Zoom Lens for Canon 50D

<p>Hey guys, I am young and very new to photography but have a great desire to pursue a career in it. I recently purchased a Canon 50D and have been playing around for a few months. I would really love to purchase a zoom lens but do not know where to start or what to buy, I realize it wont be cheap but I am willing to start saving up money. Any help would be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>Thank You,<br>

Cole </p>

<p>Hey Cole. The best advice I can give you would be to rent! Since we don't know what your intended subjects are, whether you like shooting indoors or out, at night or day, it's difficult to make an informed suggestion. There are probably a hundred zoom lenses from Canon, Sigma, Tokina, and Tammron that will fit your 50D and each one will have it's advantages and disadvantages for a given situation and budget.</p>

<p>When I was hunting for a wide-angle lens for my 40D I couldn't decide so I began renting. I tried the Sigma and Tokina, along with the Canon 10-22. I eventually bought the Canon but I felt like I was making an informed decision by actually using all of them. Many rental places will rent from Friday to Monday for a single day rental fee.</p>

<p>First of all thank you for your help, and I usually like to shoot in the morning and throughout the day, I love nature photography but also action. So it would be nice to find a lens that would be comparable for both. I will try to find a good rental place.</p>

<p>Which lenses do you already have? Are you looking for a telelens, or a wide-angle? A zoomlens can be any range, so it's kind of hard to say. Also nature photography can use pretty much anything: from wide-angle landscapes to supertele birding.</p>

<p>So please try to be more specific what you want this lens to do, how much budget you think is do-able and what you already have, and the answers you may get will be much more useful.</p>

<p>At the moment all I have is the 18-55mm lens that my 50D came with. I have done little research but I think a tele lens would fit for what I am trying to do. Any lens that can take a subject somewhat far away and make it look as if it is right in front of me (and clear) will work for me. I have a couple hundred saved up and with the help of Christmas money, I believe anything that isn't to crazy (under $1000) is do-able. I just need a good lens at a good price for a beginner photographer.</p>

<p>The logical companion for your kit lens is probably the <a href="http://www.photozone.de/canon-eos/411-canon_55250_456is_50d">EF-S 55-250/4-5.6 IS</a> , currently goes for ~$255. Certainly you can spend more, get something faster, longer, better-built, but this is the basic. Next step up in reach would be EF 70-300/4-5.6 USM IS ($530). The non-IS 70-200/4 is a little faster, should be optically superior, and is much better built--represents good value at ~$600. The IS version is priced much higher though, ~$1100-1200. If you want more reach, the Tokina 80-400 is compact for its focal range and a pretty good value. For more reach at lower cost, there are a few different versions of Sigma 70-300/4-5.6, including "OS" (stabilized, like Canon "IS"), and APO versions.</p>

<p>There are also some even less expensive (available new for as little as $140) unstabilized 55-200/4-5.6 lenses from Canon, Sigma, and Tamron which are probably better than their price would suggest but are probably not as good as the Canon 55-250.</p>

<p>Even if you at some point outgrow some of the more budget-priced options, you'll appreciate the small size and light weight compared to some of the higher quality, pricier choices and you'll be making a more educated decision about what you really want before you make a more substantial cash outlay.</p>

<p>Thank you all so much for your help and I will keep all of your suggestions in mind, when looking for the right lens.<br>

Thank you,<br>

Cole</p>

<p>Hi Cole,<br>

Definitely some great suggestions.<br>

If your budget is tight but you want to get the most out of a couple of lenses, I would recommend getting a 28-75mm f2.8 for your outdoor/action and something like a 70-300mm 4-5.6 for some longer shots.<br>

The 2 lenses will give you some good range from up close to semi-far and you can get both for under $700.<br>

I still use both of the sizes I recommended and I've had the 300mm since 2002 and originally used it with my Elan 7 film camera. The 75mm is one of my favorites as well.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>This is great advice. I usually avoid these "what lens?" threads but I'm glad I stopped by, Andrew's got me dreaming about new lenses.</p>

<p>IM NEW TO THIS FORUM BUT I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THE LENSES. I GO BACK TO THE DAYS OF CANON AE-1 AND NOW I'VE IM BACK INTO THE GAME FOR THE PAST YEAR AND A HALF. THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN A HOBBY BUT COULD TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL. I TO HAVE A 50D WITH AN 18-55MM AND EFS 55-250MM IS. I'VE BEEN HAVING SOME GREAT LUCK WITH THE 55 - 250 TAKING FOOTBALL (YTL ) ALSO MY DAUGHTER WITH CHEERLEADING BUT A FRIEND SAID I NEED TO MOVE UP WITH LENSES IF I PLAN ON MOVING UP TO MAYBE HIGH SCHOOL OR COLLEGE. I INQUIRED AT B&H PHOTO ABOUT LENSES, I MENTIONED CANON 100 - 400MM F/4 @ ABOUT $1500 BUT THEY SAID TRY SIGMA 150 - 500MM F/5-6.3 FOR ABOUT $1000. I KNOW YOU SOMETIMES GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. THANKS IN ADVANCE</p>

<p>Anthony, it is likely that the Canon is somewhat better-constructed, not that the Sigma's are particularly substandard in this regard. One of my thoughts is that the Canon 100-400/4.5-5.6L you mention is a push-pull zoom design, which some may not like. Another is that while it's no lightweight, it's probably a bit more hand-holdable than a 150-500. Neither lens is super speedy at the long end of the zoom, but at f/5.6, the Canon may be a little more autofocus-friendly in mediocre light.</p>

<p>Anyway, I have no direct experience with either lens, but I'll mention there's also a similar but slightly smaller & cheaper Sigma 120-400/4.5-5.6. Most zooms like this suffer performance drops at full zoom but are a bit better somewhat shy of that--so for example it wouldn't be super-surprising if that the Sigma 150-500 may be a little better at 400mm than the Canon is.<br>

For more on this lens, type "Sigma 150-500" in the search box at the upper right corner of these pages.<br>

Other possible choices:<br>

A 300/4 or 70-200/2.8, plus a 1.4x teleconverter for effective 420/5.6 or 100-280/4. The Sigma 100-300/4 is also excellent, and with converter would be a decent 140-420/5.6.</p>

<p>ANDREW THANKS A LOT FOR YOUR HELP. I FORGOT TO MENTION I WAS AT A RAVEN / STEELER GAME IN BALTIMORE IN NOV. AND I HAD GREAT SEATS AND BELIEVE IT OR NOT MY CANON 55-250 GOT SOME REALLY NICE SHOTS. I KNOW IF I HAD ONE OF THE ZOOMS WERE'RE TALKING ABOUT I WOULD HAVE BEEN RIGHT IN THEIR FACE. NEXT TIME. THANKS AGAIN.</p>