Looking at two different lenses - which one?

[chongo]

I am looking at the Canon EF 75-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM and the Canon 55-250 f/4-5.6 IS

I am shooting a Canon Rebel XTi - just recently picked it back up and started messing with it again.

The intended use are pictures of my son and wildlife as well as just general picture taking.

[tommy1005]

Are you looking at the $200 75-300 or the $550 75-300? If the more expensive is in your budget, I would go with the one linked below. Canon 70-200 f/4 without IS. IS is nice, but for what you'll be using it for, would it be worth double the money? That's something for you to decide. If it were my money I would go for the best glass I could afford, and you can't go wrong with "L" quality glass. Just my .02.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/183198-USA/Canon_2578A002_EF_70_200mm_f_4L_USM.html

[tommy1005]

I also wanted to mention that I have the 55-250 and it is a good lens, but after using an "L" lens you can definitely tell the difference between the two.

picture with 55-250


picture with 300mm f/4 and 1.4x extender at about the same distance and about the same time of day, and in the same general direction, so there's not much difference in where the sun is coming from.

[AtTheWall]

I shot a lot with the 75-300mm IS lens and it's a great "cost-effective" lens if you can't justify the L series offerings.

I don't have any experience with the 55-250mm lens, my lens collection fills in that lower gap with a Sigma 18-50mm solution.

Most long range telephotos work best just a hair below the maximum/minimum MM settings. Some have a sweet zone that falls somewhere in the middle and finding that zone is key when the lens isn't L class.

Here's my 75-300mm using my Canon 350D (a generation behind your camera's body now). I really like this lens and it borders close to L series performance.

[gordo1287]

you have some great pics!

[tommy1005]

will that 75-300 take an extender?

[Bluesman]

I've had the 75 - 300 IS for a couple of years now. As Rob mentioned it will have a sweet zone. My falls in at about 280mm. At 300 it "hunts" auto focus pretty bad. Expect a learning curve with the lens.
Image quality is generally excellent and improves with practice.
I use a 1.5X Kenko tele extender with good results but again have problems with AF with the lens fully extended.
I haven't had a great deal of luck with manual focus but Ihaven't used it a lot.
This is one lens where the benefit of IS is very noticable with low light. A monopod is a good tool to have handy as well.