Any professional photographer will have a few lenses that are his/her “money makers” – lenses that are used frequently, for a variety of different shooting situations. The 70-200mm lens is one of them – one of the most popular professional lenses in the world. And if the pros rely on it, it may be worth checking out!

The 70-200mm is a great choice for:

• Low light sporting events (perhaps an indoor volleyball game); indoor event
• Events (a concert at the park, a wedding, a parade); indoor events; challenging lighting; without flash.
• Portraits – Because of the f/2.8 you can get a continuous shallow depth of field at any focal length, which softens the background and makes for a nice portrait. Read my blog post on depth of field if you want to know what that means.

How to get your hands on one

1. Rent one – This is by far and away the easiest, lowest-cost-of-entry method of playing around with this beautiful lens. You can rent one for the better part of the week for less than you would spend on a good dinner for 2 at your favorite local restaurant. So what are you waiting for? Get one for the weekend. You’ll end up with some photos that your friends and family will love.
   1. If you’ve got a Canon D-SLR, click here to check rental pricing
   2. If you’ve got a Nikon D-SLR, click here to check rental pricing
      

      Sample taken with Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8

2. Buy one – This is a natural, albeit dangerous next step, to renting one. After renting it, you’ll surely fall in love with this lens and beg, borrow, or steal to get one in your camera bag. But you’re going to faint when you see how much these buggers cost. Sigma and Tamron make a comparable 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, so they’re also a good choice, especially if you want to save more than 50%.
   1. Click here to price one. And remember, these are relatively low prices from B&H.
3. Talk to your local photo store salesperson – Many professional photography stores that sell nice D-SLR cameras and lenses will also have a rental department. And many times they will discount the sale price of your lens by the amount you spent on the rental of the same type of lens. Ask nicely if they’re willing to do that. You’ll be pleasantly surprised. It’s a win/win arrangement and makes you feel more comfy about the purchase. Also, you’ll be more likely to return to that same store and buy lots more stuff. But beware of the hidden costs of owning a D-SLR.

Conclusion

There’s no arguing that both the Nikon NIKKOR 70-200mm and the Canon “L” series 70-200mm lenses are superb and perhaps unrivaled, except by maybe Tamron and Sigma. If you’ve got either a Canon or Nikon D-SLR do yourself a favor and at least rent the 70-200 f/2.8 lens. Switch your camera tot aperture priority mode (A) and ensure you’ve got that aperature at f/2.8 most of the time, unless you need more depth of field for something.

Take it to sporting event where you can relatively close – like a volleyball or soccer game; take it to a family gathering where you know you’re going to be taking lots of pictures in challenging lighting situations. You’ll be glad you did, and you’ll enjoy the results of what a high quality piece of glass can do for your images.

• Nikon NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G AF-S VR IF-ED
• Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM