Need to rent a lens. But which one?

Jodokast96 · 05-21-2009, 08:38 AM

Need to rent a 70-200 f/2.8 for my K10D soon. I would like to rent the Tamron, as I understand it seems a bit sharper and ends up being cheaper than the Sigma. However, as this will be for a play, I'm concerned about the noise of the focusing motor. I won't have any idea of where I'll be shooting from until after the lens is in hand, so I also don't know if I can just focus to infinity and be done with it, and my MF skills are lacking. I'm just looking for opinions on which one you guys would choose in this situation.

Lowell Goudge · 05-21-2009, 09:07 AM

I have shot musicals and dance with the sigma APO 70-200 F2.8 EX (that's right, first version, no DG coating on rear element, and screw drive)

Honestly the shutter makes more noise than focusing.

You will not be able to set at infinity from my experience, and focusing can be challenging at times depending on stage lighting, and clearly a flash or focusing beam is out of the question.

If you are really concerned about focusing noise, go MF with a split image and 1-2 fst primes.