Im thinking of buying a EF 70-200 f/4L the reviews that I have read here have been great for this lens. So my question is, Im going to the Long Beach Grand Prix in April would this lens be good for that kind of shoot. Is this a good lens for panning what would be some good settings for this type of photography. thanks in advance dan.

Dan if I was you and was thinking about the f/4 *L* I would just drop the extra on the 2.8. As far as shooting the LBGP I cant help ya there since I have never been there or shot an auto race. But someone will come along to help ya out.

LBGP:
Depends on where you are.
that'll work fine for some corner areas, but it really depends on your access.

it's a nice lens as the reviews state.
nice and sharp and alot lighter than the 2.8L version I lug around.

Kurt

Hi ,

I used my recent purchase of the Canon 70-200 2.8 IS for the shots I took at the Australian GP 2004. I have a couple of points that you may want to consider.

* The entire track was surrounded by fences, so expect fences in your view. I found that at 200mm and 2.8 I could almost see through the fence without an issue. moving up through F/4 and smaller may bring the fence into the picture

* 200mm was the largest size lense for the General Public in OZ. You may want to check on size restrictions if you are thinking of greater than 200mm.

* I have used both 70-200 f/4 & f/2.8.. If you can afford the 2.8 then do it. It may be a bit heavy but well worth it. The IS is great to. Low light situations makes the difference between getting and losing the shot. IS is also good in panning mode. Helps a little. Don't get me wrong, F/4 is a great lense, but the 2.8 IS is worth every cent if you can afford it.

* Since the cars are moving at high speed, you are going to need manual focus as the fence will take priority. Keep this in mind when shooting. Set a focal point and shoot the cars as they reach that designated point.

These are just a few things that cam e to mind which may give you an Idea for what lense you require and the experience I gained through the OZ GP.

If you want to take a look at some images I took at the GP, please feel free to visit. www.boggy.com.au> and go to the photo gallery section and view F1. the majority of my images have not been cropped.

Good luck and look forward to seeing your images when you return.

Boggy