Buying my first L lens- Not an easy choice

Hi everyone new to the site and a relative newb to photography in general. I have been drawn into it more and more in recent years and am looking to get an all purpose L for indoor sporting events, kids school sports etc.


Well after reading all of the posts on here and many other sites I think I may just buy the 300mm/2.8 L. When I started looking I thought dam no way Im paying that much for a lens but after much carefull thought It would appear the following seems to be true, please let me know if you see any serious ommisions


great for indoor / outdoor sporting events


heavy but not to heavy to carry around to get the most use out of it.


Works great by itself or with the 1.2 or 2x tele giving me more reach when needed.


By purchasing this I will spend more money up front but will save in the long run by not moving upone lens at a time and them having to drop a ton more to getto a 500mm.


The 300/2.8 sems to be a great lens that can be used for a ton of situations were as the rest of my choices lead me to bigger and bigger investments as distance increases.Sports and and action are the real areas of interest and the only other choice seems to be the 400/2.8 but I lean away from this because of the size and additional price increase. I did consider it for a while until I saw a great video on youtube from a lens rental company showing the lenses mounted on the camera, a must see if you have never seen these lens in person. The 400/2.8 is really a beast wayto big for me to use and walk around with.


So price aside is their a reason to consider going a different route I have bee using a very old 70-300 first generation lens on my 20D and last year bought a 7D and need to invest in an L lens that will see the most use.


Would love to hear any negatives to going this route for a beginer to theL lenses

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Originally Posted by Kenny

an all purpose L for indoor sporting events

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That does not describe the 300 f2.8L.


That does describe the 70-200 f2.8L USM


If you can afford the 300 f2.8 you might as well get the IS version of the 70-200.

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Originally Posted by Chuck Lee

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Originally Posted by Kenny

an all purpose L for indoor sporting events

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That does not describe the 300 f2.8L.


That does describe the 70-200 f2.8L USM


If you can afford the 300 f2.8 you might as well get the IS version of the 70-200.

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Indoor sporting events tend to be very poorly lit, relatively speaking. Although f/2.8 is fast for a zoom, that's about the slowest usable aperture for many indoor venues. Furthermore, 300mm on a 7D is going to be pretty long for most indoor sports, unless you're shooting basketball from the top of the bleacher seats.


If indoor sports is your primary need, and you have the $ for the 300mm f/2.8L IS, I'd consider a couple of shorter fast primes - the EF 200mm f/2L IS if you can stretch your budget to that point, or the EF 135mm f/2L plus the EF 85mm f/1.8. You can actually get the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS, the 135mm f/2L and the 85mm f/1.8, all for less than the cost of the 300mm f/2.8L.

Hi! The 300 seems a bit long, especially for the 7D. I have the 5D and the 70-200/2.8 IS, excellent for shooting indoor sports. I highly recommend it, fast focusing, very sharp and the stabilisation is brilliant.

Im glad I asked I thought about the IS 70-200 but had noticed that a lot of people were talking about the 300mm f2.8 instead so I thought it would be a better choice.


So I would be better of going with the 70-200 for say indoor gymnastics events or large indoor venues, I was worried about getting in close.


Thanks for the help

Definitely rent it and take it to the gym before dropping that kind of money.

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Originally Posted by barba

Definitely rent it and take it to the gym before dropping that kind of money.
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+1. Great advice. Rent them both on different days and see.

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Thats what Im going to do thank you for some reason I didnt even think abot it.

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Originally Posted by Kenny

I have been drawn into it more and more in recent years and am looking to get an all purpose L for indoor sporting events, kids school sports etc.

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The only "all purpose" sports lens is really the 70-200 f/2.8. It's usable for basketball games, but prepare to bump ISO to 1600. That's a great all around lens that'll have uses beyond sports, i.e portraits. So that's one option.


The option you mentioned is the 300 f/2.8, which doesn't make very much sense. Granted, for outdoor sports like football and soccer it'll be helpful. But with your 1.6x crop body you won't need all 300mm outdoors, so the 70-200 would make just as much sense. Not only that, but it'd be too long indoors, so the 70-200 is better both outside and inside for you.


The third option that I think would fit you best is to buy the 135mm f/2 lens for indoors, and a 70-200 f/2.8 IS for general purpose. That'll cost you under $3000, so you'll have saved $1200 AND have more versatility! You could also spend that $1200 toward a longer lens such as the 300 f/4 or 100-400.


I don't suggest either the 300 2.8 or 400 2.8 for you because not only are they expensive, they're too long on your body and not very versatile. The 300 f/2.8 is really a 480 f/4.5 on your body, which is often too long for outdoor sports, let alone indoor. The 400 f/2.8 will be completely unusable indoors and really break the bank at $8000. The 200 f/2 is an OK option IMO but outdoors you won't need an f/2 aperture and on your crop body the 135 f/2 could do the same thing indoors &ndash; on your crop body it'd be equivalent to 216mm.


So, I suggest option #3 ~ buy a 70-200 and 135 f/2 and have cash left to buy something else.


Just my 2&cent;.


brendan