sports shooters poll

70-200mm f2.8 & 300mm f4 IS vs. 120-300mm f2.8

considering that you would be shooting all types of sports, which setup would you pic. baseball, soccer, football, paddling, waterpolo, golf, swimming basically anything. if you could expalin your selection a bit it would be a great help. also any other setups or what you use personally is helpful!
i would also eventually add a 1.4 TCon.

thanks

I voted for the Sigma for 2 reasons.

I have the first setup and find the 300 to be a little too tight for some of my smaller field sports.

And carrying both is a hassle on a busy day.

But the Sigma may be a little long for using indoors. Thats where the fast primes shine.

Actually you need the 70-200/2.8 and the Sigma 120-300/2.8 combination, sorry to tell you that.

The 120-300/2.8 is a better lens that the 70-200/2.8 over the focal lengths they share (both in terms of optics and focus speed and accuracy) and it certainly does a better job that the 300/4 at sports work for all sorts of reasons but the 120-300mm is too long for many applications particularly on a 1.6x crop body.

Cadwell is spot on as far as needing both. I use both and each of them have their place. 70-200 works great for basketball, 120-300 great for baseball, volley ball. You just need both if your serious.

I don't mean to hijack the post; When you are using the 70-200 for basketball, are you needing to use flash or are you having any issues with lighting? Reason I ask is I had thought that the 85 f/1.8 was the way to go for basketball and I was going to get that along with the 70-200 F/4. If the 70-200 f/2.8 can do the job for high school/AAU then I would lean to getting the Sigma 70-200 instead of the 85. Your thoughts?

Mr. Clean wrote in post #5393713
Cadwell is spot on as far as needing both. I use both and each of them have their place. 70-200 works great for basketball, 120-300 great for baseball, volley ball. You just need both if your serious.

Andy1265 wrote in post #5394275
I don't mean to hijack the post; When you are using the 70-200 for basketball, are you needing to use flash or are you having any issues with lighting? Reason I ask is I had thought that the 85 f/1.8 was the way to go for basketball and I was going to get that along with the 70-200 F/4. If the 70-200 f/2.8 can do the job for high school/AAU then I would lean to getting the Sigma 70-200 instead of the 85. Your thoughts?

That's an impossible question to answer unless they are familiar with where you shoot. Indoor sports arenas vary hugely in how well they are lit. Some venues are fine for an f/2.8 and for some you need faster glass.

The 70-2002.8IS and 24-702.8 would be a really good combo. And also the 85L will be good but the 851.8 will have faster focusing.

jj_photography wrote in post #5398454
The 70-2002.8IS and 24-702.8 would be a really good combo. And also the 85L will be good but the 851.8 will have faster focusing.

to me, IS is not needed for sports photography. the lens is constantly moving to follow the action and my SS are high to stop action anyway. tried the 24-70 with basketball and wasnt a big fan of it for BBall. lol to the 85L cuz i dont think i could dish out that much now.

I will be following this thread closely.

Andy1265 wrote in post #5394275
I don't mean to hijack the post; When you are using the 70-200 for basketball, are you needing to use flash or are you having any issues with lighting? Reason I ask is I had thought that the 85 f/1.8 was the way to go for basketball and I was going to get that along with the 70-200 F/4. If the 70-200 f/2.8 can do the job for high school/AAU then I would lean to getting the Sigma 70-200 instead of the 85. Your thoughts?

Cadwell wrote in post #5394340
That's an impossible question to answer unless they are familiar with where you shoot. Indoor sports arenas vary hugely in how well they are lit. Some venues are fine for an f/2.8 and for some you need faster glass.

Again Cadwell is spot on. The 85 1.8 is ok but the versatility of a zoom gets you more shots. I will always pick a 70-200 2.8 over the 85 1.8 for basketball. The gym I shoot is iso 1600, 1/400 f2.8

Cadwell wrote in post #5393342
Actually you need the 70-200/2.8 and the Sigma 120-300/2.8 combination, sorry to tell you that.

The 120-300/2.8 is a better lens that the 70-200/2.8 over the focal lengths they share (both in terms of optics and focus speed and accuracy) and it certainly does a better job that the 300/4 at sports work for all sorts of reasons but the 120-300mm is too long for many applications particularly on a 1.6x crop body.

wow!! good news and bad news all in one!! lol....happy purchasing!!

1downfall wrote in post #5400918
wow!! good news and bad news all in one!! lol....happy purchasing!!

And that will be his 1downfall, pardon the pun.

I voted for the 70-20 & 300 combo. I really like the 300 (I have the older non-is) due to it's size and weight. I often shoot on multiple fields, so I am moving alot. Also, with this combo, I can have two very different rnages. I have a 1dmkii and 30D. I can use the 1d with the 70-200 for close range and the 300 on the 30D for across the field.

I would love to get a 120-300 or 300/2.8 for night games and reach, but would still want to keep the 300F4 for it's size.

I look at the 85 f/1.8 as the all-purpose indoor lens and the 70-200 f/2.8 as the all-purpose outdoor lens. Those are my key sports lenses and if I use two cameras I add a 300 or 400 to the second camera for field sports.

The 300 f/4 is good for track & field, golf and other daytime events. I've used it with the 1.4x for a 420 f/5.6 with decent results. You can put the 1.4x on the 70-200 too, but the results are not as good.

I voted for the 70-200 + 300 with the addition of the 85 but if I could only get two lenses and had only one camera it would be the 70-200 + 85.

I voted for the 70-200 and the 300, but that's mainly because it is what I have.

I think really the optimum set-up would be the 85/1.8 and the 120-300 for the following reasons:

1. If you are going to cover the range with a zoom and a prime it is probably best to have the prime on the short end where it will be a fast lens and often just the ticket for indoor sports.
2. Wide open field sports like baseball, football and soccer will be best with several focal lengths. Thus the handiness of having a fast zoom lens out to 300mm.