Should I purchase the 70-200mm f/2.8 or the 70-200mm f/4 IS?

[donnman]

Still on the fence on which lens to buy. Shoot a lot of high school sports both inside and out. So Im thinking the 2.8 lens but I hear many people say the f/4 with IS is the lens to go with. Any suggestions?

[Sean Setters]

If you

[Richard Lane]

Other people may have different needs, but your needs seem pretty clear cut to me.


As Sean has pointed out the 2.8 is the mandatory minimum for indoor sports, unless you're shooting with strobes. You will need the 2.8 aperture to achieve higher shutter speeds without pushing the ISO up. Furthermore, IS only helps with camera shake and it won't help you freeze the action. As a matter of fact most sport shooters turn off IS anyway.


The 2.8 will also help you with outdoor sports, especially High School Sports which are frequently played after school and depending on the time of year, weather, and location, you can easily run out of shutter speed as the days get shorter and the Sun sets earlier. The 2.8 will also be better for outdoor night games under the lights, in order to achieve lower ISO's and less noise.


Last point, is that the 2.8 will give you more leeway when attaching a 1.4X extender for outdoor sports, as the aperture becomes f/4, while the f/4 Lens aperture will become f/5.6, which is often too slow in many instances.


Rich

[donnman]

Thanks for the tip guys. I was leaning towards the 2.8 but just wanted to make sure. Wish I could buy the new model but it is not in my price range. The only thing I worry about with the f/2.8 is the fact that it is not weather sealed like the f/4 IS. Should this be a big concern?

[Richard Lane]

Certainly rain is always a concern. The weather-seal can help for a brief encounter with rain, but if you

[neuroanatomist]

What body do you have? Weather-sealing on the lens only helps if it