Zoom question

[aimee510]

Hi. I am going on safari this march. I have decided to upgrade my point and shoot to a D-SLR. I think I have narrowed down to which beginer's model I am going to get but am not sure about the lens options. the camera comes with a 18-55mm with the option to add either a 55-250mm (IS) or the 70-300mm (IS). OR I could save myself the hassel of changing out the lens in the dusty tundra and go with the package that has the camera paired with a 18-135mm. I am leaning towards this as it does not appear there is much of a difference between 135mm and 200mm.




Here's where i need the help. I don't have the money to invest much over $1000 at this time, so getting a super power zoom lens is out. Am I a fool for chosing the 18-135 over the packages that provides the 70-300mm??? will I miss out on a lot of bird photo opportunities if I don't get the 300??




Help please. a very confused consumer!

[SmartWombat]

Yes.
Yes.
I would go for the 70-300
And even a 300 you may not find long enough for small birds.
Probably OK for eagles, herons, storks, kites, egrets and so on.

[freygr]

Unless you plan to take low light photos a super zoom would ideal for the trip. Have you considered just getting a body and getting a super zoom?

Not most entry level D-SLR do not have full frame sensors, and most have a angle of view factor or 1.5 so your 200mm lens now has the angle of view of a 300mm lens. Form my experiences even a 300mm lens and the factor 1.5 making it a 450mm lens can still leave you wishing for a longer lens! Also the at the wide end you always want wider.

Make sure that you main lens if it's a zoom starts at around 18 if you do landscapes.

[aimee510]

Thank you both. Good points.

I was leaning towards the 18-135 becuase I think outside of this trip I would get more use out of it and the guy at the camera store told me that the 18-35 lens was very basic (not high quality glass). I want to invest in something long term but also don't want to curse the camera with no zoom on the trip.

We do have a canon point and shoot that is only a few months old that has relaitvely good zoom on it (for a point and shoot) and we aren't planning on selling the photos- just mearling capturing images so we can remember it well. So if we do find a bird high up we could always opt to use that and get a grainy photo of it.

When the guy at the store showed me the various lens options, it did not appear that there was much of a difference between the 135 and the 200 ranges. the 300 was obviously a bit better. but I also don't want to get dust all over my brand new camera because I am switching lenses constantly with the 70-300. If I had the money I would invest in soemthing even longer than the 300, but like I said I was really hoping to stay around $1000 (since the trip has drained up so much cash already... =) )

[Loupey]

No question in my mind: get the body + 18-55mm + 70-300mm

For 3 reasons:

1) don't worry so much about changing lenses - when you're out shooting wildlife, you probably won't ever take the 70-300mm off. These two lenses are complementary but used at completely different times so I doubt that you'll be changing them during the "heat of the moment"

2) you'll appreciate every 300 millimeters when you're out on the safari and trying to get as close as you can. Trust me, 300mm to 135mm is a HUGE difference out in the field.

3) sometimes you want SMALL. Think about walking around a busy airport/town/restaurant but still wanting to have your camera out and ready. The 18-55mm will be very handy when things get very tight and busy.

[mjs1973]

I'm with Loupey on this. The 18-55mm & 70-300mm is the way to go for a trip like this. I went to South Africa on a safari a couple of years ago and you are going to want the 300mm lens. I had the luxury of taking 2 bodies so switching lenses wasn't an issue for me, but the vast majority of my photos while in the back of the safari truck were taken with a long lens.

Something else you may want to consider that nobody has mentioned yet is to buy the kit you think you will get the most use out of at home, and rent additional gear for your safari. I rented a couple of pro-quality lenses for my trip and it was well worth it. At www.lensrentals.com you could rent the 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS for 2 weeks for $170.

