Best lens (bang for your buck) Re post

So I have a Canon T3i that I am looking to purchase a new 75-300 mm lens for. I just want to know what the best lens for a good price would be. I am most interested in macro photogrphy. Any suggestions just let me know. Also should tell you I'm a beginner to photography so nothing too extreme.
Thanks
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Go Ducks!!!

Nifty Fifty of course! Who can beat that! And a reverse mounting ring gives you a good macro lens!

Go Ducks!

Man, that was a long time ago! I was just thinking about my old girlfriend dorm room yesterday. Yup, Disco was in to give you an idea.

Anyway, you mention 2 very different things (sort of). You can get a 70-300 with a macro, but I really wouldn't recommend it (Sigma 70-300 macro). It's cheap alright. Very inexpensive. Did I say cheap? I have a bunch of terribly soft shots if you'd like to see any.

Here's a multi-lens shootout I did with it and others on a single subject.
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1043&message=42131858

Anyway, a good lens to try for (although I've had terrible luck) is the Tamron 70-300 VC. It's what prompted the shootout. IF you get a good copy you'll have a lot of technology and a very nice lens with amazing vibration compensation. BUT it's not a macro. I have some more very sharp and wonderful samples from this lens if you're interested. You can read at that thread more than you'll care to know about all of my thoughts on it. It's $450 and there's a $100 MIR through October right now.

But back to macro.
Bang for the buck macro? Look to the Sigma 50 f2.8 macro. $370. Great lens.

http://www.photozone.de/canon-eos/299-sigma-af-50mm-f28-ex-macro-dg-test-report--review

Of course for a bit more there's the Tamron 60 macro and the Sigma 70 macro. And for even a bit more, you simply cannot go wrong with the EF 100 f2.8 macro (non-L). It will last a lifetime. But, we're starting to gett away from "bang for the buck" here.

For a general lens-lens, it's hard to beat the EF-S 18-55 IS, or the nifty fifty. These are both better than they have any right to be.

Another excellent third party solution is the Sigma 17-70 f2.8-4 macro OS. It's about $470, but really is a do-it-all walk around solution.

Don't forget to check the Canon shop for refurbs, they're shipping free right now I believe.

If you are looking for a telephoto zoom on a budget, it's a no brainer: get the 55-250. The 75-300s are all kind of crap.

The 55-250IS also has better close-focus distance, which will line up better with your macro interest.

It costs as much as your T3i body does, but the 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens is, I think, the best lens you can buy for a crop sensor. It covers the most useful focal length range (24-135mm equivalent), is super-sharp (L-quality optics), is small and relatively light (less than 700g), and still costs under $700. What more could you ask for?

Its one downside is that it's not the fastest lens in the world, but if you're looking for something that will cover pretty much all of your needs, then definitely the 15-85mm is your best bet.

For telephoto, my vote goes to the 70-200mm f/4L for $700. Cheapest telephoto L-lens out there, and well worth it. I would get it except that I don't need a telephoto for my regular shooting, so I just rent it. There's also a non-L 70-300mm for cheaper, if you're interested. Haven't used it, but I think it's gotten good reviews.

I actually went with the Sigma 17-70Macro (as the squid suggested). It's a decent lens, but the magnification is only 2.7 to 1 and the EFS 55-250 (which I also have) is about 3 to 1.

Only go with the 17-70 if you want its other benefits. It's a good, sharp, stabilized normal zoom with a wide 2.8 aperture on the wide end, and it's cheap. Its macro capability has kind of disappointed me, but it's a good enough lens that I'm not looking to replace it any time soon.

I would want a longer macro lens if I were to get serious about it. I am also wondering how much light you lose going with the macro filters. That could be an interesting cheap way to go. I don't know anything about it, though.

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Ed Rizk

OregonRain420 said:

So I have a Canon T3i that I am looking to purchase a new 75-300 mm lens for. I just want to know what the best lens for a good price would be.

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Don't get the 75 to 300mm lenses!! But the 70-300 IS is fine!

The 55-250 IS that was mentioned is the smaller sibling of the 70-300 IS. both of these lenses are fine. There is also the Tamron 70-300 VC, which is good.
Higher in price, the 70-300 L.

Now the 55-250 IS can do quite good close focus, i.e. 1:3. So perhaps that will be sufficient for your initial "macro" aspirations. Later if you really want to go to real macro, you can then add a macro lens.

OregonRain420 said:

I am most interested in macro photogrphy. Any suggestions just let me know. Also should tell you I'm a beginner to photography so nothing too extreme.
Thanks
--
Go Ducks!!!

Click to expand...

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Life is short, time to zoom in ©

locke42 said:

It costs as much as your T3i body does, but the 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens is, I think, the best lens you can buy for a crop sensor. It covers the most useful focal length range (24-135mm equivalent), is super-sharp (L-quality optics), is small and relatively light (less than 700g), and still costs under $700. What more could you ask for?

Its one downside is that it's not the fastest lens in the world, but if you're looking for something that will cover pretty much all of your needs, then definitely the 15-85mm is your best bet.

For telephoto, my vote goes to the 70-200mm f/4L for $700. Cheapest telephoto L-lens out there, and well worth it. I would get it except that I don't need a telephoto for my regular shooting, so I just rent it. There's also a non-L 70-300mm for cheaper, if you're interested. Haven't used it, but I think it's gotten good reviews.

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The 15-85 sounds good. as a beginner you don't want to get to specific too fast. Canon also makes a 50 f2.5 macro that's cheap and cheerful. Tamron makes a 90 macro that's supposed to be great.

As for the super long stuff -i don't know - it's not my thing. But if you like it, invest in a tripod.

The 300 f4 is a great lens - super sharp, close focussing (practically a macro telephoto), image stabilized, light weight and less costly than the big monster primes.
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Paul B Jones

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulbjones/