Decent zoom lense

[Burrd255314]

Hi again,
i am looking to buy a zoom lense for about £250-£350.
I did see the sigam 170-500mm beast of a lense but i don't think it is good for handheld shots due to it's length.
I have never used an slr before - this is a film one because I have a high resolution scanner.
I am looking at something to cover to about 300mm
If a lense is stopped down, does that mean that the f number is lowered or highered. For instance, I usually shoot at f8 and let the camera decide on apeture.
Thanks alot,
Ari

[Airbus_A320]

The Canon 75-300 III USM is good for a low price.

Yes the higher the F number the more stopped down the lens is. If you get a 300D which is seems like your getting from your other post.... there are four modes that you would want to use. "P" lets the camera decide shutter speed and aperture, "Tv" has you set the shutter speed and the camera sets the aperture, "Av" has you set the aperture and the camera sets shutter speed, and "M" lets you manually control shutter speed and aperture.

[Airbus_A320]

The Canon 75-300 III USM is good for a low price.

Yes the higher the F number the more stopped down the lens is. If you get a 300D which is seems like your getting from your other post.... there are four modes that you would want to use. "P" lets the camera decide shutter speed and aperture, "Tv" has you set the shutter speed and the camera sets the aperture, "Av" has you set the aperture and the camera sets shutter speed, and "M" lets you manually control shutter speed and aperture.

No, the higher the number the bigger the stop...

I thought it was the other way around? as less light is let into the lens when the number it higher ie more light gets in at f8 than at f10.

[Burrd255314]

Thanks alot for the info guys,
can we finalise an answer though, will f8 let in more light - and therefore a faster shutter speed can be used - than @f11?
Thanks

[Burrd255314]

Thanks for all the help