Longer lens or teleconverter

Raptor Mike

Raptor Mike

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Mike
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I use a Canon 60D and my longest lens is a Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II but I would like something with more zoom for motorsport and a bit of wildlife. I have looked at the
Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM but after Sigmas cashback its £649, whereas the Sigma APO 2x EX DG Teleconverter is £234.99 and will give me 110-500. But is it to good to be true?
So get the lens, or keep the mrs happy and get the teleconverter?
Also will the sigma teleconverter work with a canon lens or do I need a Canon teleconverter?

I will say that I do more landscape than anything else but it's motorsport (BSB) that got me into photography and something I really want to get into.
 
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Much better to crop from decent quality glass with decent aperture (preferably f2.8) than muck about with TCs IMO:cool: I'd be searching the classifieds for second hand Canon glass to those specs;)
 
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I think that the sigma TC's only work with sigma lenses, canon with canon lenses. There are kenko TC's that work with canon, sigma and tamron lenses though so you could try one of them. I have a kenko 2x and it does work with my tamron 70-300 4/5.6 at 300mm but it is slower and does need good light. It's better suited to my 70-200 2.8.

You'll get better results with the 150-500. If you're using for motorsport then I imagine you'll need pretty quick AF. There's one going in the classifieds just now you could have a look at ?

Edit: As Nick says below the TC's aren't compatible with EF-S lenses.
 
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Longer lens in your case mate, don`t tell your misses that I said so though.
 
Not sure how well a 60D's AF copes with small aperture lenses on telecons. IIRC, some Canons need f/5.6 or faster (could have the figure wrong though!)

Not sure which lens ChrisWilson uses for his bike racing shots (which hold up well against his zoo and bird shots BTW) but he seems to do quite well! Then again, the exact lenses wouldn't be any good to you since he's a Dark Sider!
 
I use both 1.4 and 2X Sigma TC's on my 120-300 f2.8, however using a TC on your current lens is going to make it rather slow, so the 150-500 would be a good option, or the Canon 100-400 which is lighter if that is an issue. Performance wise not much to choose between them. I used 1 150-500 previously and it's a cracking good lens.
 
From memory Canon tc's only work with some canon lenses. Mainly the L series. I don't think your 55-250 would be compatible. Sigma are matched to their lenses and if you check their site there are no non Sigma lenses listed as compatible.

Kenko are compatible with almost all lenses whether Canon, Sigma, Tamron etc. For the 1.4 tc you lose one stop and for the 2x tc you lose two stops. On most Canon bodies you will lose AF unless you have fast lenses. You can of course still manually focus.

I have the Kenko 1.4 which i use with both my Tamron 70-300 and my Canon 70-200. Pictures with the tc are slightly softer but they are still perfectly acceptable imo. Of course a lot depends on what you want to do with the photo. But i could easily get sharp A3 prints from them.
 
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Happy shopping, Mike! IIRC, the Devon Camera Centre have a 150-500 Canon fit Sigma in their window - 2nd hand. 01392 214199 is their number.
 
Have a look in the classifieds.;)
 
if you can hang out for the 50-500 os sigma as some times you you may lose a good shot that is well under the 150mm and it saves you having to change lenses
 
hoochy1 said:
if you can hang out for the 50-500 os sigma as some times you you may lose a good shot that is well under the 150mm and it saves you having to change lenses
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As good as that would be, I really cant push my luck. It's just too expensive. But thanks for the suggestion
 
The 150-500's a decent buy at £706 or so then the £100 back. Sadly the 50-500's not being discounted as well, making it about 65% more expensive.
 
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