Steve'sDigicams

Ironsteve · Mar 17, 2008, 10:48 AM

i can´t decide what i should buy. Fix-lens? zoom?:? i got an canon eos 400d (rebel ...?)
and i need this for sports photography, esp. racing events.
Should i buy a canon original or is there anything almost like this? any tips and hints are welcome...

JohnG · Mar 18, 2008, 11:06 AM

Ironsteve wrote:

Quote:

and i need this for sports photography, esp. racing events.
Should i buy a canon original or is there anything almost like this? any tips and hints are welcome...

Can you be more specific? What type of racing - formula 1, nascar, horse racing, etc..

Where will you be shooting from?

You also say 'especially racing' but what other sports are you planning on shooting? Again, be specific there too (i.e. if baseball, MLB, college, HS, little league - and where from? Stands or field)

Ironsteve · Mar 18, 2008, 12:49 PM

Hi John,

nascar..??? wow, i wish i could watch nascar one day in my life in some SS...
but, seriously...sports car, touring car, formula 1, historic cars...

other sports could be soccer especially, only outside...

what do u think of the brand new tamron 70-200; 1:2,8?
i already own the 17-50;1:2,8 and i´m really happy with it.

JohnG · Mar 18, 2008, 1:16 PM

200mm is definitely short for soccer. 200mm is really only good for about 25 yards of coverage. That's extremely limiting for soccer. I find my 300mm lens short for soccer.

In addition, Tamron has no history of creating quality sports lenses. Nothing with focusing rivaling Sigma's HSM or Canon's USM focus systems. The Tamron looks to be a nice price point but it will have to go a long way to prove it's as good as the Sigma and Canon lenses. IMO, if sports is the purpose of the lens it isn't worth saving a couple hundred $$ unless and until the lens is proven out to be equal to at least sigma's lens in terms of focus speed.

For the racing, a lot would depend on your distance to the subject. Racing isn't my thing but from most shots I've seen you would again want something in the 200-300mm range.

As long as it's daylight my first suggestion would be the Sigma 100-300 f4 lens ($1000). Other possibilities are the Bigma (Sigma 50-500) - but I'm not a huge fan of that as a sports lens - the aperture is too narrow and the price is high. I would rather have the quality of the 100-300 and lose extra focal length.

For the racing you could use a 400mm 5.6 or 300mm f4 as well. But for soccer a zoom can be very beneficial. At the consumer level, the Canon 70-300 IS USM ($560) is probably the only lens I would suggest. Below that, quality takes a nose dive.

Ironsteve · Mar 19, 2008, 8:33 AM

thank you ,John, for your last suggestion. I think that this one will be my choice, because it fits best to my wishes.
i googled around for quite a long time but somehow didn´t took a closer look on this canon 70-300 IS USM.
Very nice, good reviews and very good price/performance !!
Thx again,
greetings from germany, Stephan

Cyberf828 · Mar 20, 2008, 7:10 AM

I have a 70-300 IS USM it works very good for me so far. There are a few threads in here where I have some of the photos posted.

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Mar 17, 2008, 10:48 AM	#1
Ironsteve Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 3	i can´t decide what i should buy. Fix-lens? zoom?:? i got an canon eos 400d (rebel ...?) and i need this for sports photography, esp. racing events. Should i buy a canon original or is there anything almost like this? any tips and hints are welcome...

Mar 18, 2008, 12:49 PM	#3
Ironsteve Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 3	Hi John, nascar..??? wow, i wish i could watch nascar one day in my life in some SS... but, seriously...sports car, touring car, formula 1, historic cars... other sports could be soccer especially, only outside... what do u think of the brand new tamron 70-200; 1:2,8? i already own the 17-50;1:2,8 and i´m really happy with it.

Mar 18, 2008, 1:16 PM	#4
JohnG Moderator Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 8,529	200mm is definitely short for soccer. 200mm is really only good for about 25 yards of coverage. That's extremely limiting for soccer. I find my 300mm lens short for soccer. In addition, Tamron has no history of creating quality sports lenses. Nothing with focusing rivaling Sigma's HSM or Canon's USM focus systems. The Tamron looks to be a nice price point but it will have to go a long way to prove it's as good as the Sigma and Canon lenses. IMO, if sports is the purpose of the lens it isn't worth saving a couple hundred $$ unless and until the lens is proven out to be equal to at least sigma's lens in terms of focus speed. For the racing, a lot would depend on your distance to the subject. Racing isn't my thing but from most shots I've seen you would again want something in the 200-300mm range. As long as it's daylight my first suggestion would be the Sigma 100-300 f4 lens ($1000). Other possibilities are the Bigma (Sigma 50-500) - but I'm not a huge fan of that as a sports lens - the aperture is too narrow and the price is high. I would rather have the quality of the 100-300 and lose extra focal length. For the racing you could use a 400mm 5.6 or 300mm f4 as well. But for soccer a zoom can be very beneficial. At the consumer level, the Canon 70-300 IS USM ($560) is probably the only lens I would suggest. Below that, quality takes a nose dive.

Mar 19, 2008, 8:33 AM	#5
Ironsteve Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 3	thank you ,John, for your last suggestion. I think that this one will be my choice, because it fits best to my wishes. i googled around for quite a long time but somehow didn´t took a closer look on this canon 70-300 IS USM. Very nice, good reviews and very good price/performance !! Thx again, greetings from germany, Stephan

Mar 20, 2008, 7:10 AM	#6
Cyberf828 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 659	I have a 70-300 IS USM it works very good for me so far. There are a few threads in here where I have some of the photos posted.