Some beginner advice

[CDragon]

Hi folks,

I have been using my Canon 350D for years now and I love it. Having looked after it well, I've never had an any problems.

Now, I have a budget of about £300 and I want to buy new lens and a flashgun. I don't know too much about the flasgun, all I am looking for is something simple and reliable, and a way to "aim" the flash, instead of straight at my subject (as with the little onboard one).

next, the lens. I take my camera to football matches a lot and the 18-55mm lens just isn't great for getting close ups of the action. I was thinking of a 250mm lens.

Can anyone recommend what I should buy, within my budget, that is compatible and is a good balance between being easy to use and price.

Kind regards,

Andy

[RTaylor]

Hi Andy, nice to see you posting again. I'm a Nikon owner, so am not so familiar with Canon lenses, but after looking at B&H's website, I searched all Canon lenses about £300 which converted is about $500. Most of the lenses that would be best to use for sports with (IS) Image stabilization and enough zoom for taking sports shots begin at around $500. Those lenses were the range of 70-300 focal length. The F2.8 lenses would obviously be faster when shooting sports, but more expensive. I don't think you would be able to buy both a lens and an external flash for £300. Not sure if you have a deadline to purchase a lens, but if not, maybe waiting until you can save a bit more money so you can purchase something you won't end up replacing because it didn't serve your purpose. External flashes alone can start at US $300