I smell a new lens in my future...

Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS

I got some high end DJ gear that's getting ebayed this coming week and I'm going to buy myself a Happy May present.

Maybe I'll be able to make some money off of the pics with it too. I have a road course about 15-30 minutes from my house and it's going to be the perfect place to test this bad boy out.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...s&Q=&sku=234444&is=USA&addedTroughType=search

You wont regret it, Nikon and Canon both make great lenses in that copy.

Idiot, be sure to post some pics when you get the time!

good choice. i need a new telephoto, mine is 75-300 but it isnt IS so its horrible unless you have a tripod

Martin. said:

good choice. i need a new telephoto, mine is 75-300 but it isnt IS so its horrible unless you have a tripod

Click to expand...

the 70-200 there is an L lens with a constant aperture of 2.8. I'm getting into concert photography and it's going to be a big help as most say the IS is equal to 2-3 steps. As of now, even with 1600 and 3200 ISO, I'm lucky to get speeds faster than 1/60th with the horrible light I'm working with. Fortunately though, the larger venues have a lot better lighting, so that's my next goal.

Plus every one says it's great for street photography. I live close enough to DC and Baltimore that I can go down for a day and shoot for how ever long I want...just got to get the time to do it.

What do you shoot that makes it so bad? A faster shutter speed should take care of shake. If I recall though, a lot of people complain about the Canon 75-300. I think that's the one. They say it's extremely soft and not really up to par with the rest of the quality stuff Canon puts out...but unless you want to spend an arm and a leg...I do hear that Sigma has some quality telephoto lenses with some sort of IS device in them.

Best purchase I ever made for my camera

The IS would be a really nice feature (I'm currently borrowing the same lens, but without the IS, from a buddy to take some race photos). I remember reading that unless you need the IS, to turn it off. There was a webpage setup with identical pics of a well-lit bird sitting on a tree, and the IS picture was worse than the non-IS picture.

I have this lens and it is awesome.

The IS is useful for the stability especially when handholding the lens. It gets a bit heavy after a while. The f2.8 is great for low light or throwing the background out of focus.

Make that purchase now. You won't regret it.

Definitely the best lens in my kit. I use it a lot for action/sports photography.

One thing to keep in mind about the IS feature, though, is that it doesn't really give you 2-3 stops. A 1/60 photo is still a 1/60 photo ... so if your subject is moving, blur is still blur. IS cancels out camera shake (so static subjects will look better) but it doesn't make the shutter close any faster.

If you're capable of doing some of the "zooming" with your feet instead of your lens, you might want to consider the 135/2 L. No IS but you have one full stop faster aperture available. I use a basic 50/1.4 for a lot of indoor sports work (the sports I shoot allow me to get fairly close to the action) and I'm always amazed how bright the images are.

ToddG said:

Definitely the best lens in my kit. I use it a lot for action/sports photography.

One thing to keep in mind about the IS feature, though, is that it doesn't really give you 2-3 stops. A 1/60 photo is still a 1/60 photo ... so if your subject is moving, blur is still blur. IS cancels out camera shake (so static subjects will look better) but it doesn't make the shutter close any faster.

If you're capable of doing some of the "zooming" with your feet instead of your lens, you might want to consider the 135/2 L. No IS but you have one full stop faster aperture available. I use a basic 50/1.4 for a lot of indoor sports work (the sports I shoot allow me to get fairly close to the action) and I'm always amazed how bright the images are.

Click to expand...

I'll be using it mainly for concert photography where there's not a lot of light and everything has to be shot hand held. Plus the zoom will come in handy and the IS will definitely be a benefit.

The point Todd was making is that if your subject is moving the same ISO/Shutter speed combination may have you getting motion blur from the actors/dancers. The IS feature only prevents camera shake.