I am finally getting off the fence and ordering my Digital Rebel XT today... just wanted to get your guys recommendations for what other lens I need to get for my new toy.... I am looking for a lens that does really good fast action shots.... go kart, autox shots in particular.... oh by the way, which brand is better, tamron or sigma? thanks.....

 

Canon

Try the new Canon 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM. IS (Image Stabilization) will really help with panning shots.

 

I would get the 18-55 kit lens and the Canon 70-200 F/4 for your autocross/karting photos.

 

sounds expensive..... :smile:

 

how about between tamron & sigma, which one is better? Dave?

 

Depends on the lens. The Tamron 90 Macro is razor sharp and contrasty. A lot of their lenses are junk, IMHO. The Sigma 70-200 gives both the Nikkor 80-200 and the Canon 70-200 a run for the money.

Drop on over to www.dpreview.com for more info as well.

 

thanks, redbaron

 

Oooh. Good site, RedBaron - thanks. I'm looking at a digital SLR for Mrs. Hartz for Christmas - does anyone have any recommendations on the best place to purchase? Some of the prices on that site are pretty good. Any experiences with any of those places - good or bad?

Thanks,
Hartz

 

You can usually save a few bucks elsewhere, but nothing beats B&H Photo www.bhphotovideo.com for customer service, shipping, and product selection. They aren't the cheapest, but not the most expensive, either. They will usually compete with other "big name" online stores.

 

I was under the impression that you wanted to avoid image stabilization gizmos for panning shots... they get confused and try to make the camera behave like it's not moving, which is the exact opposite of what you want in a panning shot.

But, Canon lenses are very nice.

If you're not going to be right on top of the action at the track, you'll need something with some zoom to it. I've got the 55-200mm Canon lens, and it works pretty well for shooting things at the track when you cannot get right up against the road.

Here's some photos I took with it, on my first attempt at moving car photography:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/snid/sets/675789/

And while it would not be useful for track photos, pick up the cheapo Canon 50mm fixed focal length lens, or even better one of their 28mm or 25mm lenses. I love primes for walking around with, and use them 80% of the time or more. Personally, I prefer being just a little bit on the wide side of a standard / normal lens. But, that Canon 50mm f/1.8 is so cheap (for a Canon lens, anyway) and not bad at all in image quality.

 

Nikon's system (I'm not familiar with Canon's) detects movement on either axis and compensates. For example, taking a panning shot of a passing car (movement along the horizontal axis) - Nikon's VR detects the pan and only "stabilizes" the vertical movement.

I suspect Canon's IS system is very similar in function.

 

Cool! I just remember seeing a picture someone posted somewhere of a panning shot attempt from one of the "point and shoot" cameras with IS, and it was all kinds of messed up. Turns out we tracked the problem down to the IS. And this was one of the higher end digital cameras, just not a dSLR.

 

Just from years of 35mm slr picture taking, I found the 35--105 zoom to be the most versitile, most used lens I ever owned.

 

Remember that for the digital rebel, you have to compensate for the 1.6x crop factor (the digital sensor is smaller than a 35mm negative). So, the 35-105 zoom for film would be replaced by a 22-65 (or so) theoretical digital lens...

 

That's why I suggested the 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM. That's 38-168mm 35 FOV.

 

Judy got her Rebel XT with a Canon EFS 17-85mm lens as a kit. She's pretty happy with it! She also recommends that DPReview site.

_Dave_

 

Thanks guys! I'm a 35mm film hack, new to digital. Your info and perhaps, patience is appreciated.

When I used to shoot with 24 to 28mm lenses, there would be distortion at the outer edges of the frame. Is that an issue in digital?

Also, how about a thumbnail difference between optical vs. digital zoom.

 

It is not, simply because the APS-C digital sensor is smaller than the film negative. Thus you are effectively cropping the edges of the frame, which is where most of the vignetting and the edge distortion takes place. And no SLR has digital zoom. That's a feature on point 'n shoots.

To the OP, get a 35-135mm zoom. Canon doesn't make them anymore, but you can find a decent used one on ebay for about $75. I have a 20D and this lens stays on my body most of the time. Coupled with the 1.6 FOV crop, this lens turns into a very useful performer.

If you find the 70-200mm F2.8 expensive, opt for the Canon 70-200mm F4 or the 70-20mm from Sigma. For close ups and other static shots, go for the 50mm F1.8 (about $70).

Many people bash the 18-55mm kit lens, but I find that at F5.6 - F14, this is very decent. Since you have the Rebel XT, you already have the 8MP sensor with the DIGIC II processor. So straight-out-of-camera pcitures will be pretty decent in JPEG.

I suggest that you try RAW and use RawShooters Essentials. If you want more lens reviews, go the Canon SLR Lens forum on dpreview, and search for all posts by 'AdamT', 'Petteri' and 'fstopJojo'. Very informative reviews.

My advice (for what it is worth)..start cheap, experiment with various zooms and focal lengths and apertures and then buy the best you can afford. No point in trying to get it all in one go....

PS: Canon's new generation IS hs an option that allows panning, where the stabilization is done only for vertical movement!!

 

any comments on an 810-210 lens? I saw a tamron for cheap and it looks like it's something I can use mostly for close sports photography, etc. am I off on this assumption? thanks.

 

I'm assuming you meant an 80-200 lens. I'm not familiar with the Tamron (I've got the Nikon 80-200 f/2.8 AF-S) but it's a hugely versatile focal length range in a long-ish lens. You don't say what sort of sports you shoot but for motorsports it's very useful for both pitlane/headshots sorts of things and some on-track stuff. Most of the time, if I forgot and left all my other lenses at home except the 80-200, I could get by okay.

Mark

 

Optically Tamron is good. However, the electronics on the camera body don't always like the lens....Tamron and Canon don't mix with each other well....it's on a one-to-one basis where a lens might work perfect on one camera body but not on the other.

A better bet would be Sigma, who also rechip their lens free of cost for a newer body.

 

I'm going to go with RedBaron and say - stick with Canon

The other lenses are cheaper for a reason - save up and get Canon - buying used of EBAY is a great way to buy great Canon lenses and save $$$

You'll need some length and speed shooting action, so the 70-200 F4 is a great place to start.

It's not cheap, but it's a quality lens and will AF faster than 3rd party glass.

It's only just long enough for motorsports - you really need to go 300mm + for race action, to really get frame filling shots from most tracksides.



Even 600mm is short for some track locations!

I was right by the track here at Cal Speedway, shooting through the wire fencing at one of the photo holes -



So get the Rebel, get a pre-owned 70-200 Canon lens, and then save like crazy for a 300 or 400mm lens.

That would be my best suggestion.

Chris.

 

I have the Canon Rebel XT with the 18-55 as well as my old trusted 10year old 75-300IS 4-5.6