Spec me a zoom £2000 Budget

[Stinky]

So I'm looking to upgrade my zoom - currently 70-300.

Its going on a 5D3, baring in mind i will be using the short end for some portrait stuff, i prefer to be further away to get a slightly more natural look.

Ill also be using it for motorsport stuff.

My thoughts at the moment are the canon 100-400L ii. coming in at around £1700 would then leave me some cash for an extender, but i don't think the 1.4x or the 2x will allow any auto focus.

Any tips on this one?

 

[D.P.]

I wouldn't use the 100-400 for portraits, and I would be dubious about using an extender on the lens.

For portraits i would go for a 70-200mm f/2.8 IS
For motor sports you should be able to get a sigma 120-300mm f2.8 HSM lens, but 120mm is too long for portraits.
the 100-400 mm ii is also a good bet for sports when you have enough light.


the 70-200 can take a 14xTC OK but you have to decide if 280mm at f/4.0 is enough


Other options include getting an 85mm or 135mm prime for portriats and something like the sigma 120-300m for sport. This does add up in price obviously! Going second hand should get you things in budget. The canon 85mm f1.8 is veyr good and very cheap.

 

[Stinky]

I might be more inclined to keep using my 50mm for now, twinned with my 40-105mm L.

and just splash out on JUST a zoom.

What are your thoughts on that?

i would have thought motorsport, id only be shooting in good light

 

[Phal]

The 100-400mm should still AF with a 1.4x tc on your 5d3. It'll probably just be the centre point but it can be used

I did like the versatility of my old 100-400 and I even liked the push-pull zoom because it was quick to do but the image quality was always a bit of a let down. The new one seems to take care of that

 

[Vertigo]

To be honest the focal lengths required for the two uses you mention - portraits and motorsport - are pretty incompatible in my eyes.

If you were asking solely about motorsport then the 100-400 II would be the obvious choice. If you were asking solely about portraits then it'd be the 70-200 II. Whichever way you go, you're going to compromise the other type of shooting.

Maybe look at the 70-300L as a compromise option?

The 5D3 will AF on the centre point at f/8. It's the only non-1series body that can do it.

 

[Phal]

The 5D3 will AF on the centre point at f/8. It's the only non-1series body that can do it.

5d3 and 7d2

 

[D.P.]

To be honest the focal lengths required for the two uses you mention - portraits and motorsport - are pretty incompatible in my eyes.

If you were asking solely about motorsport then the 100-400 II would be the obvious choice. If you were asking solely about portraits then it'd be the 70-200 II. Whichever way you go, you're going to compromise the other type of shooting.

Maybe look at the 70-300L as a compromise option?

The 5D3 will AF on the centre point at f/8. It's the only non-1series body that can do it.

But performance is not very good focusing at f/8 and then there is the issue that f/8 is possible too slow, and there is always the temptation with extenders to stop down a little to regain sharpness, so now you are at f/11. But since the focal length is longer you will need a faster shutter speed to hand hold.
And only on the very best does an extender really give you the full benefit of the extended reach because most likely you loose a little image quality, thus a 1.4 doesn't give you 40% more detail, but say 30% or less.

The alternative is just to crop, you get faster shutter speeds, better autofocus, an easier to hold lens that can be used with slower shutter speeds.


Saying that I use a 1.4xTC almost permanently, but brings me to f/5.6 and on a prime lens that makes wide open plenty sharp enough. Going down to f/8 just seems to far, even although the D800 supports it.

 

[Vertigo]

But performance is not very good focusing at f/8 and then there is the issue that f/8 is possible too slow, and there is always the temptation with extenders to stop down a little to regain sharpness, so now you are at f/11.

So? Stopping down is irrelevant, it's the widest aperture of the lens/extender combo that matters and, if this is f/8, then it'll AF on the centre point. It doesn't stop down until you take the shot.

 

[squerble]

Sigma 150-600 Sport + an 85mm f/1.8?

 

[D.P.]

So? Stopping down is irrelevant, it's the widest aperture of the lens/extender combo that matters and, if this is f/8, then it'll AF on the centre point. It doesn't stop down until you take the shot.

I think you completely misunderstand what I'm saying.
Of course the camera will use the lens wide open to focus, that is t what is being discussed.

Focus performance at f/8 is lousy, for starters as pointed out you are already restricted to the center point things like 3D tracking are just a fantasy.


The issue with stopping down is such a lens with a TC won't achieve critical sharpness wide open and will need stopping down reducing the the light and increasing exposure times when you will need to be reducing exposure times to accommodate the longer shutter speed.

 

[Phal]

560mm isn't that hard to handhold really... But AS DP mentioned, the issue will just be to get enough light to try to shoot anything that isn't perfectly still.

I think as you don't work on the assumption that you can have the 1.4tc on there all the time then you shouldn't be disappointed. Sometimes I use an extra tc with my 200-400 as well as the builtin tc but the conditions definitely have to be right.