Canon EF 70-300mmf/4-5.6 IS USM lens

[aunt kelly]

Does anyone have any advice as to whether this would be a good lens for me? I take a lot of soccer pictures and football pictures. I also take a lot of pictures of kids tubing from the back of our boat. Therefore, I want a good zoom lens.

I also like to take candid pictures of my family and pets.

Camera shake is definetely a problem for me, so I thought the IS would be helpful.

This would be my only lens other than the kit lens that came w/ my Digital Rebel XT.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[Kelly Grannell]

It's a very good lens.

 

[jann1033]

i have the 28-135 and love the IS...world of difference

 

[pisco]

I have the lens and love it. The only potential knock on the lens for what you want to shoot is that it is a f/4-5.6 so shutter speeds will be slower than with a faster lens. So freezing motion might not always be possible.

But it bright sunlight it should be no problem.

 

[aunt kelly]

Thanks for the comments. It sounds like the lens for me!

 

[JR6ooo4]

I have the lens and love it. The only potential knock on the lens for what you want to shoot is that it is a f/4-5.6 so shutter speeds will be slower than with a faster lens. So freezing motion might not always be possible.

But in bright sunlight it should be no problem.

Am I wrong or is it about $1000 more to get a faster lens in that zoom range?



Light is good!

Shooting at sideline distance, or near the goal, the depth of field is deep enough to use the lowest aperture.
Now that I check the shutter I had plenty of room to use a higher Av:

Model: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT
Aperture: f/5.0
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 70mm (guess: 126mm in 35mm)
Exposure Time: 0.0006s (1/1600)
Exposure Program: Aperture priority
Exposure Bias: -0.33





This one is not the lowest light I have had to shoot in a theaterbut I still had to bump the Canon XT to ISO 1600 then clean the image some with noise ninja:

Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 1600
Focal Length: 180mm (guess: 323mm in 35mm)
Exposure Time: 0.025s (1/40)
Flash: Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
Exposure Program: Aperture priority
Exposure Bias: -0.67

so you can tell I like the lens....

Mikeeee

 

[Kelly Grannell]

yup it's about $1000+ more to get a faster lens for that range.

 

[mabas9395]

I have the kit plus the 28-135 IS and this will be my next lens. I love the 28-135 as a walk around lens, but I really need/want the extra reach. I'm tempted by the 70-200 L f/4 for the amazingly sharp pictures that I've seen from it (similar in price to the 70-300 IS), but that extra reach seals the deal for me.

And after using the IS on the 28-135, I wouldn't try something that long without IS.

 

[Magix]

The lens will work out great for you. I have an older Canon 75-300mm f/4-5.6 lens (no IS) that I use constantly for candid shots of racecar drivers. I'm typically zoomed all the way in to 300mm. The shots are sharp. Every once in a while, I wish for a faster lens for low light situations, but typically I'm shooting outdoors and the lens handles that just fine. For examples of what I've done with the lens, you can check my website (link's in my sig). Those shots have not been cropped at all. You'll be able to get some great candids of your family and pets (as long as your family can ignore the big long lens being pointed at them)!

 

[homerdog]

The only potential knock on the lens for what you want to shoot is that it is a f/4-5.6 so shutter speeds will be slower than with a faster lens. So freezing motion might not always be possible.

Don't forget that the Rebel has great high ISO performance! You should probably aim for a shutter speed of at least 1/250 sec when zoomed to 300mm, even with IS, so just crank up the ISO to get it. In my experience, most shots at these focal lengths are more likely to be spoiled by camera shake than any other issues, such as poor focusing etc.

 

[aunt kelly]

Thanks to everyone for all the great info!