lense for motorsport?

i'm on a budget but i'm looking for a lense for motorsport to fit my EOS 350d... i've looked at the sigma 70 - 300mm, wondering what you guys would recomend and where to get the best price on it?

thanks

Richard

I just spent two days shooting low level motor sports with my 70-300 APO DG Macro MKII.
It could hold focus with on acclerating Honda powered Lotus Elise (with 220hp at the wheels) with out any trouble.
It certianly dosn't focus as fast as a Canon L, but its a lot faster than I thought I would ever be.
I would not want to use it for really fast motorsport though, I think it would have trouble keeping up with anything faster than a Forumula Ford, and I wouldn't want to be stuck with it in low light. I shot mostly at F7.1-F8 and 1/250th-1/600th of a second on bright sunny days.
Its starts to get softer at anything wider, and of course your limited to F5.6 at the long end.

But, considering what it cost, it preformed far better than expected, and IMO makes a great budget zoom, capable of producing some very nice images.
Ill put some up when I get home this evening.

A 70-200 f4 maybe? About how much are you willing to spend?

edit: Add a 1.4x TC too.

Hi Richard ,

I'm in the same boat as you....into motorsport, on a tight budget & looking for a lens.

There's a few 70/75-300 budget lenses about and from what I've read they seem to perform on a par with each other. The more up to date ones have faster, quieter AF motors but cost a bit more.

The old saying " you get what you pay for " definately applies to buying a lens.

I borrowed my pals Tamron 70-300 for some Supermoto last week and it was ok.

There's various places you can find reviews , do a " google " search.

If you want to get pit and paddock shots, a good walkaround lens like the EF-S 17-85 IS or the EF-S 17-55 f2.8 IS are good choices. You can even find uses for the EF-S 10-22.

But more typical motorsports photography usually demands long (400mm). For Canon lenses that gets expensive. The 100-400 L IS is popular, as is the 400 f5.6L, or the 300f4L IS - but they are all $1000 USD or more. The Bigma (Sigma 50-500) is also popular, but I have never tried one out. At one point I seriously considered the Tamron 200-500, but it was new and Tamron delayed its availability, so the mood passed.

Good luck in your search.

Have Fun,

I believe a used Sigma 100-300 F4 plus 1.4x TC is the best value in mid-to-long telephotos. Excellent quality for the money, 420mm (670mm in full frame/35mm equivalent) at 5.6. Fast autofocus. No real Canon equivalent, the 100-400 is substantially more money.

Moppie wrote in post #2262787
I just spent two days shooting low level motor sports with my 70-300 APO DG Macro MKII.
It could hold focus with on acclerating Honda powered Lotus Elise (with 220hp at the wheels) with out any trouble.
It certianly dosn't focus as fast as a Canon L, but its a lot faster than I thought I would ever be.
I would not want to use it for really fast motorsport though, I think it would have trouble keeping up with anything faster than a Forumula Ford, and I wouldn't want to be stuck with it in low light. I shot mostly at F7.1-F8 and 1/250th-1/600th of a second on bright sunny days.
Its starts to get softer at anything wider, and of course your limited to F5.6 at the long end.

But, considering what it cost, it preformed far better than expected, and IMO makes a great budget zoom, capable of producing some very nice images.
Ill put some up when I get home this evening.

cheers guys, yeah would be great if you could put some images up

Check this link.

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=236600

I took these using my mates 300D and Tamron 70-300 f4-5.6 lens.

With my lack of experience I think they're ok for a first go with the camera and lens although they needed a bit of tweeking in photoshop because of underexposure.

I probably won't buy the Tamron lens but it seems to be the cheapest about. My pal got his new for less than £80.

Read the reviews and buy the best you can afford.

Most of the pics here (not the paddock ones) were taken with the Sigma 70-300 and a Canon 300D:

http://www.gcogger.dsl​.pipex.com/goodwood/in​dex.htm