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JD007F

JD007F

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Name
James Franklin
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HI Guys,

I am currently looking for a better zoom lens for long shots, on cricket pitches and concerts i currently haver the Canon Ef-s s55-250mm f/4-s.6 is. but io was wondering is there a slightly better zoom lens that does some close up shots and one that can zoom in closer to batsman and that when i'm taking pictures of batsman etc. hope you guys roughly undertsnad whatt i what would love some help.

I have the Canon eos 500d

Cheers James
 
well at the moment cause im not sure how much the next sort of lens are ill decide that when ive looked at a few so at the mo i dont have one lol what would you say is a recommened amount for the next sort of lens up from mine.

hope you dont mind me asking

James
 
Hard to beat the 55-250 without spending a bit more money, guess the Canon 70-300 IS USM is the next step up, at £300 ish. Maybe even the 70-200 F4 L for £350 to £400, it's shorter but sharper and you might find you can crop pictures more closely (and/or get a teleconvertor).

Otherwise its the 100-400 L at £800 to £900, or a long fixed focal length prime (eg 400mm L) for about the same.

Someone more knowledgeable than me could fill you in on Sigma options.
 
There is the Sigma 150-500mm OS, gives yo a lot more reach but less at the short end.
It's about £600 and stabilized. It gets good write ups although it's not a patch on an L lens.
 
Hi Guys, cheers for the comments and how fast u have replied, yeh i understand that the big lens might not be very gd for the concerts so maybe ill stick to the smaller range which to me is more portable for day to day use if you get me. since i posted on here i started to look at the theses below which ones would u say out of theses. i think jimwah mentioned this one in his reply.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-70-20...J2SG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1329408966&sr=8-2

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-70-20...QF6T/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329408966&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-70-30...B6/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&qid=1329409219&sr=8-21
 
A 1.4x converter will knock you back one stop, a 2x converter will knock you back 2 stops so unless you have a fast lens F2.8 or f4 you will lose auto focus. The other advantage of fast glass would be at concerts to increase shutter speed. The down side is the price goes up steeply as the f number comes down.
 
Jimwah said:
Hard to beat the 55-250 without spending a bit more money, guess the Canon 70-300 IS USM is the next step up, at £300 ish. Maybe even the 70-200 F4 L for £350 to £400, it's shorter but sharper and you might find you can crop pictures more closely (and/or get a teleconvertor).

Otherwise its the 100-400 L at £800 to £900, or a long fixed focal length prime (eg 400mm L) for about the same.

Someone more knowledgeable than me could fill you in on Sigma options.
Click to expand...

Bingo.....


I'd be looking at the Canon 70-300mm IS, gives you a bit more reach and a bit more sharpness.
 
I think the 70-300 is fine, but its not exactly a big upgrade. 100-400 or maybe the sigma 120-300 with a teleconverter? that would give you 600mm @ 5.6 - have a look at recent posts, 'artyman' on here posted a picture of a bird that looked pretty good taken with the lens. Gonna cost the thick end of £1500 with a teleconverter though.
 
Or indeed the Canon 70-300 L version, razor sharp but more expensive than the non-L 300 (which I also have and really is good for the money).
 
300mm still won't be long enough for close up shots of the batsman unless you're fielding in the slips. Best to keep your 250 for concerts and go for something like a Sig 50-500 or 150-500 for the cricket.
 
JD007F said:
Hi Guys, cheers for the comments and how fast u have replied, yeh i understand that the big lens might not be very gd for the concerts so maybe ill stick to the smaller range which to me is more portable for day to day use if you get me. since i posted on here i started to look at the theses below which ones would u say out of theses. i think jimwah mentioned this one in his reply.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-70-20...J2SG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1329408966&sr=8-2

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-70-20...QF6T/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329408966&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-70-30...B6/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&qid=1329409219&sr=8-21
Click to expand...

One lens that might be worth considering is the Canon 200mm 2.8 L since it sounds like most of your use is at the long end. Its smaller(not white either so I'd guess less likely to be picked out at concerts), cheaper(around £450-500 used) than most of the zooms mentioned and the large max appature would be useful for both low light concert shooting, fast sporting shots and allow you to use a x1.4(becomes 280mm f/4) or x2 teleconverters(becomes 400mm f/5.6) to get more range.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-200mm-2-8L-LP1222-83BII/dp/B0000AY2J4
 
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wow cheers for everyones responses wasnt quit expecting so many lol i think i might keep the teleconverters out of the light as not to fussed about buying that.

well when i mean close up i mean more zoom and sharpness as if i take a picture of a batsman say for cricket i can get as close as i can with the zoom then crop it and do it that way if that would be ok i hope.

here is a poor example that i did last year lol
main picture
IMG_0575_edTMP-2.jpg


cropped
IMG_0575_edited-1.jpg


cheers
 
Personally I'd say that pic would benefit most from a larger appature, less motion blur on the bat and it would put the not espeically interesting background more out of focus.
 
Moreorless said:
Personally I'd say that pic would benefit most from a larger appature, less motion blur on the bat and it would put the not espeically interesting background more out of focus.
Click to expand...

okey dokey thank you, may i ask is that me then with the settings as i cant remember what settings i took it with, could u recommened settings to change to next time i take some pics of batters etc cheers
 
JD007F said:
okey dokey thank you, may i ask is that me then with the settings as i cant remember what settings i took it with, could u recommened settings to change to next time i take some pics of batters etc cheers
Click to expand...

I'd guess its probabley not a case of you choosing the "wrong"(obviously subjective) settings so much as the limations of the 55-250, a 5.6 appature at the long end is quite limating for this kind of photography which is why many people suggested lenses with constant f/4 or even f/2.8 appatures.
 
