Budget Canon Superzoom Comparison - Any Thoughts?

awdprac wrote:

Hi folks,

I'm a very amateur photographer, but I've been shooting with my entry-level Canon DSLR (1000D) for about nine years now and, for a birthday/wedding/holiday treat for myself I'm looking to pick up as good a superzoom as I can for my budget, before I go travelling a few times over the next couple of years.

Due to my relatively low budget, I'm opting to go second-hand, so I realise the answer to my question will be dependant on the condition of the individual lenses I can get my hands on. However, I've managed to whittle it down to 3 deals, and I'd love your input:

£229 - Sigma 18-250mm F3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM
£204 - Tamron 18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD
£204 - Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

I've read the DPR reviews on here and am leaning towards the Sigma at the moment, due to the faster auto-focus than the Tamron and the greater FL reach than the Canon; what I'm really after is versatility for the travelling. However, this is really only my second, and priciest, attempt at picking up a new lens so I'm keen not to get stung.

Do you have any thoughts? Even if it's that I look at a particular different lens? Sadly my budget really won't stretch over £250 at the very most.

Thanks all! Any input appreciated!

A

I sort of was leaning to recommend something like a 55-250 lens as well. However, for such a recommendation, it is important to know what lenses you already have. Given you have a 1000D, I presume you have already a 18-55 lens, presumably the 18-55 IS (?), which is a reasonable lens. You could complement that with a 55-250 IS, which should be quite cheap to pick up. A bit better would be the 55-250 STM, which seems to go for around 150 pounds on amazon uk.  I'm surprised that the old 55-250 IS is not much cheaper than the STM version when just doing a search now, it shouldn't be more than about 100 pounds if the STM version is ~150 pounds.

Anyway, it does entail changing lenses, but image quality is better. As to the lenses above, neither of them really is striking as being on obvious choice. You could try the image comparison tools for the lenses (and also compare with your existing lens) at "the digital picture".