[jho]

I was wondering if this combination of lenses with Canon ef 85mm 1.8 as my third would be a good starter kit. Will mostly shoot wildlife and kid's soccer with the Canon 70-300 and indoor kid's sports with the Canon 85mm 1.8. The Sigma 17-50 f2.8 would be my everyday outdoor/ indoor lens. Any thougts or am I set with these three for starters? I do not think it needs to be stated I am a beginner.



Best regards

Jonas <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[Brightcolours]

Canon EF 85mm f1.8 USM: Sure, great lens for the price, lovely longer portrait lens on APS-C. Go for it. Also nice for indoors sports lens (very fast AF).



Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 EX DC OS HSM: Sure, very good lens. Great choice for standard zoom, with its OS, very good optics and f2.8 it is a very flexible and capable standard zoom.



Canon Ef 70-300mm f4-5.6 USM: Nice lens with good optics for its class. For not too far away wild life it will do. For indoors sports, it is not the best lens. Its AF is not very fast, so for fast moving sports it will have trouble tracking AF with back/forth motion. It is also not very "fast" aperture wise, so not the best indoor choice. Other point of attention: has rotating front element, so not very suited for pol. filter usage.



Other options for wild life: If you need a longer lens, the Canon EF 100-400mm L IS USM, Canon EF 400mm L USM and Sigma 50-500mm OS HSM are the lenses to check out.



Alternatives in the 70-300mm class: The Tamron 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 VC USD has also good optics. It has two plusses: its front element does not rotate (for when one would like to use a pol. filter that is a plus) and its AF motor implementation should make it more capable for tracking relatively fast moving subjects. The Canon 70-300mm f4-5.6 L IS USM has super optics, no rotating front element and superfast AF, but is expensive and heavier.



Other options for indoor spots: It depends on the indoor sport.. the distance you have from the action. Above I already mentioned the 85mm f1.8 is a very capable indoor sports lens, with its medium tele focal length, big aperture capability and fast AF. A second hand 70-200mm f2.8 L USM or f2.8 L IS USM will be a flexible solution too, but quite heavy. They have a relatively fast aperture, and are good for tracking fast action. However, the EOS 60D has a very good high ISO quality, so you may even be able to get fast enough speeds with a Canon 70-200mm f4 L IS USM (or its more affordable non-IS brother). An other option, if you need longer than 85mm of course, could be the quite affordable, not so heavy (compared to the f2.8 zooms) and very capable Canon EF 200mm f2.8 L USM II.

[jho]

Thankyou brightcolours for the reply. I have already bought the Canon 70-300 lens as it was a part of an offer with the EOS 60d so I got for 299$. I could not pass on it for such a low price. So I will try it out for outdoor soccer with my son and for shooting seals, fox, mink and birds around my summer cottage in Iceland.



I will however go on get the Sigma 17-50 and either the Canon 85mm 1.8 or the Canon 100mm F2 to begin with. I can always upgrade to something more substantial with greater zoom if I feel the need, and the bank account allows! The indoor sports are mostly volleyball and kid's soccer and I have access to the sidelines so I can get very close to the action.



Thanks

Jonas