Lenses for indoor and outdoor sport events

<p>I have an EOS Rebel T1i and want to invest in a lens to be used mainly for<br />following sports: indoor and outdoor soccer, and gymnastics competitions. Is<br />there a lens that could be used for all these sports, or do I need to go with<br />more than one?</p>

<p>Also, is it worth investing in a flash to get better indoor pictures, or would a good lens<br />be enough?<br>

<br />Thank you,</p>

<p>Dana S.<br>

<br /><br /></p>

 

<p>Flash is generally a no-no for gymnastics as it can cause the gymnists to fall. If you want to freeze motion in that situation, you need a fast lens. I have a 70-200 2.8L S USM II I use for daughter's gymnastics. It works but I don't feel it is quite fast enough as I have to use very high ISO to freeze the action.<br>

I'll probably get a fast prime like the sigma 85 or the 135L and crop in to get closer in the near future.</p>

<p>Flash is a definite no-no for indoor sports in any setting I've been in.<br>

As Jackson said, you need a fast lens (2.0 or faster) to really get what you're looking for. My four recommendations are: 50 f1.4 USM, 85 1.8 USM, 100 2.0 USM, 135 2.0 USM. The advantage to the 135 2.0 is that coupled with a 1.4x teleconverter it makes a very usable ~200 f2.8 lens which would be very useful for outdoor sports - but it's pricey. If I had to choose one, I'd go for the 85 f1.8 and then use a general purpose zoom (70-300 IS USM, 55-250 IS, 70-200 f4) for outdoor sports. <br>

My best strategy is to shoot in manual mode and set the aperture to 2.0, shutter speed to 1/500th and put it in auto ISO mode. I am usually shooting in the range of 1600 or often 3200 for indoor sports (which I'm not sure the T1i supports 3200 in auto ISO mode) so you may have to manually punch in ISO 3200. Remember - noise can be reduced in post, a blurry photo can't so it's better to push the ISO than to worry about noise. </p><div></div>

<p>On an APS-C body like the Rebel the best choice if you can afford it is a 70-200mm zoom. If you shoot from the edge of a soccer pitch this should be long enough for most shots. For sports you do not need a lens with IS as in general you are shooting at faster shutter speeds so camera shake should not be an issue. Canon makes four 70-200mm zooms all good and covering a wide range of prices. They are:<br>

70-200 f4 (no IS) about $750<br>

70-200 f4 IS about $1250<br>

70-200 F2.8 (no IS) about $1350<br>

70-200 F2.8 IS II about $2400</p>

<p>Obviously you get what you pay for and need to decide if you want to pay for IS (useful for other situations and sometimes helpful for sports) or the faster (F2.8) lens. For some indoor sports an F2.8 lens is a big advantage as it allows fast shutter speeds at lower ISO which is important where the lighting is poor (in my case Ice hockey). The advantage of the F4 lenses is that they are not only cheaper but they are half the weight and quite a lot smaller which makes them very useful for general shooting when you do not want to lug around too much equipment. In my case i have the F2.8 non IS which I have used for sports and indoor for many years and the F4 IS which I added 2-3 years ago to save weight when carrying equipment.<br>

If these lenses are too expensive then look at a prime like the 85 f1.8 or 100 f2.<br>

Here is a shot with a 7D 70-200 f2.8 non IS at ISO200 F11 and 1/320 (the low shutter speed and high F stop were to allow panning to blur the background - normally for SG you need much higher speeds 1/1000 or faster as the speeds are 60mph or higher).</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>Auto ISO on the T1i only goes to 1600, but you can manually select 3200, 6400, and 12800. </p>

<p>Consider also the Canon 200mm f/2.8 prime. Especially if you are going to be shooting @ 200mm most of the time anyway. </p>

<p>If the prices for the Canon zooms and primes are too dear, you might look at the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 also.<br>

You've got limits with your Rebel, but you're generally better off raising the ISO and shooting with +1EV to get a good exposure AND high enough shutter speed. An f/2.8 can be a bit heavy, but it's very versatile for sports, portraits, some scenics, etc.</p>

<p>IMHO you a 70-200/2.8 lens is indispensable for what you described. The best is the 70-200/2.8 IS II but if budget is tight get the non-IS version. Just keep the SS high enough and you'll be fine.</p>

<p>Happy shooting,<br>

Yakim.</p>

<p>For indoor sports I feel a f/2.8 zoom is too slow, especially with the limited ISO (or high noise) of a Rebel.</p>

<p>I think an 85mm f/1.8 is *the* lens for indoor sports. It offers 1 2/3 stops (!) over the zoom and IS is not going to help avoid motion blur. If you need longer reach, options get considerably more expensive...</p>

<p>Kaa - I am not sure about the Rebel as I have never used one but almost all professional indoor sports shooters use F2.8 or F2 lenses (and outdoors F2.8 is the norm with F4 being used in Alpine ski racing). Even in the film days F2.8 lenses (70-200) and 300mm were used indoors. On a crop format an 85mm lens does not have enough reach even on APS-C, or when cropping. For arena sports like ice hockey you need longer lenses. This gives you a choice of 70-200 F2.8, 135 F2, 200 f2, 200 F2.8 and 300 F2.8. Dana is also likely to find that shooting soccer with a prime will be frustrating as the action moves around a lot and she is probably trying to shoot specific athletes.</p>

<p>Kaa - I am not sure about the Rebel as I have never used one but almost all professional indoor sports shooters use F2.8 or F2 lenses (and outdoors F2.8 is the norm with F4 being used in Alpine ski racing). Even in the film days F2.8 lenses (70-200) and 300mm were used indoors. On a crop format an 85mm lens does not have enough reach even on APS-C, or when cropping. For arena sports like ice hockey you need longer lenses. This gives you a choice of 70-200 F2.8, 135 F2, 200 f2, 200 F2.8 and 300 F2.8. Dana is also likely to find that shooting soccer with a prime will be frustrating as the action moves around a lot and she is probably trying to shoot specific athletes.</p>

<p>Thank you to all of you for your responses - I appreciate all the information provided. I have learned quite a about lenses reading through these forums.<br>

Based on what I read so far, I am leaning towards getting the following 2 lenses: 70-200 F2.8 IS II and the 85mm f/1.8 USM. The Rebel does not seem to be the best for shooting sports, so I should probably also consider investing in a new camera body.<br>

Thanks again.</p>

brian, your bball shot looks clean, what noise red. do you use?