Canon 5D zoom lens question

[phyliss_crowe]

<p>I’ve been reading that the Canon 75-300 IQ is inferior to the IQ of the 70-300 (and you will pay for it) and that the main IQ complaint about the 75-300 is vignetting at the long end.</p>

<p>Does the 5D being a full frame camera have any positive/correcting effect on the 75-300 Canon or is this issue inherent in the lens itself?</p>

<p>Any other budget friendly recommendations (i.e., non-L glass) for a long zoom from 200 to 300mm? The 5D kit lenses were not included with the camera, but it seems the EF-S 55-250 kit lens is popular. Nikon glass would also be a consideration as there are adapters to use those lenses on the 5D, and the 5D owner shoots mainly in manual.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

[gregf]

<p>EF-S lenses like the lens you comment on (EF-S 55-250) will not work with the 5D.</p>

[JosvanEekelen]

<p>Nikon lenses will be all manual, no autofocus and no automatic closing of the aperture. The choice is yours but (a) manual focus with a relatively slow zoom can be a pita and (b) stopping down after focussing can really slow you down. In the end it depends on subjects you shoot but I's steer away from all manual lenses.</p>

[Wouter Willemse]

<p>The Nikon lenses that reach to 300mm that deliver good performance, will cost the same or more as the Canon counter-part.<br>

Vignetting is not that difficult to correct, but it will be more pronounced on a full-frame camera than it will be on an APS-C camera. Still, not the most annoying flaw a lens can have.</p>

[phule]

<p>Compared to the cost of the 70-300 IS L, the 70-300 IS is quite budget friendly! :) </p>

<p>A used 70-300 IS can be picked up for very good prices. I would recommend that route.</p>

[tommyinca]

<p>If AF performance is not that important, check out a used EF100-300/5.6L, ~$300. It has both fancy fluorite and UD glass. IMHO, most XX-300 zoom without fancy ED glass are soft between 200-300mm.</p>

[Ken Katz]

The Tamron 70-300 VC is very well regarded and will probably be cheaper than the Canon.

 

http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/tamron_70-300_vc_review.html

[JDMvW]

<p>There have been a lot of ~70(something)-300mm Canon lenses over the years,</p>

<p>Here is an eBay review that is only slightly out of date: http://reviews.ebay.com/Canon-EF-70-300mm-Range-Zooms?ugid=10000000001516026</p>

[phyliss_crowe]

<p>Thanks, folks! Good information to chew on. She's coming over tonight so we'll be running through all your suggestions.</p>

<p>The reason we're looking is that I bought the 5D owner a gold band Sigma APO 70-300mm last year for use on her 450D, and she found that she loves the daylights out of that focal range. Unfortunately, she left her car unlocked one day and someone helped themselves to the 450D, her iPod, and a couple other things. So she replaced the 450D with this 5D and she gets an error message when the Sigma is mounted on it. I don't know what that message is as I haven't seen it and she didn't say, but I will ask her when she comes over tonight.</p>

<p> As far as I know, neither the camera or the lens have been traumatized. I believe the Sigma is only 5 to 6 years old, and the 1990s Tokina Aspherical AF zoom she has works perfectly on the 5D. So shouldn't this Sigma work on it, too?</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

[Marcus Ian]

<p>The original 75-300 IS was quite soft at the long end, both the EF 70-300 IS and the Tamron 70-300 VC are much much better. I haven't used any of the EF 75-300 non-IS lenses in the last 5yrs+ , so I couldn't comment on them, but the 75-300 IS was soft, and had some vignetting even on cropped sensors (going FF only makes it worse -always)</p>

<p>Of course going w/o IS may impact your IQ much more substantially (depending on your skill) so while I would firmly advocate developing a skillset that makes IS largely irrelevant, you'll have to be realistic about the impact choosing a telephoto w/o some sort of IS or VC will have on your shooting.</p>

[mendel_leisk]

<p>Does the 5D being a full frame camera have any positive/correcting effect on the 75-300 Canon or is this issue inherent in the lens itself?</p>

<p>Full frame will only make vignetting much worse, getting out to the extremes of the len's coverage. That said, it can be corrected in post processing. And in past, it was actually a sought after effect.</p>

<p>(I'm assuming you mean gradual light fall-off for vignette. Purist would define vignette as the much more abrupt fade-to-black.</p>

[sravan]

<p>The issue I had witht he 75-300 was that when i even looked a bit below the horizon the barrel would slip if i removed my hand to do any focussing. The weight of the lens moved the zoom automatically and it was very very annoying for me.<br>

The softness i could live with(at that time), the vignetting was to me ok, but the zoom creep or focus creep if I removed my hand from the lens was a deal breaker for me.</p>

 

[Marcus Ian]

<p>I had that problem too, but it wasn't to loose, usually just a problem carrying, solved it w/ a black silicon wrist band.</p>

[Ken Katz]

The Canon 70-300IS has a zoom lock to eliminate zoom creep, the Tamron does not have one but according to Bob Atkins, there isn't much of a problem. My Canon 100-300 didn't have any serious zoom creep, but it's sharpness and contrast eroded quickly beyond 200MM. If I were to buy a 70-300 today for full frame, I would probably go with the Tamron, primarily based on Bob's review. I would not consider a telezoom without IS.

[phyliss_crowe]

<p>Well, I talked to my friend and it turns out she has the 7D, not the 5D.</p>

<p>She didn't have her camera with her when she visited, but she's pretty sure it gave her the Communications error. The Sigma was mounted on her camera and was working perfect the last time she used it. Then she swapped it out for a prime to do a school project. She put the big lens in its box and stored it in her closet while she used the prime. After the project, she switched them out again, and then got the communication error with the big lens.</p>

<p>The camera was turned off each time she changed lenses. As I said, the Sigma was practically new when I got it for her and has worked flawlessly - about a year - the very few times she's used it. I suggested she "erase" the contacts and try it again. Haven't heard anything as to how that worked.</p>

<p>Also, right after she bought the camera, she inserted what turned out to be a defective flash card - the contacts bent backwards inside the camera when she tried to remove it, and she had to send it in for repair. It's worked fine since with a new card, but is it possible another card issue might be involved? I know there are error messages specific to card problems, but still...</p>

<p>If cleaning the contacts doesn't work, I'm leaning toward a nice gently used Tamron (the new one is out of budget) except that I know from the pentaxusers forum, many people have an issue with CA from this lens over a variety of cameras. That's what pushed me to buy a Sigma instead for my K200D.</p>

<p>So which older Tamron 70-300 is best? I was once told to look for the LD or LI or DI or some such designation to get the good one?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>