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Fastest tele for sport shooting?

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Samuel Davidowicz

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Hopefelly soon, I can get a 10D. However, I'm worried about the AF speed of any teles I'm considering. I'm a fan of auto racing (drag racing), and having blazing fast AF is a MUST. Here are criteria and questions:

I'm looking for a tele between 200-300mm (before 1.6x conversion).

I must be priced less than 1,300US, so the 70-200IS 2.8 is out.

I don't care if it's a Sigma or Canon.

Questions:

Are there any teles in this range with AF as fast as a wide-angle lens (the wide-angle lens in reference to is the 28-135IS), or close to it, or am I kidding myself?

Is the F5.6 on most teles good enough at night if: there are floodlights overhead (so it's not in total darkess), and I'm using the 550ex with a shutter speed of 1/1000 or more and an ISO of 800? Or should I look at an F4 lens?

If I'm going to be using a monopod, is IS (Image stabilizer) really nessasary?

Please don't think I'm dumb, I'm new to this stuff!
 
I have the 28-135 and the 70-200 IS 2.8 and all I can say is the 28-135 is soooooo slow in comparison. You could probably find the 70-200 non IS in the price range you are looking as for the Sigma lots of people have them and swear by them probably would not be a bad choice I have no Idea on their focus speed though....

Cal
 
Samuel Davidowicz said:
Hopefelly soon, I can get a 10D. However, I'm worried about the AF
speed of any teles I'm considering. I'm a fan of auto racing (drag
racing), and having blazing fast AF is a MUST. Here are criteria
and questions:

I'm looking for a tele between 200-300mm (before 1.6x conversion).

I must be priced less than 1,300US, so the 70-200IS 2.8 is out.
Click to expand...
If you are in for $1300 spend another $200 for the 70-200is!!! Look for it used if you need to save the tax and a few extra dollars.

(You will always be able to sell your lens if $ does become a factor).

Or, try the 100-400L is, which is less than $1300 generally on the used market, and it will give you more reach.

Good luck.

Ropo

--
ROPO
http://www.pbase.com/ropo
 
First off the fastest you can sync the 550ex with the 10d is 1/200 the 1d will give you 1/500. If you shooting drag racing at night I think no camera equiment would give you satisfactory results. In the 200m catagory your best bang for your buck is the Sigma EX 70-200 F2.8 HSM ($600). In the 300mm arena the best bang for your buck again the the Sigma 100-300 F4($850)

Mac
Samuel Davidowicz said:
Hopefelly soon, I can get a 10D. However, I'm worried about the AF
speed of any teles I'm considering. I'm a fan of auto racing (drag
racing), and having blazing fast AF is a MUST. Here are criteria
and questions:

I'm looking for a tele between 200-300mm (before 1.6x conversion).

I must be priced less than 1,300US, so the 70-200IS 2.8 is out.

I don't care if it's a Sigma or Canon.

Questions:

Are there any teles in this range with AF as fast as a wide-angle
lens (the wide-angle lens in reference to is the 28-135IS), or
close to it, or am I kidding myself?

Is the F5.6 on most teles good enough at night if: there are
floodlights overhead (so it's not in total darkess), and I'm using
the 550ex with a shutter speed of 1/1000 or more and an ISO of 800?
Or should I look at an F4 lens?

If I'm going to be using a monopod, is IS (Image stabilizer) really
nessasary?

Please don't think I'm dumb, I'm new to this stuff!
Click to expand...
 
Whats this high speed sync mode?? If you mount the flash to the 10d or 300D and in manual mode with the flash on the highest you can set the shutter is 1/200 with the 1d it's 1/500 is there some special mode on the flash to let the camera enable this?

Chris
Daniel Jackson said:
Cal Dawson said:
I believe the 550EX can sync right to 1/4000 sec the onboard flash
is only 1/200 sec....
Click to expand...
The 550 Ex and the 420 can high speed sync to the max speed of the
shutter on the camera, problem is in high speed sync mode you loose
a lot of reach.
--
Scotty, I need more power! I'm givin it all she's got Jim!
http://www.pbase.com/daniel_jackson/root
Pbase supporter
Click to expand...
 
I am no flash expert by any means but I think the 70-200 is a good range for this type of shooting. The f4 version is fine for daylight but 2.8 would be better for low light. The autofocus on the Canons are very good and don't think this will be your problem, it will be shutter speed in the dark.

This shot was taken from the stands. Its cropped a bit but this can easily be done with minimal loss of quality with this lens. From this vantage point, its a whole lot easier to shoot the starts since you want sharp focus and to fill the frame as much as possible (plus you get the wheelies and burnouts). It would be very tough to get great shots at the other end of the strip although head on shots would be interesting.

Another big plus is you can add the 1.4x for even more reach.

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=2213166
http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=2221722
http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=2221746

A wide zoom is also great for the pits:
http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=2213043
http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=2213128
 
The high speed sync mode is part of the 550 flash itself. You set it by holding down the + and - buttons at the same time. When you do that the little H symbol lights up on the display and you know flash is in high speed sync mode.
Chris MacClellan said:
Chris
Daniel Jackson said:
Cal Dawson said:
I believe the 550EX can sync right to 1/4000 sec the onboard flash
is only 1/200 sec....
Click to expand...
The 550 Ex and the 420 can high speed sync to the max speed of the
shutter on the camera, problem is in high speed sync mode you loose
a lot of reach.
--
Scotty, I need more power! I'm givin it all she's got Jim!
http://www.pbase.com/daniel_jackson/root
Pbase supporter
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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