What good 3rd party lens manufacturers exist for Canon SLRs?

[brentspeak]

I've got the Digital Rebel, but can't afford Canon lens prices. In need of a telephoto zoom lens and a macro lens.

[RagingInMiami]

1. I've heard the Tamron lenses are not bad

Check out this link


http://www.photo.net/equipment/canon/can-tam-macro/

[Be Brave]

2. Pretty much all the other brands:

Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, etc.

Read the reviews to guide your purchases.

[Medium Baby Jesus]

3. There are some great Tamrons and Sigmas

Check out this forum for good information.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1029

I have a 28-300 Tamron and it's pretty good. Lots of people buy digital SLRs and end up buying Canon "L" glass to get super sharp images. Nice if you can afford it.

[FloridaPat]

4. I have that one too. I like it. Tamron & Sigma are good.

[Pert_UK]

5. Follow up question....

I've got a non-digital / traditional Canon EOS 300 (which may be called the Rebel in the US) with a 28 - 100 zoom lens on it (I think...haven't used it for a while).

I'd like to get a bigger zoom for it - at least 200mm. I've been told that I can only buy expensive motorised Canon lenses, but I can't believe that's true...

Can I buy other manufacturers' lenses? If so, do I lose the autofocus or auto exposure / aperture functions if I do?

[Be Brave]

6. As long as you buy a Canon-compatible AF lens, you should be

able to use third-party lenses. All the functions will still work. Don't buy the manual-focus lenses.

[FloridaPat]

8. I have a Nikon N60. I bought the Tamron 400mm and the

camera has a real hard time with autofocus. Everything else works fine.

[DS1]

7. I've been using a Sigma 28-80 + Macro

for my film Rebel and my digital rebel and it's fan-freakin-tastic, and rings in around 80 bucks at bh photo.