Motorsport Lens under £800

A

ajf1

Messages
2
Name
Andrew
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi,
I was wondering if anyone could help. I am currently using a Canon 600D. I am a keen motorsport photographer especially F1 and am looking at investing a new lens probably the Sigma 150-500mm.

Could anyone provide me with feedback on this lens and how good it is for Motorsport photography? I am not sure how quick it is at focusing.

Also if anyone else knows of potential alternatives out there that might be better? I am looking to spend no more than £800.

Thanks for reading,
Andrew
 
you could easy pic up a sigma 150-500mm secondhand lens for a lot less than 800
 
I use a Sigma 120-300 F/2.8, good lens also compatible with tele convertors. Heavy though.

You won't go wrong with any of Gary's suggestions, either.
 
I use the 150-500mm Sigma for the 750Motor Championships and its superb.

The only way it would be hard work is if the light is terrible but even then if your panning at low shutter speeds its not much of a problem anyway as the iso shouldn't be that high with shutters under 1/100th
 
If you want a prime, then I'd recommend the Canon 300 F4 IS - you'll be able to get one 2nd hand within your budget or new if you stretch it a bit...
 
Gary said:
a good start up lens is a second hand 100-400 canon
cant go too far wront with that as a first step.
otherwise (also second hand) and 70-200mm f2.8 and a 1.4x TC
Click to expand...

+1

300/f4 would be a good choice but limit possibilities so would go with the zoom
 
Last edited:
WOW Thank you all for your feedback. I was thinking of the Canon 100-400 but it seems even second hand to be around £900+ but more around the £1000 mark. Does anyone have any links to some other second hand stores by any chance.
 
mark1616 said:
Another vote for the Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 or 100-300mm f4 (I've got the former as I needed f2.8 for field sports). Both will take a 1.4x TC well to give extra reach when required.
Click to expand...

The 2.8 is a very versatile lens indeed, as above I use mine for just about everything!
 
andrewc said:
or
Sigma 100-300 f/4 EX zoom
Click to expand...

(y) ^ he said the same thing to me 4 years ago. He was not wrong!
These were all taken with this lens on a 40D (At Silverstone, from speccy areas where everyone says 300 is not enough) and only the ford used a 1.4x
I'm about to sell this for £300 so trust me, you don't have to spend £8/900.


Sebastian Vettle by Fireproof_Creative, on Flickr


BritCar 24hrs Silverstone #6 by Fireproof_Creative, on Flickr


8 by Fireproof_Creative, on Flickr


Brundle WEC 2012 by Fireproof_Creative, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
I am not too far away from an upgrade myself, are any of the cheaper NIKON fit 70-200 2.8 lenses suitable for motorsport, ill have around 6-700 to spend and want to make sure i buy something that will have a quick enough focus for motorsport.

Edit: I probably need to expand a bit more, i already have a Tamron 70-300 vc usd and will be wanting something with at least equal focusing speed and IQ, will this even be possible with £6-700 to spend, ill be looking at second hand.
The main uses for this will be motorsport and very occasional use for birds.
 
Last edited:
It depends how close you can get to the action and what type Motorsport or (wildlife) bassit you want to capture. If you're behind the fence a 70-200 too short for a general lens for most circuits (but could be used on certain parts of the track) and for wildlife it's definitely on the short side unless you want to crop significantly into you image.

The current crop of sigma long zooms ain't bad with the new OS system, very affordable, but they are still f6.3 lenses.

The sigma 120-300mm f2.8 a good contender if you can get a good copy, or the 100-300mm f4 just as good and sharp if you can find one :D

The 100-400mm been around for ages and still the choice for many

I started with the canon 300mm f4 and then later added the f2.8 with a 70-200mm for corners like Druids at Brands.

But it does depends what tracks you intend to go to and which side of the fence you're on.
 
Thanks for your reply Pete.

My local track is Oulton park and i should be ok most of the time with 200mm, spectator side, i don't photograph wildlife that often so its not that big an issue but part the reason i want a 2.8 lens is so i can use a tc if i do need the extra length, i would like 1 of the sigma long lenses for the wildlife but i don't think they would be much good for motorsport.

My main concern is that whatever lens i end up with is that it will not have equal focus speed or IQ to my Tamron 70-300.
 
you could get a sigma 70-200mm 2.8 os for £650 more or less brand new or a canon 70-200 2.8 non is for about £800 from paramoz website, so you should be able to pick one up considerably cheaper than that
 
Bassit said:
Thanks for your reply Pete.

My local track is Oulton park and i should be ok most of the time with 200mm, spectator side, i don't photograph wildlife that often so its not that big an issue but part the reason i want a 2.8 lens is so i can use a tc if i do need the extra length, i would like 1 of the sigma long lenses for the wildlife but i don't think they would be much good for motorsport.

My main concern is that whatever lens i end up with is that it will not have equal focus speed or IQ to my Tamron 70-300.
Click to expand...

The sigma 100-300mm f4 (£350) or 2nd gen 120-300mm f2.8 (£800) would beat the Tamron hands down for IQs and focus speed. You could also look at the Nikon 300mm f4 (£700) another great lens if you want a prime.
 
Thanks Pete, I didn't know the sigma was available so cheap, reading reviews its not the best lens but sounds ok for £660 (grey import), around a 3rd of the price of the other 2.8's.

Oh and the Tamron 70-300 vc usd i have is no slouch with focus and IQ, but having said that i don't have too much to compare it against.
 
