Rebel xTi Best Lens for indoor action sports

[WVMason08]

--I recently received a Rebel xTi. I have been trying to use it at my sons basketball games and the pictures are blurred, even with the flash. What lens is the best for taking indoor action photos that is in the middle as far as price range?

 

[Manehead]

--I recently received a Rebel xTi. I have been trying to use it at
my sons basketball games and the pictures are blurred, even with the
flash. What lens is the best for taking indoor action photos that is
in the middle as far as price range?

Well, you're probably looking at the Canon 70-200L f2.8, but that's quite pricey. Tamron and Sigma have their versions of this lens but they do not have USM so will be slower at focusing, which is a bad thing for sports. You could try the Canon 70-200L f4, which is more reasonably priced, but you're losing 1 stop of shutter speed compared to the f2.8s

Apart from lenses though, you could try shooting with different settings. I recently tried to shoot a indoor fashion show with the 18-55mm kit lens in AV mode @ f3.5, and at first the shots were really blurred and not useable at all.

I then decided to switch to ISO 1600 and TV mode, and set a shutter speed of 1/100. This dramatically improved my shots and I was able to get a lot of sharp images. Granted some of the shots were slightly under exposed but that was correctable in post processing.

I suggest that next time maybe you can try my method above, and see if that improves your shots. A new lens wouldn't hurt either but maybe you can save some money on it with better settings.

 

[Blue II]

If you can get close enough, the 85 f/1.8 would be a good lens. From further back, perhaps a 135 f/2. I use a 70-200 f/2.8 myself, but I shoot a 50D that lets me go up higher on ISO than the Rebels (yours is limited to 1600, right?). The f/1.8 to f/2 will make up for the lower max ISO.

--I recently received a Rebel xTi. I have been trying to use it at
my sons basketball games and the pictures are blurred, even with the
flash. What lens is the best for taking indoor action photos that is
in the middle as far as price range?

--
Steve

 

[chiefsahib]

if you don't want to shell out extra money for expensive zooms, get the 50mm f1.8 prime. Its the fastest lens for the money

 

[robertro]

I wanted to revive this old thread to share my experiences with putting together a low-cost kit specialized for indoor sports. In my case, it's indoor soccer - similar to basketball, though it requires longer focal lengths and lighting is often worse.

XTi Body:

The XTi is a wonderful bargain at this point, and has high-ISO performance that is as good as most of it's successors.

ISO 3200 and Spot AF on the XTi:

I have loaded the CHDK hack, which enables two important features for indoor sports on the XTi: ISO 2000/2500/3200 (especially important for fast action with the f2.8 zooms) and Center-Spot AF (faster and more accurate than other AF modes).

Lenses:
50mm f1.8: must-have lens
100mm f2 USM: wonderful sharp lens with rapid focus

50-150mm f2.8 Sigma HSM Version II: appears to focus as fast as my Canon 70-200/2.8 IS and half the weight; not in production any more, so it requires some searching, especially to find the Version II of the lens which is improved optically. Lack of IS is not important, because you generally want to use a fast shutter speed to stop motion.

Body and 3 lenses for less than $1000 ... indoor sports performance: priceless!

.

 

[Schnapper]

Either the 85/1.8 or the 135/2.0. The new Sigma 85/1.4 looks like it is pretty good, too.

I have a 50/1.4, and while it might work assuming you can get close enough I probably wouldn't recommend it because the focus is pretty slow due to it's micro-USM.

 

[lespurgeon]

Yep 85 f/1.8 is the way to go if you can get close to court. The 200 f/2.8 is the best way to get reach at a good price.