Am I done buying Lenses now? SL2 Body...

I love to shoot photos of my kids and have become the unofficial team photographer for basketball, baseball, football & wrestling.

Each having their own challenges...

I started with a SL1 Kit from Target a while back and have gotten more comfortable with the kit lenses and eventually upgraded both the camera body and lenses.

Current arsenal is:

SL2 Camera Body

Yongnuo YN 50mm f/1.8 Lens for Canon EF

EFS18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM

EFS 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III

EFS 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM

Recent Additions:

EFS 70-200 f/2.8L USM

EFS 24-70 f/2.8L USM

EFS 70-200 f/4L USM

My questions are:

1. Do I have the correct lenses to cover the 4 sports i need to?

2. Which lenses should I keep or sell?

3. Do I need to upgrade the camera body (I really like the size of the SL2)?

Wow! That's a lot of lenses - especially in roughly the 50 to 300 range. For you use, can't think of anything to add. However, I can see a couple you already have that I would question. For example, 70-200. Why both the f2.8 and f4 version?

Regarding the SL2 (Which I shoot), I find it does a very good job. And like you, love the size. Only thought would be about shooting sports. Some other Canon DSLR's may be marginally better at tracking (90D?). Anyway, enjoy photographing your family as it grows-up. I enjoy seeing photos of my boys when they were young (Now 45 and 49). Too bad their was no show things as digital cameras then.

I would buy the Canon 1.5x or 2x extender for the 70-200 f2.8. Or if you have the budget, the big Canon 400mm. You seem to have all the rest.

You're sort of killing the advantage of the SL-2's small body size by putting huge lenses on it. If you've been shooting any bursts, you may have noticed that the SL-2 buffer is really small and the frame rate is slow. You might think about getting a body that can take better advantage of those great lenses.  If you start to do much outdoor shooting on bigger fields, 200 mm (and 250mm) probably won't be long enough so a TC or a 100-400 would be nice.

Definitely get rid of the 75-300, it might be the worst lens Canon ever made. It's so cheap though, you won't get much for it. Maybe get a refurb 10-18 for a wider view too.

bushead11 wrote:

benjilafouine wrote:

I would buy the Canon 1.5x or 2x extender for the 70-200 f2.8. Or if you have the budget, the big Canon 400mm. You seem to have all the rest.

Is there any reason to keep the 55-250? Or should I sell that lens and the 75-300? I know they are not worth a ton but no need to have them taking up space in the bag or closet.

With the extender I’d say yes but I’ve never worked with these lenses.

benjilafouine wrote:

bushead11 wrote:

benjilafouine wrote:

I would buy the Canon 1.5x or 2x extender for the 70-200 f2.8. Or if you have the budget, the big Canon 400mm. You seem to have all the rest.

Is there any reason to keep the 55-250? Or should I sell that lens and the 75-300? I know they are not worth a ton but no need to have them taking up space in the bag or closet.

With the extender I’d say yes but I’ve never worked with these lenses.

Canon's extenders won't work with either of these lenses. There might be a 3rd party version that will but I wouldn't expect much, especially on the 75-300. The IQ on that is already bad, any extender would make it truly unuseable.

jvc1 wrote:

benjilafouine wrote:

bushead11 wrote:

benjilafouine wrote:

I would buy the Canon 1.5x or 2x extender for the 70-200 f2.8. Or if you have the budget, the big Canon 400mm. You seem to have all the rest.

Is there any reason to keep the 55-250? Or should I sell that lens and the 75-300? I know they are not worth a ton but no need to have them taking up space in the bag or closet.

With the extender I’d say yes but I’ve never worked with these lenses.

Canon's extenders won't work with either of these lenses. There might be a 3rd party version that will but I wouldn't expect much, especially on the 75-300. The IQ on that is already bad, any extender would make it truly unuseable.

Sorry, I didn’t notice the EFS... won’t work. While we are on the subject, are these EFS 70-200 any good? How do they compare to the EF versions? Didn’t even know Canon produced EFS versions. I try to stay away from these. The only one I have is the kit lens...

benjilafouine wrote:

Sorry, I didn’t notice the EFS... won’t work. While we are on the subject, are these EFS 70-200 any good? How do they compare to the EF versions? Didn’t even know Canon produced EFS versions. I try to stay away from these. The only one I have is the kit lens...

I think that's a typo by the OP. AFAIK all the 70-200's are EF not EF-S.

RedFox88 wrote:

benjilafouine wrote:

I would buy the Canon 1.5x or 2x extender for the 70-200 f2.8.

Why? That’s not needed for basketball and only needed in football if he’s at the top of the stands. Remember, he has a built in 1.6x telephoto being an aps-c dslr!

Or if you have the budget, the big Canon 400mm. You seem to have all the rest.

I was under the impression that he still needed more reach and this combination works very well for me and can in an instant double the reach with an acceptable quality.