[WesternGuy]

I'm with Loupey and Mike on this as well - you can never have enough length. You didn't give us much details about the "safari", but I am assuming it is Africa and is structured around daily trips into the "wild" in a self-contained vehicle from which you may, or may not, be able to disembark, depending on the situation. I am also assuming that this is a once in a lifetime trip...if my assumptions are anywhere near correct, then I would take all the length I could handle and Mike's suggestion of buying the kit you will get the most use of at home and then renting a 100-400 L IS for your trip is right on. If you buy a camera that has a C-size sensor, like most of the Canon DSLRs, then you have a 1.6 factor for your angle of view. This means that a 70-300 on say a Canon 60D, or a Rebel series, becomes similar to a 112-480 and a 100-400 becomes similar to a 160-640 on a full frame camera. The same multiplier applies to any other lens you may purchase and use on a camera with a C-size sensor. :thumbsup:

One bit of advice you will get from just about any of us is to buy the best glass you can afford, because you can always get a slightly less-expensive camera and it will take great pictures, because when all is said and done, the glass will determine the quality of the images you get - yes, the photographer's skills come into play, but even following simple rules of composition, glass rules (my humble opinion). Besides, cameras come and go - glass is forever, well almost forever...

I am tempted to give you additional advice about batteries - take extra -, memory cards - take lots, etc., but then I am assuming you have already researched the other things you will need - photographically speaking. Any questions, just post and those here will most likely give you all the advice and suggestions you can handle.

I hope you have a great time on your safari and be sure to come back and share some of your images with us. HTH.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

[aimee510]

Thanks everyone! Western Guy you are correct in that we are going to Tanzania in Africa for a once in a lifetime safari. Hence the stress. I want to make sure that I don't have regrets when I am there but I also don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on a lens that I probably won't use much outside of the trip.

I was leaning towards getting the packages with the 18-135 because the guy at the store told me the standard 18-35 lense that comes with the package is a very low quality one in that the glass is not good. so I am thinkign long term that it might be better to go with the package deal that has the higher quality lens and either rent or buy the 300. I found one on amazon for under 200 but am certain it is the 75-300 which does not have IS. I know this is typically a no no but plan on using a tripod (I have a small one I am going to set up on top of the vehicle) whenever I use it.

[Loupey]

The kit 18-55mm isn't stellar but still good. As for the telephoto, I definitely recommend the IS version.

The biggest favor you can do for yourself is to do something NOW. You need to squeeze several years of experience in to the two months before you leave. Therefore, forego the rental, buy a telephoto and shoot several thousand images of anything and everything before your trip.

[aimee510]

Ok so it seems that everyone is really recomending the full lenght zoom. But I do sort of think the best long term option is for me to purchase the kit with the upgraded 18-135 lens. So I did some reasearch trying to see if I can come up with an option that won't run me well over an extra $500 to add teh zoom lens. I see there are some other brands that make lenses that will work with Canon. Are Sigma or Tamron worth it? I can find a similar lens for about $200 there. Again I will not be taking professional quality photos, I understand that. And I do intend to use my small tripod (it will only be my husband and I with one guide in the car, so plenty of space).

[Anbesol]

I got a tamron 400mm f/5.6 for $150 and it's pretty nifty. It's not the best optically compared o my other lens, but it has a lot more reach (an it was a lot cheaper)

[freygr]

If you purchasing a kit, you can find a Nikon camera kit with 18-55 and 55-300 mm zooms around $1000. Both of the lenses in the kit are nice lenses also. Tamron has a 18-200mm lens which is nice lens also.

As a note: You will not see the dust in the viewfinder or on the LCD. Also the dust will be most evident at the longer focal lengths and small f stops. Purchase an sensor and lens cleaning kit. I personal us UV filter so I don't have to clean the lens just the filter, an scratched filter is much cheaper to replace than a lens.

[Loupey]

You mentioned "long term" three times in three different posts - what do you mean by this? What else do you wish to photograph, what are your interests now, what might you want to get into in the future.

We can only recommend what is written here. Tell us more and we can help more.

[Loupey]

What might be best for your "long term" interests might not be best for the trip in question.