Kit for silvestone

[KevSeymour]

I'm going to the F1 in a couple of weeks and want to hire a better lens to go on my 7d, the options are:

Canon 70-200mm f2.8 L IS II and 1.4x Extender
Canon 28-300MM f3.5-5.6 L IS USM
Canon 70-300mm f4-5.6 L IS USM
Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 EX DG HSM

Which would you go for and (briefly) why?

Cheers

[nellyleelephant]

Not considering the 100-400L?

[DavidCane]

The 100-400l would be great but from what I found no one has any in stock that weekend, Wimbledon final and F1!

I had the 70-200 f2.8 and the 100-400 at MotoGP last week. Both are excellent. If you get up close to a fence the 70-200 will give you excellent photos. I've got one of those and a 300mm f4 prime on hire for the Friday.

Warning : they are rather heavy to lug around all day.

[DavidCane]

Here's one of my favourites that I got with the 70-200L

[GetCarter]

+ proper ear plugs - not the cheap crap!

[KevSeymour]

Yeah - the 100-400 was my first choice, as it seems it was for everyone else because I can't find one available.

Where was that shot taken from David, anywhere publicly accessible?

[KevSeymour]

GetCarter said:

+ proper ear plugs - not the cheap crap!

Hadn't thought of that, ta!

[GetCarter]

KevSeymour said:

GetCarter said:

+ proper ear plugs - not the cheap crap!

Hadn't thought of that, ta!

Makes a big difference to the amount of Nurofen you'll need.

[egor110]

Have you seen these- http://www.clasohlson.com/uk/Radio-Ear-Defenders/P...

[DavidCane]

KevSeymour said:

Yeah - the 100-400 was my first choice, as it seems it was for everyone else because I can't find one available.

Where was that shot taken from David, anywhere publicly accessible?

Absolutely. I was on the spectator banking on the inside of vale, opposite the pit lane entrance. If you go right up to the fence you can easily focus through it with these lenses. Also, a MotoGP bike is less than half the length of an F1 car so it'll easily fill the frame on the 70-200 used on a crop body. The 100-400 is also pretty perfect for the job though, it's all down to whether you want the f2.8.

I reserved my lenses last week and there were no 100-400s anywhere I looked. You could try a 70-300 L. It won't have the constant fixed max apperture but it'll be a close 2nd to the 100-400L

[MudwiG]

As the Canon 70-200mm f2.8 L IS II is so good, I have a x2 tele Mk3 on mine, and use it for my surf shoots and this gives me enough range.

You could just hire the teleconvertor and spend the rest on beer

[DavidCane]

KevSeymour said:

Yeah - the 100-400 was my first choice, as it seems it was for everyone else because I can't find one available.

Where was that shot taken from David, anywhere publicly accessible?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlX_Th6Hx2Y
Skip to 0:14 and pause. That grass area you see in front of the grandstand on the top left of the frame is where I took this photo from, where the vodafone advert boards are.

[GetCarter]

GetCarter said:

KevSeymour said:

GetCarter said:

+ proper ear plugs - not the cheap crap!

Hadn't thought of that, ta!

Makes a big difference to the amount of Nurofen you'll need.

These are really good: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Elacin-ER20S-musicians-hea...

[jurbie]

Has sir considered something up to 500mm? I don't know how rental works but I own the 120-300mm you've already mentioned and I also have Sigmas 50-500mm whose retail price is a lot less than the 120-300mm. If that translates to the rental cost then it may well be worth considering.

These were both shot with that lens at last years F1 at pretty much the location mentioned above and which you can see was fairly wet dark and horrible but the lens still managed pretty well.

[DavidCane]

jurbie, were those shot from the spectator areas behind the fence? I'm gonna have a 300mm prime with 2x and 1.4x extenders to hand so can't wait to try and capture photos like that!!

[jurbie]

Yup both spec side shot during Friday practise when you can still get around the circuit.

[DavidCane]

Great, I presume the Schumacher shot it from the latter part of Club as they come onto the new pit straight?

I must make a point of getting round to Becketts/Maggotts this time. At the MotoGP last week I only got to Luffield, Brooklands, Start finish and Vale for photos.

[jurbie]

Actually it's the exit of Stowe. To look at the location you wouldn't think it was a good spot but it's not bad although I've found in the dry the shots aren't as interesting. You do need a long lens though.

[Jag-D]

KevSeymour said:

I'm going to the F1 in a couple of weeks and want to hire a better lens to go on my 7d, the options are:

Canon 70-200mm f2.8 L IS II and 1.4x Extender

Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 EX DG HSM

Which would you go for and (briefly) why?

Cheers

70-200 is light, fast and bloody brilliant

Sigma has the longer range for the longer shots, but still fast and sharp

[Craikeybaby]

The longer the lens the better at Silverstone, I always found 200mm too short, even when working trackside. Can you hire a 400 f5.6, that is also a pretty good lens.