lens for eos 300

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Hi, As a newbie in SLR-photography I need some advice.I'm looking for a new lens for my EOS 300. I'm considering the 28-105 USM. Is this a good choice? Is the sigma/tamron 28-200 a good alternative? Is this extra bit at the tele-end worthwhile or do I loose too much quality? Feel free to give some more suggestions/remarks.

Thank you,Harold

-- harold (harold@wfw.wtb.tue.nl), August 15, 2001

Answers

EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5II USM

-It's a great all-round lens.

-Good sharpness. It may be a "consumer-grade" lens, but in my experience it is capable of very good performance.

-Focusing ring does not rotate with zooming or focusing.

-Has 7 rounded aperture blades for pleasing backgrounds.

-Ring-type USM with (mechanical) FTM (full time manual focusing while in AF mode). This works smoothly and is very handy.

-Focuses to a reasonably close 1:5 (gets to almost 1:2 with the canon 250D close-up lens)

-Reasonable price

- uses 58 mm filters, which are also used on several other Canon lenses.

-Mk I vs MkII version: Mk II has refined exterior finish, 7 aperture blades (instead of 5 on Mk I), and a wider zoom ring. Both have USM with FTM.

-Does have notieceable, but not bad, barrel distortion at 28mm. This is not a problem at all for outdoor scenic images (keep a flat horizon away from image edge), but could pose a problem for architectural shooting. (Ideally there you would want a T/S lens - for 700-800 USD more.)

Web refs:

http://www.usa.canon.com/camcambin/cameras/eflenses/ef28-105mm.html

http://www.canon-europa.com/products/products.html

On the other lens, my preference is to stick with Canon.

-- Rod Nygaard (rod.nygaard@boeing.com), August 15, 2001.


For me- as a newish EOS 300 owner, the answer I went for is the Sigma 28-80mm aspherical macro lens. Focuses down to 1:2 and is characteristically well-styled and sharp, as all my other Sigma lenses (for the FD system) have been.

My only lens regret is that I sold an FD fitting Sigma 24mm Filtermatic lens that had a built-in turret of correction and effect filters. It was strange and wonderful, and I didnt fully appreciate it til it was gone!

Cheers JIM

-- Jim Cross (iamacamera@hotmail.com), August 15, 2001.


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