Canon telephoto advice required

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mld2005uk

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I have a Canon 6D (having recently upgraded from a 350D) with a 24-105 lens. Having gone from the crop to full frame with the 24-105 I feel I'm now missing out at the longer end sometimes, so I'm thinking about my telephoto options. For example last weekend I was trying to get my son playing sport, fill the frame type stuff, and I couldn't get it without walking onto the field. I seem to end up cropping during post processing which isn't ideal. I'm thinking I should look in the 70-200 range and maybe later an extender (1.4 or 2x - no idea as I've not really looked into it yet.) I don't have lots of money to play with but I've floated £400 and didn't meet too much resistance so the obvious choice is a 70-200 f4 without IS that seem to be available around that price point. However I'm open to suggestions, so what would you folk do?

Cheers
Mark
 
If you want it for shooting your son playing football on a cold dark winters day I'd look at a second hand sigma 70-200mm f2.8 should be within budget and improve the separation in your shots as well.
 
when i started shooting my sons football matches i used a Canon 70-200 f4L on a 40D, then 5D III, and found it excellent.
f4 should be fine with the 6D as you could always up the iso on dull dark days without much trouble.
 
you wouldnt use IS for shooting moving subjects such as sport... also you wouldnt need 2.8 for seperation as I imagine the bacground will be about half a mile away ...2.8 good for horrible winter afternoons though :) As such i would also plump for a siggy 70-200 for the 2.8 and an excellent lens for the price range...
 
If you go for an F4 bear in mind a 2x converter will stop AF working on your camera, max effective aperture of F8 means AF only works on 1 series and 5D3 bodies. Not sure if Canon converters work on Sigma lenses. Before buying a non Canon lens please make sure it works ok, some older lenses were backwards engineered to work on canon bodies, when newer bodies were released the lenses couldnt cope with whatever Canon had done to thwart them and failed to work correctly.

Matt
 
Thanks for the replies. Is it the Sigma 70-200 f2.8 EX DG HSM APO you're referring to? I originally thought I would need 2.8, but then wondered (as Carlo suggests) if the iso performance could compensate. The same goes for IS. Perhaps I'm deluding myself on the 6D's performance at higher iso's?

Thanks for the heads up on the 2x converters Matt. It's just a thought at the moment, but I like the idea of added versatility. Are non-Canon converters compatible with Canon lenses?
 
Having recently got a 5D3, you will be stunned by the high ISO capability of the 6D (I know I am). I started with a 350D (still have it) I moved to the 60D last year which I thought was a big improvement, however the capabilities of the 6D and 5D are something else, I have managed to get useable shots at 12800, the 6D is supposed to be a touch better as well.
 
Thanks Chris. Confidence restored! So far I've mostly left on auto iso. It's let me get shots that I wouldn't have tried with the 350D.
 
For the money you have I'd plump for the siggy 70-200 F2.8, I'd stay clear of a 2.0TC for fast moving subjects, the a/f speed and tracking takes a big hit.

The other consideration for lenses, is the Canon 200 F2.8L, it's one of Canon's quiet heroes, incredibly sharp, a very pleasing bokeh, and quick to focus. It's a lens I use often, with a 1.4TC if I need more reach.

I reviewed this lens here: http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/canon-200mm-f2-8-l-lens.203638/
 
Thanks for the heads up on the 2x converters Matt. It's just a thought at the moment, but I like the idea of added versatility. Are non-Canon converters compatible with Canon lenses?[/quote]

You can use 3rd party converters with canon lenses. The reason you can't use the Canon converters with lots of lenses (even Canon) is because the element on the lens end of the Canon converter sticks out:
Large-%5BEF-1x4%5D_tcm14-352420.jpg

(Image copyright Canon.)
 
I've decided not to make a decision on the telephoto just yet. I just can't decide between a canon 70-200 F4 and the Sigma 70-200 F2.8 that has been strongly recommended in this thread.We're going to the Canaries in April and I'll have some time to play with the camera so I think I'll play around with a few different techniques.

I love the look you can get from a 10stop ND so I think I'll get a 77mm 10stop ND filter (maybe Haima?) It should work with whatever lens I buy in the future (using a step up ring or something I guess), along with my 24-105 and 50mm.

I've read the 50mm F1.4 plus a TC (maybe Kenko?) can make an OK macro lens, so I can have a play with that as well. Again I get some flexibility as I think it would work with my current lenses and probable future purchases.

I figure I can keep playing and trying out new things while I work out what I need at the longer focal length.

Regards
Mark
 
Coyon said:
You can use 3rd party converters with canon lenses. The reason you can't use the Canon converters with lots of lenses (even Canon) is because the element on the lens end of the Canon converter sticks out:
Large-%5BEF-1x4%5D_tcm14-352420.jpg

(Image copyright Canon.)
Click to expand...

Thanks Coyon. I had read that in the last day or so but hadn't seen a picture, so that's much clearer now. Someone even said they had to repair their 24-105 after using it with a Canon TC because of the protruding element. Seems like a strange design to me...

Regards
Mark
 
mld2005uk said:
Someone even said they had to repair their 24-105 after using it with a Canon TC because of the protruding element. Seems like a strange design to me...
Click to expand...
You'd have to be incredibly stupid and/or careless to do that, but then again I guess some people are.

It's a very deliberate design decision by Canon, to prevent people trying to use Extenders with lenses for which they're not suitable (as determined in their wisdom by Canon).
 
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