@hoosierdaddy wrote:
Hello all! New to the Canon Community. I've been a hobbyist for a few years with prior experience starting with the A2 and Elan film bodies. In addition to the film bodies I also have a Rebel XT (circa 2003-2005). I took some time away from Canon, and have been relying on my smartphone's (8MP) camera for the last several years. I write an automotive lifestyle blog, travel for motorsports as well as club events, and go any other car event close to me. Looking to get more serious about my product/results, and would like to hear recommendations for a body, and the 1-2 must have lenses as well as any other gear that would be useful for car shoots and motorsports. I still have four lenses: 28-105mm, 85mm, 100mm macro, and 75-300mm ultrasonic lenses from my film days. My thought for the first lens is the 24-70mm II f/2.8 USM for the utility role. Any advice would be most appreciated, and thanks in advance
Assuming they are EF lenses you used on your XT, A2 or Elan, they will work fine on a new camera. No need to buy a new lens unless you really want one.
The EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM is a fine, premium quality lens. It's also fairly pricey, large and heavy. You might also want to consider the EF 24-70mm f/4L IS USM, which is not only lower priced, but also a bit smaller, lighter and it even has image stabilization (which the f/2.8 lens lacks). The f/4 version also has exceptionally close focusing and is able to do very high quality 0.7X magnification or nearly 3/4 life size on its own, so you might not need to carry a macro lens a lot of the time. The f/2.8 lens' maximum magnification is 0.29X or a little less than 1/3 life size. (Either lens can be made closer focusing by adding a macro extension tube.)
There's also the EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM II, which uses a new "Nano USM" focus drive that's not only fast (like most USM lenses), but it's also quiet and smooth (like STM lenses). This makes it useful for video work, as well as still photography.
And of these three lenses - 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM, 24-70mm f/4L IS USM or 24-105mm f/4L IS USM II - would be a nice upgrade from your EF 28-150mm.All of these are EF lenses that will work fine on either full frame or APS-C crop sensor camera bodies.
But if you get a crop sensor camera (like your XT), you might want to consider some of the excellent EF-S lenses instead. The EF-S 18-135mm IS USM, EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM and EF-S 15-85mm IS USM are all very good to excellent and would give you wider angle of view on a crop sensor camera such as T7i, 77D, 80D or 7D Mark II.
But if you instead get a full frame camera such as 6D Mark II, 5D Mark IV, 5DS-R or 1DX Mark II, you would need to limit yourself to EF lenses, such as those above (and the lenses you already have).
The weakest lens in your current kit is probably your EF 75-300mm, especially if it's the "III" without either USM or IS.... which is a pretty basic, inexpensive "kit" quality lens that has been "bundled" with a lot of the Rebel camera models over the years. There are a number of Canon 70-200mm, 70-300mm and 100-400mm that would be a significant upgrade and particularly a much better performer for action shoots such as motorsports. .
EDIT: I read a bit farther and see that you mention a budget of $2500. That being the case, I'd recommend the 80D with EF-S 18-135mm IS USM "kit" lens. While not quite as high performance as 7D Mark II, the 80D actually has higher resolution and uses a newer design sensor, yet is considerably less expensive. It can be bought new in kit with that lens for $1500 right now (after a $300 instant rebate). The same kit is available "refurbished" direct from the Canon USA website for $1130.
In comparison, the 7DII in kit with 18-135mm IS "STM" lens (which is a bit slower focusing than Nano USM) costs about $1850 after instant rebate... wiping out most of your budget. The 24MP 80D can shoot stills at a very respectable 8 frames per second, while the 20MP 7DII is a little faster at 10 fps. The 80D has a fairly sophisticated 45-point AF system (all the faster "cross" type, 27 points are "f/8 capable" with select lenses). The 7DII has an even more sophisticated 65-point AF system (all cross type, only one f/8 capable point at the center). 80D has an articulate Touchscreen LCD monitor. The 7DII's LCD monitor is not articulated and is not a Touchscreen. 7DII has dual memory card slots (1 CF, 1 SD), while 80D only has one (SD). 7DII has a bit better sealing and durability.... is rated for 200,000 actuations. Not sure about the 80D, but suspect it's rated for about 100,000 actuations.
With between $1000 and $1370 of your budget remaining, look for a Canon EF 100-400mm L IS USM (first version). That's a darned good lens for sports photography and still can be found new for $1300, or for under $1000 used. (The current "Mark II" costs over $2000 new and is rarely seen used.)
An alternative would be one or another of the EF 70-300mm IS USM lenses. The current "II" costs around $500 and has Nano USM similar to the 24-105mm mentioned above. There's also a beefier, premium 70-300mm "L" with top image quality that sells new for $1350 and is pretty widely available used for around $1100 or less.
Actually, a 70D would also be fine for your purposes. It's 20MP, same as the 7DI,I and has a 19-point AF system that's similar to the original 7D model's. Now discontinued, 70D are hard to find new, but often available refurbished directly from Canon.... body only for $750 or in kit with EF-S 18-135mm IS STM lens for $850 right now. That would leave more money to put towards your telephoto, other lenses or accessories.
I would not recommend any of the full frame cameras, which are more expensive and probably more than you need... plus are limited to full frame capable lenses which tend to be bigger, heavier and more expensive, too. Except for the top of the line 1DX models, FF cameras also aren't as fast shooting as the 80D and 7DII... slower frame rate, slightly slower flash sync, etc.
Hope this helps!
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Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7DII (x2), 7D(x2) some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
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