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Hello Everyone!
I am going to upgrade my 18-55 mm lens, and am looking for a low aperture telephoto lens for my Canon Rebel T7. Are there any good ones under $200?
I expect it to be very hard to find a good low-aperture telephoto zoom lens under 200$. The only telephoto zoom lens under 200$ that I am aware of is the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6, at 199$.
Ideally when looking for a telephoto lens, you want to look for one with image stabilisation. As a side note, this changes names based on which company makes the lens… Canon – Image Stabilization, (IS) Nikon – Vibration Reduction (VR), Sigma – Optical Stabilization (OS), Tamron – Vibration Compensation (VC), Leica – MegaOIS, Pentax – Shake Reduction (SR). Ideally you want f/4 or f/2.8, depending on the kind of work you do. But, if you want an f/2.8 telephoto zoom lens with IS you are looking north of 1000$ at best.
If you don’t mind having a prime lens, then you might actually get what you are wanting by getting a cheap third-party lens, such as the Meike MK-85mm f/1.8. This is a cheap lens, and has its issues, but you can’t really do better in terms of fast lenses (large-aperature) for the price.
If you want to save a bit you could also look at used lenses, ideally from a reputable company. At the time of writing, B&H has a used Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II for 90$ and a 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 USM II for 110$. The IS version has Image Stabilisation and the USM version has the built-in focus motor. Even used, you have to go up to 560$ before getting to a Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM (a great lens, though without IS) or the Tamron 70-210mm f/4 Di VC USD, which has VC.
Sorry for the rambling… I hope this was more helpful than discouraging!
Oh my goodness! There are way more factors to consider in buying a lens than a camera!!! I would like to take close-up pictures of birds and planes, so could you perhaps narrow down your recommendations based on that?
I really appreciate you helping me with this, and while you’re at it, may I ask you what you think is the best affordable wide angle lens- also under $200? I have also heard that you don’t strictly need to buy your camera brand, as there are Canon adapters for some non-Canon lenses.
Do you think this would be a good bundle to buy? I really like low light photography, so would want an f/1.8 along with a wide angle. 10-18mm is really good, considering it has IS and my current (and only) lens’ aperture starts at 18mm and zooms to 55mm. Then I would need a telephoto lens on top of that.
@dfrazer, @lenspirationlydia, and @jamesstaddon, what thoughts do you all have?
Hi @warrior-princess, could you share the link to the bundle that you were referring to?
@warrior-princess, I like to take pictures of birds too! I have found that bird photography isn’t necessarily one of those genre’s of photography that needs to be done at the edge of light. In fact, bird photos generally benefit from direct sunlight on the bird because it provides catch lights in the eyes and causes iridescent colors in feathers to pop. It’s still advantageous to photograph birds in the morning and late afternoon when the light is more colorful than midday, but I wouldn’t be too concerned about the aperture needing to be ultra wide. The fact that you are zoom in 200mm or more will also make the background very blurry. You don’t have to rely as much on aperture to make the background blurry like you do with wide to mid-range lenses. Like @dfrazer said, if you’re on a tight budget, you’ll probably have to rely on image stabilizer instead of wide apertures to deal with those slower shutter speeds.
Having said that, for bird photography, you really need more than 200mm. I use a 2x extender on my 200mm lens (which limits the aperture from f2.8 to f/4), so that brings it up to 400mm. If I put that lens on a cropped sensor camera, then it’s the equivalent of a whopping 640mm. Though I still wish I could get closer sometimes, and though my bird photos aren’t incredibly sharp, it works well for me.
So, you really need 200mm at the minimum. And I don’t think you are going to find a telephoto lens of that focal length for $200 or less, especially with image stabilizer (let alone, an f/2.8, or even an f/4 aperture). You will really need to save up more. Find your ideal lens/setup, and then start saving toward that goal. It took me many years to get to the setup I have right now.
But, that doesn’t mean you can’t do close-up bird photos with 200mm or less! Until you can get a better system, bring the birds closer to you with a bird feeder and shoot from a “blind” like your living room window!
You could consider buying used or open-box. Then you could get a better quility lens for cheeper. I bought both my D7200 and my Tamron 24-70 used and I haven’t had any trouble with them.
