Motorsport Lens

Yello,

Looking at a mid priced lens to use for motorsport, most specifically rallycross, and would like some advice.
I have a Sigma 70-300 and are looking at replacing my kit lens with one of the following :

Sigma 17-70
Sigma 24-70
Sigma 18-125 HSM OS
Canon 28-135 IS

First of all, i have read that IS is kinda wasted on motorsport so you need to go for faster glass, does this rule out the bottom two or can i just turn it off.
Although the 24-70 has been touted by many as a really good lens, but i dont know if i want the extra reach of the OS Sigma
Need some help please, any other suggestions around the £300 mark would be welcome.

This is kind of a difficult question to answer as any mention of motorsport tends to make one think of long lenses, not standard zooms.

You have reach with the 70-300, so if you are happy with that then all of the above are allegedly reasonable lenses for a standard replacement.

17-70 is a useful focal length range
24-70 is lacking at the wide end if you wanted some close-up wide shots, the f2.8 would be useful in low light
18-125 HSM OS - is a good range, no idea if the glass is any good
28-135mm is a useful range if you don't need wide - I used to have this lens & I have a lot of respect for it. You can turn the IS off for moving subjects.

If you wanted to look at improving your 70-300 then there are lots of exotic options. If you decide to look at Canon-L telephotos with IS they typically have a 'Mode' switch, with one mode designed for shooting moving subjects, such as panning a motor vehicle. In this mode the IS would stabilise the vertical axis, but wouldn't interfere with the lens' movement horizontally tracking.

Hope this helps

Phil

While I have rarely used anything wide to shoot motorsports the times I have it has been in certain stages of rally racing where I can get in real close. I haven't gone any wider on a 40D than about 24mm though, getting much closer than that can result in getting sprayed by things best not experienced.

And while have fast glass is a great thing to have when you need it, it is often in motorsports you are stopping down to drive your shutter speed down to get a good panning effect, good technique blurs the background anyway so the shallow dof offered by a fast piece of glass may not actually be used in this genre at times. Something to consider when shopping around anyway.

A couple shots using a 24-105mm L on a 40D as examples.

How about 70-200 F4 IS?

The four stop IS will help you for panning shots:

That 28-135 isn't a bad choice - Cheap used, and a fairly good performer. A bit on the slow side... Nice range, though. IS won't hurt you, but it doesn't have a "panning mode" type of IS - and you must turn the IS off when on a tripod.