what camera?

[Mareshow]

I just bought the Canon EOS 7D, I'm excited to try it out! I am still researching a good lens for snowmobiling, any suggestions on lenses?

I also have a 7D, and it really depends on the type of shooting you'll be doing sledding. I do action shots here are some examples

I used to do all of my shooting exclusively with a EF-S 15-85 IS, but now i got a 70-200 f/4 IS. Here are some things to remember when shooting sledding:

1) Super Low f/stop doesnt really matter: Although a lower f/stop is nice, it wont make much of a difference since the snow reflects a crap load of light and you will probably have to stop down anyways.

2) IS (image stabilization) is not that important when shooting action shots. IS typically comes into play when you are shooting at shutter speeds lower than 1/250 but for better action shots you'll want to be around the 1/1000 mark. At that speed IS wont really make much of a difference unless you shake like a leaf. IS is an absolute must for video though.

3) Weight, nice glass is HEAVY. thats why i went with the 70-200mm f/4 IS over the 70-200 f/2.8 IS II i carry this in my backpack. and the extra weight would suck.

Now here are things to remember when buying lenses:

1) nice glass ALWAYS takes better pictures. you can have an entry level body and a really nice L series lens and that will take better pictures than a Top of the line body and an entry level lens. The investment lies in the lenses.

2) most L series lenses are weather sealed, not really important in snow IMO but something to think about

3) Prime lenses are lighter and take better pictures and are generally cheaper but they also dont zoom (duh) so require a little more work to set a shot

Here are lenses i would consider:

EF-S 15-85mm IS f3.5-5.6 : great lens i own it and use it often not an L but they dont make EF-S lenses in L so... this is as close to L as they come. Perfect for all around shooting and not too expensive

EF 70-200mm IS f4 IS L or f2.8 IS II L: both awesome lenses but hard on the pocket book. I got the f4 because they 2.8 is basically a baseball bat that i could knock someone out with and i didnt want to carry that around all day

EF 24-70mm L : fantastic for close shots. Not IS but again doesnt really matter for action shots. (or carry a tripod haha)

EF 24-105mm f/4 IS L : Perfect all around lens if you can find it. Pricey bugger though but well worth the money. SUPERB image quality

EF 135mm L f/2.0: another awesome lens no IS but arguable canon's best image quality lens. a prime so you have to walk to zoom

EF 85mm f/1.2 L II: slow focusing because its a monster but amazing bokeh. Great lens if you want to isolate your target. This is a great lens as a back up i dont think i'd only take this one because it focuses so slow.

 

[Wish]

Great shots! Thanks for the information, it helps a lot! Does the 200mm get you the zoom you need? I'm leaning toward the EF 70-200mm IS f4 IS L so far, I've been looking at the 300mm just unsure how much zoom I need. It's difficult to tell not having a camera store here in town!
When I bought the camera I told myself I wasn't going to cheap out on lenses....since the body wasn't exactly cheap and I hope to make this a long time investment.
Can you tell the difference in pictures from an L series lens?

 

[Mareshow]

the IQ of the 15-85mm is hard to beat (even the 24-105L is about par). Trust me on a crop sensor 200mm is far enough (remember its a 1.6x so 200mm is really 320mm). I also took home the 300mm IS to see if it was what i wanted. although image quality is fantastic its way too long. the 70-200mm and 15-85mm combo is hard to beat. Can you notice the difference between the L series and non? for standard EF lenses yes. Remember they dont make EF-S lenses in the L series.

i should also say that before the 70-200mm F2.8L IS II came out, the 70-200mm F4L IS was arguably canon's sharpest lens. Its fantastic and since we dont really have a light issue, it's reduced weight over the 2.8 is a real back saver

L stands for Luxury, I absolutely noticed a difference when i started using L lenses. Again lenses is where the real value lies, as they dont change much and never really lose value. In fact some used lenses go for more that new ones do.