favorite non L telephoto

[jhopc1]

looking for a new telephoto for bird and sport phohotography but cant afford any L glass yet. what are your faviourte non l telephotos any suggestions will be much appretiated 🙂

[ebiggs1]

What is your budget?

Although an "L" lens, the absolute best buy in a tele for Canon cameras is the EF400mm f5.6L USM.

If you are referring to any of the extremely cheap imports, like Rokinon and others. they are pure junk.

The  EF 75-300mm that comes with Rebel kits is about as good as it gets if the EF 400mm Canon is out of the question.

There are third party lens out there but they will cost nearly what the real deal Canon EF 400mm does.  Save up for it.  

[Skirball]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

The  EF 75-300mm that comes with Rebel kits is about as good as it gets if the EF 400mm Canon is out of the question.

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?  Did they come out with a mark IV?  Are you maybe referring to the 70-300 IS?  The 75-300 is junk.

OP: You didn't say what camera you have.  If it's a "crop sensor" (any of the Rebel line, 50D, 60D, 70D, 7D...) the 55-250 IS is actually a nice little lens.  They released a new version that I don't really care for, but it drove down the price of the old lens quite a bit.  You can pick up a refurbished one, directly from Canon, with warranty, here:

http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/lenses-flashes/refurbished-lenses/ef-s-55-250mm-f-4-56-is-...

$120, and they actually have some in stock.  If you're shooting crop sensor I wouldn't pass something like that up.  That's peanuts for a decent lens that's going to give you a nice boost in coverage.

If you need/want a full frame capable lens, the cheapest decent lens is the 70-300 or something from a quality third party like Sigma or Tamron.

[cicopo]

I'll assume you would prefer a zoom and if budget is important I've owned both the older Sigma 80-400 OS & the 50-500 (non OS) & they were great IQ wise but a bit slow to focus compared to the Canon 100-400 L IS. The focus speed is relative if shooting birds in flight but not that important for stationary birds / or normal movement for most forms of wildlife. Those lenses can be found used at pretty good prices. I haven't used the newer versions so no help there.

[ebiggs1]

"looking for a new telephoto for bird ..."

For birds, anything under 400mm is going to be a real challenge.  Even with a 400mm, you need to get close, real close.

Remember the next best thing to a huge tele is how close is the subject (bird) you can get.