I bought the camera at Adorama.
-HannahNow, about wide angle lenses, @warrior-princess! I can see where a wide aperture would be important here. You mentioned enjoying low-light photography. Getting an ultra wide lens that has an ultra wide aperture will help you a lot. However, again, I doubt you’ll find anything ultra wide aperture (f/2.8 or wider) in your budget unless it’s a prime lens.
@jamesstaddon I can’t believe I didn’t link the bundle to my message! Here it is…
The first one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L2FNRBP/?coliid=IPHBE3ZLA5VL6&colid=2UAPDR3UVKOZ3&psc=1&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it
And the second one I found https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FDQMNJQ/?coliid=I2JVNNDIFJ3JGW&colid=2UAPDR3UVKOZ3&psc=1&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it
I am willing to pay up to $400 if I have to to get a good lens. (with one or two included)
Oh, and the wide angle wouldn’t be for birds, but for landscapes. I find my 18mm is much too zoomed in to allow for the kind of landscapes I want to take. And about the low aperture telephoto, I was thinking of low light photography as in taking low light portraits at night, moon photos, and city light wide angle shots. I’m sorry I didn’t make that clear. I was so excited I forgot to elaborate. 😀
After reading your last comment, James, I edit mine because I see you understood all along!
@jamesstaddon I don’t mind a wide angle prime lens! Do you know of a good one in particular?
@lenspirationlydia…what thoughts do you all have?
Sorry for the delayed response. 🙂
I have not ever owned anything wider than an 18mm, and I’ve found that focal length to be sufficient for my needs. However, that’s me. Different people may have different opinions. 🙂 There was one time I borrowed a lens that was wider than that and it was fun to use for that day.
As far as prime lenses go, I personally am not a fan. The only one I have experience with is the 50mm. Some people love prime lenses. Personally I appreciate the flexibility a zoom lens gives me. Again, that’s just me, and who knows maybe one day down the road I’ll change my mind.
One more thought I’ll just throw out there. My encouragement to other photographers is to make the most of the equipment you currently have, learn to use it to its fullest potential, and then if you find limitations, go ahead and consider upgrading. I get it. Pro lenses are pro for a reason. They’re good. However, I find that it’s easy to fall into the thought that it’s the equipment that takes good pictures, not the photographer. Someone will ask me what camera I use so they can get it too, because “it takes beautiful pictures”. No, it’s the photographer who takes the beautiful pictures. I used an entry level camera with entry level lenses for quite a while. That’s the camera I learned to take beautiful pictures on. And then when the time came that I was literally reaching nd recognizing limitations with my equipment, that’s when I went ahead and upgraded.
I don’t know if this thought applies to your situation or not, but it’s just an encouragement I like to put out there when folks are considering upgrades. 🙂 God give wisdom in your decisions!
@lenspirationlydia thank you for your wisdom!
Fortunately, I am not at the point where I think the equipment makes the beautiful pictures, but I do feel limited- especially as my zoom lens goes up to 55mm only, and I find myself over and over again trying to get a shot of something further that I can’t walk up closer to (i.e. birds, stars and moon, aircraft, my dog from a distance, etc.)
I think right now that a telephoto lens is more important to me than a wide angle, but if it is good to get the two together in the link that I shared, I will buy that. What do you and @jamesstaddon and @dfrazer think of the links I shared? Also, @buddingphotographer, I know you have a lot of wisdom on theses things as well. What do you think?
@lenspirationlydia said:
The only one I have experience with is the 50mm. Some people love prime lenses.
That’s me! You learn eventually to “zoom with your feet” instead of your fingers. It’s strange at first.
I was given a broken 50mm f/1.8 prime lens once. It had no autofocus, no IS, and it fell apart literally in my hand if I wasn’t careful. Eventually the thing got stuck at f/1.8! It was practically scrap, but I fell in love with it.
For separating a small subject from a cluttered background, nothing could beat that lens, not even a zoom macro. The background blur you get is AWESOME. Of course, it depends what kind of pictures you want to take. But I really believe that some of my best pictures would simply never have happened without that lens.Here’s my advice: find a photographer who will lend you two or three good, but different, lenses for a few hours of shooting. That can help in feeling out your needs/wants sometimes.
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