Sigma 28-300mm Macro 3.5-6.3 Q's

BridgeCity

I got a 300D for Xmas and I am addicted to taking pictures (as some of you may know) but I am very new to the technologies involved. I received this Sigma lense (see post title) with my new camera.

I am looking for the pro's and con's of this lense. While I love the 300mm zoom, what am I missing out on as far as other lenses. My current pictures that I like to take are mostly landscape shots, and I love the zoom function with this lense. I would also like to get in to Macro photography a bit, but I don't know if I want to spend the money for a Macro lense. Would a 500D be good with my Sigma lense?

I guess I mainly want to know what is the point of having a 70-200mm lense, if you have a 28-300mm lense that obviously covers the same spectrum (and more). I realize there is a "quality of optics" argument, but I don't know enough about the workings of a camera to understand the different "f" numbers.

Can anyone give me a good place to read-up on the 300D and the different lenses?

Thank You in advance!
"n00b in training"

bkriete

I found the many articles and reviews on photo.net to be a great source of information. As for f-stops, depth of field, etc, buy a couple photo books (stay away from the ones with titles like "the beginner's guide to digital photography"; most of them spend too many chapters discussing getting your pictures off the camera or how to select a camera phone when they should be discussing composition and other topics pertaining to any type of photography).