I've recently bought myself a Canon 400d and I'm getting used to it and what I need etc and so far I've already noticed for motorsport I need a zoom lense better than the 18-55mm that came with the camera.

The problem is that I'm going to Brands Hatch this Sunday and I'm off on holiday next week and I need to find a lense before then :brickwall

I've come across the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III USM Lense at a reasonable price but I don't know how that compares to the mark I or how it compares to the Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6 DG MACRO Lens.

Can someone please give me a little advice on the differences between these lenses and if possible what to avoid if you have any experience of any of the lenses?

Thanks :thumb:

Sigma 70-300 APO usually wins the budget telephoto lens best buy or editors choice in magazine reviews. Should be £ 150ish.

Thanks for the reply :) I've found that one for sale now and you're right about the price but what are the differences between that and the Canon lenses?

I have the Sigma APO and it is very good for the money, allegedly a little sharper than the canon !!!
If you check out the 'Zoo shots - any advice?' thread on here, my shots were taken with the Sigma lens.

Would love to swap it for a Canon 100-400 L though but that will have to wait till I have the money :(

I've recently bought myself a Canon 400d and I'm getting used to it and what I need etc and so far I've already noticed for motorsport I need a zoom lense better than the 18-55mm that came with the camera.

The problem is that I'm going to Brands Hatch this Sunday and I'm off on holiday next week and I need to find a lense before then :brickwall

I've come across the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III USM Lense at a reasonable price but I don't know how that compares to the mark I or how it compares to the Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6 DG MACRO Lens.

Can someone please give me a little advice on the differences between these lenses and if possible what to avoid if you have any experience of any of the lenses?

Thanks :thumb:

Paul, bite the bullit and get one of these

Canon EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM - Only £369.00 - Park Cameras Online (http://www.parkcameras.com/ProductDetails/mcs/productID/2994/groupID/14/categoryID/68/v/11848844-1637-4de1-a1b1-66eb6e850346)

Yes, its twice the price of the two lenses you've noted, but it is said to be much better than either.

Those photos taken with the Sigma APO look great thanks :)

I was looking at the IS yesterday but I just can't justify it at the moment :( I'll probably buy something like that at a later date once I'm more familiar with the camera and it's features etc.

Sigma 70-300 APO usually wins the budget telephoto lens best buy or editors choice in magazine reviews. Should be £ 150ish.

100 quid or just a fraction over on ebay, brand new too :)

I've just ordered the Sigma APO :luxhello: Hopefully it'll serve me well for a while until I can get a more expensive lense.

Thanks for the recommendation because I hadn't even looked at that lense :thumb:

Fingers crossed it'll be here tomorrow.

Paul

for Motorsport put the camera into the following modes

shutter priority (TV) set to around 1/250 or 1/320 for 3/4 shots, lower for panning, lowest ISO possible to achieve this (100 or 200 if nice day)

AI servo focus mode
and probably centre point focusing.
and either one shot or continuous shooting mode.

This should give reasonable results. The Sports Mode isn't best for motorsport as it freezes the action and cars look stationary.

Good places for photography is inside of Druids Hairpin, exit of McLarens (if Indy Circuit), exit of Stirlings (if full circuit) and the through the TV camera flap in the fencing on the exit of Clearways.

Paul

for Motorsport put the camera into the following modes

shutter priority (TV) set to around 1/250 or 1/320 for 3/4 shots, lower for panning, lowest ISO possible to achieve this (100 or 200 if nice day)

AI servo focus mode
and probably centre point focusing.
and either one shot or continuous shooting mode.

This should give reasonable results. The Sports Mode isn't best for motorsport as it freezes the action and cars look stationary.

Good places for photography is inside of Druids Hairpin, exit of McLarens (if Indy Circuit), exit of Stirlings (if full circuit) and the through the TV camera flap in the fencing on the exit of Clearways.

Thank you so much for those tips :) I have only used the camera for motorsport once so I am really only just learning and that will help me alot.

Last time out I was experimenting and checked the results when I got home against the shutter speeds etc to see what made a difference and where I got it right and wrong :o

Well I think those settings should give reasonable results, and you can concentrate on composition.

It certainly gives me a starting point :D Most of the time at Silverstone the other week I was using sport mode because I could see certain things weren't working but occassionally I got it right :lol1:

Silverstone isn't brilliant for Photography - 300mm minimum really from Luffield. Rockingham is worse!

