Sigma 70-200 f2.8 or Tamron 70-200 f2.8 or Pentax 60-250 f4

Hi everyone, here is the dilemma:
I shoot a huge amount at the local kart track and use my DA 55-300 but have found that it is very slow. Often by the time it decides the kart is in focus and the shot fired the front kart has moved on and the kart in second place is in focus. Picture in the bin . I find I am deleting approx 50% at least of the shots taken and losing some crackers in the process. So I need something that will react faster.
It is unlikely that I will need as low as f2.8 at the track and it rains so the Pentax DA*60-250 leaps into 1st place, but ...

The sigma 70-200 f2.8 macro is half the price and faster and I have read its HSM is quicker than the Pentax SDM (WR probably creates a little more resistance)

The Sigma is also going to come in handy for macro shots too ( I don't know if anyone has noticed but I do take the odd one or two macro shots)

But apparently the Tamron 70-200 (also half the price) is better as a macro lens but its noisy as it has a screw drive focus mechanism which I would rather avoid.
Please help

Have you tried changing your focus & shoot technique a little?

My preferred approach is as follows: change the custom menu so that half-press-on-shutter does NOT focus. Now, press the "AF" button with your thumb to trigger auto focus - you can pre-focus on the required point - and when you press the shutter it'll fire instantly with no focus hunting at all

(Hint: photogs did shoot fast moving items without auto focus at one point in time )

HTH!
Matt

I appreciate that but when you have 28 karts whizzing towards you its nice to capture them either as one large group or in smaller groups and AF is the only way I'm afraid. using your method would work however a lot of action would potentially be missed.

The technique often used for racing cars is simply to focus manually on a place on the track, wait for the cars to arrive just before the closen spot and release the shutter. We fire the camera just before the moment to allow for the very slight shutter lag on a DSLR. It might be as musch as 150ms so a fast car moves a significant distance in that time.

This works equally well for bikes and I don't see wht it couldn't be used for karts as well.

I'd go with the Sigma 70 - 200 F2.8, been using one lots recently, both with a K5 & K7, focuses quickly and excellent IQ.

The F2.8 will allow a bit more light in to aid the focus over the F4 and give you less DOF if you wish to blur the b/g easier, also give you increased shutter speed in poor light over the F4.

Cheers

Thanks Chris, that's the kind of answer I am looking for.
John, I have used this method in the past however the "action" does not always happen at a predetermined spot and I need the flexibility of a fast lens to increase the opportunity of capturing it. So which lens would you recommend?

I personally wouldn't want to make any recommendation for this as I don't do that sort of photography and I haven't used all three lenses. I can only say that the 60-250mm is capable of stunning quality.

Completely agree John, and its water resistant and that is so cool to carry on taking pictures while the canikon and sony toggers are running scared or wrapping their cameras in ugly plastic bags held on with elastic bands. Every time I see it I think "should have bought a Pentax"

I had a similar dilemma a couple of months ago, but went for the Pentax 50-135mm instead as I reckoned a DA* for only £40 more than the Sigma/Tamron lenses was something of a not-to-be-missed offer.

I'm very happy with the lens, about the only complaint is that the SDM takes its time. It will lock onto a subject in very low light without hunting, but takes a while to actually turn the mechanism.

I did use it at Goodwood FoS, where I found that I needed to prefocus and shoot at around f5.6 or so to get sharp images. The lens is sharp from f2.8 on but greater depth of field helped to get moving subjects properly focussed.

It is of course WR sealed, and I can see myself buying a K20D or K7 when prices come down a bit. K20Ds in particular should start turning up on the used market more frequently as K7s trickle down to backup body status with K5s finding more new owners.

Bearing your comments just above in mind it's a no-brainer. I was back-up shooter at the Shanghai Rugby Sevens yesterday and I used the Sigma 50-150 and the DA*300 for the on-pitch action. Even the 50-150 couldn't keep up at times but it was noticeably faster than the DA*300 (which is no slouch).

The Sigma 70-200 is the fastest focusing of those 3 (and miles faster than the slow 50-135 or the 60-250 which is a tad slower than the DA*300) so although giving up a tiny bit in sharpness to the Tamron, probably the one you should choose from those three. Doubt the Tamron would be a bad choice either (it seemed very fast when I tried it out).

Full Disclosure ! I haven't tried the Sigma but it is acknowledged as being slightly faster focusing than the Tamron whilst the Tamron edges the sharpness stakes.

Thanks Froggy, that was pretty much the conclusion I expected. The only issue I have is the weather. Guaranteed the first time I use it the heavens will open and I'll have to wimp out too

Just picked up a Sigma 70-200 EX APO Macro HSM II. As per other online comments, it's great. Not as heavy as I expected but probably bcause I have a Bigma as well. Bokah excellent. It's my first HSM (SDM) lens so that's interesting. Very well made and solid as are all the Sigma EX lenses. On special about 500 GBP (AUD 750)with 2 year warranty.
Cheers
bb2