recommend me a zoom lens

[zero_gravity]

First time poster here, hello to everyone.

Been into photography most of my life on and off. I've certainly got the basics down, not much more beyond that. I was lucky in that my father used to be a professional but most of that was long ago before I was born. I got to play with some old Nikon film SLR's from a young age, so was very helpful.

Present day I'm rocking the canon T5i. For someone that has no interest in going pro, this camera is great. I have 5 lenses so far. One of them is the cheap 75-300mm that every idiot has. I notice that the clarity is good for the price, but other than that this thing is a piece of crap. Chromatic aberrations is god awful and it hunts for focus in a bad way. Even outside in daylight it has trouble focusing on the right thing and is very slow to do so. FYI i adjust the auto focus to center point only with this lens. Multi point is just useless with it.

So I need a new zoom lens. I'd like to keep the upper end of 300mm. I don't use it constantly, and I'm thinking that a nice canon L series is stupid overkill for a T5. Plus I have no urge to spend $1600 on a used one. The standard F4-5.6 that I have now is just fine, I only really use it outdoors.

Is there much out there that will perform better than what I have without costing me a small fortune? I don't mind the off brands, my current favorite lens is a sigma 30mm followed closely by a tokina 11-16mm wide angle. Both were used, still working great.

Anything worthwhile? I'd rent but I'd have to drive an hour each way to nearest store that rents gear....


Thanks.

 

[astroNikon]

Look at the newest but used Tamron version 70-300 for canon.

 

[Derrel]

First time poster here, hello to everyone.

Been into photography most of my life on and off. I've certainly got the basics down, not much more beyond that. I was lucky in that my father used to be a professional but most of that was long ago before I was born. I got to play with some old Nikon film SLR's from a young age, so was very helpful.

Present day I'm rocking the canon T5i. For someone that has no interest in going pro, this camera is great. I have 5 lenses so far. One of them is the cheap 75-300mm that every idiot has. I notice that the clarity is good for the price, but other than that this thing is a piece of crap. Chromatic aberrations is god awful and it hunts for focus in a bad way. Even outside in daylight it has trouble focusing on the right thing and is very slow to do so. FYI i adjust the auto focus to center point only with this lens. Multi point is just useless with it.

So I need a new zoom lens. I'd like to keep the upper end of 300mm. I don't use it constantly, and I'm thinking that a nice canon L series is stupid overkill for a T5. Plus I have no urge to spend $1600 on a used one. The standard F4-5.6 that I have now is just fine, I only really use it outdoors.

Is there much out there that will perform better than what I have without costing me a small fortune? I don't mind the off brands, my current favorite lens is a sigma 30mm followed closely by a tokina 11-16mm wide angle. Both were used, still working great.

Anything worthwhile? I'd rent but I'd have to drive an hour each way to nearest store that rents gear....


Thanks.

Isn't the 75-300mm Canon a very OLD lens??? Note the 75mm to 300mm specification...do you mean the old, color-fringing lens?

The Tamron 70-300 VC seems to be a very decent, affordable lens. I've seen a numbe rof pretty good shots done with the Tamron 70-300 VC over a number of years.

 

[beagle100]

First time poster here, hello to everyone.

Been into photography most of my life on and off. I've certainly got the basics down, not much more beyond that. I was lucky in that my father used to be a professional but most of that was long ago before I was born. I got to play with some old Nikon film SLR's from a young age, so was very helpful.

Present day I'm rocking the canon T5i. For someone that has no interest in going pro, this camera is great. I have 5 lenses so far. One of them is the cheap 75-300mm that every idiot has. I notice that the clarity is good for the price, but other than that this thing is a piece of crap. Chromatic aberrations is god awful and it hunts for focus in a bad way. Even outside in daylight it has trouble focusing on the right thing and is very slow to do so. FYI i adjust the auto focus to center point only with this lens. Multi point is just useless with it.

So I need a new zoom lens. I'd like to keep the upper end of 300mm. I don't use it constantly, and I'm thinking that a nice canon L series is stupid overkill for a T5. Plus I have no urge to spend $1600 on a used one. The standard F4-5.6 that I have now is just fine, I only really use it outdoors.

Is there much out there that will perform better than what I have without costing me a small fortune? I don't mind the off brands, my current favorite lens is a sigma 30mm followed closely by a tokina 11-16mm wide angle. Both were used, still working great.

Anything worthwhile? I'd rent but I'd have to drive an hour each way to nearest store that rents gear....


Thanks.

yes, ditch the old 75-300 - a refurbished 55-250 STM is $199
or look at camera lens buy/sell forums, used versions of 70-200 f/4 and used 100-400 go for around $600
www.flickr.com/photos/mmirrorless

 

[zero_gravity]

Thanks for the opinions. I'd love to pick up a nice used tamron, but not many of those go on sale here. I think I'll keep my eyes open for now.

The 55-250 stm is an option, but I think id be happier keeping the 300 on the upper end.