Best lens for capturing indoor sports.

[aardvark262]

I need a fast lens to capture indoor sport images.

These images are of volleyball and basketball games taken in school gyms that are not always brightly lit and I do not want to use a flash. I have a 10D. I want stop-action photos that are tack sharp. Is this possible? Prime or zoom? What lenses?

 

[Jamie H.]

50/1.4, 85/1.8, and/or 135/2 - all depending on what focal length you need of course

You might be able to get by with an F2.8 L zoom, but the primes will deliver superior results in the form of lower ISO needed and better bokeh.

I need a fast lens to capture indoor sport images.
These images are of volleyball and basketball games taken in school
gyms that are not always brightly lit and I do not want to use a
flash. I have a 10D. I want stop-action photos that are tack sharp.
Is this possible? Prime or zoom? What lenses?

--
http://d33pblue.net/gallery

 

[aardvark262]

Thank you for the response.

I have been looking at the 135/2 and the 200/2.8, but I love IS and the 70-200/2.8/IS sounds nice. The focal length range is perfect for what I need. Decisions, decisions.

You might be able to get by with an F2.8 L zoom, but the primes
will deliver superior results in the form of lower ISO needed and
better bokeh.

I need a fast lens to capture indoor sport images.
These images are of volleyball and basketball games taken in school
gyms that are not always brightly lit and I do not want to use a
flash. I have a 10D. I want stop-action photos that are tack sharp.
Is this possible? Prime or zoom? What lenses?

--
http://d33pblue.net/gallery

 

[Ray Chen]

50/1.4, 85/1.8, and/or 135/2 - all depending on what focal length
you need of course

You might be able to get by with an F2.8 L zoom, but the primes
will deliver superior results in the form of lower ISO needed and
better bokeh.

Most high school gyms I shoot in are in the EV-7 range. If you don't like ISO 3200, you'll have to live brighter than f/2.8 to get any decent shutter speeds. One of the biggest problems with shooting in such a large aperture is DOF. Yes, you can have too little DOF both for esthetic and AF issues.

Personally, I like to use 85mm for basketball and 135-200mm for volleyball on my 1D. All of Jamie's suggestions should work well for you on a 10D.

--
Ray Chen

Do what works...

 

[Brent Reid]

Aardvark, as you probably know, IS will be of no use in capturing sports action. IMO, f2.8 would give you shutter speeds too slow to capture "tack sharp" images of athletes indoors.

Jamie's suggestions are excellent, except that I would go with the 50mm f1.4 and either the 85mm f1.8 or the 100mm f2 (non-macro) at less than half the price and weight of the 135mm f2. You would often find the 135mm too long with the crop factor on yoiur 10D. I assume you will be shooting from courtside and not in the stands, which is pretty much a waste of time.

And I would use flash in any situation where the officials would let me. Strobes solve a raft of problems when you are trying to freeze action in iffy lighting.

If you haven't been on http://www.sportsshooter.com it is well worth a look. Lots of pro sports PJs there with great advice.

I have been looking at the 135/2 and the 200/2.8, but I love IS and
the 70-200/2.8/IS sounds nice. The focal length range is perfect
for what I need. Decisions, decisions.

You might be able to get by with an F2.8 L zoom, but the primes
will deliver superior results in the form of lower ISO needed and
better bokeh.

I need a fast lens to capture indoor sport images.
These images are of volleyball and basketball games taken in school
gyms that are not always brightly lit and I do not want to use a
flash. I have a 10D. I want stop-action photos that are tack sharp.
Is this possible? Prime or zoom? What lenses?

--
http://d33pblue.net/gallery

 

[john pringle]

http://jpringlephoto.com/Pages/SingleLightSource0.htm
I love photography

 

[Daniel Jackson]

I need a fast lens to capture indoor sport images.
These images are of volleyball and basketball games taken in school
gyms that are not always brightly lit and I do not want to use a
flash. I have a 10D. I want stop-action photos that are tack sharp.
Is this possible? Prime or zoom? What lenses?

If its middle or high school good luck not using flash. I have a Canon 70-200L 2.8 and 50mm 1.4 and 85mm 1.8 that I use for basketball and vollyball. VERY hard to get good shots with 1600 ISO and a high enough shutter speed to stop action. It can be done but shoot RAW if you do. I and others here started using the Canon 550EX at 1/32 or 1/64th power just for fill and to bring out a little pop in the shots and it works very well. You may want to give it a try. With the low power setting I use the zoom the most at AV 2.8.
Here are 2 shots using flash
70-200L with flash





and 2 without flash
85mm 1/400 @ 2.0 1600 ISO



50mm 1/320 @ 2.2 1600 ISO



Here are a few from Volleyball using the 50 with out flash





When I don't use flash I try to shoot RAW so I can have better luck getting shots because of the 2 stop leway in recovery.

