I'm gonna buy a new lens. I have a Canon Rebel T-3 with a EF 75-300 1:4-5.6 III, a 35-80 (.4m/1.3ft), and a 18-55 (macro 0.25/.08ft) lens. I want a wide angle zoom now because I take tons of pics of my kids sports teams. I use a mono pod with the 75-300, but of course it's really tight. I also have a problem sometimes with the auto focus taking too long (or not getting perfect focus) that causes me to miss shots. It's probably because I'm a clueless noob but I wanted to mention that. We are going to Disney soon so I want to move fairly quick. I want to buy new unless it's a big price difference for used. Any advice or thoughts on what I should get and where I should get the lens from would be much appreciated.
So, I'm confused. Do you want a better telephoto lens for sports shooting? The 75-300 is a poor lens; the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS ($250) is much better optically, but might still be slow to focus. Do you set the camera to ai servo focus while shooting sports? The next step up is the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM ($450) which has a better focus motor. Then there's the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L IS USM ($1200) and Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM ($2200). The f/2.8L is only really needed if you shoot indoor sports or at night.The 18-55mm should be fine for general shooting at Disney.
In my experience, buying used isn't worth the very small discount compared to new. As far to where to buy, I'd stick to Amazon, Adorama, B&H Photo or your local camera store.
I shoot a lot of indoor soccer and baseball. I think I already have the EF 75-300mm 1:4-5.6 III you mentioned. Maybe. When I shoot indoor soccer I set it to the sports mode. I'm not sure what ai servo focus means. I really want the wide angle from my limited experience. I want to stay under a grand if possible. I'm just starting out with this hobby. I will probably take a class in the fall. Tell me about this 70-200. A friend of mine mentioned L series. Are there cheaper off brand lenses that are decent?
I personally own the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS. In my experience it is great for outdoors, but is near useless inside. You already have a fairly wide angle zoom lens in the 18-55mm...it sounds like you want a travel zoom like the Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS ($550) with both a wide angle and telephoto end. I have no experience with this lens, but most people seem pretty happy with it within it's constraints. The problem with that lens is that it's still too slow for indoor shooting and the optical quality isn't the best. It would be an ideal one lens solution for Disney.For shooting indoor sports you really need a fast telephoto lens (f/2.8). You could also consider the
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM Non-IS ($1350). For sports shooting you don't really need IS, since you will be using a high shutter speed to stop motion. There's also Tamron and Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 with and without IS, which will save you about $500 vs. the Canon. I have stuck with Cannon lenses because Sigma has had quality control issues and third-party lens in general sometimes have focus problems more so than Canon. This is because they don't know the autofocus spec that Canon uses, and have to reverse engineer it. I'm sure they are fine lenses though, just might be more hit or miss; read up on the review sites to see if saving $500 is worth it to you. Also, the Canon non-IS costs about as much as the Tamron/Sigma with IS.
When you shoot in the auto sports mode it automatically switches it ai servo, which adjusts the focus on the fly as long as you have the button half pressed. The problem with the auto mode is that you can't choose the focus point, so the camera may be focusing on the nearest object instead of they subject you want. I would set the camera to Tv mode, center point focus, 1/320 to 1/500 minimum shutter speed and either auto ISO or adjust ISO as needed. ISO past 1600 gets really grainy (even 800-1600 by some people's standards), but 3200 may be need according to the lighting.
