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Hi everyone.
I am researching lenses for the 7D I am about to buy. I used an 18-200mm lens this week, and found the 200 zoom to be too short! (Is short the word...I am a beginner re photography theory.) I know I would really enjoy a 300mm zoom, but I'm concerned about the weight of the 28-300 as an everyday lens. I didn't find the 18-200mm too heavy at all. I am opting for the 28-300mm, because it's an all in one lens, similar to the 18-200 but with the extra telephoto, allowing me to use just one lens for now. As my photography improves, I guess I will want other lenses for specific purposes.

Looking forward to anyone's comments re using a heavy lens as my general everyday lens, plus any other pros and cons etc.
Thank you,
Wappie

Hi Wappie,

Welcome to the forum.

I have never used this lens before but until you try this lens on the camera of your choice (7D) I would reserve judgement.

It's large, heavy and expensive and this may not the combination you want in a beginner sort of kit.

Also 28mm is not very wide on a 7D so you may find that you will need a seperate wide angle lens as well.

Also consider the 18-270 made by Tamron but keeping in mind that superzooms compromise image quality for longer reach.

Also consider what you are going to photograph before making very expensive purchases.

Hi Wappie, and welcome.

Wappie wrote: I am researching lenses for the 7D I am about to buy. I used an 18-200mm lens this week, and found the 200 zoom to be too short! (Is short the word...I am a beginner re photography theory.)

Short is probably the correct word to use, if you are meaning that the level of apparent magnification was not enough for you.

How much of a beginner are you? What are you currently using, and what are you wanting to be shooting?

While the 18-200 may be a tad short, you do have other options.

For instance, the resolution offered to you by the 7D permits you a fair bit of latitude when it comes to cropping. While this may not be optimal, you may still be able to get a good image despite the lack of magnification.

As Suren suggested, I too would be somewhat concerned at the lack of real wide angle capability in the 28-300. As an everyday lens, most people find that something at the wider end of the spectrum is very useful, and on a crop body like the 7D, 28mm is unlikely to do the job.

As well as the weight, consider too the optical speed of the lens: neither of the lenses you mention are fast; do you expect to be shooting under conditions where there is not too much available light?

The holy grail, of course, is that we all want an ultra-light, super fast, 10-300mm f/1.4 lens, but the reality is that physics preclude this from being a reality.

While it may not be ideal, consider the option of a couple of lenses that will be lighter and faster, rather than something big, bulky, heavy, and because of its physical properties, it may actually play against it being put to use as an everyday lens.

Hey Wappie!

Welc. to DSLRusers mate. Its a great forum =D

So you've got a 7D too ay ? i've recently had a bit of trouble with mine and have to send mine back to Canon for a check up. but lens wise....

I'd steer you to the direction of the Tamron 18-270. There is little difference between 200-300mm in my opinion, so best bet for you is to crop your 18MP image in post process.

If anything that I'd recommend to you as a walk around lens, depending on what you're photographing, I'd steer you towards a 24-105 f4L, but if you like your reach then go the tamron. It is true that image quality does degrade with these super-ranges. but nobody's perfect unless its that epic 10-300 f1.4L (non existing).

Thank you all for your comments. Take the point re weight and lack of a decent wide angle.

Gstark wrote

As well as the weight, consider too the optical speed of the lens: neither of the lenses you mention are fast; do you expect to be shooting under conditions where there is not too much available light?

I understood all USM lenses were fast but obviously not. What am I missing/misunderstanding?

Re shooting preferences, I do enjoy all areas of photography except studio work at this stage. Love people, landscapes, wildlife, social comment, low light shooting, especially dawn and dusk shots, some sports and macro but I can forgo a macro lens for now. The larger zoom for me brings to me a whole world I can't physically reach. Love it and use it all the time to frame shots differently...close, further away, and distance shots if applicable. The long zoom is important to me.
A couple of you have suggested a Tamron 18-270. Sounds good, so what is the overall feeling about this lens re quality of the photo, especially when cropped and enlarged? Does it have IS or USM? I'll google it too, but comment from people who really know photography is invaluable. Thanks.

Hope you have all had a Happy Christmas day.
Wappie

Wappie wrote:all USM lenses were fast but obviously not.

They are fast to focus but the optical "fast"ness of a lens is measured by it's largest aperture. In this case it's variable but mostly 5.6. This is considered quite slow but general standards.

Wappie wrote:landscapes

This lens is unlikely to suit landscapes.

Wappie wrote:Tamron 18-270

Check out the Fred miranda forums for more reivews.

This lens matched with a 7D would be a very large and heavy kit, too big for a walk around, you would just attract too much attention. I have not used this lens, so I cannot comment on its optical quality, but in general big super-zoom lenses (28-200, 28-300 in film, 18-200, 18-250, 18-270 in digital crop) compromise optical quality for convenience.

A fast lens is not the same as a fast-focusing lens, the former is to do with how much light the lens captures (governed by the maximum aperture), the latter in regard to the speed at which the lens can achieve focus. As a variable aperture nature (f/3.5-5.6) of this lens means it is a considered a 'slow' lens. You are correct the USM is fast (fast focus) but even then there are different grades of USM.

I have used the Tamron 18-270, it is a IS (image stabilizer or vibration compensation in Tamron-speak) lens, but not a USM equivalent. Handy, yes, but def not my first choice of lens.

If you are doing a bit of everything, for the same cost of the 28-300L you can pick up the 17-40mm f/4L and the 70-200mm f/4L which will be better optically and a lot lighter. Both these lenses are USM, neither are IS but they provide a reasonably fast constant aperture with supreme image quality.

aim54x wrote:This lens matched with a 7D would be a very large and heavy kit, too big for a walk around, you would just attract too much attention.

Not as much as a thin 70-200 f4L

aim54x wrote:If you are doing a bit of everything, for the same cost of the 28-300L you can pick up the 17-40mm f/4L and the 70-200mm f/4L which will be better optically and a lot lighter. Both these lenses are USM, neither are IS but they provide a reasonably fast constant aperture with supreme image quality.

Again, I'll second that, working with Cameron, both of us know that the 17-40 f4L and the 70-200 f4L is optically perfect in the zoom lenses. IS is not essential unless you're a low light shooter (come to think of it, by the grade of the 7D's ISO IS might be handy for lower ISO shooting)

17-40 f4L is the next item on my list, if the price of the 28-300L is the same as both the f4 lenses, then i've done well by avoiding the lens personally, not that i've ever considered it.


I just realised i'm contradicting myself slightly.. knowing that you want a single lens that will do everything for you, fortunately it doesnt exist which is why these great lenses are being designed for optimum quality.

Sorry, cant compensate ease for quality of image. but the 24-105 f4L is still a reccomendation from me

just depends what you're shooting. landscapes? forget it. but its great above that.




My best advice to you? besides coming to dslrusers, the next best thing would be investing in the EF lens works book. It will describe anything and everything you need to know about EF lenses. It's 60 bucks, but well worth the money. Gets you knowing what you really want.