I own an EOS 50 (Elan II) and when I bought it, it came with the 28-80mm. A year ago I bought the EF 50 mm f1.8, and I'm very happy with its results. Now I want to upgrade my zoom. I've realised when I go to the mountain I always want "wide angle" (always use the 28 mm) so I'm decided for the EF 28mm f2.8 (don't think I need ultra-wide zoom). I want a zoom something like 70-300, 100-300 for some outdoor photography, but more important to take pictures of peaple at home. Is there any better solution than the 100-300 USM or 75-300 USM (third party lens, I mean). I'm not willing to pay for an L lens.

For the 28 mm, is there any well-known third-party lens ?

-- Javier Alaiz (javier.alaiz@gmx.net), January 25, 2002

Answers

IŽd go for the Tamrom 70-300. I owned this lens a while ago and used it with a Nikon F80 and I got great results. Used it most for nature work.

-- Magnus (magnus.olausson@home.se), January 25, 2002.

For an affordable comsumer zoom, you won't fare any better optically than the EF 100-300 USM. The extremely fast internal focus, ring-type USM (i.e, silent AF motor), distance window and manual focus without switching out of AF mode position the Canon EF 100-300 USM as the best affordable choice. For twice the money you could get the EF 70-200 4L USM...

-- Puppy Face (doggieface@aol.com), January 25, 2002.

Optically, your two best options are the Canon 100-300 USM (unless, of course, you can find a 100-300 F5.6L) or a Sigma 70-300 APO (NOT the cheaper version, only the APO version). The Canon is a nicer design, with fast and silent AF, Full-time manual, and guaranteed compatibility. The Sigma has a close focus facility at 300mm, which may be of limited use to most people.

The, if optical quality is your main concern, look in this order: 100-300 F5.6L ($300), 100-300 USM ($260), Sigma 70-300 ($220). Those are ballpark figures.

-- Isaac Sibson (isibson@hotmail.com), January 26, 2002.

Hi,

I have only experience with the new Tamron 70-300 LD 1:2 Marco model but i did quite some research on it before buying, and it had the best price vs. performance ration ($200 US). (absolute performance better than 75-300 Canon, comparable or better than the new nikkor 70-300)

My personal experiences are: Excellent at 70-200 range. Above 200 range, camera shake becomes a problem for handheld operations, and the aperture goes from 4 -> 4.5-5.6 making the problem even worse.

Conclusion: excellent 70-200 lens, and maybe 200-300 on sunny days

-- Marco van der Meijden (vanderMeijden@fel.tno.nl), January 28, 2002.