"Stealth" tele?

Candids and street photos are my favorite. When I head out to shoot candids my lens of choice is my 50mm 1.4. I have the 70-300DO IS, the 70-200 2.8 IS and the 100-400 IS. I would never think of using a long lens to shoot candids.

I like to get right in the middle of a crowd. I can take shots of people with no problems. Most of the time they are not even paying attention to me. I have taken shots of people who look right at me as I shoot. I look right back at them and over their shoulder as if I was trying to get a shot of something behind them. I've even had people step to the side as if to get out of my way (I already have their photo).

"Stealth" is not something I consider to be candid or street photography.

Denny G

If you want 300mm, either the 70-300 IS or DO IS.

I've never been to Texas and I don't think I'd like it personally for politcal reasons, but I love the Texans who visit CO. I'm informed that CO is actually northern Texas - lol.

In COS we have the highest LEO count per capita of any US city. Things are different here. Even among people you know, you can't walk in a crowd with a 50mm and get close enough for candid shots without affecting someone.

Hi Cataclysmcow. Don't let the SW Texas location get in your way. I grew up on the East Coast, South Baltimore (an old area called pig town).
I've shot candids in NYC and Philadelphia with a Canon AE1 using a 50mm 1.8.

I've lived in Valencia, Venezuela and Mexico City, Mexico and have shot candids in both places. I now live on the border. I live in Texas but get up in the morning and go to work in Mexico.

This was not meant to be a travel log. Just wanted you to know that I love to shoot candids, have been doing it for a number of years and in many places.

My lens of choice for candids is now and has always been the 50mm.

BTW. We love Colorado and have been there several times. When I head to Co. I grab my EF20-35 2.8 L. I also like to shoot landscape.

Denny G

PS: Think about this. Where I live it takes 8 hours to drive out of the state but only 15 minutes to drive out of the country.

Stealth teles'
At the top of my list would be;

70-300mm DO IS
That Tokina 80-400mm is the only one that will get you stright to 400mm and be "stealthy"
Or the 200mm f/2.8L with a t-con.

i am going to be different and go with either the sigma 70-200 2.8 or the canon 80-200L aka the magic drainpipe. both options will give you the flexibility of the zoom, fast aperture, both will take TC's and both are black. no, they are not small but you can't have everything

Can I start all over.

After re-reading your original post I realize that I was in a hurry to tell you all I know about shooting candids. (my favorite). You were asking about a "Stealth Tele" and I was trying to convince you of something else.

If I wanted to shoot stealth I would use my EF 70-300mm 4.5-5.6 DO IS. This lens is black in color and small. The Canon TC's do not work with this lens. But::: The Kenko 1.4 Teleplus Pro 300 does work.

I have the Kenko TC. This gives me 420mm. But you need some light. Alot of light.

Denny

What caused that association? I've never heard Walmart and Tokina in the same breath.

I have a book that has sample shots and comments about every lens currently on sale for EOS cameras (with some exceptions like Lensbabies and lenses that need adapters... basically anything from Canon, Sigma, Tamron, and Tokina) with CDs containing all the sample shots. Anyway, the Tokina 80-400mm is in there, and I was amazed by the colors when I first saw the photos on the page. And then I loaded the CD and was amazed once again by the sharpness. The photos were taken on a full-frame 1Ds MkII. I can't post the pictures since they're copyrighted, but I can tell you that it ain't Wal-Mart quality. The one Tokina lens I owned was the 12-24mm f/4, which has an excellent reputation. Tokina lenses have L-class build, too, for a lot less money.

Personally I am from TEXAS i moved to louisiana just before katrina but yes Colorado has got to be one of my favorite places in the US

Tons of great replies, thank you. I'm going to go ahead and rent the 70-300 DO IS and give it a whirl. If anyone knows where I can rent the Tokina for a few days I'd like to give that a run too.

As I said earlier I've never even used a Tokina. The opinion I have of them is only based off of third hand accounts.

Thanks again!

Here's the thing with Tokina - Underrated, underrated, underrated. I think the reason you don't think of them as a major player is because they only have a small selection of lenses (12-15 current lenses).

However, Tokina's are by far the best built of the 3rd party lenses, and they are usually pretty strong optically. The Tokina AT-X Pro series are built as well as the Canon L's, and that's not a joke. I have a feeling I could club a buffalo with my Tokina 12-24 and the buffalo would break first. Honestly, With 3rd party lenses, if Tokina has an equivalent lens, I'll check there first....if it's optically similar to the others, I'll buy the Tokina, hands down.

That's why I'm so excited for the 16-50 f/2.8, if it ever gets here!

What about the Sigma 100-300mm F/4 EX? I have heard that's Sigma's best lens and I was thinking about getting it as my tele.

rparchen wrote in post #2816513
What about the Sigma 100-300mm F/4 EX? I have heard that's Sigma's best lens and I was thinking about getting it as my tele.

Great lens, indeed. But it's far from being a "stealth".

100-300EX at far left:

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Wow, I didn't realize it was that large! Thanks for the comparison shots, makes me think a 70-200 would be a better fit in my bag