Indoor sports lens at 2-10 metres?

I have a Canon 300d (Rebel) which I intend to use to photograph some

Judo and Jiu-Jitsu competitions which invariably take place indoors-

often with quite poor lighting.

 

Generally I will be shooting from a range of 2-10 metres and hoping

to get 2 people nearly filling the frame.

 

Firstly what lens should I go for-I am tempted by the EF 70-200 f4L

but am a bit worried that it won't perform too well on account of

the poor light.

 

The 2.8 isn't really an option due to price as ?400 is my limit.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

Tamron 28-75

How about a manual focus fast prime; like a 50mm? We Nikon guys like to stir the pot up too :)

The 70-200 will cramp you up a bit and it is too slow.

 

Go with a 28-70 /28-80 2.8 zoom OR use a couple of primes - 50 1.4 , 85 f1.8.

 

Not sure what Canon specific lenses, as I dont shoot Canon. But the focal ranges dont change ;)

 

For non-mfg brand lenses I prefer Tokina. All metal, exc optics.

Give the 50 1.8 cheapie a try.

Have you checked the lens(es) you have now and compared the focal length to the results you want, not including aperture, of course, but it should give you an idea. At 2-10 meters, I think you'll be looking at the 28-?? or even wider ranges, especially with the crop factor.

I have only tried the 18-55 lens that came with the camera and found that it didn't have nearly enough magnification for the shots I wanted.

 

I played with a 75-300 lens yesterday and the longer zoom would be unnecessary-too much magnification-camera shake etc.

 

Thanks for your answers everyone-still not sure what to do.

Sorry what is crop factor?

I've gone for the ef 50 1.8 cheapie for a start- the poor light and fast movement will mean the ef70-200 probably isn't suitable-I think I just wanted an excuse to buy a big white lens.

I first went by way of a generic brand lens; I used it once and quickly sold it because I was so disgusted with fuzzy results!

 

I then got a used 80-200mm f/2.8D and I've been happy with it since! In fact, why don't you give a used lens a try? I've used it with ISO 400 (film, naturally) for shooting Gymnastics and high school wrestling events (flashes are not allowed) and I've been happy with the results. See if you can rent one! That's always an option for you. This way, you'll know whether or not you'll want to get a new or used one... or not get it at all.

 

Good luck!

"crop" factor is like drinking lite beer versus regular beer. Instead of dwelling on the actual calorie or alcohol content of each type; you well on a "ratio" instead. Using actual numbers of angular coverage for each aperture and focal length is what movie industry folks use. Using and figuring angles seems to be foreign to many folks in digital today. Using a "crop factor" term is trendy; adds confusion; and avoids actual doing trig; and solving for an arc tangent. What matters is angular coverage for each lens sensor/film size.

Get a Canon 50mm F1.8 and have some fun. Shoot alot of images; take notes; and stay loose. Doing some test photos during practice can be very educational. Here lighting exposure can be practiced.

If the 1.8 gives you enough light, I'd spend $300 and get the 100mm f2 to give you a bit more reach. It's a great lens for the money. I use the 50mm f1.4, 100 f2.0, and 135mm f2.0 for my daughter's gymnastics. They all work great under the right conditions. When the lighting is terrible, I can always crank up to ISO 1600, slap on the 50mm f1.4, and fire away. The 20D has such better noise levels that I rarely bother running them through noise ninja anymore unless I'm blowing them up to 8x10 or larger.