Lenses: Hello Everyone I have been taking pics for years, but recently decided to get more serious. I am looking to buy a versatile good quality lens for my canon 7D. Any suggestions.

rls2305

Hello Everyone
I have been taking pics for years, but recently decided to get more serious. I am looking to buy a versatile good quality lens for my canon 7D. Any suggestions. I do a lot of sporting events and portraits/out door pics. A lens that would do both would be great. Thanks in advance.

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

rls2305 wrote:

Hello Everyone
I have been taking pics for years, but recently decided to get more serious. I am looking to buy a versatile good quality lens for my canon 7D. Any suggestions. I do a lot of sporting events and portraits/out door pics. A lens that would do both would be great. Thanks in advance.

A good lens for both would be a 50-400 f/1.4 zoom.

PeterBergh

rls2305 wrote:

Hello Everyone
I have been taking pics for years, but recently decided to get more serious. I am looking to buy a versatile good quality lens for my canon 7D. Any suggestions. I do a lot of sporting events and portraits/out door pics. A lens that would do both would be great. Thanks in advance.

A realistic alternative would be the Canon EF-S 18-135 zoom; the latest version will set you back some US$600. The down side to this lens is that should you, at a later time, decide to upgrade your 7D to a full-frame Canon camera, you will not be able to use that lens on your new body.

I suggest you visit Canon's web site: https://www.usa.canon.com

PeterBergh

RWR wrote:

A good lens for both would be a 50-400 f/1.4 zoom.

AFAIK, there is no such lens.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

rls2305 wrote:

Hello Everyone
I have been taking pics for years, but recently decided to get more serious. I am looking to buy a versatile good quality lens for my canon 7D. Any suggestions. I do a lot of sporting events and portraits/out door pics. A lens that would do both would be great. Thanks in advance.

What lenses do you have now? What is your budget? Will you be shooting a lot indoors and/or in low light? How much more serious are you planning to get? What shooting modes do you use? Is wide angle more or less important than telephoto? Two possible choices to cover a wide gambit might be the Canon Efs15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM and the EF 70-200 f/4L IS USM.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

PeterBergh wrote:

AFAIK, there is no such lens.

Of course there isn't. He was being sarcastic.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

rls2305 wrote:

Hello Everyone
I have been taking pics for years, but recently decided to get more serious. I am looking to buy a versatile good quality lens for my canon 7D. Any suggestions. I do a lot of sporting events and portraits/out door pics. A lens that would do both would be great. Thanks in advance.

The ideal lens for portraits and sports is any one of the 70-200 2.8 L lenses. You might want to add an extender later for some sports.

throughrhettseyes Loc: Rowlett, TX

Yes! What he said.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

PeterBergh wrote:

AFAIK, there is no such lens.

You can always dream. How about a 10-600 f/1.8 weighing only a 500 g? You might have to wait a century but sooner or later you will see that lens or a new camera technology that will do the same.

throughrhettseyes Loc: Rowlett, TX

Stick with f2.8 lens or less. Buy full frame lenses because you will buy a full frame camera someday. I have too many crop sensor lenses not knowing better or could afford 15 years ago.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

I hate questions like this. What camera, lens, or settings do I use for.... The best we can say is what works for us. Ultimately, you learn by doing and making mistakes. That is how I evolved to the four lenses and one body I now have and you would have to poke out my heart before I would part with them. I have shot a lot sports with several different lenses before figuring out what works best for me.

I recommend we all stop telling others what to do but recommend instead how to learn what to do. Start out with what you have, look critically at the results and, perhaps, ask someone else for comments and then decide what you have to do to get the results you want.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Having taken pictures for years, what are your possible choices for your venues?

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

abc1234 wrote:

I hate questions like this. What camera, lens, or... (show quote)

Yes! Exactly! And one of the BEST ways of doing that is to ask questions of those who might have the knowledge and be willing to share it! Obviously abc1234 (any bets on what his password is?) would not be among those resources.

Bill_de Loc: US

dsmeltz wrote:

The ideal lens for portraits and sports is any one of the 70-200 2.8 L lenses. You might want to add an extender later for some sports.

And there was no need to ask what he already has. If he already has this lens he is good to go, if not, it is a good choice to put on the shopping list.

....

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

dsmeltz wrote:

Yes! Exactly! And one of the BEST ways of doing that is to ask questions of those who might have the knowledge and be willing to share it! Obviously abc1234 (any bets on what his password is?) would not be among those resources.

Regarding your last sentence, I would suggest that you stick to what you know and not what you do not know.