+1 for 70-200 2.8 II
It is a great lens for kids on stage (ballet, theater, music) and in sports (soccer). It is bright, has the flexibility of a zoom (although a relatively narrow range), focuses fast (very important for capturing action), and has great image quality throughout the zoom range. It is a big/heavy/white lens that gets attention but does an excellent job in many scenarios.
For stage performances, the zoom allows me to not worry so much about where I sit, since I can adapt via zoom and still have flexibility for composition during the performance. I enable IS, since I don't need to move the lens quickly and shutter speeds of 1/125 to 1/250 are common based on available light and keeping ISO low enough to avoid excessive crop sensor ISO noise.
For sports (mostly soccer), the zoom and fast focusing are both essential and excellent, but I disable IS because I use shutter speed of 1/1000 to stop motion and I move the lens frequently and quickly to track action. The zoom range is perfect for soccer up through 8v8 field sizes and for half of an 11v11 field, but it's too short for the far side of an 11v11 field. Adding a teleconverter slows the focus too much when tracking fast action. The 70-300L focus speed doesn't compare.
For wildlife, it's a great lens within its range, but you may want to add a teleconverter for longer reach on a budget. On African safari, I used this lens on a crop camera with excellent results in most cases. I limited my kit to what could fit in a day pack, so I brought the 70-200 2.8 II, an EF-S 17-55 for wide angle, and 2.0x III teleconverter instead of a longer/bigger/heavier/expensive lens. Shots with the teleconverter were softer and had less contrast but were roughly comparable to the best a 100-400 could do. My keeper rate was about the same with and without the teleconverter, but heat wave distortion was usually the limiting factor on long distance shots.
It's also a good, flexible portrait lens -- although heavy for that purpose.
The 70-200 on a crop sensor is sometimes too long, but the 70-100 range is definitely useful vs the primes you are considering. Even at 70, I can't take a picture of an entire stage, I have to step back far to take full body portraits after a performance (inconvenient when other parents step in the way), and for team photos I have to move far away (and again other parents often step in the way). So, even though the main event requires a long lens, it's good to also bring a shorter lens for after the event.
It is a great lens for kids on stage (ballet, theater, music) and in sports (soccer). It is bright, has the flexibility of a zoom (although a relatively narrow range), focuses fast (very important for capturing action), and has great image quality throughout the zoom range. It is a big/heavy/white lens that gets attention but does an excellent job in many scenarios.
For stage performances, the zoom allows me to not worry so much about where I sit, since I can adapt via zoom and still have flexibility for composition during the performance. I enable IS, since I don't need to move the lens quickly and shutter speeds of 1/125 to 1/250 are common based on available light and keeping ISO low enough to avoid excessive crop sensor ISO noise.
For sports (mostly soccer), the zoom and fast focusing are both essential and excellent, but I disable IS because I use shutter speed of 1/1000 to stop motion and I move the lens frequently and quickly to track action. The zoom range is perfect for soccer up through 8v8 field sizes and for half of an 11v11 field, but it's too short for the far side of an 11v11 field. Adding a teleconverter slows the focus too much when tracking fast action. The 70-300L focus speed doesn't compare.
For wildlife, it's a great lens within its range, but you may want to add a teleconverter for longer reach on a budget. On African safari, I used this lens on a crop camera with excellent results in most cases. I limited my kit to what could fit in a day pack, so I brought the 70-200 2.8 II, an EF-S 17-55 for wide angle, and 2.0x III teleconverter instead of a longer/bigger/heavier/expensive lens. Shots with the teleconverter were softer and had less contrast but were roughly comparable to the best a 100-400 could do. My keeper rate was about the same with and without the teleconverter, but heat wave distortion was usually the limiting factor on long distance shots.
It's also a good, flexible portrait lens -- although heavy for that purpose.
The 70-200 on a crop sensor is sometimes too long, but the 70-100 range is definitely useful vs the primes you are considering. Even at 70, I can't take a picture of an entire stage, I have to step back far to take full body portraits after a performance (inconvenient when other parents step in the way), and for team photos I have to move far away (and again other parents often step in the way). So, even though the main event requires a long lens, it's good to also bring a shorter lens for after the event.
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