--
Scotty, I need more power! I'm givin it all she's got Jim!
http://www.pbase.com/daniel_jackson/root
Pbase supporter

 

[rge]

They are some great shots. I always struggle to get decent shots in a high school gymnasium with my 70-200 IS/2.8. I was thinking about a 200/1.8 but, I have heard that Canon may be releasing a 200/1.8 IS soon and of course the cost...

I need a fast lens to capture indoor sport images.
These images are of volleyball and basketball games taken in school
gyms that are not always brightly lit and I do not want to use a
flash. I have a 10D. I want stop-action photos that are tack sharp.
Is this possible? Prime or zoom? What lenses?

If its middle or high school good luck not using flash. I have a
Canon 70-200L 2.8 and 50mm 1.4 and 85mm 1.8 that I use for
basketball and vollyball. VERY hard to get good shots with 1600 ISO
and a high enough shutter speed to stop action. It can be done but
shoot RAW if you do. I and others here started using the Canon
550EX at 1/32 or 1/64th power just for fill and to bring out a
little pop in the shots and it works very well. You may want to
give it a try. With the low power setting I use the zoom the most
at AV 2.8.
Here are 2 shots using flash
70-200L with flash





and 2 without flash
85mm 1/400 @ 2.0 1600 ISO



50mm 1/320 @ 2.2 1600 ISO



Here are a few from Volleyball using the 50 with out flash





When I don't use flash I try to shoot RAW so I can have better luck
getting shots because of the 2 stop leway in recovery.

--
Scotty, I need more power! I'm givin it all she's got Jim!
http://www.pbase.com/daniel_jackson/root
Pbase supporter

 

[Eugene Finley]

Most high school gyms are too dark to go with f2.8. If it is a new gym with good lighting, you might get by with 2.8. I started with a 70-200 f2.8 but changed to a 85 f1.8 and enjoy the weight factor as well as everyting else associated with the 85.

I hate to use a flash of any kind at sporting events. I even hate it with others use a flash and I happen to have my lens pointed in the direction of a flash. It usually takes me a couple of minutes to allow my eye to see again.
ISO 1250 SS 640 f2.2 with 85 1.8

I need a fast lens to capture indoor sport images.
These images are of volleyball and basketball games taken in school
gyms that are not always brightly lit and I do not want to use a
flash. I have a 10D. I want stop-action photos that are tack sharp.
Is this possible? Prime or zoom? What lenses?

--
Eugene
http://www.4sportpix.com

 

[Brent Reid]

Superb shots, Daniel. The fill flash really adds to the photos, but mainly it's your eye, anticipation, and timing that make them exceptional.

It's been my contention for years that volleyball is the hardest sport to photograph well because of dim lighting, and the fact that the players seldom face you, the net is usually in the way, and you can't stand very close to the court.

Basketball is a breeze by comparison, as are all outdoor sports. The second most problematical sport is swimming, because like icebergs, the athletes are 90% underwater.

I need a fast lens to capture indoor sport images.
These images are of volleyball and basketball games taken in school
gyms that are not always brightly lit and I do not want to use a
flash. I have a 10D. I want stop-action photos that are tack sharp.
Is this possible? Prime or zoom? What lenses?

If its middle or high school good luck not using flash. I have a
Canon 70-200L 2.8 and 50mm 1.4 and 85mm 1.8 that I use for
basketball and vollyball. VERY hard to get good shots with 1600 ISO
and a high enough shutter speed to stop action. It can be done but
shoot RAW if you do. I and others here started using the Canon
550EX at 1/32 or 1/64th power just for fill and to bring out a
little pop in the shots and it works very well. You may want to
give it a try. With the low power setting I use the zoom the most
at AV 2.8.

 

[Eugene Danilkis]

I've shot some indoor roller hockey with a 70-200 2.8 and i was shooting at 2.8 1600 and undexposing by 1 stop (so effectively ISO 3200). Even then i was only getting shutter speeds from 1/200 - 1/250.

I have some sample online here: http://www3.telus.net/eugene/photos/roller/ . Note that i had to clean these up with NeatImage as well.

An extra stop offered by a prime like the 135 f/2 would have given me a shutter speed closer to 1/500 which would have done a much better job of stopping the action and preventing blur (which resulted in a bunch of photos being thrown out.)

