Zoom lens for Canon EOS Rebel XSI

for lenses I have EF-S 18-55mm IS f/3.5-5.6 and EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 111. I want a lens with a decent zoom but not huge where I'll need my tripod in order to use it. I take alot of lanscaping pictures but primarily birds. The only camera store in my area suggested 120-400,150-400, and 200-500. Any recommendations?

I'm not too familiar with the Canon range, but photographing birds does tend to need a long lens. However, we get by quite well with a 55-300mm and 80-320mm zoom (not Canon) but it would be quite useful to extend that to 400mm.

If I were a Canon user I'd be tempted by the Tokina 80-400mm.

John

Thanks for the information John. The Tokina lens sure is cheaper than the other lenses I priced. I recently bought a lens hood and a digital UV filter but was tempted to buy another filter; a mrc circular polarizer by B+W since they're so highly rated. Of course the polarizer is twice as much as the B+W UVA haze MRC filter. Since I'm not a professional photographer maybe I should stick with the UVA and wait until I can buy the polarizer.

One of the beauties of being an amateur is that you can buy what you want as opposed to what you need. And you can still become a great photographer if you stick with it!

Personally I wouldn't bother with a haze filter at all. Many people use them to protect a lens, but they can shatter on impact and cause damage to the front element.

If you use a lens hood always then that will offer protection against most bumps and scrapes. Digital imaging has reduced the need for most filters as we can filter in Photoshop after the event.

The only exceptions are the Infra Red blocking filters (R72) and the Polariser, which both still have proper uses. You don't need as such a B+W polariser, there are cheaper ones, but they are beautiful filters....

John