Good advice from Pumpkin there about settings - ignore the sports, portrait and other 'scene' modes, IMHO they're really just confusing. You can do everything that they can do using the aperture priority (AV) and shutter speed priority (TV) modes, plus you have the added bonus that you actually know what the camera is doing.

For tarmac racing, I tend to use a slightly slower shutter speed (around 1/125 or 1/160th), and pan with the car to blur the wheels and background, which in turn creates a sense of movement. On gravel and wet surfaces I use a faster shutter speed to freeze the plume of debris being thrown up by the wheels.

you can slow it down, but remember camera shake becomes more and more of an issue, so you either need naturally steady hands or some sort of camera support and oodles of practise.

Good luck!

Good advice all round.... I found that the inner corner of Druids at Brands was great for my first time with a decent camera as the cars were at their slowest and there is no metal fencing. Pretty safe bet for at least one incident there also :D

This was with 300d and a pretty old and average second hand Sigma 70-200 on a cheap monopod

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y229/bilposter/IMG_1394.jpg

You can also grap shots as they come out of paddock hill bend and climb up to Druids. As Joni says, no catchfencing and its usually only full of photographers rather than spectators.

The lense arrived this afternoon thanks and it looks and feels like a good quality bit of kit. I've not really had chance to use it in anger yet but it's got a much better quality feel about it than a similar lense I tried a couple of weeks ago :) I can't remember the make of that one though. I wasn't expecting to get a case for the lense with the lense so that was a nice surprise :D I just need to learn how to use it now :D

Thanks for all your help :)

Hi paul,could you tell me where you got the Sigma from and also price please?..Alan.......

Paul, bite the bullit and get one of these

Canon EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM - Only £369.00 - Park Cameras Online (http://www.parkcameras.com/ProductDetails/mcs/productID/2994/groupID/14/categoryID/68/v/11848844-1637-4de1-a1b1-66eb6e850346)

Yes, its twice the price of the two lenses you've noted, but it is said to be much better than either.

I've got this lens, is fantastic

Hi paul,could you tell me where you got the Sigma from and also price please?..Alan.......

I bought it from Cameraking.co.uk (http://www.cameraking.co.uk) and according to the email I've just looked at I paid £137 but I thought I paid slightly more than that.

how did your day at Brands go then? Pictures turn out OK?

Thanks Paul,your a diamond.....Alan

how did your day at Brands go then? Pictures turn out OK?

My Brands Hatch day was excellent thanks. I posted my photos up but I should have linked them across :o Here are some of the photos I took. Ignore the high number of photos of the yellow Impreza but I was there to support him and just copied and pasted the photos :o http://bbs.scoobynet.com/members-gallery-5/632015-time-attack-brands-hatch-photos.html

I was out again at Rallyday on Saturday and for some reason it didn't seem to go as well for me, I think I got tired towards the end of the day because my photos got wonky and needed straightening up :rolleyes: I think I was also zooming in too far on some shots and not getting the cars in the centre of the frame.

http://bbs.scoobynet.com/members-gallery-5/636728-rallyday-2007-photos.html

I am finding that it doesn't seem to like zooming in that well on objects that far away that are moving. I've just got back off of holiday and I was playing with the camera and zooming in on static objects like a lizard and the buildings in Famagusta and they haven't come out too bad apart from the heat haze but a moving car doesn't seem to focus that clearly. It's probably me though :lol1:

Here is the lizard seen on the rock with the 18-55mm lense

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3/legacyturbo/lizardarrow.jpg

The same lizard with the 300mm zoom

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3/legacyturbo/lizard.jpg

I was impressed with that.

I have a Canon 400D and have been offered a zoom lens from a 35mm Canon 500D. Is this compatible with a digital body?
cheers

should be.

All Canon EOS EF/AF lenses are compatible between film and digital, however sold older aftermarket lenses from Sigma are known to have problems.

I've got this lens, is fantastic


I also have one of these and cant fault it. Im also a newbie so still getting to grips with things.

Was at brands at the weekend watching the WTCC and the pics below were taken with this lens and a Canon 350D

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y112/stiscooby/resizedIMG_1969.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y112/stiscooby/resizedIMG_1907.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y112/stiscooby/resizedIMG_1870.jpg