Question by Luke: Looking for new lense for camera + tips?
I’ve just stared out with photography and i own a canon 350 digital slr camera. I’ve got the standard lens. Please could someone advise me of a good cheap lens to upgrade to for really good close up shots.
I’ve been advised to get the tamron 70-300mm (product code 783904).
Also, if anyone has any good tips for pictures/software etc i’d greatly appreciate it.

Best answer:

Answer by CiaoChao
Well while the Tamron and Sigma 70-300s all have a macro function they are technically not true macro lenses (admittedly neither are many of the lenses marketed as macro lenses), the only true Canon made one is the MP-E 65mm and well that costs an absolute fortune.

Secondly there isn’t such thing as a good and cheap lens. Good lenses are always more expensive, but sometimes you can get more bang for your buck. Take the 50mm f1.8, it costs between £50-100, and for that you get a wonderful portrait lens, a fast low light lens, and a lens that will out perform certain L-series lenses, and when you turn it the wrong way round (holding the front of the lens to the mount) it becomes a useable macro lens.

So get the 70-300mm if you want, but I would recommend the Sigma APO version over the Tamron and Sigma basic versions. It will cover the portrait-telephoto range and has a functional macro mode. So will be good for a lot of subjects, from people to animals and insects.

One thing about these lenses is that at 300mm it isn’t very sharp wide open and also because only the Canon made lens has an image stabilizer you will find there is a lot of camera shake, so I would recommend using it with a tripod.

As to software, well I personally prefer Lightroom for quick and easy workflow, however there are useful things that Lightroom doesn’t have. I remember that my 300D came with Photoshop Elements, so check the software that came with the 350D to see whether or not you have Elements as well, that will be your starting point in terms of software.

You will be able to find plenty of tutorials on youtube and in magazines to help you use the photo editing software.

Finally you may find the Camera RAW Plugin for Windows quite useful, this allows you to use the Fax and Picture Viewer to view the RAW files your camera produces.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

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