ken munn Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Just bought a used 350D with a new 18-55 IS lens as a first DSLR for a member of my family, and it'll be going on a low-rent trip around South America. I'd like to add a short(ish), light, cheap tele-zoom. Don't mind buying used or third party. IQ should be reasonably good, but I'm not expecting pin sharp at 1000 feet. I've discounted (well, not entirely) the 28-105 from Canon as having too much overlap with the standard zoom, and not going quite long enough, and the 28-135 for much the same reason. Sigma has a 55-200mm f/4-5.6 DC / HSM which is moderately priced - anyone know what it's like? Have any other 3rd parties got anything similar. Your suggestions welcomed, but please no L lenses, or manual lenses with adaptors, or a range of primes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdigi Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 The Canon 55-250 may be your best option. its only around $250 new Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein_andersen Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Tokina 50-150/2.8 ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason_hall4 Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 It seems that the 55-250 is indeed the best bet as it was designed to complement the 18-55. They are not the sharpest knives in the drawer but for sure a solid do it all combo. Just (as I am sure you know) stop them down a stop or two when ya can. I hope they have fun! Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_dunn2 Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 <p>I'll join the chorus: look at the Canon 55-250 IS. It's reasonably compact and inexpensive, has IS (which is very useful, particularly in a longer lens), and supposedly is not bad optically.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffs1 Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 The 55-250mm looks outstanding. I was in a quandary between that and the 28-135mm IS recently. I ended up with the 28-135mm because I wanted a bit shorter wide-end, but it was a tough decision... http://www.photozone.de/Reviews/Canon%20EOS%20Lens%20Tests/45-canon-eos-aps-c/194-canon-ef-s-55-250mm-f4-56-is-test-report--review Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry_smith2 Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 The older Canon 50-200/3.5-4.5, 70-210/3.5-4.5 USM or 70-210/4 will all do the job for you without being too expensive. Any of them should be better than any of the 55-200 lenses out there or the cheap 80-200 lenses. The Sigma 70-300/4-5.6 APO Macro II is also a good choice and has more reach plus 58 mm filter size. It sels for around USD 200 new. Avoid the non-APO version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbert Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 I can speak from experience that the EF-S 55-250 f4-5.6 is a very good lens and IQ wise well above the other cheapies. My copy is basically just as sharp wide open as stopped down and will easily withstand making great A4 size prints or larger. The IS seems to work just as well as the IS in my 24-105 f4 L. It is also small, light and suprisngly well built if you can forgive the plastic mount and rotating front element. Focus is reasonably quick for a non-USM lens. The EF 70-210 f3.5-4.5 USM is also a great lens if you want something with ring USM. Its about 90 per cent of the EF 70-200 f4 L at half the weight and a quarter of the cost. Personally I think the IS is more useful for travel photography. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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