EOS Rebel SL1 with supertele lens?

I am a Nikon user who knows very little about Canon.

I have a woman friend who wants to go shoot birds with me and is asking about supertele lenses.

She wants to rent.

Which of the consumer supertele lenses will with with a Rebel SL1, Sigma, Tamron,.......does Canon make something?

Need to reach to about 600+mm. Any help you can offer would be great. TYIA.

Waterengineer said:

I am a Nikon user who knows very little about Canon.

I have a woman friend who wants to go shoot birds with me and is asking about supertele lenses.

She wants to rent.

Which of the consumer supertele lenses will with with a Rebel SL1, Sigma, Tamron,.......does Canon make something?

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Just as NIkon's line of "DX" mount DSLRs can use all of Nikon's FX superteles, so can the "EF-S" mount Canon DSLRs like the SL-1 use all of Canon's EF superteles, as well as those from Sigma, Tamron, etc. made for their mount.

Waterengineer said:

Need to reach to about 600+mm. Any help you can offer would be great. TYIA.

Click to expand...

Usual suspects are Canon's EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM (shorter than 600mm, closest to "consumer" and the most manageble hand-held), EF 200-400 f/4L IS USM 1.4x, EF 500 f/4L IS II USM, EF 600 f/4L IS II USM

From Sigma there are the 50-500 f/4.5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM, 500 f/4.5 EX DG APO HSM, and 150-600 f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports and 150-600 f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary (i.e. "consumer"). From Tamron the 150-600 f/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2.

The Sigma 150-600mm or Tamron 150-600mm lenses should work fine. I'm not aware of Canon producing a lens similar to what Sigma and Tamron produces in that relatively affordable price range to 600mm FL.

I'm using the Tamron 150-600mm lens with my Canon T3i (600D) camera. The image quality of the Canon T3i (600D) and Canon SL1 (100D) are close. You can see my samples (and others) by going through the Show Your Snaps threads that are shown weekly to get an idea of what to expect.

The lenses weigh a lot compared to the Canon SL1 (100D) camera. It might be best to try the lenses out at a retail store. If you want further tips later about using these supertele zoom lenses, please let us know.

The Canon 100-400 will work with the SL-1. With the X1.6 crop factor it's 640mm. Both the Sigma & Tamron 150-600's will work too. These lenses are big, especially the Sigma & Tamron, the SL-1 is very small. All of these lenses will be a little awkward on that body. I assume she already owns the SL-1 and is only renting the lens. If I'm wrong and she's renting the camera too, think about getting one that's bigger.

Waterengineer said:

I am a Nikon user who knows very little about Canon.

I have a woman friend who wants to go shoot birds with me and is asking about supertele lenses.

She wants to rent.

Which of the consumer supertele lenses will with with a Rebel SL1, Sigma, Tamron,.......does Canon make something?

Need to reach to about 600+mm. Any help you can offer would be great. TYIA.

Click to expand...

It can be done. This isn't the most exciting or technically perfect shot, but it was shot with an SL1 and a Sigma 150-500:

Mizzou1984 said:

Waterengineer said:

I am a Nikon user who knows very little about Canon.

I have a woman friend who wants to go shoot birds with me and is asking about supertele lenses.

She wants to rent.

Which of the consumer supertele lenses will with with a Rebel SL1, Sigma, Tamron,.......does Canon make something?

Need to reach to about 600+mm. Any help you can offer would be great. TYIA.

Click to expand...

It can be done. This isn't the most exciting or technically perfect shot, but it was shot with an SL1 and a Sigma 150-500:

Click to expand...

Apologies, make that a Sigma 120-400 . . .

When you use a big lens on the small SL1 you have to think of it differently - you are carrying a lens with a body attached, not a body with a lens attached. You hold it by the lens, support it by the lens. (I use an SL1 with a 70-200 f2.8L IS fairly often.)

