Action zoom lens

[calilove27]

I have a Rebel T3i and I go to a lot of sports games, so I need some suggestions for action/zoom lens. I'm obviously not a professional photographer haha (: so I have to scratch off those large telefoto lens that the professional photographers use at games.

[cicopo]

I could recommend a few lenses but they may not let you in to those sporting events. Before we can be of help you need to determine what spectators can bring in, which often kills bringing anything that may produce quality photos. Promotors & stars don't want unauthorized photos making commercial sites.

[calilove27]

Oh yes, that's true. I go to a lot of baseball games and I just checked their website. "Lenses cannot exceed 6" in length."

[ebiggs1]

"Lenses cannot exceed 6" in length."

This is going to eliminate most of Canon's better tele's.

But one, a very good lens, although it is a little pricey at $1400 bucks, is the EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 DO IS USM would be a outstanding choice. It is less than 4” in length.

A somewhat cheaper choice would be the EF-S 55-250mm f4-5.6 IS STM (about 4 ½”).

And probably lastly (at 5 inches) the EF 75-300mm f4-5.6 III USM.

Light and conditions not withstanding, if length of the lens is mandatory spec.  

[TCampbell]

That's an excellent suggestion by Ed. The "DO" lenses are "diffractive optics" -- these leses have a green stripe around front end of the lens barrel (you can spot them easily because of that stripe), but what differentiates them is that they use special optics which allows a physically short lens to achieve a much longer focal length then you would ordinarily expect from such a lens.

Of the lenses Ed lists here, the DO is certainly going to be the best. The 55-250mm comes in an STM and non-STM version. The STM has faster focusing motors and better optical quality. It is a much better lens than the non-STM variety and costs only very slightly more. The 75-300mm is a budget-priced lens and as such, don't expect it to be a top-performer.

[ebiggs1]

Another approach would be a lens in the caliber of the EF 135mm f2 USM (4 1/2") and Photoshop Elements 12.

You may be surprised how much you can do with this light grabbing lens and PSE.

Post processing is where it's at!  

[cicopo]

Based on what I've read over the years most places consider Canon white lenses as pro lenses so anything white is out. I bought a 70-300 DO years ago from someone who used it for Tennis match work, and the resoning was exactly what is needed here. Many don't really like that lens but my copy was very sharp & could shoot R/C quite well so it's AF is fast.

[Skirball]

There's also the Canon 55-250 IS lens.  You can get a refurbished one from Canon for a little over a $100.  It's a fine lens.  It won't do what some of those listed above will do, but not everyone is looking to spend a grand on camera components.

[cale_kat]

Don't pass on vibration/stabilizer control. Most people that shoot hand-held come to appreciate shake control.

[Skirball]

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@cale_kat wrote:

Don't pass on vibration/stabilizer control. Most people that shoot hand-held come to appreciate shake control.

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There's not much you can do, when the lens you're using doesn't have IS.  There are a lot of exceptionally fantastic lenses out there that don't have IS, I'm not going to not use them because of it.