Lense Help

[NothingmanPhotos]

My tax return hasn't got here yet and it is burning a hole in my pocket already. Last year I bought the 20D. This year I want a decent lense. My primary field of photography is sports. My setup for now is a monopod, remote, the 20D, and a Tamron aspherical 70-300mm lense. The Tamron can only go as wide as f/4 to f/5.6 when fully exteded. My delema is that the lense can't "keep up" with the action I am shooting (usually ice hockey.) I was thinking of the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L. There are 2 versions, the IS and the USM. From my reading the IS, Image Stabilazation model, is $560 more than the USM and image stabilazation automatically shuts off when attached to a tripod (and I'm assuming, monopod) Does anyone know if this can be manually overidden to produce what I am to assume would be a sharper image. Also to the more experienced guys, am I on the right track with this lense choice.

[edel33]

i think your definately on the right track, i love my 70-200 2.8 L lense. It is ridiculously fast and for indoor shooting is superb.

[rcg]

I use the 70-200 on many if not all the moto shots I posted today. Sometimes with the 1.4x TC but I do not have (nor did I want) the IS version. I have IS on the 100-400 and I think it's an excellent tool but I use it sparingly. The paddock at the race track is filled with 1D's and this lense - it's highly versatile.

[Cadwell]

It rather depends on how good the lighting is at the indoor venues you use. For most indoor locations I shoot, f/2.8 simply isn't fast enough for sports work and I need to use fast primes such as the EF 135mm f/2.0L and the 85mm f/1.8.

As far as IS goes, it will work on a monopod but it shouldn't be used on a tripod (and indeed there's no point - if your tripod is wobbling, buy a better one). IS isn't particularly useful for sports photography as shutter speed is king in that discipline. IS reduces blur from camera shake but does nothing to reduce subject motion blur - only shutter speed can deal with that.

[mrklaw]

by 'keep up', do you mean the shutter speed is too slow because of the aperture, or the AF isn't fast enough?


For an investment of that size, it might be worth renting a lens for a few days. Then you can see if the wider aperture can give you the extra shutter speed you need in the particular locations you shoot.

[richard_a]

If you can afford the IS version of this lens I would recommend you pick it up. If not get the non-IS version. Sharpness between the two versions are minimal at best. Remember, you can turn IS off on the IS version but you cannot turn IS on with the non-IS version.