Canon, Sigma, or Tamron

[righteous_bucks]

So I'm looking for a decent lens for the range of 70-300mm. I'm just beginning to do photography, so I'm not looking to spend the 400-500 on one just yet, so I've narrowed it down to three lenses.

1. Canon EF 75-300mm f4-5.6 III USM
2. Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6 APO DG
3. Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di

All of them have the same aperture levels, and they're all about the same price, but is there anything that one of them have that makes it better than the other two? Any advice or comparisons between these three lenses? And if anyone uses any of them, picture examples would be great

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[JustAnEngineer]

I believe that the Sigma APO generally gets the best reviews of those three cheap telephoto zoom lenses.

I will suggest a fourth telephoto zoom lens to consider for under $250:
EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS.

This one has better image quality than the three that you listed and includes optical image stabilization. Note that this is an EF-S lens. It will not mount to an EOS film SLR or to an EOS 5D Mk. II.

 

[Gabriel]

I usually just go for Canon, unless the price difference is too great, but I've never had any of those lenses so I can't comment on them. I do have the IS version of the Canon, and it is a great lens.

The only thing I will mention has to do with customer service:

Canon lens repair: reasonable price, fast turnaround, works great

Sigma, slower turnaround, but otherwise good price and worked great

Tamron, nothing but runaround, lens never actually got fixed, and eventually they just told me, quite kindly, to shove it because they were tired of trying to fix it (lens would not be recognized by the camera after a few shots; tried three different bodies, from a Rebel to a 40D). This was a lightly used lens still under warranty.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[righteous_bucks]

Thanks for your replies! Yeah, I looked at the canon 55-250mm is too, I don't remember why I chose not to include that. But I've got a 20d, so it'll work for me, so I'll definitely look at that one too! Anyone else have any opinions on these lenses, including the 55-250mm is?

 

[altitude604]

I've been using the EF-S 55-250mm IS and so far, I love it.

It's not too heavy, I can get some pretty good shots with it too. Only rarely have I come across a situation where I need a little extra reach.

 

[righteous_bucks]

Awesome, I think I'm gonna go with the 55-250mm IS too, and buy a set of good extension tubes for if I ever want that extra reach myself.

 

[jeff5897]

you can review the pictures photo by the 3 lens below

Canon EF 75-300mm f4-5.6 III USM
http://english.sellpower.net/modules/flickrorg/dlsr_index.php?id=1&dc_model=0&iso1=0&iso2=0&len_id=75&exposure1=0&exposure2=0&shutter1=0&shutter2=0&num_focal_mm=0&B1=Query

Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6 APO DG
http://english.sellpower.net/modules/flickrorg/dlsr_index.php?id=1&dc_model=0&iso1=0&iso2=0&len_id=75&exposure1=0&exposure2=0&shutter1=0&shutter2=0&num_focal_mm=0&B1=Query

Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di
http://english.sellpower.net/modules/flickrorg/dlsr_index.php?id=1&dc_model=0&iso1=0&iso2=0&len_id=75&exposure1=0&exposure2=0&shutter1=0&shutter2=0&num_focal_mm=0&B1=Query