i am interested in purchasing a 28-200+mm lens for my canon eos 1000f. i would like to spend around $200-300 max, probably mail order. i am a graphic designer who shoots photos for my work to fill in when stock or professional photography is not an option. i also take photos for my own use/viewing/art-based purposes. thank you!!! judy

-- judy hicks (hicksstudio@earthlink.net), June 21, 1999

Answers

Tamron's 28-200 Super. Inexpensive, lightweight, focuses close. Decent quality, fairly sturdy.

-- Jim Meyer (jim_meyer@compusa.com), June 22, 1999.

If it is for work related images, I don't think you should buy this lens. These do-it-all lenses are anything but opticaly great. Sure, they are convenient but that's about it. Buy a better zoom (Canon 28- 105 USM for exemple) or one or two single focal lenght lenses, you will see the difference believe me.

If the only purpose of the lens you want is to take 4x6" snapshots of your familly and friend, any lens is good enough...

Best regards,

lp

-- Louis-Philippe Masse (phisa@generation.net), June 22, 1999.

I agree with Louis-Phillipe. If you are going to sell these, then go for better quality. As far as I know, none of these super-wide range zooms provides the quality of primes or even zooms like the 28-105.

But if you are just using the photos for reference material, the convenience/weight factor might be more important. I use photos for paintings myself, and quality is not that much of an issue.

The other side of the coin is: since you have to spend time and effort wandering around shooting pictures, you might end up with a great shot that you can sell or just put up on your wall, and it would be a shame if the quality was bad because of a mediocre lens. The 28-105 Canon will cover most of the range, and is a very nice lens.

-- Jim Meyer (jim_meyer@compusa.com), June 23, 1999.

Judy, you said "for my EOS 1000F"... so which lenses you already have? Maybe they are better option than any 28-200 zoom...

-- Darek (dszpunnar@flash.net), June 23, 1999.