Which Telephoto All-Rounder for Canon

failingretina

failingretina

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Andy
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Hi

I'm off to Goodwood festival of speed this summer, and looking for a decent telephoto lens. I'd also like to use it for wildlife (most of which will be in zoos etc) and some portraits. I've narrowed it down to 3 in my price range

Canon 70-200 F/4 L (sharpest)
Canon 70-300 F/4-5.6 IS USM (has image stabilisation and more reach)
Tamron 70-200 F/2.8 (fastest)

Which lens would you recomend i go with?

Thanks
 
The tamron 70-200 is also regarded as very sharp, but the autofocus is reputed to be pretty slow, so it might not be ideal for wildlife. I'm sure someone who's owned one will be able to give a much more thorough review though!

You might find that even 300mm will be a bit short for wildlife, (i've got the 70-300 and I still fins myself wanting a bit more reach sometimes). Apart from that, it's a great lens! I chose it over the 70-200 f/4 for the extra reach, as wildlife is more my thing.

I'd say it depends on what your plans for the future are. I'm lusting after a Canon 100-400 for wildlife stuff now, although having said that the last zoo I went to I used my 100mm f/2.8 as it was grey and overcast, and the 70-300 was just too slow!

If you're only planning on getting one lens, I'd suggest the 70-300, as it'll cover both your main areas of interest. If however in the future you might be looking at something longer, like the 100-400, then maybe one of the 70-200's would be a better first choice.

Hope I haven't confused you too much!

Chris
 
If you can afford the Cannon 70-200 F4L, the Sigma 70-200 f2.8 HSM should be in budget as well.
That may be your best bet as you could add a 1.4X teleconverter and get up to 280mm at F/4.

EDIT: Like this one
 
my budget for the lens is around £500. I've seen a couple of F/4s on ebay and second hand for that. Unfortuneatly i can't afford the canon f/2.8 or the sigma f/2.8.

Keep the opinions coming :)
 
Been to festival of speed before? Because last time I went I took the 70-200 2.8 and found it too long for most stuff; you're pretty close. Revival's a slightly different matter, though.

Having said that, if you also want wildlife, you want reach. No matter how sharp a 200mm lens is, you'll want 300 or more. So, either budget for the 200 and an extender [in which case, take the Tammy 2.8 and put up with the slower AF] or buy a 70-300 and put up with the perceived lack of outright quality [which is just relative, it's still a £400 lens..]

I'm beginning to sound like a stuck record, for which I apologise, but having gone through a 70-200 f/2.8 and a 300mm f/4 prime, I realised that it was my own peculiar snobbery made me overlook the 70-300VR [I'm Nikon] with its superb optics and excellent reach.

As for build, don't worry. For motorsport, you'll want slower shutter speeds for panning, so you'll not be using 2.8 as much as you'd think. For wildlife, you'll always regret the lack of an extra 100mm. And I can't emphasise enough how much a fast-focusing lens improves your hit rate for keepers. Again, a stuck record, but there's no point examining critical MTF data if the subject's blurred, or out of focus, to begin with. Fine detail resolution of a lens and image sharpness are very different things. Having one does not automatically grant the other.
 
I haven't been to festival of speed before but have been told that my 50mm prime and a decent telephoto should cover most things.

As for wildlife, most of it's going to be in zoos etc. Will the 200mm still be too short for this?
I am on a 1.6x crop too
 
I hope I get to go to the FOS again this year too, its superb!

Anyway I too am in the market for a lens with similar requirements so thought I'd jump on your bandwagon and read the replies :D

I was pointed towards this Tamron 28-300mm, any opinions on that? (I'm a new boy and dont know what I'm looking at yet :help:)
 
I have been told that the Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 Macro (Mk2 version) is better than the Canon f4 and I am sure if you look around you will get one for under £500.

That drop from f4 to f2.8 is worth it.
 
TBH the hill climb isn't that good for photography, you will need about 300mm, on the other hand the rally stage is ace.

Out of those lenses I'd go for the 70-200f4.
 
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