200 2.8L or 55-250 IS for long lens

which of these two? i mostly shoot people, like at family gatherings, the occasional dance recital and urban.

with the L i have 'luxury', but no IS or zoom versatility and it costs 2x.

the 55-250 has proven to be a quality lens especially given its price, but lacks metal mount and red ring mojo.

Do you have the luxury of taking your time to frame and set up the shot?

Do you often find yourself at the limits of your ISO or aperture ranges trying to get more light?

Do you have another lens in the 85-100 range?

If yes to all 3, I'd go with the prime.

The issue is light.. dance recital and indoors the 55-250 will be hurting

the 200 will make you have enough room to compose but should be great for recitals

What about 85 1.8 or 135 SF

TheHoff wrote in post #5796881
Do you have the luxury of taking your time to frame and set up the shot?

Do you often find yourself at the limits of your ISO or aperture ranges trying to get more light?

Do you have another lens in the 85-100 range?

yes when possible.

yes when indoors, but i'm okay with using flash. is the 55-250 bad even with flash?

no. will likely get the 85 f1.8 sometime soon.

I think the 85/1.8 and 200/2.8 are an excellent pair (it is what I have) so I'm biased.

Only you know if you'll miss the flexibility the zoom... and you may become accustomed to natural light instead of flash once you start with the faster lenses.

why these two?!.... its such a big price diffrence haha

The 200mm will be very long for taking pictures of people on your XSi

right, but i have my other lenses for people as well.

If you are shooting a recital chances are you are wanting to freeze the action. You are going to have a hard time because of how slow the lens is. I would go with the 200 2.8 and invest in a monopod to go with it.

You are talking apples and oranges in comparing the 200mm f/2.8L with the 55-250 IS. They are two vastly different lenses. The 200mm f/2.8L is a professional lens in every way. The 55-250mm IS lens is a entry level lens that will get you some pretty nice imagery.

However the difference between nice imagery and professional grade imagery is reflected in the prices of these two lenses.

You could also consider the Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 for about the same as the 200mm f/2.8L

The Canon 55-250mm IS is a nice lens and you can get some good photos out of it, but even with flash-assist, it's AF ability slows down dramatically indoors. I've found myself a few times relying on manual focus while indoors. The IS does help however.