My pics are now up on photobucket.

[CRJpilot]

Otherwise I'll work on getting a bigger lens that doesn't go soft at 300mm.

Something I do that few people seem to consider. . .

Before I leave Canada I rent a Canon "L" 100-400mm zoom lens. It's worth roughly $1800.00 to purchase new these days and supposedly is due to be replaced by Canon shortly with a newer version.

I rent the lens for $40.00/day and they offer a weekly rental rate so I get the lens for 4 x $40.00 or $160.00 for race week.

Since the only time I need a lens that size is for the few days of the races, it's a good deal.

There's a couple pics of the Hellcat from the stands using that lens that Chris included on page 2 of his Photobucket gallery.

Don

[RAD2LTR]

Something I do that few people seem to consider. . .

Before I leave Canada I rent a Canon "L" 100-400mm zoom lens. It's worth roughly $1800.00 to purchase new these days and supposedly is due to be replaced by Canon shortly with a newer version.

I rent the lens for $40.00/day and they offer a weekly rental rate so I get the lens for 4 x $40.00 or $160.00 for race week.

Since the only time I need a lens that size is for the few days of the races, it's a good deal.

There's a couple pics of the Hellcat from the stands using that lens that Chris included on page 2 of his Photobucket gallery.

Don

I could use a 400+mm lens for most of the things I shoot. I usually just can't get close enough to the subject for various reasons. I shoot a lot of different things. Renting a big lens would quickly eat me alive not to mention there isn't any local place that I can go to rent one.

Will

[CRJpilot]

I could use a 400+mm lens for most of the things I shoot. I usually just can't get close enough to the subject for various reasons. I shoot a lot of different things. Renting a big lens would quickly eat me alive not to mention there isn't any local place that I can go to rent one.

Will

Makes sense, frequent and constant use certainly justifies purchasing but other factors can also get in the way.

I just can't justify big money for a lens that would spend most of it's life on a shelf.

Don

[RAD2LTR]

I'm tempted to try a Sigma 150-500mm but all the reviews I've read seem to indicate that it goes soft beyond 300mm, and isn't the most sharp lens to begin with. The Nikon 80-400 that just came out looks to be a really nice lens, but its also $2800. I don't have $2800 burning a hole in my pocket. Not to mention that the lens would be more than twice what I paid for my camera body. The old version of this lens isn't all that great and tends to be soft at the long end as well. A doubler wouldn't help anything either, aside from making a slow lens even slower and losing my image stabilization. I really wish someone would make a lens that was soft on the short end and sharp on the long end, it would be just what I need.

Will