As above, little higher shutter speed will help freeze the bat if that's what you want.

With regards to the background, you won't be able to get a beautifully blurred background with your current lens, it's physically impossible at the distance you're shooting. That background is about as good as you can get at local league cricket, much better than the usual car park!

If you do get a 400/500mm then you can start to think about throwing the background out a bit more.

Forgot to consider the sigma 120-300 and 2x converter option earlier. If you've got £900 plus burning a hole it might be the best, albeit heaviest, option.
 
It really depends on your budget!!!!!!!!!!!

The 70-300mm IS f4-5.6 you won't see a great deal of difference between that lens and yours. You want to get closer to the action, so the next lens up is the sigma 120-400mm OS. Then thinks get a bit more complicated and expensive because you're moving into prime territory.

Other lenses to consider.

£400 >
Sigma 100-300mm f4 (used)
Sigma 150-500mm f5-6.3
£1000>
Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6
Canon 70-300mm f4-5.6 L
Canon 300mm f4
Canon 400mm f5.6
Sigma 50-500mm OS f5-6.3

Big $$$$$
Sigma 120-300mm f2.8
Canon 300mm f2.8
Canon 500mm f4
Canon 400mm f2.8
Canon 600mm f4

It really depends what you want to pay, whether you want a zoom and would you consider used equipment (which will knock off a few extra $$$)
 
Just considering "reach" of lenses and nothing else - do NOT look at sharpness on this one because it's rubbish but this is 300mm from the 5th row of seats at Newlands in Cape Town, a big Test ground. This was taken with an old EOS 300D with a truly appalling EF 75-300mm zoom at 300mm. My 7D with my 70-300L would produce a FAR better result but with exactly the same framing, this is straight from camera and no processing at all i.e not cropped. A smaller ground would obviously be better!

jones.jpg


FYI this is Geraint Jones playing and missing at one from Jaques Kallis, Jan 2005.
 
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Cheers guys, sorry for my poor slow reply ive been busy with work. yeh u have all come up with similar lens but ive decided that i dont really wont to spend over £450 really as i dont use my camera all the time so i feel maybe getting
one of theses not sure your thought on this idea from me but your thought would be very welcome.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-70-30...4KB6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1329656789&sr=8-4

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sigma-70-30...QU/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1329656978&sr=8-12

cheers James
 
Hi James,

The Canon 70-300 4-5.6 IS is actually very good value for the money. I took the pic below with one on a 7D at Sywell aerodrome last summer (and this is a big crop and comes out not bad at all). At club cricket you'll get some decent enough results but still have to crop them, it'll beat your shot above though, with the right settings of course.

moth5a.jpg
 
An extra 50mm on the crop sensor is going to gain you very very little over what you already have at that range. Its not worth the extra money.

You've got a 500D - you can crop the pictures substantially - have you tried doing that?

For £450 you're unlikely to improve over the 55-250 you already have (its a slow but good quality lens).

Edit:- Just noticed the original post comment about wanting more "sharpness". The shutter speeds on those shots are relatively low and the aperture relatively narrow for action stuff hence the motion blur (1/250th on 250mm with a fast moving subject). What exposure mode are you using? Try using Av with the lens wide open and ISO 400 or 800. That'll bump up the shutter speed and get sharper images (less motion blur). On the test shot posted by simply opening the lens up and going to ISO 400 will buy you 3 stops of light making that shutter speed far faster.
 
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Very good point Richard. I was forgetting James is already at 250mm. 50mm extra will not make much difference at all!
 
I think you should hire a 70-300 and check you are prepared to spend the money on it for the upgrade it will give you. The other option is to hang on a little and increase your budget..
 
Exif says

Canon EOS 500D | 250mm F8 1/250 ISO100 | 2011:08:27 16:40:23 | Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0

Damn, the old Glasgee codger neat me to it...........:D
 
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gnirtS said:
An extra 50mm on the crop sensor is going to gain you very very little over what you already have at that range. Its not worth the extra money.

You've got a 500D - you can crop the pictures substantially - have you tried doing that?

For £450 you're unlikely to improve over the 55-250 you already have (its a slow but good quality lens).

Edit:- Just noticed the original post comment about wanting more "sharpness". The shutter speeds on those shots are relatively low and the aperture relatively narrow for action stuff hence the motion blur (1/250th on 250mm with a fast moving subject). What exposure mode are you using? Try using Av with the lens wide open and ISO 400 or 800. That'll bump up the shutter speed and get sharper images (less motion blur). On the test shot posted by simply opening the lens up and going to ISO 400 will buy you 3 stops of light making that shutter speed far faster.
Click to expand...

Hi guys, yeh thats fine i understand my buget isnt the biggest but i felt as i dont use the camera all the time there isnt any need to go over spending.
the settings i have been using on the camera are the Av with iso on auto as i thought that would be best, but i will take the iso settings in to considerastion next time i get out on the fieldfor some shots. i think from what most people are agree on that i should really just keep the len i have but just crop the photo alot to get the overall finished photo.


cheers Guys
 
You're in probably the best mode but you need to set the aperture - you have F8 selected when you need to go to f/5.6 really.
Auto ISO isnt useful as it will reduce iso in favour of a shutter speed slower than you want so go manual for that. Personally i'd be looking for settings that at f/5.6 give a shutter speed of at LEAST 1/500th.
Also shoot in burst mode and fire off a few in quick succession and pick the best from a sequence after the event.
Focus mode...For cricket im not sure as there isnt much subject movement and you're a long way off but id say use the AI Servo to constant track.
Then crop....
 
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