Do any of the Sigma 150-500 or 50-500 owners have any motorsport samples to share, from a crop body if possible? It seems the vast majority of sample photos I see from these lenses in online reviews are wildlife shots. I really want to see a selection of motorsports shots.

I've now sold my 70-200 f4 and 1.4x extender with the plan to get a new telephoto lens for next season. Current contenders are the obvious choices:

- Canon 100-400
- Canon 70-300L (super sharp but I don't know if 300mm is enough)
- Sigma 150-500
- Sigma 50-500

The Sigma 100-300 f4 looks tempting but I can't see any for sale.
 
The quandary is that getting to 300mm is quite within reach of most, but over that it becomes difficult to get a quality bit of glass... Plus if you are fixated with a zoom it's even more difficult.

I'd probably say the sigma 120-300 2.8 is the best fit, with a tc.
 
DavidC1980 said:
Do any of the Sigma 150-500 or 50-500 owners have any motorsport samples to share, from a crop body if possible? It seems the vast majority of sample photos I see from these lenses in online reviews are wildlife shots. I really want to see a selection of motorsports shots.

.
Click to expand...

I use the 150-500 and find it perfectly fine, heres a small few that I still have online, unfortunately not full size or resolution images as our internet is too slow to upload hundreds of megs of images but you get the jist.



Taken at 1/50th


 
Last edited:
im told the sigmas are very good under the rite light wex have the 150-500 for £749 new panamoz have them for £562 the canon 100-400 is a push and pull lens i think and not every 1 can get on with it ,panamoz also have the 50-500 for £808 but rem you may get hit with the import tax ,the f 2.8s are the lenses to go for the only thing is if you use a tc they wont af well the only canon that will is the 1d i think but dont know about nikons
 
Rob, F2.8 lenses will AF fine with a 1.4x on all canon's - af will work with a 2x but will be slower (some moreso depending on lens/body combo)
 
cheers richard i have never used a tc so wasnt sure well the best bet for him would be a f.28 then if he can find a good 1 in his price range
 
For me (not the OP) I want to stay away from using a TC as I found that my Canon 70-200 f4 AF tracking speed couldn't keep up with F1 cars with the TC fitted. I want to get a single lens so that I get the best it can produce in terms of sharpness and AF accuracy.

My budget is the same as the OP though. I'll stretch to £800, but can't decide on the compromise between modern, sharpness, quality, price and focal length. I'm yet to see motorsport samples from the Sigmas that blow me away. The 100-400 seems to be the best compromise but also the oldest design and potentially/allegedly prone to dust.

The 70-300 is the best in terms of IQ & sharpness but is the biggest compromise on focal length.

Don't you just wish you had £12k to blow on a 200-400 F4 + 1.4x and just sod the compromises :D
 
If you tell us what you have, and why you feel you need to upgrade/how your current kit is limiting your people can give you a better idea of which way to go ;)
 
Sure, I had the 70-200 F4 (non IS) and the 1.4x extender.

At MotoGP Silverstone I had to crop most of my shots as the 280mm focal length wasn't enough in most places. I wasn't happy with the sharpness and felt I was experiencing the AF slowdown and slight softness that extenders are reported to induce.

When I looked back at photos I took last year in darker, miserable conditions for F1 with a hired 100-400 or 70-200 f2.8 with a 2x extender I was much happier with the sharpness from last year vs with my own lens this year -the composition of my shots last year was generally pants though.

So, in summary I want more reach and sharper glass but don't want to spend more than £800. I've already sold my 70-200 and the extender so that I force myself to replace them.

My main body is a 7D, but I've also just picked up a 5D Mk1.
 
As a owner of a Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 with 2 x teleconvertor - total cost £920 that's where I'd be looking in your position....
 
DavidC1980 said:
From my searches, that Sigma 120-300 is quite a rare beast to find. A heavy one too.

Is there a particular year/model I need to be looking out for?
Click to expand...

There are 3 main ones, the original (non OS), a later OS release in pretty much the same shell, and a new OS Sport one in a completely new design.

The original non OS (it will probably be called a 'Sigma 120-300mm 2.8 EX HSM', maybe with 'APO', 'DG' and 'IF' in there too I think!) can be found for under a grand, but it won't be a quick search as they don't come up too often, somewhere around £900 seems to be the going rate.

The AF failed on mine, needed an out of warranty repair with Sigma where they replaced pretty much everything but the glass. Amazing lens for the price though.
 
Last edited:
I went from a Sigma 150-500 to the 120-300, it's much better in low light (obviously) but it's taking me time to get used to the weight when fast panning (insert wimp smiley)


*sold the 150-500 to MPB & bought the 120-300 from Mifsuds :)
 
ukaskew said:
There are 3 main ones, the original (non OS), a later OS release in pretty much the same shell, and a new OS Sport one in a completely new design.

The original non OS (it will probably be called a 'Sigma 120-300mm 2.8 EX HSM', maybe with 'APO', 'DG' and 'IF' in there too I think!) can be found for under a grand, but it won't be a quick search as they don't come up too often, somewhere around £900 seems to be the going rate.
QUOTE]

Close - heres a little more info I've found.

4 main versions worth looking at:

In order they are:
1 x non OS - APO HSM (written on the body)
1 x non OS -APO DG HSM (written on the body)
1 x OS - APO DG HSM, Optical Stabilizer (written on the body)
1 x OS Sport - DG 105 (written on the body) & a S (for sport)

So:

Non OS - buy a DG version = £800+
OS - get the Sport 2nd gen = £1700+
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top