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October 02, 2007
Looking For That Perfect Lens
Sigma recently announced the massive APO 200 - 500 mm F2.8 EX DG.
This morning one of the OffWing photographers posed this question, "I've been tossing around the idea of buying a lens (I've been renting) and I'd probably go with one for hockey since I think I'll be shooting more of those games, at least right now. Which brings me to my next question - what would you guys recommend? Is there anything that could be used for both hockey and field sports? Any thoughts on buying used?"
Very good questions indeed, nothing like having the right tool for the right job.
My advice was to go with is a 70-200mm f/2.8 ($1640 @ Adorama). This is a very flexible lens that has a constant 2.8 that will help you shoot in low light situations while keeping the shutter speed high enough to stop the action. This is the lens you would use to shoot at ice level for hockey.
Recently taken by me with a Nikon 200, 70-200mm f/2.8.
This is almost a must-have lens. There doesn't seem to be such a price difference on used vs. new on this lens because most people will never sell it unless they are switching from cameras.
The new model comes with vibration reduction (VR). This is very cool but I have found it is not needed for my sport shooting because I am typically using a shutter speed of 400-500, so camera shake is not that big of a deal. When shooting at 60-100 the VR would help. The VR also pulls a lot of juice from the camera's battery as it refocuses, something that happens a lot in hockey.
The other option would be a 400mm f/2.8 or 500mm f/4 . These are incredibly expensive ($3500 used - $9000 new) for most people. This is the lens that the photographers use to shoot down onto the ice from the stands. It is also what is used primarily to cover soccer, football, etc.
For me the decision came down thinking about what kind of situations I will most likely be shooting and cost. The 70-200mm f/2.8 was an investment that I basically HAD to have (I don't think my wife felt as fervently about it as I did) to do my job.
The bigger lenses are on my wishlist where they will stay until I make a lot of money with the sport stuff or find an incredible deal.
Nikon has just announced three new telephoto lenses. Check out the review over at Digital Photography Review. They also have this review of the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8.
We happen to shoot with Nikon but Canon has comparable lenses.
Interested in the monster Sigma lens? You can read more about it here on DPReview.
Posted by Allen Clark at October 2, 2007 04:54 PM