Single lens for sports photography to replace both 18-55mm and 75-300mm

[alyssa_barone02]

I have a canon eos rebel t7 with the two lenses: EF -S 18-55mm and the EF 75-300mm. It was a bundle purchase. I do mostly sports photography and regular portraits. My complaint is that it’s annoying to have to switch lenses for closer lense and farther lense. So my first question is, is there a lense out there where it would mean I wouldn’t have to keep switching. And secondly on top of that, it would have to be a good lense that’s really good for sports photography. I know I could potentially get a new camera too, but for right now I’m interested in buying a new lense that would suit my needs. Thank you!

[rs-eos]

One thing to note about having a single lens for everything: be prepared to compromise. You may end up with more narrow minimum apertures at the telephoto end. Quality may decrease. Lens may be heavier, etc.

With your APS-C sensor camera, your 18-55mm gives a field of view full-frame equivalent of 29 to 88mm. At one end, that is effectively 85mm which is a very popular focal length for portraits. You other lens has an equivalent range of 120 to 480 mm.

With that said, for portraits, are you doing headshots? Half-body, full-body? If the former, you could potentially just use your 75 to 300. If the latter, you'll find wider focal lengths tend to be better (for one, your working distance won't be too far away from your subjects)

[SignifDigits]

Both Tamron and Sigma make a 16-300 for the EF-S mount.  You have the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS and EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6.  The Tamron is the 16-300 f/3.5-6.3 Di-II VC PZD and the Sigma is the Contemporary 16-300 f/3.5-6.7.  I have the Sigma mounted on a R50V.  Both these lenses are just slightly darker on the long end that what you have  now, and likely similar in image quality.  They are not great on bokeh for portraits and image quality is good, but not excellent.

But they get you a single lens.

If you want to significantly improve your portraits and sports photography quality you could look into a new or used EF 70-200 f/2.8.  While you would be giving up some reach it is a "really good sports lens" and also a "really good portrait lens".  Image quality on that lens is professional-grade and it is bright throughout the full range meaning lower ISOs, higher shutter speeds, and/or better background blur/bokeh. Lenses are always a tradeoff in price, image quality, weight and convenience.

[shadowsports]

@alyssa_barone02,

Both of my colleagues have presented factual information. 

Unfortunately there isn't a single lens solution.  You're always going to give something up.  

When I read your post yesterday I was going to reply and recommend the Sigma 16-300 also.

It would keep you from needing to perform lens changes, but is not going to be optimal for every shooting situation like portraits.  Reviews between the 75-300 and the sigma lens state that the corner to center sharpness when zoomed is more clear on the Sigma.  The 75-300 lacks IS and is very basic.  I have a lot of prior experience with Sigma lenses.  I don't have experience with Tamron.  This is personal preference. They do make good lenses.  I just don't like that the zoom throw is backwards more than anything else.  They also don't support their lenses from a firmware standpoint as well as Sigma does.  This differentiator was important to me.  

At some point you may want to consider upgrading to mirrorless.  Mirrorless performance does eclipse that of DSLR's.  Focus acquisition subject tracking, low light performance and more.  It doesn't mean that you need to run out and spend a bunch of money though.  I think your desire to explore additional lens options is a good one.  For DSLR's and EF/EF-S glass, consider buying, used or refurbished.  There are some great deals out there.  Lenses are the real investment in photography, body's come and go. 

[ebiggs1]

"Unfortunately there isn't a single lens solution.  You're always going to give something up."

This is true but in the OP's case what he has isn't the best so almost anything will work. And will work as well as his current two lens setup. Tamron is the 16-300 f/3.5-6.3 Di-II VC PZD and the Sigma is the Contemporary 16-300 f/3.5-6.7, is a toss up take your pick.

[March411]

A slight correction, the Sigma 16-300mm is an RF mount and will not work on the T7. The Sigma 18-300mm F3.5-6.3 Contemporary DC Macro OS HSM will pair nicely with your body and Amazon still has some for $500. 

I owned this lens for many years and recently gifted it to my daughter with my old 60D. The image quality is pretty nice for a lens in this price range and it's a very versatile lens. Personally I really liked this lens for it's range and my particular lens had significantly better than good IQ. Mine was mounted and used often and produced some great images. I Wish I could give some feedback on the Tamron but I never mounted one up or owned one.

 For indoor sports it may not be fast enough unless you have software to knock down some of the noise that is fairly common with the T7 in low light.   

[SignifDigits]

Thanks Marc - I messed up EF-S vs RF-S - My bad and thanks for the correction.

[stevet1]

Alyssa,

For a long time, the only lens I had was the 55-250.

It's advantage is that's it's lightweight. That's helpful if you're going to hold your camera up to your eye for long periods of time.

Steve Thomas