Reddit mentions of Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG APO Macro Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

This is an equipment question:

I'm planning on buying my second lens (I only have the kit 18-55) for my Canon t3i.
M budget is around $160 since it was a present (gift card on Amazon).

I am a film student, so buying a lens that will also be good for video would be definitely a plus but not limitative.

I've been looking at the nifty fifty 1.8, of course, but also the 24mm 2.8 and the 40mm 2.8.

The Sigma 70-300 also falls in the price range, I know it is a different kind of lens, but I'm still unsure on what to get.

I checked the 35mm but apparently the difference in price from the Nikon to the Canon one is overwhelming, no clue why...even when the Nikon one is f/1.8 and the Canon f/2.

TL;DR: I want a $150 lens from Amazon and why the fuck is Canon's 35mm way more expensive than Nikon's?

My budget Macro setup:

Lens : Sigma 70-300 Also a pretty fair daily use lens at a cheap price point.
Adapter: Raynox 250 I love this litte guy. Takes some getting used to and you have to use an f-stop of 16 or higher to get any depth of field. That leads to needing a steady hand and lots of light.

A pair of flashes by Neewer. Recycle time is a bit slow, but I haven't broken it yet and you can pair it with a couple of wireless triggers to have tons of fun. Normally I just use one attached to the camera, but that's because I am lazy and always out of the weird battery the receiver uses.

I think you would be able to get pretty decent results with the 55-200 you currently have when you pair it with the Raynox. There's always other things like reversing lenses or adding extension tubes. I have no technical knowhow, so I stuck to the simplest plan possible and love chasing bugs and spiders.

My father has been a photographer for years and in 2009 I bought myself a Canon Rebel XSi... I've quite enjoyed it and have been told I have an eye for photography but my budget has limited the kind of lenses I can buy.

I bought a Sigma 70-300 lens off of Ebay for about $100. At the long end of its focal length it tends to produce very soft pictures, which was painfully obvious after the JSOH Airshow I attended in May. I was able to save some of them but alot of the pictures I had really hoped to get were totally unsalvageable.

Late last August my Dad sent me an email asking when I'd be attending my next airshow. I told him there was one in September in Virginia Beach I was planning on attending and he responded with "I'm going to send you something in the mail rather than upload it to you... it's called 'How To Shoot Airshows'. I also put something else in there for you."

Okay, I thought, he's probably sending me a CD of some powerpoints he made for teaching a class at his photography club on airshow photography, and the "something else" is probably some random book he thought I'd like. Well, several days later UPS pulls up and delivers text books for my son and a package from Amazon for me. I was a bit puzzled, since I hadn't ordered anything from Amazon except a video game that was being sent USPS, and this box was too big for a video game.

I opened the box and inside is a gift wrapped package, and inside the wrapped package is this lens. When I looked at the gift receipt it said "How To Shoot Airshows: Get rid of that plastic piece of crap and use this instead."

I seriously teared up.

This really depends on what you shoot.

Have you found that you need more range? Do you need a longer focal length? What exactly are you shooting in nature/outdoor? If you're trying to take animal photos, then yes, get some extra length.

Personally, I'd be getting this lens if I were shooting Canon and a spare $1000. But that's just because it suits my style more. It is a faster lens, so you'd be able to shoot in less light, and has a very "normal" focal length range. I don't typically take photos of things/people that are far away, I prefer to get up close and take more intimate photos, rather than stalker photos from across the street.

But if you want to shoot birds and animals, or sports, the 55-250mm mark II is nice, it is cheap, and lightweight for what it does. There is also a 70-300mm, which is almost double the price, and almost double the weight, for 20% more reach.

Also; I would recommend buying lenses, rather than upgrading your body... the t2i is only 1.5 years old. You will see more of an improvement from buying lenses than camera bodies, and lenses can be used on future bodies.. whereas if you replace your camera body every 2 years, you're losing your investment every 2 years.

p.s. Don't be afraid to look at sigma lenses they're usually 95% of the quality, for 50% of the price.

P.p.s. These links that I've added contain an amazon affiliate tag, but please don't feel compelled to buy using them, you should check ebay, keh, b&h, adorama, or even your local shops etc. for the best deal. The mods have yet to decide what to do with any money that the amazon affiliate tag raises for the reddit community.

P.p.p.s. There are no solid guarantees in place that I won't backstab the reddit community and steal the $35 currently in the reddit amazon affiliate account! Well, no guarantee besides my word. (I promise not to do it.) (I'm just pointing out that anonymous reddit accounts shouldn't really be trusted..)

Does anybody know of any decent cheap telephoto lenses? I've been eying this one, but I'm not sure how well it will perform. Also would it be worth getting the APO version?

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-50mm-1-8-Camera-Lens/dp/B00007E7JU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414187010&sr=8-1&keywords=canon+prime+lens

This is the prime lens I have. I'm looking for something no more than $250 (because I'm a broke college student :/) and I'm not sure for what purpose really...I recently got into photography in the summer, so maybe something a newbie might need? I really enjoy taking nature shots. So maybe a telephoto/zoom or a macro? I was thinking about this lens. But I would like opinions about others. Thanks the comment!
http://www.amazon.com/Sigma-70-300mm-4-5-6-Telephoto-Cameras/dp/B000ALLMI8/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1414187166&sr=1-1&keywords=sigma+70-300

Budget lens recommendations for mirrorless Sony a6000?

Hi, I have been doing untracked astrophotogrphy with Sony a6000 and Canon FD200mm F4. I will have a barn-door tracker soon.

I find that my FD200mm is a bit old(I bought it used for $35) and there is a problem in pictures it took. Some part of the picture appear to be brighter and some part to be darker. I tried cleaning the lens but it was the same. So I am thinking of an upgrade.

I am wondering if this will be a good upgrade:

https://www.amazon.com/Sigma-70-300mm-4-5-6-Telephoto-Cameras/dp/B000ALLMI8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1523730434&sr=8-2&keywords=sigma%2B70-300&th=1

It's Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO. I hear people saying that at 300mm F5.6 the image is a bit soft but I wonder if it'll still be better than FD200mm I have(also people complain about the awkward design and noisy AF and zoom but maybe that's secondary problem for astrophotography).

It is also one stop below FD200 F4 I have, but 300mm will be nice too... What do you guys think?

Any thoughts or recommendations will be greatly appreciated!

Something like this. Google "achromatic vs apochromatic" for an explanation.

Can anyone recommend their favorite telephoto lens (of the 70-300ish range) under $200? I was comparing reviews on Amazon but many of these lenses are so old that I'm not sure they are still relevant.

Currently I own a Sigma 10-20, Tamron 17-50, kit lens 18-55, and canon 50 1.8. The next step for me seems like either the 85 1.8 or a telephoto. I'm intrigued by the Sigma 70-300 for it's multi-purposing as a macro lens. What do you think?

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.593647553990781.1073741831.465732343448970&type=3

Link to the album, on the FB page I use to show friends/family. There is probably more examples in the other albums too.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sigma-70-300mm-f4-5-6-Macro-Canon/dp/B000ALLMI8/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1406213432&sr=8-5&keywords=canon+70-300mm

Link to the lens.