Help me decide on which lens please (70-200)

[Gianna'sPapa]

Hope you and the family have been well.

Thank you. You don't know how profound this statement is. As many may have noticed, I wasn't on the "Boards" for about a month. I went into the hospital for an "everyday" total knee replacement which was to be a three day stay followed by at-home physical therapy. It didn't go quite as planned. Almost everything that could go wrong, did! It was touch and go for about a week as to whether I would "walk" out of the hospital. Needless to say, I did survive after a three week stay and now I am on my way to recovery. I still have some obstacles to overcome, but my goal is to be ready for the upcoming race season. So again, thank you.

PS I didn't mean to hijack the thread with personal issues. I just wanted to thank Princess!

 

[mom2rtk]

Thank you. You don't know how profound this statement is. As many may have noticed, I wasn't on the "Boards" for about a month. I went into the hospital for an "everyday" total knee replacement which was to be a three day stay followed by at-home physical therapy. It didn't go quite as planned. Almost everything that could go wrong, did! It was touch and go for about a week as to whether I would "walk" out of the hospital. Needless to say, I did survive after a three week stay and now I am on my way to recovery. I still have some obstacles to overcome, but my goal is to be ready for the upcoming race season. So again, thank you.

PS I didn't mean to hijack the thread with personal issues. I just wanted to thank Princess!

Oh my! What a time your family has had recently. I'm so glad you are on the mend.

 

[*pixie*]

I got the Canon f2.8 70-200 this past September. I LOVE this lens! I've only used it to shoot my kids' sports, so far football, night football, volleyball, and basketball. It has made a huge difference in my pics. I'm 5'5" and 120 pounds and I don't find it too heavy. I use a Crumpler strap, but really, I never have it just "hanging" around my neck. If I'm not using it, I'm cradling it in one of my arms so my neck isn't taking the brunt of the weight.

After games, I post pictures on Facebook for the kids and parents. After seeing my pictures, our local newspaper now has me taking pictures for them. Because of that, I was given floor passes to the volleyball state tournament. Being able to be down on the floor taking pictures at my daughter's state tournament was awesome!!

 

[Bstanley]

Speaking personally - a couple of years ago I decided after much wringing of hands to go with the f4 version.

If I could have found a deal where the f2.8 was only $500 more it might have changed the decision. I've never seen the difference between them that low, when I was looking it was more like $800-$900. You might want to make sure that you are comparing apples to apples. I think both versions are available with and without IS and that will definitely affect the price (either way actually). Personally I think having IS is a requirement.

I was also concerned about toting 3+ pounds of glass around instead of the 1.5+ that the f4 weighs.

 

[havoc315]

Thank you. You don't know how profound this statement is. As many may have noticed, I wasn't on the "Boards" for about a month. I went into the hospital for an "everyday" total knee replacement which was to be a three day stay followed by at-home physical therapy. It didn't go quite as planned. Almost everything that could go wrong, did! It was touch and go for about a week as to whether I would "walk" out of the hospital. Needless to say, I did survive after a three week stay and now I am on my way to recovery. I still have some obstacles to overcome, but my goal is to be ready for the upcoming race season. So again, thank you.

PS I didn't mean to hijack the thread with personal issues. I just wanted to thank Princess!

Good luck with your recovery. Professionally, I've seen many complications with TKR..... Good luck with your physical therapy, and a speedy full recovery to you.

 

[Daisy14'sDH]

I shoot more dance and recital than anything, and can tell you that my ss goal is always 180 at the low end 250 being ideal for most depending on stage and light location. I always shoot wide open and never more than ISO 1600, 800 is my ideal. Using a monopod is a great benefit as well! If it wasn't for the IS on the Pentax system, I'd never be able to get steady enough shots. I understand on your 5D you can shoot at much higher ISO's, but if you can afford that body I wouldn't skimp on the glass...

 

[MAJPLO]

Thank you. You don't know how profound this statement is. As many may have noticed, I wasn't on the "Boards" for about a month. I went into the hospital for an "everyday" total knee replacement which was to be a three day stay followed by at-home physical therapy. It didn't go quite as planned. Almost everything that could go wrong, did! It was touch and go for about a week as to whether I would "walk" out of the hospital. Needless to say, I did survive after a three week stay and now I am on my way to recovery. I still have some obstacles to overcome, but my goal is to be ready for the upcoming race season. So again, thank you.

PS I didn't mean to hijack the thread with personal issues. I just wanted to thank Princess!

Very glad to hear you are doing better.

 

[photo_chick]

I'm buying a Canon 70D.

I plan to get a 35mm f/2 and the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8.

What I'm hung up on is the 70-200mm.

Either the f/4 or f/2.8. There is about a $500 price difference. Is the 1.2 difference enough to justify the $500?

I mostly just shoot my kids in school performances, sports, etc (and of course our Disney trips about 3x a year!) and prefer natural light vs any flash. Many times I've been dissatisfied with how my previous lenses have performed indoors (I had a Sony A57 with the 18-250 f/3.5-6.3 and before that I shot with a Nikon D90 but can't remember the zoom lens long story short the D90 took a swim in a river and I jumped to Sony and have been dissatisfied.)

The f/4 is going to be an improvement over the previous ones, but I'm hesitant to go for it and maybe I should do the extra for the 2.8? Any thoughts/suggestions would be great thanks!

I just sold my old 70-210 f/4 (it's an old non-L Canon) and am torn between the 70-200 f/4 IS and the 70-200 f/2.8 non-IS. The f/4 with IS is supposed to give you 4 stops which would make it faster than the non IS f/2.8. Not that it helps with fast moving action but it can help with camera shake and slow moving stage shows. And it's lighter. I sold my old lens to get a sharper lens. The f/4 has been sufficient both with my older 50D and with my 6D for 98% of what I shoot so i'll most likely go with the f/4 L myself.

I mainly use my long zooms for dance. I've been shooting my daughter's shows, recitals, competitions (when it's allowed) for nearly ten years now. In my experience the school productions are the most difficult of these things to shoot because they never have enough light on the stage.

No one here can tell you which way to go. My advice would be to get your hands on them to play. Rent if you need to.

 

[mom2rtk]

I just sold my old 70-210 f/4 (it's an old non-L Canon) and am torn between the 70-200 f/4 IS and the 70-200 f/2.8 non-IS. The f/4 with IS is supposed to give you 4 stops which would make it faster than the non IS f/2.8. Not that it helps with fast moving action but it can help with camera shake and slow moving stage shows. And it's lighter. I sold my old lens to get a sharper lens. The f/4 has been sufficient both with my older 50D and with my 6D for 98% of what I shoot so i'll most likely go with the f/4 L myself.

I mainly use my long zooms for dance. I've been shooting my daughter's shows, recitals, competitions (when it's allowed) for nearly ten years now. In my experience the school productions are the most difficult of these things to shoot because they never have enough light on the stage.

No one here can tell you which way to go. My advice would be to get your hands on them to play. Rent if you need to.

I agree with the advice to rent one of these to try out. I tried hard to get my hands on this Sigma lens before buying, but I couldn't find it to rent. And nobody in KC carries it. So I checked out the resale prices on Ebay (initially thinking of buying used) and saw they were holding value pretty well and took the plunge. I want it for our DLR trip coming up. I figure if I decide it's just not for me, I can sell it and be out about what I would have spent to rent one.

And if I had a 6D that could rock 25K ISO, I'd totally be getting that F4 lens too!