Lens suggestions!

I'm looking to get a new lens for my Canon SLR, and was wondering what some of you may suggest! I have a budget of $600, and mainly use it to take good, clear shots of my dogs in action. I was thinking of maybe a good macro lens of some kind. Any suggestions?

what lenses do you currently have? How far away are the dogs normally? I really like my 50mm & 35mm prime lenses, but they won't be super great if your dogs are always a half mile away.

do you want this only for dog action shots? good daytime lighting? sometimes at night under lights? How close will/can you be?

If I could be fairly close and have decent control over how far I'd be, I'd go with a 50 or 85 prime. very fast focus, sharp pictures, and way under your 600 dollar budget. If you add a bit a 135 prime is even better, but you're looking at 700+ for a used one probably.

I don't know much about zooms other than a 24-70 is nice, but for different purposes I think and much more. Beyond that I'd be looking at a 70-200 2.8 is my next purchase, but those are also considerably more.

I'm no expert by any means, but i've found for the money, you can't beat the optical quality of those 50, 85, 135 primes and focus for action shots. The rest might give you "more" in variability, but they lack in focus speed and sharpness or low light function, etc.

But others have different priorities than me or the person next to them. So you really have to decide exactly what you want the lens for.

I already have a 300mm telephoto lens which is pretty nice, but I'd really like something thats better at taking more crisp, clear shots in darker light. Seems my pictures only come out really nice on bright sunny days.

Also, as far as distance, my dogs are typically never THAT far away when taking photos. Maybe 30 -40 feet when out in fields.

70-200mm f/4, hands down, especially if your budget is $600. Great for action as well as portrait. Mine is on my camera 98% of the time.

I've been a total slacker with action shots lately, but here are a couple taken with it:

I'd definitely second the 70-200mm. If your budget is 600, you're looking at the f/4 and cranking up the ISO for lower light. 70-200mm f/2.8 is pretty fabulous but comes at a much higher cost. I got mine used and it was still a pretty penny.

When she said she had a 300, I just assumed it was the canon f4 version which is a nice lens itself but she found it lacking in lower light.