Sports (cricket) Tele Zoom Lens....

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corb

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I know this has probably been discussed before, infact I know it has having searched and read a few of the threads but not so much geared towards cricket, found a few wildlife related posts. I will also use it for football, other sports in general including motorsport....

My camera is a 550d...

I need a tele zoom lens, gave my kit one away, 70-300 and need to replace it. I found that 300 wasn't quite enough for cricket to not need lots of cropping due to the boundary distance from the wicket so....

I've been thinking on getting the Canon 100-400 lens but am put off by the push/pull zoom mechanism and the somewhat slow f4.5 - 5.6.

The only other options I would consider are a 70-200 2.8 IS or 70-300 4.5 - 5.6 IS with either a x1.4 or x2.0 tc. Down sides are the slower apertures with a teleconvertor and I've read a fair bit about AF slowing right up and loss of image quality. Plus the extra cost obviously of going down the lens + tc route, especially seeing as the 70-200 is a fair bit dearer to begin with.....

General consensus so far seems to have come up with going for the 100-400?...

Oh, and apologies for another one of 'these' threads! I would class myself as the lower end of amateur with the ability to confidently use full manual settings.
 
The same lenses come up each time this type of question gets asked, and there are obviously supporters for each.

If you insist on sticking with canon, then its either the 100-400 you mention or the 400mm f5.6 prime. The 70-200 f2.8 is mark 2 is supposed to take a 2x converter very well giving a similar level of quality to the zoom (some will argue a slightly better IQ) but at a higher price.

The sigma 150-500 and 50-500mm both have their supporters, albeit are a tad slower than the canon lenses.

To get anything faster at anything like a reasonable cost, you probably need to look at a second hand sigma 120-300mm f2.8 (make sure its the OS version) and put a 1.4x converter on it.

You might find the odd old canon 300mm f2.8 at a reasonable cost, but just remember that Canon no longer support repairs for this lens
 
Different sports different kit for Footy the standard is a 70-200 f2.8 ,Canon if finances allow but also look at the Sigma and Tamron offerings, this will allow you to shoot under lights as well.e cricket I put a 2x converter on my 70-200 and the results aren't bad
 
captain, do you have any links to examples of images using your 70-200 with the x2 attached please?
 
In my experience long lens without converter is better quality than shorter lens with converter..

Thus I would go for something that is 400m

For cricket I wouldnt let the aperture put you off.. I start at f5.6 even though I ahve a 400 2.8 ... just because a lens is 2.8 doesnt mean you have to use it.. I preefer f5.6 at cricket and will go higher if req... very rare do I need to go lower..

Cricket is normally played in decent light.. the background is so far away that dof isn't a big problem
 
Kipax, I was hoping you might reply! It wasnt so much the light that I was thinking of but isolating the subject using the f2.8. Im a bit more convinced now :)

Although I would love a 2.8 for taking to LeMans for night shooting but I've not been for 5years and no plans to go again soon so this isnt an issue for the foreseeable!

Thanks Captain, I'll have a browse in a bit... at work at the moment and keep having to switch windows when someone walks past!
 
In everybody's experience a prime is better than a zoom with a converter as i have found since I got my Tokina 300mm f4,the perennial problem for many though is weighing quality against cost.
I am sure the OP like i would love a 400mm f 2.8 alongside a 70-200 f2.8 IS but if that is not financially viable we have to accept the poorer quality Zoom plus Converter approach if that is all we can afford
 
CaptainPenguin said:
I am sure the OP like i would love a 400mm f 2.8 alongside a 70-200 f2.8 IS but if that is not financially viable we have to accept the poorer quality Zoom plus Converter approach if that is all we can afford
Click to expand...

no idea what your on about...nobody has suggested a 400 2.8 ... whats wrong wiht the 100-400 he listed ? thats better than a shorter with a converter.. you can also get 400 5.6 at reasonable prices
 
corb said:
Kipax, I was hoping you might reply! It wasnt so much the light that I was thinking of but isolating the subject using the f2.8. !
Click to expand...

seriously.. part of the math of isolating a background is distance of subject to background... if you shoot a person with a tree half a mile away in background.. its gonna be isolated.. half the length of a cricket pitch is plenty...

plus the best position for cricket is almost head on.. better to ahve batsman and wicket keeper in focus.. not wicket keeper 3 feet away blurred...IMHO
 
Re: DOF... when using longer lenses/TCs from the same position the focal length has 2x the effect on DOF compared to aperture.
If you double the aperture (number) you get 2x the DOF.
If you double the FL you get 1/4 the DOF.
So by adding a 2x TC you actually end up with 1/2 the DOF you previously had (i.e. 400mm@f/5.6 -vs- 200mm@f/2.8). Plus there's less BG included in the image.

