PDA

View Full Version : -=Top 10=- Recommended Outdoor/Arena Sports/Event Lenses


CyberDyneSystems
12th of March 2005 (Sat), 12:00
-=Top Ten=- Recommended Outdoor/Arena Sports/Event Lenses

The sixth in a series of -=Top Ten=- recommended lens lists.

We move on to the best lenses for Outdoor/Arena Sports and outdoor Event photography.

Like the " Wildlife lenses" we broke "Sports" into two seperate catagories.
However as opposed to "prime Vs. Zoom" the big difference we saw in application was the "indoor low-light" applications Vs. the "outdoor daylight" applications.

Once we saw the large variation these two very different applications demanded,. we saw that many lenses that will function wonderfully for outdoor events such as auto racing, sailing, and feild sports may not have as much value, if any, for use indoors where shorter distances and larger apertures are required.

Here in the EOS forum some of the most often asked questions are what lenses work best for a specific task.

After research into dozens of past threads and some further discussion,
...these are the lenses that were selected by our forum members as -=Top 10=- Recommended Outdoor/Arena Sports/Event Lenses


Please vote,.. feel free to add to the thread why you like the lenses you do in the list,. and or add in an additional lens if it is not on the list and say why!

-=More Lens Polls=- (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=86975)

F.Y.I. This is a Public POLL. This means that if you click on one of the numbers in the poll,. you will be able to see who voted for what lenses. This may or may not seem helpfull to you. But it may be a benefit for various reasons.

This "Thread" is a forum informational thread and subject to extreme editing and deleting. Any OT discussion, issues etc should be taken via PM or another thread.

Longwatcher
14th of March 2005 (Mon), 07:46
In the poll I picked the 70-200/2.8L IS and 100-400L

My reasoning:
First there are no longer lenses on the list.

The 100-400 would be my lens of choice because it gives me a bit more range and for fast paced action I actually like the push/pull zoom better as I can work it faster then twist zoom (mind you not as precisely, but I can get from 100 to 400 faster, which means a good shot instead of a missed shot)

And I picked the 70-200/2.8L IS, because it is produces better pictures then the 100-400, but it limitation is range.

Short of a 600mm lens I can't think of better lenses for me doing outdoor events.

Just my opinion, but I actually do far fewer of these then anything else so don't pay as much attention to my opinion in this area at this time.

Motorsports Photo
14th of March 2005 (Mon), 11:57
My vote is for a lens not on the list. 100-300 4.5-5.6.

Why?
-Easy to carry around all day.
-Lighweight means you can move fast and catch the shots the other guys with the monopods missed.
-If you cant get any pics at f5.6 its a REALLY lousy day and you should get your equipment out of the weather!
-You can shoot all day on one battery. (The IS and big glass suck the juice out of the battery fast!)

I have tried many of the other Canon lenses on the list and never came to like them. The 100-400 IS is the only one I hated! Zoom creep and out of focus pics made me cross it off my list.

-Pete

Anders Östberg
16th of March 2005 (Wed), 07:32
The thinking is "long" here too but I'm sure many use wide angle and even fisheye for outdoor sports (I have), like Mountainbike, BMX, skateboarding, rollerblades, surfing (from the water), motorcycle trials, etc...

eos-rob-uk
27th of June 2005 (Mon), 07:23
My vote is for a lens not on the list. 100-300 4.5-5.6.

Why?
-Easy to carry around all day.
-Lighweight means you can move fast and catch the shots the other guys with the monopods missed.
-If you cant get any pics at f5.6 its a REALLY lousy day and you should get your equipment out of the weather!
-You can shoot all day on one battery. (The IS and big glass suck the juice out of the battery fast!)

I have tried many of the other Canon lenses on the list and never came to like them. The 100-400 IS is the only one I hated! Zoom creep and out of focus pics made me cross it off my list.

-Pete

I agree, for the money (around £100 GB sterling S/H from ebay) it a cracker (blows the 70-300 usm III well out of the water. Quick to autofocus. Sharp at f5.6 up to around 200mm and f8 from there. It's light and easy to carry, hand held shots at 300mm are good and even on a monopod my little 350d is not unbalanced. With the sensor crop of 1.6 you get 480mm. mine gets used for all sorts but bought it for motorsports. i blew most of my available budget on the 350D kit and will get better lenses as/if i outgrow these, maybe the wrong way round but the 350d felt right in my hands.

There is a lot of talk here and elsewhere of "L" series this and that, but lets face it most of us are not pros and all we want are decent pictures and to keep things in perspective (no pun intended). As with every hobby it can cost you a fortune. I am the weak link in this chain.

Would love to see a poll or user list of the best consumer (affordable) lenses around for us cheapskates on a limited budget.

My full kit will be:
Canon 350D with kit lens
Monopod
kit bag
Canon EF 28-105 USM F3.5 Metal mount not plastic mount
Canon EF 100-300 USM F4.5-F5.6 with lens hood
2GB Compact flash
58mm poloriser
Photoshop Elements
poss EF 50 F1.8 if i can get one cheap enough

Equals change out of £1000 GB pounds (don't get me started about rip off UK)

Rant over

Regards

RoB B

CyberDyneSystems
27th of June 2005 (Mon), 09:05
Would love to see a poll or user list of the best consumer (affordable) lenses around for us cheapskates on a limited budget.

Rant over

Regards

RoB B

That was pretty much the idea for the first in this series of polls...
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=56747

The whole list of these polls is here;
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=56752

hennie
24th of October 2007 (Wed), 01:43
My favourite is the Canon 70-300 IS USM, not listed here.

calicokat
24th of October 2007 (Wed), 02:08
I think all the polls should be zeroed out, add any new lenses and see what the vote looks like today :eek: