What camera body and lens would benefit me the most?

I currently have a Canon EOS rebel T3 w/24-105mm L. The lens is great except when I am at the track and want to zoom in real close on the cars that are racing. I like to shoot mainly cars, races, and some night stuff. My T3 really does not help me much during the night since it is a entry level camera and if you bump up the ISO to even 800 it is very noisy. Can anyone help me out?

The lens is great but not so much for low-light use. You may want to look into lenses with a wider aperture, especially primes.

Elvin, Thank you for the reply. Do you have any specific recommendations? I do not know too much about lenses.

What you need is a fast telephoto. Whether you can afford it is a different matter.

The 300 2.8 IS would be ideal.

Otherwise you have to settle for slower/shorter lenses. Lenses in this category in order of increasing price are the 55-250 IS, tamron 70-300 VC, canon 70-200 f4 non-IS, or sigma 70-200 2.8 OS.

Sirrith wrote in post #14388752
What you need is a fast telephoto. Whether you can afford it is a different matter.

The 300 2.8 IS would be ideal.

Otherwise you have to settle for slower/shorter lenses. Lenses in this category in order of increasing price are the 55-250 IS, tamron 70-300 VC, canon 70-200 f4 non-IS, or sigma 70-200 2.8 OS.

Can't afford 6k for the 300 2.8....how would the 100-400mm IS work out for what I shoot?

100-400 is a bit too slow. I'd suggest 7d / 60d + 70-200 f/2.8 + kenko 1.4x tele

aximrocks wrote in post #14389542
100-400 is a bit too slow. I'd suggest 7d / 60d + 70-200 f/2.8 + kenko 1.4x tele

Thank you for the suggestion! The 70-200 L is what I was eyeing besides the 100-400mm. The 7d is what I am probably going to go with. Do the kenko tubes effect image quality?

you loose 1 stop of light with a 1.4x teleconverter, no noticeable image degradation though.

200mm is still going to be too short; I'd still go with the 100-400 or the 300 f/4. You might also check into the Sigma 100-300 f/2.8.

another option is the sigma 150-500 f5-6.3 OS, although I find it's a bit heavy and needs plenty of light.

Snydremark wrote in post #14389598
200mm is still going to be too short; I'd still go with the 100-400 or the 300 f/4. You might also check into the Sigma 100-300 f/2.8.

Is the quality of images produced from say a Canon lens and a sigma lens a big difference?

300 f4 is a very good lens, i've shot concerts with mine in the dark and it works well on my 7d

mustang0672 wrote in post #14389910
Is the quality of images produced from say a Canon lens and a sigma lens a big difference?

Totally depends on the lens being compared and how well it matches up with your particular body. However, if you're looking at a lens that the other side doesn't off (e.g Sig 100-300 f/2.8) it's sort of a moot point.

From the sound of things, I think the 300 f/4 really sounds like the lens you should be looking at.


CORRECTIONS: A) Sigma's lens is a 120 - 300 f/2.8 and B) If you can't afford the 300 f/2.8, then the Sigma's not an option either....phew, it's pricey.

I think you guys have me sold on the 300mm f/4. ....now which camera body to go along with it? 700-1500$ range? New or used in that price range? What would benefit me the most.

Snydremark wrote in post #14389598
200mm is still going to be too short; I'd still go with the 100-400 or the 300 f/4. You might also check into the Sigma 100-300 f/2.8.

That all depends on where he's going to be shooting from.

What kind of racing are you shooting? Drags? NASCAR? Street courses? Do you have track access, or are you shooting from a grandstand or observation area somewhere?

I am by NO means a pro, but I have shot several ALMS races with full credentials, which gets you the photo vest and track access. With track access, my 70-200 L works just fine, and among the other photogs that are there, that's a fairly common lens. I have the f4 IS, as that's all I could afford, but plenty of other guys use the f2.8 IS. Sure, longer lenses would be nice for some types of shots, but if you have decent access, you can usually move around and find something that works.

If I couldn't get that kind of access, the types of shots I could get with the 70-200 would be more limited, but not impossible. I will say that with the portions of the endurance races that are at night I would have liked to have the extra stop of the f2.8, but the f4 worked just fine as well, and I came away with some stuff that I'm happy with, especially for where my skill level is right now.

As far as what camera body to use, I just upgraded from a Rebel XSi to a 7D, which should be here on Tuesday. From my research, the autofocus system on the 7D seems pretty nice for this kind of work.

OP, can you fill us in more on your situation?