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The right wide-angle zoom

Started Feb 6, 2014 | Questions thread
OP fansmanship New Member • Posts: 4
Re: The right wide-angle zoom

photonius wrote:

fansmanship wrote:

Hey everyone. First time posting on the forum, so bear with me.

I shoot sports and action a lot - basketball, etc...

I have two Canon bodies (70D and T3i) and am looking at a better wide angle lens. Here are the lenses I have:

18-55 kit lens

70-200 2.8

50mm 1.8

85mm 1.8

I'm thinking to sell the 85mm 1.8 and buying a better wide-angle (2.8) lens where the AF is going to work fast enough for sports like basketball.

As I see it, I have 2 or 3 options if I'm not going with a Canon 24-70 (since I don't have over $2000 to spend).

1) 18-55 f 2.8. It's not an L series lens but seems like the AF would be quick enough? and price is $850-$900 range... which is doable.

presumably you mean the Canon 17-55 f2.8 IS (there is a sigma 18-50 f2.8 lens).

It's top notch, your best bet.

Yes. this is what I mean. Obviously it wouldn't work with FF body. Does that also mean that the 17-55 will give me 17-55 with cropped sensor (since it's made for those cameras) or would it still by 1.6x?

2) Tamron 24-70 VC 2.8. I know it's Tamron's run at Canon's 24-70, but what does the AF look like on this one? I've never bought a Tamron lens and I'm sure it looks fine comparatively for my taste, but I'm definitely concerned about the function of the AF in comparison to a canon...

That's a standard lens for FF. it's not very wide at all on crop, why don't you try your 18-55 at 24mm to see how much you loose at the wide end. But maybe it's the focal length you want?

Yes. I'm pretty confident in the Tamron the more I read about it, but your point is well-made about the zoom. I suppose I could test it using my kit lens (depending on your answer to my question above). What do people know about the AF capabilities of the Tamron? Should I be worried?

3) Canon 16-35 2.8. This is an L series lens and might be out of my price range, but how big a difference would it make compared to the other two?

unless you go FF, the 17-55 IS is the right choice for crop.

OK, I'm up for people weighing in on any of the above or other ideas. A full frame camera is somewhere in my future, but it is probably quite a ways off at this point. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

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*** Life is short, time to zoom in *** ©

Thanks again everyone for the insight!

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