help with lens to buy with $1000 aus dollars

hello there everyone well I bought my self a canon 30 d and I got a 28-70mm f2.8-4high speed zoom and a 70-300mm f4-5.6 dg macro lens with it a few months ago .I want some advice of you fellow members on here as when you go the shops they just want your money ,I want to buy a new lense I have a $1000 aus dollars to spend what lens would you buy with that much ? I would like to do more sports photography but not sure what to buy ,any info would be good

was it a tough question

fraggles wrote in post #2214849
was it a tough question

Guess so!

May be you should have posted this thread in the Gear section (under EF and EF-S lenses).

Here's my take on it: If you want to do sport, you need fast glass (e.g. f/2.8 ) and long focal lengths (e.g. 200mm minimum, 300mm and more!). Image stabilizer would also be nice.

You already have a 70-300mm (a Sigma). For action photography, a fast focusing lens is also very practical (and a must if you do it seriously). I'm not sure how your lens rate on this, but looking up its price, I wouldn't be surprised that the focusing speed isn't comparable with Sigma's higher end lenses (EX DG).

So here's my suggestion on it: Test your equipment, you have plenty to start off with. For action shots, boost your ISO as high as possible to give you a shutter speed as fast as possible (to freeze the motion). Yes, you will get noise, but there are softwares that help reduce this (see below). My guess is that you will always use your 70-300mm for sport shots. Once you get the hang of sport photography, you'll know what you want to get as an upgrade (either an IS lens, faster lens or higher quality optics) and your upgrade may cost you more than $1000! So save your money and spend it when you know exactly what you want!

I can give you a bit of my experience. I bought a 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS. It has purple fringing (a sort of CA) and was taking forever to focus (trying back and forth, esp. in low light condition or with fast moving objects). I since upgraded to a 70-200mm f/2.8L IS (it costs twice your budget and doesn't have the extra range). I don't regret it. The focus is very accurate, the focusing speed is amazing and didn't notice any CA effects so far (didn't exactly look for them, but with my old lens, they were sometimes quite apparent). But when I bought my new lens, I knew exactly what I wanted.

As for softwares to remove the noise, try Noise Ninja or Noiseware (you can get free demo for both) -- I tested both and decided to purchase Noiseware, but many people prefer Noise Ninja. If you want to spend your money, these software (less than $100 ea. - and you only need one, not both!) could be a wise investment. They can be purchased as stand alone applications or as PS plugins.

Thread moved. Maybe more people will see it here. Thanks for the suggestion, sblais.

I agree - use what you have (the long zoom though it really depends on what sports you shoot, you may be closer) and see what you need based off that. If you find you need 1/400s shutter speeds and you're only getting 1/40 with the long zoom then you might need a f/2.8 zoom or a wider prime.

It really depends on what you're shooting... what you need may be well outside of your budget.

If you really want to spend your money, you can try the CANON EF 400MM F2.8 L IS USM. You won't have too much money in your pockets for quite a while after!

Seriously, play with your toys before wanting more. It's sound advise.

thanks for all your advice guys ,would love to try get in to sports photography ,football ,been down the beach and been taking kite surfing pictures and sold many to the lads which was nice ,also would like to have a job were i can go take pictures at concerts and work for the press ,will keep dreaming will save up a few more dollars and wait