Need a decent lens for sports. Have a D-Rebel

[jbacklund]

I have a Digital Rebel that I am currently using a Canon 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 lens to shoot my kids sporting events with. I am somewhat happy with it but since I will be trying my hand in shooting local baseball games for profit then I don't think it will be enough. I have a budget up to $600.00 and I have these three lenses picked out. Any of them decent enough? Or do you have any suggestions? Thanks!!!!

Canon Zoom Telephoto EF 70-200mm f/4.0L USM Autofocus Lens

Canon Zoom Telephoto EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 EF IS Image Stabilizer USM

Sigma Zoom Telephoto 135-400mm f/4.5-5.6 APO Aspherical Autofocus Lens

[BVC]

I am shooting baseball, softball and football and have recently added the Sigma f2.8 70-200mm lens to my equipment and so far I am very pleased with the performance.

[Stanley]

I have used a 75.300 USM for horse sports for several years and was happy with it. It isn't as fast as the L lens but fast enough if you use 200 ISO film. The auto focus on the Rebel will probably not exploit an L lens to its full benefit and they can get very heavy if hand holding for long periods. Can't speak for the image stabiliser but USM lenses have very quick auto focus. Used one on an EOS 3 and doing campdraft it reduced my throwaways dramatically.
Fred.

[hobman]

Sorry, my post was displayed twice.

[hobman]

I bought a Sigma 70-200 f2.8 lens for high school football and basketball. It works great for these sports, though lighting changes in every venue. If you are shooting night football and basketball games, you will need a fast lens with large aperature for these conditions. With the digital Rebel you also have a multiple of 1.5, so a 70-200 is actually like a 105-300 lens. You typically can't use a flash in a lot of these situations, so anything over a f-stop of 2.8 will not work very well. Good luck.

[jmwileyms]

I am new to photography. I too have a Digital Rebel. I used it and a Canon 70-200mm f/4.0-5.6 lens for photographing football. That worked out well. I have been trying to find a lens for basketball. I was looking at the Sigma 24-135mm f/2.8-4.5. Does anyone have any info on this lens and whether or not it would work for basketball indoors? I figure with the Digital rebel the actual range zoom range would be 36mm-202mm. I will also be right on the sideline so I do not think the magnification to be too high. Any thoughts, advice? Thanks in advance.

[Photo-John]

The Canon 70-200 f/2.8L is the standard, basic sports telephoto for Canon photographers. And the f/4 version is a very close second. For a lot of photographers the f/4 lens is the fiirst choice, because of the lighter weight and lower price. I think it would be the best lens for the kind of photography you're talking about. I have the old 70-200 f/2.8L and the 1.4x tele-extender. That makes for a very flexible, fast-focusing, combination. The only real problem I see with the f/4 lens is if you want to use the tele-extender, your maximum aperture starts to get pretty slow. But as far as focus speed, accuracy, and image quality go, you can't get any better than th 70-200L lenses.

[keens157]

I am new to photography. I too have a Digital Rebel. I used it and a Canon 70-200mm f/4.0-5.6 lens for photographing football. That worked out well. I have been trying to find a lens for basketball. I was looking at the Sigma 24-135mm f/2.8-4.5. Does anyone have any info on this lens and whether or not it would work for basketball indoors? I figure with the Digital rebel the actual range zoom range would be 36mm-202mm. I will also be right on the sideline so I do not think the magnification to be too high. Any thoughts, advice? Thanks in advance.

I have the sigma lens.I think it's great,very fast.I use it for water sports but it also works very well indoors.I also have the digital rebel.I think it's a great lens and well worth the money.