Your First fast Lens

Lenses with large aperture are considered fast. They allow in more light than slower lenses. This let you use slower and finer grain films and still get high shutter speeds for fast action or low light photography. What is a fast aperture? This depends on the lens focal length. A maximum aperture of f-2.8 for example, with a 50mm lens is considered very slow, but moderate with a 100mm lens, and very fast with a 300mm lens. Large aperture lenses are bigger and heavier than slower lenses. The lens focal length divided by the lens diameter determines its maximum aperture. A 200mm lens with a diameter of 50mm has a maximum aperture of f-4, 200:50= 4. The same lens would require a diameter of 100mm to have a maximum aperture of f-2. As you can see, this can quickly add to the size and weight of the lens, especially longer telephotos. This makes the lens more difficult for the manufacturer to produce and adds to the cost. If you feel you are ready for the cost and weight of one of these fast optics, you can select from wide-angle to super telephoto lenses including zooms.
One of the popular fast lenses is the 80-200mm f-2.8 zooms. This focal length covers the most widely used telephotos in one package. You can use this zoom for portrait photography between 80-135mm setting and f-2.8 for creating nice out of focus background. This zoom is very handy for indoor and outdoor sports photography as well as wildlife. Fast f-2.8 aperture gives you the fast shutter speeds you require, and the focal lengths available in this zoom covers many of your shots. You can also use this lens for many other types of subjects, including candid, landscape, and even some close-ups with extension. 80-200mm f-2.8 zooms are available by camera and independent lens manufacturers. This zoom is more affordable than other fast telephotos and should be seriously considered as your first fast lens purchase.
 

Canon EOS A2, Tamron 70-210mm f-2.8, Fuji Provia 100, 1/250 sec at f-2.8, Bogen Monopod. Aperture Priority, Multi-pattern metering.

Another fast lens which is overlooked by many people is the 200mm f-2.8 lens. This focal length is covered in many slower and faster zooms. However, the fixed 200mm f-2.8 has more to offer than you think. It is affordable and extremely sharp. You can use this lens with 1.4X and 2X teleconverters. You get 280mm f-4 with 1.4X and 400mm f-5.6 with the 2X converter. For the price of some of the 80-200mm f-2.8 zooms, you can buy a 200mm f-2.8 and matched converters and have a very fast 200mm lens, and two moderately fast 280mm f-4 and 400mm f-5.6 lenses and still get high quality results. 80-200mm f-2.8 zooms don't produce the same quality results with teleconverters, especially 2X models.

300mm f-2.8 lenses are very popular among wildlife and sports photographers. They are not as big and heavy as the longer fast lenses. 300mm f-2.8 lenses can also be used with teleconverters. You get 420mm f-4 with 1.4X and 600mm f-5.6 lens with a 2 X converter. If you need a fast telephoto, consider this lens. This is a very sharp lens that can be pushed into serious telephoto work with teleconverters with excellent results.
Anything over 300mm costs a lot. 400mm f-2.8, 500mm, f-4, or 600mm f-4 lenses are very big and heavy. You should carefully decide to purchase one of these lenses even if you could afford one. The size and weight of these lenses is a major draw back. 300mm f-2.8 lenses are much easier to carry on hiking trips. You would think twice about carrying a 600mm f-4. 400mm and longer fast lenses should be purchased if you really need the speed in these focal lengths. Fast lenses do not necessarily have to be long telephotos. wide angle zooms and fixed focal lenses allow you to shoot in low light and control depth-of-field. 17-35mm f-2.8 versions have become very popular among sports photographers, especially indoor sports. Fixed focal length 85mm f-1.4 and 135mm f-2 lenses are great for portrait photography. Fast 24mm f-2 and 28mm f-2 lenses allow low light architectural photography as well as landscape.

Recommended Lens Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 EX HSM Lens Sigma's has been known the world over for their innovative design, ease of use and for the excellent results that their zoom lenses produce - this offering is no exception. The new 70-200mm f2.8 EX APO IF HSM lens features an apochromatic optical design and four elements composed of Special Low Dispersion (SLD) glass for high image contrast, resolution and color saturation. For optimum performance in just about any photographic situation, an internal focusing system means that the front barrel does not rotate during focusing. For stability and the use of specialty filters, This internal focusing system is a must. The internal zooming mechanism allows the lens length to remain constant during zooming. Sigma's new Hyper Sonic Motors (H.S.M.) provide silent, responsive autofocus action with both Canon and Nikon AF SLR cameras. The H.S.M. feature also permits manual adjustment of focus without the necessity of switching off the autofocus function.. The Focus Free mechanism keeps the manual focus ring from spinning when the camera is auto-focusing. The 70-200mm f2.8 EX APO IF HSM is fully compatible with both the Sigma AF 1.4X and 2X APO EX Tele-converters. The new dedicated 1.4x APO Tele-converter features a high performance 5 element/3 group optical design, and it is optimized for use with long telephoto and tele-zoom lenses. For Canon For Pentax For Nikon