Thinking about new lens..help??

[nikkilouise]

wondering if anyone could help me

Ive just started the BA[Hons] in Wildlife Photography at Blackpool and I'm considering buying a new lens that would help me on the course.

I currently use a Canon 350D and I have the standard lens that came with the camera and I also have a Tamron 18-200 f3.5-6.3 Macro lens.

I do really love the lens and I plan on keeping it however especially doing Wildlife Photography I feel like it doesn't have enough range..there have been so many times where I have needed a longer lens

There are 2 lenses I am looking at getting, one is the Bigma, a lens I know a lot of you guys use My uncle is a photographer too and he is willing to sell me his for £400, he has only used it 3 times so I think that is a very good deal
I've also just seen the Canon 400mm f5.6 L, which I have had read a few reviews on and it also seems like an extremely good lens for what I want to do.

Any of you have an opinion on the lenses and if so which one do you think I should consider more?

Thanks!

[Gaza]

They are the very same two lens's that i have been chewing over
Some tel me that the Canon is better, Some tell me there is very little difference in the two
The bigma has the advantage of being 500 mm over the canon's 400mm
To be honest, Knowing the price of a new canon 40mm, I would jump at your uncle's offer

Gaza

[Oscar2006]

Bigma for £400?
can't lose

[nikkilouise]

Yeah the Bigma is still my first choice, but I'm still thinking about the quality of the final images..hmm

I could buy it off my uncle, try it, then if I'm not keen I could sell it and get the Canon
haha
but thats a bit cheeky!

[Ollie]

A bigma at £400 that's only been used a little is certainly a good deal. However, I have both the bigma and the canon 400mm f5.6L lens. In my opinion the Canon 400mm is the better lens, It's a very sharp lens and being an f5.6 is better in low light than the bigma at f6.3

The bigma is stated as being a 50 - 500mm lens but in reality the bigma comes in and I can't remember the exact figure but it's around 480mm so the extra focal length over the Canon is not as great as you might think. The other advantage of the Canon is it's definitely sharper than the bigma, the bigma is not quite as sharp at the 500mm end.

Advantage of the bigma though is that it's a very versatile lens being a zoom and is quite capable of taking excellent dragonfly and butterfly shots.

Hope this helps a bit
Roger

[nikkilouise]

Two good points to think about
I'll have a good think and decide what to do, but I think the offer of the Bigma for £400 is a bit too good to pass up..oo its a toughy

[sometimes]

Sorry didn't see this post before I said words on your other, my words may be out of context then.

Depending on how well you get on with your uncle, perhaps he can lend it to you for a couple of weeks to see if you can get on with it.

Good luck with your BA - I've recently completed a non-specialist photography BA at Leeds met - I couldn't get across to liverpool to do that one.

For photos in general, quality is the be all and end all and that comes from the glass. While i haven't seen results from a 'bigma' the 50-500 screams compromise to me. But of course you have to cut your cloth to meet your budget. It might be a great 'keep-on' lens but could an image taken at say 300mm with the bigma stand next to a pic from a canon 300m f4? I don't know. (I don't mean a browser image but a proper print - which I guess all your assignments will be based on.)