$49 sports lens?

[Limbwalker]

My curiosity was killing me, so before buying a 70-200 F4 L lens at around $500, I just had to try this one out first.

This is Canon's original autofocus 70-210, without the ring USM focus motor. It's a push-pull zoom (which I found I didn't really mind at all) and the front element extends and rotates on focus.

Put it through it's paces at the regional swim meet in Victoria yesterday where my daughter swam and my wife was coaching. The lighting in that indoor pool was as poor as just about anything you'll find.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with the results. It's a lens I will keep. The images I captured made all the mommas happy, and you know the saying, if they're happy, I'm happy. ha, ha.

At F4, it's a bit soft. It gets better at 5.6 and at F8 it's really sharp. But it's still plenty useable at F4.

If you are on a tight budget, or just can't justify $500 on a single lens, you might give this one a try. They can be had all day on the used market for well under $100, which I consider a steal for what this can do.

IMG_4270 by johnmagera, on Flickr

IMG_4263 by johnmagera, on Flickr

IMG_4174 by johnmagera, on Flickr

[wsteffen]

I just ordered this lens, Canon 6473A003 EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Lens Telephoto Zoom Lens from Tech for Less for $92.83, Can't beat the price for knocking around the woods.

Good pics by the way.

[Limbwalker]

Thanks.

The attractive feature of this lens is the constant F4 aperture, which helped me keep my shutter speed up and stop action, despite the really low light. I was pleasantly surprised at the difference between this F4 lens and my Tamron which is 5.6 at 210mm. For swimming, I don't really need more than 210mm on a crop body, and this lens is far more discreet than my 150-600 Tammy.