff is that constant aperture lenses are usually more expensive as well as physically larger and heavier. Wide apertures are particularly useful on a telephoto lens as that means higher shutter speeds to compensate for camera shake which is more of an issue the longer the focal length.

John
 

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