Digital Rebel XT 350D Lens

I am new to DSLR, and want a decent telephoto/zoom lens for bringing things
in the distance up close. Picture clarity/sharpness is my major concern. I
foolishly purchased a Canon EF 75-300 f/4-5.6 III. I am not at all happy
with it. I am willing to spend a conservative $600 or so for a lens that
will do this camera justice. Any suggestions?

I also have a Sony DSC H1, and it actually takes better/sharper pictures
than the Canon 350D. Is it just me, or is it the lens. I suspect it may be
both, but that's why I am here. I wish to learn.

DSLRs in general have less in-camera sharpening than most P&S cameras, the
assumption of the mfr is that you are knowledgeable and skilled enough, if
you own a DSLR, to make your own choices when it comes to processing the
image. In Photoshop, try Unsharp Mask at levels of 100%, radius of 1 pixel
and a threshold of 0 levels. That may, with some tinkering, get you the
desired results.

--
Skip Middleton
http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com
"U-Know-Who" wrote in message
...
I am new to DSLR, and want a decent telephoto/zoom lens for bringing things
in the distance up close. Picture clarity/sharpness is my major concern. I
foolishly purchased a Canon EF 75-300 f/4-5.6 III. I am not at all happy
with it. I am willing to spend a conservative $600 or so for a lens that
will do this camera justice. Any suggestions?

I also have a Sony DSC H1, and it actually takes better/sharper pictures
than the Canon 350D. Is it just me, or is it the lens. I suspect it may be
both, but that's why I am here. I wish to learn.



DSLRs in general have less in-camera sharpening than most P&S cameras, the
assumption of the mfr is that you are knowledgeable and skilled enough, if
you own a DSLR, to make your own choices when it comes to processing the
image. In Photoshop, try Unsharp Mask at levels of 100%, radius of 1 pixel
and a threshold of 0 levels. That may, with some tinkering, get you the
desired results.
On the subject of lenses, that lens you have is not known for its sharpness.
Try some of the ones that others have suggested, and I might add the 28-135
or 17-85 IS lenses to your list of lenses to check out.

--
Skip Middleton
http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com

"U-Know-Who" wrote in message
...
I am new to DSLR, and want a decent telephoto/zoom lens for bringing
things
in the distance up close. Picture clarity/sharpness is my major concern. I
foolishly purchased a Canon EF 75-300 f/4-5.6 III. I am not at all happy
with it. I am willing to spend a conservative $600 or so for a lens that
will do this camera justice. Any suggestions?

I also have a Sony DSC H1, and it actually takes better/sharper pictures
than the Canon 350D. Is it just me, or is it the lens. I suspect it may be
both, but that's why I am here. I wish to learn.




I have found this lense very hard to get sharp images, and like you say, my
Kodak DX6490 at 10x zoom is sharper. As Skip suggests, if I have an issue
with a picture sharpness I run it through the same unsharp tool in Paint
Shop Pro 9.

That said, the lens is cheap and not a bad purchase when new to DSLR, so I
was not overly suprised or dissappointed. I cannot justify an L lens just
yet. I find that a tripod is useful in lower lights if circumstances allow,
and the lens does give some good low field depth shots.

Can confirm comment on sharpness, I bought a prime Canon 50mm f1.8 II last
week and am very impressed with the sharpness there - that does compare with
my old Kodak.

Alex

Sigma DC 55-200, a fan-tastic lens!

"U-Know-Who" wrote in message
...
I am new to DSLR, and want a decent telephoto/zoom lens for bringing things
in the distance up close. Picture clarity/sharpness is my major concern. I
foolishly purchased a Canon EF 75-300 f/4-5.6 III. I am not at all happy
with it. I am willing to spend a conservative $600 or so for a lens that
will do this camera justice. Any suggestions?

I also have a Sony DSC H1, and it actually takes better/sharper pictures
than the Canon 350D. Is it just me, or is it the lens. I suspect it may be
both, but that's why I am here. I wish to learn.




What about the Tamron Lenses? Any good?

"Bill" wrote in message ...
U-Know-Who wrote:

I am new to DSLR, and want a decent telephoto/zoom lens for bringing
things
in the distance up close. Picture clarity/sharpness is my major concern. I
foolishly purchased a Canon EF 75-300 f/4-5.6 III. I am not at all happy
with it. I am willing to spend a conservative $600 or so for a lens that
will do this camera justice. Any suggestions?

Two suggestions:

Canon 70-200 f/4 L lense. I have one of these and it's one of the finest
lenses Canon makes, sharp as a tack, high contrast and saturation, low
distortion, and very fast focusing. You won't be disappointed with this
lense.


Seconded

John

"U-Know-Who" wrote in message
...
I am new to DSLR, and want a decent telephoto/zoom lens for bringing things
in the distance up close. Picture clarity/sharpness is my major concern. I
foolishly purchased a Canon EF 75-300 f/4-5.6 III. I am not at all happy
with it. I am willing to spend a conservative $600 or so for a lens that
will do this camera justice. Any suggestions?

I also have a Sony DSC H1, and it actually takes better/sharper pictures
than the Canon 350D. Is it just me, or is it the lens. I suspect it may be
both, but that's why I am here. I wish to learn.

Small sensor cameras have an amazing depth of field and often aggressively
sharpen in the camera. You have to be more aware of DOF and be willing to
do some post-processing when using a DSLR.

As to the lens, my 75-300 does good work. An example:
http://home.comcast.net/~charlesschu...8/site1056.jpg

I also have a Canon 100-400 and have compared the two with tripod tests at
300 mm using a 20D. The 100-400 is only a tad sharper.

"Charles Schuler" wrote in message
. ..

"U-Know-Who" wrote in message
...
I am new to DSLR, and want a decent telephoto/zoom lens for bringing
things in the distance up close. Picture clarity/sharpness is my major
concern. I foolishly purchased a Canon EF 75-300 f/4-5.6 III. I am not at
all happy with it. I am willing to spend a conservative $600 or so for a
lens that will do this camera justice. Any suggestions?

I also have a Sony DSC H1, and it actually takes better/sharper pictures
than the Canon 350D. Is it just me, or is it the lens. I suspect it may
be both, but that's why I am here. I wish to learn.

Small sensor cameras have an amazing depth of field and often aggressively
sharpen in the camera. You have to be more aware of DOF and be willing to
do some post-processing when using a DSLR.

As to the lens, my 75-300 does good work. An example:
http://home.comcast.net/~charlesschu...8/site1056.jpg

I also have a Canon 100-400 and have compared the two with tripod tests at
300 mm using a 20D. The 100-400 is only a tad sharper.


First, thanks to all that have responded! Your comments are very much
appreciated.

Now, the photo of the egret...it is much clearer than I am able to take with
the same lens. Of course, it appears to be at much less distance than I have
tried. Maybe I am asking too much for the lens?

Now, the photo of the egret...it is much clearer than I am able to take
with the same lens. Of course, it appears to be at much less distance than
I have tried. Maybe I am asking too much for the lens?

That shot was taken at full zoom. We always ask too much of our equipment
and too little of ourselves.

"Charles Schuler" wrote in message
. ..


Now, the photo of the egret...it is much clearer than I am able to take
with the same lens. Of course, it appears to be at much less distance
than I have tried. Maybe I am asking too much for the lens?

That shot was taken at full zoom. We always ask too much of our equipment
and too little of ourselves.


Agreed! Much too easy to zoom than to walk! Anyway, I posted one photo
online. It is the full 3.1Mb image. Please let me know if I -AM- asking too
much, or if it seems about right.

http://home.houston.rr.com/chapmansphotos/IMG_0089.JPG