Of course! The Tamron 150-600mm lens is much heavier than my Canon T3i (600D) camera, so the same applies to what I'm using. I've used it for about 2-1/2 years, taking tens of thousands of pictures with it. So again of course! That would be crazy to handle that combination primarily with the camera. As soon as I bought it I knew that I would primarily support it by the lens. For me that's common sense.

That's why I suggested to the OP that he try it out at a retail store.

I think that you missed the point of my post. People complain that the SL1 is too small to use on a big lens because the combination is unwieldy. But if you reverse how you look at it and think of a body attached to the lens, a small body becomes an advantage because of the lower total weight and it makes it easier to manage the lens.

Again, that's common sense for me. I've been taking photos too long to not understand that basic simple concept. You might have written that for someone else that doesn't understand that, but why you chose to respond to me doesn't makes sense unless you don't know a lot of the people here.

The combined weight of what I'm using with the Canon T3i (600D) camera and the Tamron 150-600mm G1 lens is 5.56 lbs. (source: Dpreview)

The combined weight of the Canon SL1 (100D) camera and the Tamron 150-600mm G1 lens is 5.18 lbs. (source: Dpreview).

That's only .38 lbs difference. That's not significant considering everything. The weight of the Tamron 150-600mm G1 lens is 4.3 lbs, which is about eleven times that difference in that weight. Both combinations should be primarily handled by the lens.

I saw the Canon SL1 (100D) camera when I bought my Canon T3i (600D) camera at a Best Buy store. I thought the Canon SL1 (100D) was too small for my hands but in no way would my approach to using either one of those cameras with a large telephoto lens be different.

I've found that when using that combination to not only primarily support it by the lens, but when not taking pictures with it (but holding it) to cradle it like a baby. I walk for many miles with that camera combination and other cameras with attached lenses. I carry them in camera bags when not being used.

You can also carry it using a strap attached to the tripod mount on the lens (most of the big lenses come with a tripod mount).

Yes, there are different ways to do this. I decided to use side bags (not backpacks) which also hold my umbrellas. I live in a rainy climate so that works best for me.

Actually, I typically shoot with a sling-type shoulder bag (a Tamrac Velocity - I have two different models/sizes), with just a wrist strap attached to the body. I can quickly reach in the bag, slip my hand through the wrist strap (for security) and grab the combination by the lens to lift it out.

These days, even with more "normal" combinations (such as a 24-105 on a 6D), I really on the bag for holding the camera when not shooting, and just a wrist strap when I pull it out to shoot.

I'm coming in a little late in this discussion. More than the weight, the difference in size between Rebels and SL1 make it extremely harder for me to hold onto the heavier lenses. There is absolutely no natural balance of size.

Years ago when I saw the Canon T3i (600D) and Canon SL1 (100D) cameras side by side at a store (about 2-1/2 years ago), I thought the Canon SL1 would be too small for me with a super telephoto lens. So I chose the Canon T3i (600D) camera which I use with my Tamron 150-600mm lens. The weight difference is small when considering both the camera and lens together.

Just think of the SL1 as a large, functional, lens cap.

Jeff Peterman said:

Just think of the SL1 as a large, functional, lens cap.

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:-D

Jeff Peterman said:

When you use a big lens on the small SL1 you have to think of it differently - you are carrying a lens with a body attached, not a body with a lens attached. You hold it by the lens, support it by the lens. (I use an SL1 with a 70-200 f2.8L IS fairly often.)

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that's how i think with every camera and lens, which is why i don't use pancakes. when i shoot with my SL1 and 55-250 STM, i support the lens and use my right hand for control and direction. i have small hands - i do the same with the kit lens when i had my sony A6000, i did that with every lens except the tiny kit lens.

Jeff Peterman said:

When you use a big lens on the small SL1 you have to think of it differently - you are carrying a lens with a body attached, not a body with a lens attached. You hold it by the lens, support it by the lens. (I use an SL1 with a 70-200 f2.8L IS fairly often.)

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Agreed. I support my Sigma 150-600 Contemporary by the lens and using the eye-level VF on my SL1 and Sony A6300 with no issues.