I Need A Lens Good For Sports

[cslayter]

I need all the help I can get, I need a good lens that is good for sports indoor and outdoor. I got a Nikon D50 for christmas and don't really know what lens to buy for it that is good for sports. my son plays basketball and baseball. I need a wide angle but one that can also reach out field. If you can help me please let me know what would be a good lens. Thank you so much. You can also e-mail me at cindyslayter@aol.com:confused: :confused:

Thank you so much
Cindy

[erichlund]

Honestly, you really need two lenses. Indoor sports are VERY difficult. Speed is king, and f2.8 is often not enough. If you can afford 85mm f1.4 glass, then this is perhaps the most recommended lens on dpreview when this question comes up. If not, then the 85mm f1.8 or the 50mm f1.4 are your best alternatives with the 50mm f1.8 behind those (and very cheap). If you have to stay in the bleachers, the 105 f2 may be a better choice than all, but you may have to use a higher ISO to stop motion.

Outdoors, you need range, and range costs money. For daytime sports, you are not in too bad shape. I understand the Sigma 70-200 and the Nikkor 80-200 are about the same price (both about $920 from Bell & Howell with U.S. warranty), you can try those out and see which gives the best performance. If you don't need pro quality images, there are other lenses that can get you out there and further for less cost, but you will have difficulty stopping motion except in the brightest light. Going beyond 200mm and getting good speed will be extremely expensive, so you will have to let us know if you have that sort of budget.

Remember, the D50 is one of the best at going to ISO1600 with low noise, so don't be afraid to go there if you need it.

I don't know your indoor forum. I would go with the outdoor lens first (one of the two I mentioned), and try it in your indoor forum, then if that doesn't work out, go for one of the very fast lenses. But, as I said, these are two VERY different shooting circumstances.

[cslayter]

thank you for your help. I don't need the indoors lens at the moment because basketball is over for us now. but we are not playing baseball and i have a sigma 70-300, i do not know what i am doing wrong because the pictures are still not as clear as i would like them, i will look into the one that you mentioned and go from there. thank you very much

[erichlund]

If everything is blurry, then you have a problem with steadiness of your hand. If the background is crystal clear, but the players are blurry, then your problem is motion blur. This occurs because they move from the time the shutter opens to when it closes. A faster shutter speed will help both of these.

OTOH, you should check your aperture when you shoot. If the lens is at it's largest aperture, it may be that you are just in a soft part of the lens. In this case, try going to a higher ISO and stopping down a bit (smaller aperture).

[George Riehm]

As an addendum to Erics reply, the Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 is available from sigmaforless.com for $724. This is not the new macro version but it doesn't seem that yoou are buying the lens for macro anyway (and there are better lenses for this purpose).

I know we have at least one sport shooter (phatkid77) on these boards using this lens with great results for hockey.

http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17743&page=2

[cslayter]

thank you for your help, i was just told that I needed to check my shutter speed because the picture is clear but the bat as he was swing it was blurred

[erichlund]

thank you for your help, i was just told that I needed to check my shutter speed because the picture is clear but the bat as he was swing it was blurred
Stopping a bat is going to take a very fast shutter speed unless he's bunting ;) . You can minimize the effect by choosing a shooting angle where the tip of the bat is not crossing your field of view. Of course, they usually don't let you stand in the infield :rolleyes: to take a shot of a batter, and most other angles aren't great except from the front of the batter.

So, you need speed. You can increase your ISO, as I mentioned, or you can get a faster lens (or both). Or you can try and get the shot from the forward shoulder, with the bat just coming into view. There was a great shot of Reggie Jackson, when he hit that monster shot during the All Star game in Tiger Statium (1971). That was basically the shot I'm talking about, and really shows the power of the hitter. Unfortunately, at the moment I cannot find the photo.

[George Riehm]

thank you for your help. I don't need the indoors lens at the moment because basketball is over for us now. but we are not playing baseball and i have a sigma 70-300, i do not know what i am doing wrong because the pictures are still not as clear as i would like them, i will look into the one that you mentioned and go from there. thank you very much

Have you ever noticed that the pro sports photographers are using monopods?... Your 70-300 should work fine for daytime baseball, you just need to steady the camera. At 300mm you should be shooting 1/450 second, shutter speed, minimum.

... Just a thought.

[dday buff]

Has anyone tried the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor lens for indoor basketball or gymnastics in a high school gymnasium when flash is not permitted? I have D70s camera and currently use 85mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor lens with some success but have a tough time with activities across the gym. With the lighting in our gym, I normally need to have ISO at 640 or above. Additionally setting white balance is a challenge.

Thanks