Best choice for beachsports photography

[Fredric]

Hi,

Since a few weeks I've been kitesurfing and I'm planning to start taking photo's of my friends when they are riding. I have a canon 40D, but no long lens.. I want to buy a long telezoom lens, but am not sure which one to get. On one side I don't want to spend a lot of money on it, because the lens will be on the beach most of the time, so if it breaks, I don't lose a lot of money, on the other side, I'm thinking, a cheap lens will have inferior build quality, and will break much sooner. So maybe it will be better to invest a bit more and have a decent quality lens.
I'm really hoping you guys can give me some new insight!

Lenses I'm considering:

Cheap options:
Sigma 70-300 (maybe APO), Tamron 70-300, Canon 75-300 ( maybe USM version)

More expensive options:
Canon 70-200 L f4.0 second hand with 1.4 extender
any other options?

Thanks,

Fredric

 

[KmH]

Reach, reach, reach.

300 mm is barely enough to shoot soccer from the sidelines, without some major cropping.

Cropping is the same as discarding pixels. If you start with 10 MP and do a 100% crop, you only have 5 MP left.

Since you shooting in daylight with the sky as background, I'd recommend you look at the Sigma APO 150-500 mm f/5-9.3 OS HSM, about $1000 USD.

Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens 737101 -

 

[Fredric]

Thanks for the quick reply! However, a 1000 $ lens is way out of my price range. As for the range, I think a maximum length of 300 mm will be enough, I'll be about 20 meters away from the action.. I was just wondering if a more expensive lens justifies the cost when it is used primairly in pretty rough conditions ( the beach). How long would one of the cheaper 70-300 lenses ( around $ 150) last me? And how long for the 70-200 f4 L ( secondhand I've seen them around $ 400)?

Thanks,

Fredric

 

[den9]

theres no way to judge how long a lens will last you, conditions are never the say, too much to factor in.

the 70-200mm is a fantastic lens, might be ok on a crop sensor, but way too short on a fx in my opinion. i wouldnt consider a telecoverter on a zoom lens either.