What ISO to USE?

[tylerfj24]

<p>I am debating on getting the canon 70-200 f/4 IS or the F/2.8 IS. I know you all have seen this a hundred times but I cant find a question like this so please read on.<br>

I am leaning toward getting the f/4 IS and I will be putting it on a Canon 50d. Now the 50D that I use does very well at highers ISOs and Im not afraid to shoot at them. My question is what ISO would I have to shoot at to get the same affect of a F/2.8? If I go into a gym to shoot a game and of course the F/4 wont work, what ISO would I need to be at to shoot around 1/500 of sec and get decent lighting in the pictures? I ask because if its not that High of an ISO then I can save alot of money buying the F/4 and the little I may use indoors it still can be done with acceptable results.</p>

[nathan_meador]

<p>Probably ISO 1600 or higher, there is a pretty wide range of lighting conditions in high school gyms, and I'm not real sure you'll be able to get 1/500 at f4 if it is an extrememly dark gym. I've often had to resort to f1.8 or f2 using a 30mm lens on a 40D, shooting from under the backboard. </p>

<p>What you might consider is a 70-200mm f2.8L non <em>IS,</em> they have started to come down in price.</p>

[phule]

<p>[[and the little I may use indoors it still can be done with acceptable results.]]</p>

<p>Sounds to me like you should just rent a fast lens when you need it.</p>

[ken schwarz]

<p>You need to double the ISO to get the same exposure if you go from f/2.8 to f/4.0.</p>

[model mayhem gallery]

<p>I would recommend getting a Sigma 70-200 F2.8 overr the Canon 70-200 F4 IS. Of course if you can afford it the Canon 70-200 F2.8 is great but the Sigma is very very close in IQ but does not focus quite as fast as either of the Canon F2.8. It will focus faster in low light than any F4 lenses.</p>

[KenPapai]

<p>Beginners Forum question. Has nothing to do with Canon EOS.</p>

<p>Shooting sports indoors with a slow (f/4) lens makes no sense whatsoever.</p>

[arie_vandervelden1]

<p>Consider Canon 85/1.8</p>

<p>Sharp, fast, nice bokeh, very fast AF, low cost.</p>

[angel_bocanegra]

<p>Your camera can give you the best answer. Go to the begginer forum and learn how to use your camera, maybe read a book about shooting sports and becoming a better photog</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>This is also posted in the beginner's forum (<a href="../beginner-photography-questions-forum/00UJSr?unified_p=1">link</a> )</p>

[philip_wilson]

<p>F4 is one stop faster than F2.8 so you need 1 stop faster ISO to compensate. If you shoot 1/500 and F2.8 at ISO 800 then you will need 1/500 and ISo 1600 at F4. If you plan to shoot fast moving indoor sports get the F2.8 lens and go with Canon. The center sensor on most Canon bodies (and I beleive this includes the 50D although I only shoot full frame) is more responsive with an F2.8 lens than with a slower lens. For action sports you do not need IS so the 70-200 F2.8 (non-IS) is a great buy. Look at all three lenses and test them and see what you like. On a crop body like the 50D both F2.8 lenses will be very large, especially the IS version. In my case I bought the non-IS mainly because when I tested a few samples the non-IS had better image quality. Several others on this forum have made the same comments on the non-IS F2.8 lens although others are very happy with the F2.8 IS - I think there may be more manufacturing variation on the IS lens so if you go IS choose carefully.<br>

In order to determine which lens to get look at your existing photos and calculate the EV (you can Google this term and find an EV or Exposure Value calculator). Once you know the EV you will understand how much light you have to play with and thus which lens you want.<br>

For sports I would reccomend that you stay with Canon as their AF systems are faster than third party lenses. I have the 85 F1.8 and I do not think that it will make you happy for sports use as the AF is not as fast as the 70-200 F2.8L.<br>

You will also have to get used to how the AF system works on your camera. For Sports you will need AI Servo with only the center point selected. Do not use AI Focus as this is extremely slow and do not have all the AF points selected as this slows things down and misses focus. It takes practice to follow a fast moving sport but you need to tract the subject with the active (center) AF point.<br>

If you find you photos have a colour cast then you can adjust them in post processing or use a device like an Expodisk to set the white balance for eace arena.<br>

I shoot quite a lot of ski racing and indoor ice hockey and I find that it is easiest to shoot JPEGs (you have a bigger burst depth and less post processing). For this I like to get everything risgh in the camera so I use an Expodisk to set the white balance.</p>

[mahesh_krishnan]

<p>Tyler:<br>

I shoot a lot of pics at my son's basketball tourneys, which are mainly held at high school gyms indoors. I use a 70-200 f/4 L with a Tamron 1.4x extender and a 580 EX Speedlite flash on a 30D. At 1250 to 1400 ISO I get decent shots; when I shoot multiple frames sometimes it does not work as the Flash does not charge soon enough. <br>

Certainly a 2.8 will be faster. I have never used an IS lens before but am able to get by with a steady hand.<br>

Mahesh</p>

[tylerfj24]

<p>Thanks for all your answers, but Im not going to be shooting inside all the time, actually I hardly ever shoot indoors. Im just stuck on this one. I'm not sure if Ill need the 2.8 but I want to know how much it will effect me all around if I go with the f/4. Also, if I go with the f/2.8 NON IS how would that effect my everyday use, I mean how slow of a shutter speed usually has someone lugging a tripod around, I know if I shoot sports at high speeds I can handhold, but if Im walking around with the 2.8 will I have a bunch of blurry photos or is it ok for that? I have never owned a NON IS lens and it scares me a bit, especially with this much money involved. Also I do not have camera shops around here to go try things out. I guess another way to put it is, when will I wish I had an IS lens?</p>

[William Michael]

<p>Tyyler, these last questions I have answered in the other forum:<br>

<a href="http://www.photo.net/beginner-photography-questions-forum/00UJSr">http://www.photo.net/beginner-photography-questions-forum/00UJSr</a><br>

WW</p>

[philip_wilson]

<p>The advantage of the F2.8 lens for general use is that it allows a shallower depth of field which can give more dramatic portraits etc... In deed the 70-200 F2.8 is not a bad lens for portraits - almost as good as more specialized lines like the 85 f1.8. <br>

On the subject of IS that is a personal thing - I have lenses with it and lenses without it and don't really miss it. However, I shot MF bodies for over 25 years and have a very steady hand. The general rule of thumb is to have a shutter speed that is faster than 1/lens focal length. Thus on full frame you need 1/200 to handhold a 200mm lens. On a crop body this would be 1/320 as the 200mm lens is effectively a 320mm lens. I am personally quite happy shooting 1 or 2 stops below this level handheld which is why IS is not a big factor or me. IS is usually about 3 stops but many IS lenses are a stop slower than the non-IS version e.g 24-105 F4 IS and 24-70 F2.8 so it makes very little difference to me. Unfortunately this is a personal thing and varies between individuals and also depends on how much attention you pay to the camera settingsso you know if you need to brace carefully.</p>