However, if you're using a prime, the idea would be to find your idea position and just wait for the action to come to you. Also, this is how you'd need to decide the focal length you need.

You might be able to get by with an F2.8 L zoom, but the primes
will deliver superior results in the form of lower ISO needed and
better bokeh.

I need a fast lens to capture indoor sport images.
These images are of volleyball and basketball games taken in school
gyms that are not always brightly lit and I do not want to use a
flash. I have a 10D. I want stop-action photos that are tack sharp.
Is this possible? Prime or zoom? What lenses?

--
http://d33pblue.net/gallery

 

[Avi33]

Am I the only one who likes to use wide angle lenses for basketball? If it's a high school game, you should be able to shoot from behind the hoop. I agree that f2.8 is too slow. I think a 35mm f1.4L and 85mm f1.8 would make a great 2 lens kit for high school basketball and volleyball.

I need a fast lens to capture indoor sport images.
These images are of volleyball and basketball games taken in school
gyms that are not always brightly lit and I do not want to use a
flash. I have a 10D. I want stop-action photos that are tack sharp.
Is this possible? Prime or zoom? What lenses?

--
Eugene
http://www.4sportpix.com

 

[Daniel Jackson]

They are some great shots. I always struggle to get decent shots
in a high school gymnasium with my 70-200 IS/2.8. I was thinking
about a 200/1.8 but, I have heard that Canon may be releasing a
200/1.8 IS soon and of course the cost...

Thanks. I haden't heard about a 200 1.8 IS, would be heavy!!! I think a 200mm prime is to long for basketball and vollyball.
--
Scotty, I need more power! I'm givin it all she's got Jim!
http://www.pbase.com/daniel_jackson/root
Pbase supporter

 

[Daniel Jackson]

Superb shots, Daniel. The fill flash really adds to the photos, but
mainly it's your eye, anticipation, and timing that make them
exceptional.

It's been my contention for years that volleyball is the hardest
sport to photograph well because of dim lighting, and the fact that
the players seldom face you, the net is usually in the way, and you
can't stand very close to the court.

Basketball is a breeze by comparison, as are all outdoor sports.
The second most problematical sport is swimming, because like
icebergs, the athletes are 90% underwater.

Thanks Brent. I like the fill flash just to give the shots some pop. Several of the other sports shooters here tried it and liked it. You don't get the harsh shadows or the red eye as bad. I had good luck with volleyball at the net sitting on the floor with the 50mm 1.4. I agree baseball or any outdoor daylight sport is a breeze. Havent tried swimming but I was asked but truned it down as its an inside pool and very humid in there, didn't know if it would affect the camera with all the moisture in there. Outside I would try.

--
Scotty, I need more power! I'm givin it all she's got Jim!
http://www.pbase.com/daniel_jackson/root
Pbase supporter

 

[Daniel Jackson]

Am I the only one who likes to use wide angle lenses for
basketball? If it's a high school game, you should be able to shoot
from behind the hoop. I agree that f2.8 is too slow. I think a 35mm
f1.4L and 85mm f1.8 would make a great 2 lens kit for high school
basketball and volleyball.

I used my 20mm 2.8 under the net with out flash and they were ok but not what I liked. 50 1.4 was ok but the focus is to slow so the 35 1.4 if it can focus as fast as the 85mm 1.8 would be nice. To high a cost for me thou. To bad the 35mm 2.0 doesn't have USM.
--
Scotty, I need more power! I'm givin it all she's got Jim!
http://www.pbase.com/daniel_jackson/root
Pbase supporter

 

[Daniel Jackson]

I need a fast lens to capture indoor sport images.
These images are of volleyball and basketball games taken in school
gyms that are not always brightly lit and I do not want to use a
flash. I have a 10D. I want stop-action photos that are tack sharp.
Is this possible? Prime or zoom? What lenses?

That would be nice for indoor sports.
--
Scotty, I need more power! I'm givin it all she's got Jim!
http://www.pbase.com/daniel_jackson/root
Pbase supporter

 

[aardvark262]

I would like to thank everyone for their advice. I think I will go with the 85/1.8 for now. It is the fastest I can afford and offers a focal length I can work with. Again, Thanks.

I need a fast lens to capture indoor sport images.
These images are of volleyball and basketball games taken in school
gyms that are not always brightly lit and I do not want to use a
flash. I have a 10D. I want stop-action photos that are tack sharp.
Is this possible? Prime or zoom? What lenses?