Fast telephoto lens?

Energize

Energize

Energize

Caporegime
Joined
12 Mar 2004
Posts
29,954
Location
England
I'm looking for a fast telephoto lens for shooting sports in an indoor arena, ignoring Nikon for now which are very expensive I have found these at a glance.

sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM £564
Sigma APO 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM £676
Tamron SP AF70-200mm F/2.8 Di LD (IF) Macro £487
Tokina AT-X 535 AF PRO DX AF 50-135mm f/2.8 Lens Nikon £275

Are these all compatible with my D5100 and are they of acceptable quality? IS doesn't matter too much because I can just improvise by using a wall, and the shutter speed will be around 1/500 sec anyway.

Those are all new prices from *******, I have no idea what prices are available second hand.
 
Don't quote me but I'm pretty sure the Tokina doesn't have a motor so wouldn't AF on your body which will probably remove that from your list.

I've owned the Tamron and wouldn't touch another with a barge pole because it was unbelievably inconsistent with AF. Subjects that appeared sharp in the viewfinder would be exposed out of focus.

Even though I shoot Sony, I believe the AF issues have been experienced on all systems with that lens.

Both the Sigma's are decent lenses and thats where I'd be looking if I was you but with action / sports in mind I would think the extra length of the 70-200mm would be of more use to you.

1/500th is very fast for indoors even with an f2.8 lens. Are you bumping your ISO way up or is the arena lit extremely well?
 
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From hearing of others experiences, the new Sigma 70-200 sounds to be a cracker of a lens for the money. I'm actually planning on selling my f4 IS and buying one myself, as the mk2 Canon is way out of my range
 
I'm gonna use my old 18x bridge camera to figure out what focal length I need, certainly can't afford Nikon's offering though!
 
I have the non-OS version of the Sigma 50-150mm and it's one of my favourites. However, the OS version is huge in comparison, almost the same size as the 70-200mm, so it makes sense for your needs to buy the 70-200mm for not much extra.
 
After seeing that the 50-150mm is only APS-C, I think I'll have to get the 70-200mm, I don't want loads of vignetting when I upgrade to full frame and try to use the 50-150mm.
 
Sigma 50-150mm owner here it's nearly half the weight of a sigma 70-200 i think
Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 II EX DC HSM Lens 27.2 oz (780g) vs 1390g (49.0 oz)
 
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Energize said:
After seeing that the 50-150mm is only APS-C, I think I'll have to get the 70-200mm, I don't want loads of vignetting when I upgrade to full frame and try to use the 50-150mm.
Click to expand...
You don't get vignetting if you use a DX lens on an FX Nikon as the body detects that it's a DX lens and switches to DX mode.
 
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