Considering 70-300 consumer zoom for amateur motorsports

[KevC]

Hey.

I'm considering the Sigma 70-300 f/4-5.6 APO Macro Super II for Canon AF (geez that's one long name) for amateur motorsports. I'll be shooting cars going around the track, and I'm hoping 300 will be long enough. My longest lens at the moment is 135mm, and I'm always wanting more reach to shoot that squirrel or bird.

I'm really a portrait photographer, which is why I cannot justify spending a lot of money on a 300mm+ prime. I'm hoping the 70-300 can yeild some shots that will make (motorsport) club members happy. Maybe they can help me pay for the lens ($10 per person, they'll get a 8x10 in return).

Any thoughts?

[TheObiJuan]

I use this lens and it is better than the canon counterpart. The lens doesn't work too well with a 1.4TC since it is soft to begin with. AF slows down considerably.

[willg]

i have heard good things about the 70-300 tamron 1:2 macro (not to be confused with the same range and 1:3.9 macro)

[tim]

I had the lens briefly, it made nice pictures, but F5.6 at 300mm was just too slow for me on my old 300D, given the poor high ISO performance. If you can tolerate F5.6 then go for it - make sure to get the APO version of the lens.

[dmwierz]

I use this lens and it is better than the canon counterpart. The lens doesn't work too well with a 1.4TC since it is soft to begin with. AF slows down considerably.

BTW, this lens is NOT approved for use with ANY TC, according to Sigma's Web site. I have one, and it's a great buy, but don't use a TC or the AF goes away.

[ron chappel]

That model lens is very good but there are two things to consider-
Firstly MAKE SURE YOU BUY SOMEWHERE THAT ALLOWS HASSLE FREE RETURNS because it has a reputation for variable quality control.
The other thing is that the focus is abit slow.It should be fine for panning and cars moving away but anything moving towards you will likley overwhelm it.
At least one of the members on this forum has used this lens for motorsports so they could give some very good advice based on practical experience.

If in doubt,simply get the canon 100-300usm lens .It is more expensive but it has the fastest focus of the consumer zooms and is as sharp

[Nezmo]

I use a Tamron 1.4TC (the $79 one) with this lens and AF functions but it needs good light and it will only work at large apertures.

Focus is a tad slow but generally it's a good all round performer.

[KevC]

I'm worried about the focus issues.

I'll probably be shooting from a monopod at mostly 300mm. The thing is, I live in Canada. And buying locally (so that I can return it if need be) will cost $100+ more. Grr. If I buy from BH and return it, I'm down $30 for shipping...

[aggarcia]

I used the Sigma APO for almost a year taking motorsports photos with a D30. This was not the ideal combination, but I have gotten some exellent shots. I was even able to get shots in a full down pour of rain. Here is a link to pictures that were taken back in Nov 04 with the Sigma and D30 combo. They were the best I had at the time and it did the job. http://www.garciaalfaracing.com/Sprint_web/index.htm or http://www.garciaalfaracing.com/Enduro_web/index.htm . Good Luck.

[JulianL]

Hey.

I'm considering the Sigma 70-300 f/4-5.6 APO Macro Super II for Canon AF (geez that's one long name) for amateur motorsports. I'll be shooting cars going around the track, and I'm hoping 300 will be long enough. My longest lens at the moment is 135mm, and I'm always wanting more reach to shoot that squirrel or bird.

I'm really a portrait photographer, which is why I cannot justify spending a lot of money on a 300mm+ prime. I'm hoping the 70-300 can yeild some shots that will make (motorsport) club members happy. Maybe they can help me pay for the lens ($10 per person, they'll get a 8x10 in return).

Any thoughts?

How about the 70-200 f/4.0? It isn't much more than the 70-300 but I think it is a much better lens. I've used it for motorsport and have been very happy with the results. What distances are you shooting at? How close do you want to get?

My subject is the Long Beach Grand Prix pretty much every year so I'm focusing on objects moving between 60 & 190mph...but I'm not that close to them usually...not at those speeds anyway. A few times I've been down in the pits but not usually using the 70-200 at that time.

[KevC]

I'd love to get the 70-200/4L but that one costs ~$580 where the 70-300 is ~$220. I can't afford anything more than $220 really, and the ~$360 price difference is quite substansial.

[TheObiJuan]

BTW, this lens is NOT approved for use with ANY TC, according to Sigma's Web site. I have one, and it's a great buy, but don't use a TC or the AF goes away.

Canon and sigma's TC's have elements that protrude into the rear of the lens, my tamron doesn't.

It AF's slow as it is, then with the TC it is slowed down even further. Don't get me wrong, it can still AF throughout the range.
It hunts a lot though, but for some reason so does my 135L with this TC.
:mad:

[Cadwell]

Motorsport shooting really puts your lens to the test. You need around 300mm minimum and a fast and accurate AF mechanism. The cheapest lens I know of that comes close to satisfying those requirements is the much overlooked Canon EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM - US$270 from B&H.

There are a couple of extremely good Sigma motorsport lenses (the 100-300mm f/4 EX and the 120-300mm f/2.8EX) but they are a long way out of your price range.

[KevC]

Thanks, the 100-300 seems to be the one I want. However, it's a good $50 over what I want to spend. Maybe I should just save up for that, it's major strength is focus speed.

However, I heard the Sigma 70-300 APO edges it out in sharpness and colour/contrast, and far closer focussing. I'd like to play with (semi) macro 1:2, so I'm still debating..

[Tom W]

I agree with Cadwell - the 100-300 has Canon's ring-type USM focus setup. It's very quick, which is what you need if you're tracking moving objects.

[Simon Spiers]

I have had both lens's mentioned here. The Sigma will give good pictures if the light is ok ,but focus is slow and very prone to hunting.The Canon was fast to focus but image quality was much worse.

[gcogger]

I've used the Sigma for motorsports in good light. Most of the shots (except the paddock ones) on this link were taken with it:

Goodwood Revival 2004 (http://www.gcogger.dsl.pipex.com/goodwood/)

I used a mixture of pre-focussing to a point on the circuit, and tracking with AI focus. While the Sigma is fairly slow to lock focus to start with, I found that it's pretty good at tracking once it has locked on. I compared it to a Canon 100mm f/2 (USM) lens and there was no appreciable difference in focus tracking ability.