Been offered a lens

[CH!P]

Hi people,

Next year i'm considering doing some motorsport photography. Probably mainly rally's.
I've noticed a lot of people using longer lenses, usually 300mm in the motorsport section. Is this the preferred option?

Reason i ask is i only have my standard kit lens (18-55) and a work mate has offered me his Tamron 18-200 for £50 which seems quite a good price. Will this lens be any good for the application i'm after or would i be better off saving some more and getting something else?

Hope i've put this in the right section!
Thanks in advance.

 

[ACW]

At most tracks you will need more reach than 200mm fill the frame with whatever you're shooting. I'm sure there are some corners where 200mm would be fine, but on the whole the longer the better.

Rallying (I can only guess) would be fairly similar, but probably have more oppurtunities to get slightly closer to the track.

I'd say lens length over lens speed for general motorsports.

 

[CH!P]

That's brilliant, thanks. When we're back at work he's bringing the lens in to show me anyway. So i shall still have a look at it but i will bare in mind the fact it probably won't be long enough.

 

[Zetec]

When I go to Brands Hatch I use a Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 nowdays I used to use a Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 but upgraded most of the track it is fine. Alot of the pros from what I have seen and can tell have 300mm. When last at Barnds Hatch one pro my Dad and I spoke to was saying most of the time 300mm is OK but some places you need more focal lenght. How close you can get will depend on the venue so I suggest having a look on the net and finding some info on your place of choice.