I know there are a few folks around here that are into photography, so I thought I may as well post this up.

I currently have a Canon 400D, with two lenses. The little one is an EFS 18-55mm, and the zoom lens is an EF 75-300mm.

I'm more interested in the zoom lens though.

Most of the pics I'm looking to take will be of wildlife, more specifically, birds (big surprise )

I really want to get an Image Stabilised lens, with roughly the same zoom as the (non image stabilised) one I have. Most shots will be taken hand-held, as I don't have a tripod at the moment, and I'm finding that I'm losing a lot of sharpness due to shakes, that an IS lens may be able to correct quite a bit. I also don't want to lug around a tripod all the time

I've been looking at a couple, one a Canon lens, and one a Sigma lens. Since I'm only starting out on the whole photography thing, I was wondering if you guys have any particular recommendations?

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If you have a canon - get the L lens series..anything with that is worth the ridiculous amount of money you will pay for it.
A photographer without a tripod is like a boat without an anchor..useless :P You gotta get one!!!! You won't be able to get any telephoto shots with your zoom lens because the shake will be too great and your photos will come out blurry - its just natural at that distance.

There was a photography thread that i made here a few years back with everyone's photos in them. If you search you might be able to find it, though I dunno.. it may have been purged out by now.

Good luck! bird photography can be really cool.

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quote:

Originally posted by goodgreef If you have a canon - get the L lens series..anything with that is worth the ridiculous amount of money you will pay for it. A photographer without a tripod is like a boat without an anchor..useless :P You gotta get one!!!! You won't be able to get any telephoto shots with your zoom lens because the shake will be too great and your photos will come out blurry - its just natural at that distance. There was a photography thread that i made here a few years back with everyone's photos in them. If you search you might be able to find it, though I dunno.. it may have been purged out by now. Good luck! bird photography can be really cool.

I will be getting a tripod soon. Think I found one today that is just what I'm looking for.

Yeah though, I would LOVE to get and L series lens, but at the moment I just can't justify that kind of expense (fuck, I came sooooo close to buying one today )

The Canon lens I was looking at is the EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens.

Sigma make a similar one.

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see i'd say get a tripod and stfu, but i've seen some wildlife shots of yours which, unfortunately, sometimes require spontinaity that you can't get if you rely on a tripod. that said, i really don't remember anything from my photographer days and i can't be of much of any help

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http://www.youtube.com/mezzir

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Originally posted by Sushipunk I will be getting a tripod soon. Think I found one today that is just what I'm looking for. Yeah though, I would LOVE to get and L series lens, but at the moment I just can't justify that kind of expense (fuck, I came sooooo close to buying one today ) The Canon lens I was looking at is the EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens. Sigma make a similar one.

that's a great lens. Your f-stop is limited but when you get a tripod that shouldn't be a problem. Ideally, if you can have a bigger fstop you're set for life (something like 2ish haha)..mm..
Image Stabilization will also be an added bonus, especially for your type of photos.

I don't know much about the comparable lens from Sigma but I have always known them to be pretty good. There are always some things that are "worse" than the canon lenses but these things are always minimal.

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are we talking about 'birds' as in the british slang sort of way? if so, godspeed.

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Originally posted by mezzir see i'd say get a tripod and stfu, but i've seen some wildlife shots of yours which, unfortunately, sometimes require spontinaity that you can't get if you rely on a tripod.

Yeah, that's the tricky part with trying to get birds on film. They move so god damn fast that it essentially means I'm limited to hand-held shooting, unless I sit in a specific spot for [insert number] of hours and hope they just come to me, rather than following them about.

I will get a tripod soon though!

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Originally posted by goodgreef that's a great lens. Your f-stop is limited but when you get a tripod that shouldn't be a problem. Ideally, if you can have a bigger fstop you're set for life (something like 2ish haha)..mm.. Image Stabilization will also be an added bonus, especially for your type of photos.

Yeah, but the fstop 2.xx lenses cost soooo much

Definitely need the IS though. BIGTIME.

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Originally posted by goodgreef I don't know much about the comparable lens from Sigma but I have always known them to be pretty good. There are always some things that are "worse" than the canon lenses but these things are always minimal.

Know much about Tamron lenses?

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Originally posted by Spacey Orange are we talking about 'birds' as in the british slang sort of way? if so, godspeed.

Nah, sorry mate

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Originally posted by Sushipunk Know much about Tamron lenses?

not much more than sigma.. I've always preferred Sigma to Tamron. But only because I always heard better things about Sigma vs. Tamron.

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Originally posted by goodgreef not much more than sigma.. I've always preferred Sigma to Tamron. But only because I always heard better things about Sigma vs. Tamron.

Yeah, I kinda heard the same thing, but I figured it's always good to get as many opinions as possible.

Cheers mate

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I hear Sigma lens are really good ( cheeper then canon and they fit)

I'm planning on buying a canon eos 350d in 2 months

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Originally posted by stren I hear Sigma lens are really good ( cheeper then canon and they fit) I'm planning on buying a canon eos 350d in 2 months

Yeah, they're definitely cheaper. I just wonder what kind of 'trade off' you have to make, if any?

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