I can't speak to the Canon equivalents, but here's a demo shot I took using the Nikon 70-200 VRII and the 2x TCIII. (almost wide open)

Demo Shot by skersting66, on Flickr
 
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i've been finding very recently that even with a 100-400mm Canon, i'm starting to be a bit reach limited.

Son has been playing for Yorkshire U11's this year :D , and the boundries have been longer meaning further away from wicket - and more cropping (using a 30D body).

Can't afford next lens in the jump - lol, and the 100-400 is a brilliant piece of kit.

So my fix maybe a replacement body - 7D ??

rgds
Gary
 
ogbyte said:
i've been finding very recently that even with a 100-400mm Canon, i'm starting to be a bit reach limited.

Son has been playing for Yorkshire U11's this year :D , and the boundries have been longer meaning further away from wicket - and more cropping (using a 30D body).

Can't afford next lens in the jump - lol, and the 100-400 is a brilliant piece of kit.

So my fix maybe a replacement body - 7D ??

rgds
Gary
Click to expand...

Well, it will gain you more MP's and "cropability," but it's not quite the same thing as a longer lens.
 
Gary,
I tried a 7D for cricket and wasn't too happy with the results. I use the same as Tony (Kipax).. Nothing beats filling the frame with longer lenses. I may have also covered games your son played in ?
 
No direct experience myself but have heard the views of people I trust that faster lens TC is no better than a longer slower lens.

I have been using the Sigma 150-500 for a while now and find myself a lot at the outer end - where it's not at its best of course but still had some decent shots. As the lads grow uop the boundaries do grow but the lads also start to fill the frame a bit better :). Hard to see a cost-effective way of increasing this in terms of length or quality.

Biggest challenge is exposing for a batsman's face when it's under a helmet...
 
Keeper said:
No direct experience myself but have heard the views of people I trust that faster lens TC is no better than a longer slower lens.
Click to expand...
Generally I would agree with that, but it does depend on what the comparison is between.
The main advantage of a faster prime +TC's is; it's faster. And you can change TC's to have a "variable aperture zoom" effect.

I used to use a Sig 50-500 4.5-6.3. It was at 6.3 by 300mm if not earlier. And there was never an option of using it wider... There are times where it's better to shoot wider/shorter (i.e. 200 f/2.8) and crop because you just can't get the shot at f/6.3.
 
sk66 said:
Generally I would agree with that, but it does depend on what the comparison is between.
The main advantage of a faster prime +TC's is; it's faster. And you can change TC's to have a "variable aperture zoom" effect.

I used to use a Sig 50-500 4.5-6.3. It was at 6.3 by 300mm if not earlier. And there was never an option of using it wider... There are times where it's better to shoot wider/shorter (i.e. 200 f/2.8) and crop because you just can't get the shot at f/6.3.
Click to expand...

Yeah I've done that as well. The sentence I wrote above wasn't very well written and really referred to when you slow down the faster lens to get more length. can you explain what you mean by the variable aperture zoom effect?
 
I had a Canon 100-400 and a 550D combination for a while until I upgraded to a 5D2 and 7D and passed the 550D on to the wife. Then, as I had 2 bodies I got a Sigma 150-500 OS and used the Sigma on the 5D2 and the 100-400 on the 7D. I got some very good shots with the 550D and 7D with the 100-400 but the Sigma was front focussing a bit on the 550D so never really got much use.

When I sold the 5D2 and 7d to get a 5D3 I decided to sell one of the lenses as I didn't need both so after a lot of testing I decided to keep the 150-500. I found the IQ to be very similar but the Sigma has a much better IS/OS system and I found it was quicker to lock on focus, specially as the light faded, which was surprising as the Canon is a tad faster at full zoom.

I've now got a second body, a new 70D that replaced another 7D, and if I need a long lens on that I use a Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS MkII and a 2x MkIII extender and that gives me the reach I want but also at a very good IQ level, specially when stopped down to f8. The Sigma 150-500 OS is still nearly always stuck on my 5D3 and it gives me great results every time.

The wife now has a Sigma 120-400 OS for wildlife shooting and that is also a great lens and gave great IQ on the 550D and the 650D body she's now upgraded to. It might be worth adding the 120-400 OS to your list to look into.

The best thing to do would be go into a camera shop with your 550D and try out the lenses you're interested in, that way you'll find out what's best for you. If you're near Lincoln at any time you'd be welcome to come and try our lenses out if it'd help.
 
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