Home › Forums › Photography Q&A › Telephoto Lens Recommendations
- This topic has 33 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 8 months, 3 weeks ago by Anastasia Nguyen.
-
AuthorPosts
-
June 9, 2023 at 10:29 pm #79887Warrior PrincessParticipant
@cheesestick Thanks for the advice!!
June 12, 2023 at 5:03 pm #79912Logan LamarParticipantI have the EXACT bundle you are looking at (the 10-18 and the 50mm). I bought it to supplement my kit 18-200 lens about five years ago.
After 5 years and having expanded my collection by a couple more lenses, the 50mm 1.8 is one of my favorite lenses ever. In my opinion, you can’t get a better lens for the money. It’s super sharp (I’d say rivaling pro-grade zoom lenses), it’s great for portraits, it makes some of the creamiest bokeh you’ll ever see at low apertures and some of the nicest sun stars as well. It’s an easy focal length to walk around with too. I like to play with extension tubes on this as well… which effectively turns this into a macro lens.
You likely won’t use the 10-18mm as much, but it’s also really nice! It’s definitely a landscape-oriented lens and is great for including a foreground or lots of sky. It has some of the quietest autofocus I’ve ever used. With a little practice you can even use it to take star trail photos. It’s probably one of the least-used lenses I own right now but I enjoy having it in my kit.As far as telephotos are concerned, yeah… you’re likely not going to get a really nice one for $200. When I’ve been in situations when I know I’ll need a telephoto for an upcoming event or something, I usually rent a 70-200 2.8 (with image stabilization and the other bells and whistles). For a walk around, go for the 55-250 that people are recommending. It’ll get your foot in the door for telephoto photos, and you can see if you even like that style of shooting. It won’t be the sharpest or the best for low light but it will get you closer to the action! Buy used off of B&H or KEH to save a few bucks.
June 12, 2023 at 5:30 pm #79913Logan LamarParticipant@warrior-princess
Example photos with the 10-18mm…June 12, 2023 at 5:40 pm #79918Logan LamarParticipantJune 12, 2023 at 10:32 pm #79961Warrior PrincessParticipant@loganlamar Oh my, I rally appreciate your help with this, Logan! From reading your other forum additions as well, I can tell God gave you a LOT of wisdom in helping others with their photography.
I am now torn between first buying the bundle you have, and getting a used telephoto lens… I find myself trying to get closer to subjects that I cannot walk up nearer to, but I will be having my first portrait session, and also love landscape photography, so I don’t know what to do!
Your photos are extremely inspiring, I hope to be able to edit my photos as well. Editing is so hard for me. I use Aftershot Pro and Paintshop Pro, but cannot understand many of the functions because Corel doesn’t have many training videos.
June 13, 2023 at 12:00 am #79962Logan LamarParticipantHello @warrior-princess!
If I were in your shoes, and had nothing in my telephoto slot… (I have an 18-200 kit lens sitting there right now)… I think I would go for the telephoto. My reasoning is that for anything that involves people at all (events, video, portraits) you’ll be reaching for that telephoto far, far more than you will an ultra-wide. Which one you pick depends a lot on your budget, but if you’re relatively new, experiment with something cheaper. You can always decide to upgrade later, and it may turn out that you find yourself not using it very much.
Here’s some recommendations as to which one you could get:
https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Canon-Lenses/Canon-Telephoto-Lens.aspxDon’t feel like you need to go for the one with the widest aperture or all the bells and whistles, just stick to your budget. If I’m needing a pro-grade telephoto for a wedding or something, I’m usually renting anyway. For stuff in my backyard, I’m using my budget-grade 18-200, even though it’s technically “not as good.” (go back and read what Lydia said…) You can always upgrade if you find yourself reaching for that telephoto a lot but you won’t even know what features you want until you’ve been playing around with it for a while.
To fill in your low-light capabilities and if you’ve got some money left over, I’d then recommend looking into a prime lens. You can get a feel for what focal length you really like. The 50mm is a good choice (very versatile lens! You can use it for headshots, full body, landscape, etc… and it’s also very inexpensive at around $80 on the used market at KEH.com). Other popular options include the 35mm or the 85mm. If you have a zoom lens, you can “practice” being stuck in a particular length by taping the zoom ring to get an idea of what you’d like to pick up.
If you play your cards right and shop used (I’d recommend sites like KEH.com or bhphotovideo.com), you could pick up a budget telephoto and a 50mm 1.8 for less than $300. These will keep you busy for a good long time.
And then after a couple of months, if you’re still wanting something on the wide end, you could pick up a 10-18mm used for around $150.
Hope this helps (and let us know if/when you land on something!).
—Logan
June 13, 2023 at 12:15 am #79963Warrior PrincessParticipant@loganlamar Thanks for the sound wisdom!
I shall get a telephoto and a prime.
I’ll let you all know what I get!!
June 13, 2023 at 1:56 pm #79964Lydia BennettKeymasterAlways great to hear your helpful perspectives, @loganlamar and @cheesestick!
July 6, 2023 at 3:20 pm #80282Anastasia NguyenParticipant@warrior-princess I am not sure if you are still looking for a telephoto lens, but if you are still considering the 75-300, I thought that I might be able to help. I love bird photography, and I used that lens for 1-1.5 years before upgrading. I can post some of the photos that I took with that lens if you are still considering it.
-AnastasiaJuly 6, 2023 at 4:35 pm #80291Warrior PrincessParticipant@nguyenfamily Thank you so much! I haven’t bought my telephoto yet. I would love to see your photos!!
- This reply was modified 8 months, 3 weeks ago by Warrior Princess.
July 6, 2023 at 6:32 pm #80293Anastasia NguyenParticipant@warrior-princess Oh ok! I wasn’t sure since the thread was a month old.
Are you still thinking of getting the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6? Or are you considering another telephoto?
These were taken with a Canon EOS Rebel SL1 and the 75-300. They are some of the best photos that I have ever taken with this lens, so please keep that in mind. To get sharp photos, you really need to have good lighting and a close-ish subject. And, since there is no IS, you have to be really still. I used this lens when I was 12, and somehow I stood still enough to get clear pictures. I tried it again recently and it was a lot harder! If you use a tripod or are really good at holding your camera steady, then the lens works pretty well.
July 6, 2023 at 6:37 pm #80299Anastasia NguyenParticipantAlso, it is worth mentioning that I only shoot in jpg. And these images are only edited in the simple Photos app on a windows computer. So if you shot in RAW, and used image editing software, you might be able to get better images.
July 6, 2023 at 10:13 pm #80310Warrior PrincessParticipantThose are beautiful!
Yes, I was still thinking of getting the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6, but now that you mention about the lack of IS, I think I’ll get something else. IS is a definite must for me.
Ah, yes! RAW photos edited turn out way better than JPEG, but I think your photos look amazing :).
Here are some recent photos I have taken with my Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II (kit lens that came with my Rebel T7)
I think it is amazing, but I really want to zoom in more when taking bird, wildlife, pet, and etc. photos.The last one is of me and my Texas Heeler dog (half Australian Shepherd, half Australian Cattle Dog- aka Blue Heeler) named Braveheart Warrior. (I heard there is a movie called Braveheart, but I haven’t seen it as it isn’t good, and didn’t name him after it. I love British history, and thought of it with my mother after pondering “Lionheart”)
- This reply was modified 8 months, 3 weeks ago by Warrior Princess. Reason: typos
July 6, 2023 at 10:26 pm #80316Warrior PrincessParticipantJuly 6, 2023 at 10:41 pm #80318Warrior PrincessParticipant*re-export
-
AuthorPosts
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.