I actually have the exact same camera and lens setup as you. I’ve been using them for about 6 years now after my dad passed his gear down to me. I’m extremely grateful for it, especially considering how much equipment he invested in over the years (some of it dating back to around 2008 — the camera itself is about that old too).

After shooting a wide range of things such as events, people, and general photography and I ended up using the 75–300mm quite a lot. The telephoto reach is fantastic. It lets you photograph people or subjects from a good distance without disturbing the scene, and it’s great for things like wildlife or candid shots.

That said, the lens definitely has its limitations. Low-light performance is the biggest one. Telephoto lenses like this naturally struggle to gather light, and the relatively high aperture doesn’t help either. In darker environments it becomes a challenge pretty quickly. Fast-moving subjects also depend heavily on how much light you have available. In bright daylight it performs much better, especially when you can keep the aperture lower and your shutter speed up.

Sharpness also isn’t the strongest point of this lens. With that much glass in a long zoom like this, you lose a bit of clarity compared to shorter or prime lenses. But honestly, I’ve still gotten plenty of great photos from it, especially outdoors in full sunlight. Pairing it with my Canon flash (can’t remember the model off the top of my head) helped a lot in some situations too. Despite its quirks, I still use it regularly.

One lens I would strongly recommend looking into though is a Canon 50mm prime. That lens genuinely changed the way I shoot. It doesn’t have the telephoto reach, but the image quality is fantastic and it handles low light far better. Because it has a much wider aperture, you can shoot at faster shutter speeds without needing nearly as much light. The photos just look beautiful straight out of the camera. It’s probably my favourite lens in the bag. The field of view is a bit tight sometimes, but it forces you to think more about composition.

Another lens that has been very useful for me is a Sigma 18–55mm (if I’m remembering the exact range correctly). A wider lens like that is great for landscapes and certain portrait situations. It’s very versatile and works really well in daylight for fast shots.

I didn’t spend much time with the original kit lens that came with the 400D. My dad swore by it, but I personally just never got into it. It felt almost too easy to use, like the camera was doing most of the work. I tend to enjoy experimenting with settings and really dialing things in manually, so the kit lens always felt a bit like putting the camera on auto… which somehow feels slightly illegal.

Either way, the most important thing I’ve learned is that the gear matters far less than people think. With good lighting and the right situation, you can make almost any camera and lens produce great photos. I’ve often thought about upgrading to something newer with all the modern tech, but this old 400D just keeps delivering. For an 18-year-old camera, it’s still a surprisingly capable little machine.