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hi looking some help. im using a tamron af 70-300 mm 1:4-5.6. .most photos i take are of motorbikes, mostly road races,but occasionly short circuits where the bikes are farther away. i'm thinking of buying a better 2nd hand lenses. and to be honest i'm not sure what to go for . willing to spend around 400-450. would like sharper shots . and would a 200 mm lens of better quality be any use. i'm also not too sure about all tke jargon in the adverts :confused: thanks joe
hi mondo
when i brought my first DSLR Camera i had the same lens as your using now and for a lens that's priced on some web sites at £99 its not a bad lens as others might think it is to get you started but later on i found the lens had trouble locking focus on things i was trying to take by the time it had i had lost the shot so i brought a Sigma 70 - 200mm F2.8 lens which is whats called a faster lens as were the Tamron is F4 at 70mm the Sigma is F2.8 at 70 all the way to 200mm the F stop don't change.But after reading about making lens longer so you can get more reach you can buy whats called a converter which fits on to lens but you have to make sure the lens & the converter match up as you cant just fit one to any lens they have to match.They come in two kinds a 1.4 or a 2 times which mean the first one will give the lens 1/4 extra zoom and the 2 giving 2's extra zoom but you do loss your f2.8 F-stop when you fit one to a faster lens. I brought the Sigma 2x converter so when its fitted my lens the F-stop goes to F5.6 but its still better then the Tamron when trying to track fast moving thing.The Tamron lens gives us Canon users with the 1.6 crop a focal length of 480mm when its set to 300mm with my Sigma and the Converter Fitted when the lens is at 200mm my focal length is 640mm giving me 160mm more then using the Tamron and faster locking on to what i try and focus on
here is a link to some shot's i took at a airfield using my Sigma fitted with the 2x Converter and i never missed any images i now if i had been using the Tamron i would have missed some that's the difference in the lens
http://www.flickr.com/photos/blitz-p...7627778078848/
hope this will help you out all the best
Russ :)
cheers Russ
much appreciated, some cracking shots of the helicopter, to be honest was thinking about the sigma f2. was just worried about the reach . had never thought about the adapter , so thanks again russ :)
your welcome mondo ;)
if your still about Russ, was looking at a sigma apo 135-400 4.5-5.6 around the same money as an f.2 what do u reckon ?
looking at the spec ive just read the 70 - 200mm is Sigma's Ex range were the sigma apo 135-400 4.5-5.6 is not so it might be like the Tamron slow at locking Focus were the 70 - 200mm locks on like super glue :D
many thanks :)
why i say this mondo when i brought my Sigma 70 - 200mm i only had the Canon 500D since then ive brought the 550D like you and all so the Canon 60D the 500D & the 550D Auto Focus points are the same the middle one is F2.8 and with out the converter it locks right away to what i focus on as the motor inside is faster then the Tamron is but like i read when i was starting four years ago its not the Camera that helps to get the good image its the lens you stick on it and its so true i was blown away the day i took the sigma lens out and ive not even used my 70 - 300 on my camera since that day
thanks m8. only thing i was worried about was the 200mm bit. russ said about convertor so if i wasnt getting the range i could buy one of those
When people talk about sharpness with lenses they’re usually referring to the optical quality, but in your case, with your fast moving subjects, its getting the subjects in perfect focus that’s the challenge. Your existing lens is great value for the £120 or so that it costs, but you’re pushing it beyond its limits. In general, the fastest focusing is provided by lenses with wider maximum apertures. The Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 would be a good choice, but its above your budget.
You could, however afford a Canon EF 70-200mm f4 L USM Lens (around £520 new, £400 used). It’s a stop slower than the Sigma but also a stop faster than your current lens at the telephoto end, where you probably use it most, and the USM motor makes it faster still. Best of all, the L series designation indicates it’s a professional lens featuring Canon’s premium optics. There’s no image stabilisation but a monopod should take care of that, and would also help you get steadier shots with less physical effort.