EOS Rebel T3 and 2 lenses - EFS 18-55mm and EF 75-300

[bbshort241]

I am a beginner with an EOS Rebel T3 and 2 lenses - an EFS 18-55mm and an EF 75-300mm.  I have been getting good pictures of my Grandson's soccer and football but with baseball season coming up I think I need something in between.    I will be about 15'-40' from them and feel I need a wider angle.  Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

[ScottyP]

Hi, BB,

Can you clarify your question please?  Do you mean you want something "in between" your 2 lenses, or do you say you want something "wider" than you can get with the 18-55 (wider than 18mm)?

I will say you almost certainly don't want something wider than 18mm for sports.  At 40', the players would appear as ants with a lens any wider than 18mm.  And up-close a lens wider than 18 will tend to distort people in an unattractive way, with comically/grotesquely enlarged noses and foreheads, with tiny bodies and feet. 

[bbshort241]

I see what you are saying about the wider angle and the distortion.  I guess what I mean to say is that I am not getting enough zoom with my 18-55 and when I try to get in closer with my 75-300 I get so little of the whole picture.  I hope this helps clarify my question.  Thank you for your help.

[7D5D]

There is not a hue gap between 55 and 75 but probably just enough in your case to justify another lens for the occasion.  I would look the EF-S 15-85.  This lens is very sharp, has an excellent build and covers the gap between your two lens.  The only down side is that is will require a decent amount of light.  As long as you are shooting outside during daylight hours, you will be just fine.  I would also pick up the Canon lens hood since it does not come with it.

Edit:  Lens Hood EW-78E

[ScottyP]

The EF-S 18-135 would cover that middle range, and it is better image quality than the 75-300, and probably a bit better than the 18-55 also.  There are two versions, the older regular USM focus lens, and the new STM focusing lens.  Both are about the same price, just a little under $500.00.  The new STM one seems to have a bit better image quality.  It also focuses more quietly, which is not important unless you are shooting video.  The old USM one may focus just a little bit faster, which is helpful for sports.

You could sell your 18-55, as it would be redundant.  That would only fetch $100.00 or a wee bit more, but it would defray the cost of your new lens. 

Or you could invest that money in a nice (but cheap) 50mm f/1.8 lens.  It will shoot in 1/4 the light as the other lenses, and it is the perfect focal length for portraits of the grandkids, and the wide f/1.8 aperture lets  you blur out the background so that the subject pops out in the shot.  Very cool.  It only costs about $100.00, and is considered by many to be about the best bargain in photography.

Hope that helps a little.  Good luck!

[cicopo]

I'll approach this differently but point out I don't cover sports. My first suggestion assumes you're happy with the quality of the photos you're getting with those lenses, which aren't really aimed at the action side of photography. If you are happy with the results I recommend a 1 lens solution so you always have the lens you need on the camera. I make this recommendation from experience using the Sigma 18-200 & later the 18-200 OS and even later (just sold it Friday) the Tamron 18-270 VC. All of those lenses were able to focus on & freeze very fast moving targets in decent light. I don't know how they'd do at night & I'm not recommending them for night games. From what I've read the newer version of the Tamron 18-270 VC has a faster AF & better IQ so it's one lens I recommend researching but I also recommend looking at the consumer grade superzooms from Sigma & Canon. For night games a fast lens is more important than having a good zoom range, but most fast lenses are primes & a bit expensive.

Learn to set your camera for action. Set the focus system to AI Focus, use an ISO that allows fast shutter speeds (1/500-1/1000 range desirable) and use the center AF point & try your beast to keep the AF piont on the person you want as the highlight in the photo. Learn how to track / predict the action using a smooth pan & follow through after squeezing the shutter button. Shoot in short bursts rather than holding the button down until the buffer fills. Turn the IS (or OS - VC) off when panning unless the lens manual says you can use it while panning. If it's designed only for stationary use it will blur photos shot while panning making you think you've used poor technique so try to remember that down the road.