Best DSLR Lens Holiday Guide

Good lenses are the best photography gear investment you can make. And one of the best is the 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom lens – especially for sports, portrait and outdoor photographers. The fast, fixed f/2.8 aperture allows you to shoot in lower light as well as use faster shutter speeds to freeze action. It’s also useful for shallow depth-of-field photos that make your subject pop out of the background. In my opinion, a 70-200mm f/2.8 (or f/4) pro zoom is one of the most important investments a serious photographer can make. The lens is so good and so versatile that you’ll wonder how you lived without it. They are expensive, though. The top-of-the-line Nikon and Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses list for about $2500. For that reason you’ll find a bunch of lens options below – all of which are very good. But our top pick is the recent Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 APO EX DG OS HSM. At about $1400 on the street it’s still not cheap. But we’ve used it and the image quality and performance are very close to Canon and Nikon but for about $1000 less. The Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 APO EX DG OS HSM is also available with Nikon, Canon, Sony and Pentax mounts so compatibility isn’t an issue.