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06-14-2015, 03:42 PM   #1
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Budget lens for sport

I've been asked to take photos for my local football team. Until now I've been using a Mirage 70-210 f4.5, and everyone has been happy enough with the results. I'd like to get a bit more zoom (at least 300mm) so I've been looking at a Vivitar 70-300. Does anyone have any experience with this lens? If the quality is the same as my current lens, I could live with that.

Thanks for any help.

06-14-2015, 03:49 PM   #2
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Have you considered the DA L 55-300mm? That's the best bang you'll get for your buck until you really want to spend a lot.

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06-14-2015, 04:28 PM   #3
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QuoteOriginally posted by Adam Quote
Have you considered the DA L 55-300mm? That's the best bang you'll get for your buck until you really want to spend a lot.
Yeah, it's a great lens for the price. The only challenge with sports is that when it loses focus it really hunts, which will be a challenge with the unpredictable motions of football. Quick Shift helps though.
06-14-2015, 06:06 PM   #4
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I don't think the DA-L has QS,
Need to move up the DA or the DA HD to get QS,
any of the three are bargains for IQ and reach for the price.

06-15-2015, 02:16 AM   #5
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Or on the second hand market, the FA100-300 4.7-5.8. It is pretty good, good IQ, and AF is pretty fast
06-15-2015, 05:43 AM   #6
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Keep an eye out for the FA 80-320. Also check out the lens database on this forum, it is excellent.
06-18-2015, 01:23 PM   #7
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Watching this post- I have the 50-300 as mentioned earlier by Adam; and it does a good job for high school football. I have had to learn to follow closely to avoid the focus "hunt" that was mentioned.

06-18-2015, 01:27 PM   #8
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Sorry for not relying. Thanks very much for your advice and tips. I think I'll go for a Tamrom 70-300. The quality is better than what I currently have and the price isn't bad at all.
06-18-2015, 03:17 PM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by tingeltangelben Quote
Sorry for not relying. Thanks very much for your advice and tips. I think I'll go for a Tamrom 70-300. The quality is better than what I currently have and the price isn't bad at all.
That's what I got. I'm not crazy happy with it, but it does the job (for my sons games). I can tell the Pentax 55-300 is a better lens, but I was also on a very limited budget so the Tammy was what I could afford. Go with the LD DI, as the DI coating does make a difference apparently - at least mine doesn't have a lot of purple fringing, which was a problem with older versions. By the way, KEH has the Sigma APO DG for a pretty decent price, I think that's a better lens than the Tamron as well.
06-19-2015, 01:36 PM   #10
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I've had the Sigma 70-300 APO from the film days and the DG and foolishly got rid of them. My 55-300 Pentax is only marginally better.
06-20-2015, 01:12 PM   #11
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I've found a Pentax SMCP-F 100-300mm, which looks tempting. Old lens, but image quality seems to be fairly well regarded.
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