Buyer's Guide: Telephoto lenses.

A Sony telephoto lens. 

So, by now you've got your camera, and you've got your wide angle lens. Now it's time to bring  all those things that are far away closer to you. You may have noticed a trend of suggestions of third-party lenses being highly recommended, and you might wonder if the major manufacturers have any value to offer. The short answer is: yes, and the budget telephoto is one area where it pays to buy the manufacturer's products.

The major brands have you covered, besting the competition in everything but price. What you won't often find, however, is macro capability, or as macro as you can get without a dedicated lens. Lenses like the Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro and the Sigma 70-300 APO DG Macro allow macro capabilities down to 1:2 life size; not too shabby for lenses costing less than $200 on average. What's the catch?

These lenses often are slower and less reliable in their auto focus (AF) operations, and offer much less resolving power than the manufacturer's own lenses, although the Sigma hangs close, at lest through 200mm. The other big downside, at least to you Canon and Nikon owners, is that the third-party lenses do not currently offer any form of image stabilization, leaving you needing a good amount of light in order to keep shutter speeds up. Although you can expect to pay up to $150 more for a manufacturer’s lens (such as the Canon 55-250IS, Sony 55-200, Nikon 55-200VR, etc.), the difference is well worth the quality.      

So there is the budget end of the spectrum, but what happens when you need a lens that is going to let you shoot sports, especially in the evening? Or shoot portraits, where you need that larger aperture to throw that background out of focus? There are, of course the manufacturer's own lenses, many running close to $2,000 each. You do get a lot for your money; build quality and weather sealing being the primary advantages. However, what can you find if you look to the third-party guys? As in the last article, let’s start with non-full frame lenses.

Probably the two best offerings come from Tokina and Sigma, and we'll start with the Tokina AT-X 535 Pro DX, a lens that offers a focal length of 50-135mm, bringing back the days of the more traditional (and still popular) 70-200mm focal length (70-210 in film or “full frame” terms), and a fast f/2.8 aperture. Tokina co-developed this lens with Pentax, and it is an interesting offering. The downsides to this lens are few, namely lack of a silent AF motor (like Canon's USM, Sigma's HSM, or Pentax's SDM – which is included on the Pentax version of this lens), and the odd characteristic of seeming to be in a different – lower – class of sharpness when wide open at 135mm. Otherwise, this lens shines, easily hanging in with the IQ from the leading manufacturer's lenses. Added bonus: there is a built in tripod collar, just like the big, heavy lenses in the 70-200 class. For essentially the same lens as the Pentax (minus the wonderful SMC), it's a bargain at about $550.

The other offering in this range is the Sigma APO 50-150mm f/2.8 EX DC HSM. Offering more range than the Tokina, and having silent AF with Sigma's Hyper Sonic Motor, there is a lot to like about this lens. The IQ is right up there, and the build quality is typical Sigma, which is to say that it is solid and feels good in your hands. The drawbacks: no tripod collar, although many could take it or leave it; AF that hunts from time to time, and sometimes mis-focuses altogether; Sigma's increasing notoriety for poor quality control. This puppy will set you back about $750.

Now, if you have a full frame camera, or want a little extra reach, it's Sigma and Tamron to the rescue again. Starting with the least expensive lens in the segment, Tamron offers its SP AF 70-200mm Di LD (IF) Macro for only about $700. Optically, there is a whole lot to like about this lens. IQ is on par with the sharpest lenses around, namely the Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS. The problem is, this is a lens on a budget, so sacrifices had to be made, namely with the lack of any image stabilization, and less than stellar AF. The AF is loud, slow, and hunts more than the competition. This is not your big time, major league sports lens (I've tried this lens out with major league soccer, and it struggles at best to keep up), but if you need an optically sound lens, and can work with the AF, this is the one great lens.

Sigma offers their 70-200mm f/2.8 II EX DG APO Macro HSM AF up to the table at about $800. Sigma again offers their nearly silent HSM, which already gives it an edge over the Tamron. Optically, the Sigma is on par with the name-brand lenses through at least 135mm, with a slight fall-off in performance at 200mm. The Sigma also lacks stabilization, but has an excellent build quality, matching the solid feel of the name brand lenses. So all-in-all, it's a great lens for the price.

Keep in mind in regards to the Tamron and Sigma, the premier lenses in this class from the major manufacturers cost in the neighborhood of $1,800, so there is a lot more to like about these lenses that cost less than half as much! 

So there you have it, the short list of lenses for when you need to bring the action to you. As always, there is a giant list of lenses available; I've just tried to bring forward the best of the bunch.

Next up on the list: Ultra Wide Angle lenses.